TIMECODE
FORMAT
CONTENT
09:30:00:00
LEADER CLOCK
10:00:00:00
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
On-Screen Title
Shelter in Place
John Owens (OOV)
How to shelter in place. Go inside a building or vehicle…
10:00:30:00
John Owens (OOV)
… Close all windows and doors. Turn off all cooling and ventilation systems. Stay off the telephone
and listen to your television for more information.
On-Screen Text
The petro-chemical industry has helped make the Texan economy one of the largest in the world
10:01:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
George Bush (TV)
“…strategy that we rely on is all based towards that vision of a dream of a truly democratic society
emerging. And it’s clearly a lack of trust right now.”
On-Screen Text
Port Arthur, Texas
10:01:30:00
[INAUDIBLE VOICE ON TV]
Julio Zamora
Momma, wash your face.
Clock Face
6:44
Faith, you have dirty clothes in the bathroom.
Latasha Zamora (OOV)
Page 1 of 24
Clock Face
6:45
Latasha (OOV)
You guys need some money for school?
Faith Zamora (OOV)
Yes momma.
Julio
I want papa – one of papa colognes.
Latasha
You want your own cologne?
Julio
Yeah.
Latasha
Why, does it make you feel better about yourself when you have cologne on?
Julio
And a brush.
10:02:00:00
Latasha
And a brush?
Julio
Momma…
Latasha
You smell it all day, fresh. Faith, your turn. Faith, you hear?
Faith
Yes, momma.
Latasha
Don’t get in trouble. … Go walk on the sidewalk; don’t walk in the grass; it’s wet…
10:02:30:00
Latasha
… OK, come on. Come on with me.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “LETHAL INJECTION (ANW1190/08)” & “SUBSONIX
(ANW1038/03)”]
Latasha (OOV)
You got your seatbelts on?
10:03:00:00
Julio (OOV)
…zip it up…
Latasha
I see the kids running. You have to, uh, get going, OK, ‘cause it’s already – we’re already a little bit
late... Bye, have a good day.
Page 2 of 24
Faith
Have a good day, mom.
Latasha
Faith, where’s your – oh, you got your back-pack? OK, go ahead.
10:03:30:00
Hilton Kelley (OOV)
We are literally boxed in. So, no matter where the wind blows, you will get your daily dose of toxic
chemicals.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “LETHAL INJECTION (ANW1190/08)” & “SUBSONIX
(ANW1038/03)”]
Hilton (OOV)
How many people know a child with acute asthma? Hands down.
Hilton
Benzene, butadiene, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen oxide…
10:04:00:00
Hilton
… We know where it’s coming from – we been knowing for years – but we didn’t know what to do
about it. We didn’t understand how these chemicals affected us.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “SUBSONIX (ANW1038/03)”]
On-Screen Text
Each year, Texan industry is permitted to emit millions of tons of toxic pollutants into the air.
On-Screen Text
Refineries are also allowed to release thousands of tons more pollutants in ‘accidental’ or
‘unscheduled’ emissions every year
10:04:30:00
On-Screen Text
The law defines these as ‘upsets’.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “SUBSONIX (ANW1038/03)”]
Jim Marston
The upset law is intended to allow companies to make emergency releases when something
unexpected happens – something that cannot be foreseen happens – in order to protect either the safety
of workers or the…
10:05:00:00
Jim
…integrity of the plant. And it would be something that would be unusual, not reoccurring, and
something that you couldn’t plan against.
On-Screen Text
Jim Marston / Regional Director / Environmental Defense Fund
Jim
In practice in Texas, what happens is one plant will have the same upset dozens of times in one year.
Page 3 of 24
10:05:30:00
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
Refineries are not penalised for upsets as long as they are recorded and reported to the authorities.
On-Screen Text
There were 13,350 upsets reported by Texan petro-chemical plants in 2007 / [Latest available figures]
Sometimes they have, like, a big old torch out there that goes [IMITATES FLARE] you know, it just
Latasha
blows like that and…
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
…it looks like it just lights up…
Latasha
10:06:00:00
Latasha
…this whole area back here, you know. They’re blowing something, and I guess they’re just, like,
letting it go, and it’s – it’s combust or something because it’s fire coming out of there and it’s just like
[IMITATES FLARE] like that; it’s that loud. But yeah, there’s days where it’s worse, and sometimes
you hear the sirens going off out there – you don’t know if something or someone is hurt, you know;
explosions. But yeah…
On-Screen Text
Latasha Zamora
10:06:30:00
Latasha
They tell us to keep our doors closed and our windows down, but my house is old. You know, it’s
going to come through – if it’s going to come through – the cracks in my floors. It gets in the house
either way: if it’s the air conditioner’s on, it’s coming through the vents from the air conditioner.
Rev Malveaux (OOV)
Want you to know that we had to fight for our lives.
10:07:00:00
Voice (OOV)
Uh huh.
Rev Malveaux
We have split some atoms and we have refined some petroleum that – that we can’t even detect what
it’s doing in the atmosphere.
Voice (OOV)
Uh huh.
Rev Malveaux
But I know somebody that knows what’s going on.
Voice (OOV)
Oh, that’s right.
Rev Malveaux
The world may fill us full of toxins. The devil might have meant it for evil.
Page 4 of 24
Voice (OOV)
For evil, come on…
Rev Malveaux
But God meant it for the good.
Voices (OOV)
Yeah.
On-Screen Text
Reverend Malveaux
[SOUND OF CLOCK TICKING]
10:07:30:00
Rev Malveaux
To be blunt, the people are treated like – as if they’re expendable, you know. Uh, in most cases some
of the people don’t have a great education. Some of them haven’t been out of their neighbourhood
since they were born. And so…when they complain it’s as if nobody hears them. All of the issues in
Corpus Christi, Beaumont and Port Arthur…
10:08:00:00
Rev Malveaux
…as well as other places like Texas City are the same; the people are the same; the ethnicity
[MISPRONOUNCED] of the people there – they’re African-American; they’re poor; they’re not well
educated; and they don’t have any political influence. With all of the federal dollars; state dollars – all
of the money that’s generated in that area – there’s no excuse – no excuse – for houses to be lined
up…
10:08:30:00
Rev Malveaux
…that close to environmental pollution; there’s just no excuse for it.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
On-Screen Text
In 1911 the city of Port Arthur ruled all its black residents should be moved into the area known as
West Side
On-Screen Text
Today West Side communities like Carver Terrace remain predominantly African American.
10:09:00:00
On-Screen Text
Wilma Subra / Chemical Analyst, former advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Wilma Subra
So, here’s Carver Terrace, and right between the apartment complexes you can see the Premcor-
Valero refinery. And right in front of us, you see the Motiva refinery. So these…
Page 5 of 24
10:09:30:00
Wilma
…residents and their children are totally exposed to the chemicals being released by the facilities
surrounding them. … This is the worst location they could have possibly found for the playground.
When you’re standing here, you’re getting the emissions from both refineries, depending on the way
the wind is blowing. And these are where children actually climb up the slide and come down, and
start…
10:10:00:00
Wilma
… breathing really hard so that they’re taking in the chemicals and the particles deep into their lungs,
and it’s having a much greater health impact than if they were at rest, say, sitting in their home or
sitting in their yard. So here you’ve put it right where the most toxic hotspot is. The chemicals in the
air in this area consist of benzene and vinyl chloride, which are known human cancer-causing agents.
They also consist of 1,3-butadiene and a whole host of volatile and semi-volatile organics. So, on an
on-going…
10:10:30:00
Wilma
… basis, these citizens, including the children, are exposed to these very toxic chemicals. And if you
look here – this is the general area where we’re located – the air emissions from Premcor move into
this facility, and then the air emissions from Motiva move into this area. So this area is being
bombarded, no matter which way the ambient air is blowing; from this way; from Premcor-Valero;
and from Motiva. So these people are constantly being exposed to the chemicals in the air.
10:11:00:00
Zed
Would you let your own kids play here?
Wilma
I would not, no – absolutely not.
Zed
What, even once?
Wilma
No, no. They don’t need that added burden.
[SOUNDS OF LOUD CAR STEREO AND CHILDREN PLAYING IN CARVER TERRACE]
10:11:30:00
Man in black vest
That’s why – man, I got breathing problems today, man. They always burning something and shit. A
lot of people got breathing problems – my little girl, she five months, she got breathing problems.
Zed
Really?
On-Screen Text
Carver Terrace
[SOUNDS OF CHILDREN PLAYING]
Page 6 of 24
Phillip Baugh (OOV)
…but the servant came and reported these things to the master. Then the master, being angry …
10:12:00:00
Phillip (OOV)
…said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the cities, and bring in the poor,
and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind.” The lord Jesus was a carpenter, and he went to be with
the Father, amen?
Crowd
Yeah.
Phillip
And he’s building – the word says he’s building a house – a mansion for you and I.
Tiffany Baugh (OOV)
Anybody need socks?
Phillip (OOV)
And we got food and potatoes, too.
10:12:30:00
Tiffany (OOV)
Oh yeah, they’re all brand new.
Tiffany
We’re here doing a food distribution, as we do every other Saturday. And when we pulled in, the
smell was real strong and real heavy, and, um – in fact my son said, “I can’t hardly breathe, mom,”
and I said, “Well, it’s just the refinery, you know.”
Linda Bressard
First we was outside, and then we started smelling something – it just came like a heat. And once, uh,
we smelled it, we went in the house and, uh, closed up the doors.
10:13:00:00
Tiffany
Port Arthur Police pulled in and told us, “You need to leave immediately,” and he – there was quite a
crowd here that day, and they said, “You all need to all go inside of your houses and close your
doors,” and, um, “there has been a toxic spill at the refinery.”
Linda
They didn’t really know what it was, but they said it could cause breathing problems so just lock up in
your house.
Tiffany
Before we were able to get our stuff packed up and leave, two ambulances had pulled in for two
different households where they were having respiratory distress.
Linda
People was walking and just falling down…
10:13:30:00
Linda
…passing out. Trying to make it to their house and they was just passing out like flies; just dropping.
Babies couldn’t catch their breath. Nothing.
Page 7 of 24
Tiffany
Like I said, that was a Saturday, and by Tuesday there was a gentleman at our church – had come to
the church – and asked if he could speak to us; he was from the refinery. And so he offered to pay us
at the time $750 if we would sign a waiver stating that they would be no – in no way, um, liable for
any kind of future health issues that may result from, uh…
10:14:00:00
Tiffany
…spending that much time breathing the – you know, breathing that substance.
[SOUND OF NEBULISER]
Tranada Brown
Sit down. Sit down, chick; sit right there.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
10:14:30:00
Fireman
Can you make anything on that – I can’t see shit – can you make anything on that? Negative, not at
this time.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
Fireman
Unable to determine anything about the blue container at this time.
[SOUNDS OF SIREN/ALARM]
Announcer (OOV)
This is a…
10:15:00:00
Announcer (OOV)
…test only for station one… This is a test only for station one.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
On-Screen Text
Deputy Police Chief Owens / Emergency Management Co-ordinator
John
How to shelter in place. Go inside a building or vehicle. Turn off all heating, cooling and ventilation
systems, and listen to your television or radio for more information. Shelter in place is, uh, where we
ask the public…
10:15:30:00
John
…to remain indoors. Close all doors; close all windows; turn all, uh, external HVAC devices off; and
remain so until it’s safe to do so; and tune to uh, the radio, which in our area we have specific
designated television and radio networks to give them pertinent information as to the emergency, and
for the reason for the shelter in place.
Page 8 of 24
10:16:00:00
[SOUNDS OF FOOD FRYING AND NEBULISER]
Newsreader (TV)
It was a frightening day for dozens of people who live near a Port Arthur refinery. A heavy oil spill at
the Valero refinery Saturday sent close to forty people to the hospital. Tonight, those residents met to
discuss what went wrong.
TV Voice and Visuals
Almost forty people were taken to the hospital because of what happened throughout west Port Arthur,
in particular Carver Terrace apartments.
10:16:30:00
[SOUND OF BIRD]
Charles Gilbert
All your other refineries, they’re out where no one stays, you know what I’m saying. They’re out in
the fields and – and pushed back, you know, on landscapes. But this area here? Right there; right by
the refinery. They sedate you with the little cheques, you know, and they put you – you know, you put
this to the back of your mind for a minute. They give you…
10:17:00:00
…you know, tangible resources, in order for you to address your issues, but at the same time the
biggest issue is still going on, you know – they’re still letting out these pollutants into the community.
Latasha
Valero had a spill last year, and they were offering people money…
10:17:30:00
[SOUNDS OF FAITH AND JULIO PLAYING]
Latasha
… At that time I was in a financial bind so I did get some money from them, too. It was five hundred
dollars for me and my three children, so…
Zed
And did you have to sign anything to take the money?
Latasha
Yes, I signed something stating that I would not sue them for that particular spill…
10:18:00:00
Latasha
… He had on some brown khakis and a Valero shirt, and he had a little clipboard that he came with,
and he asked me how many rooms I had in my home and how much my income was. And the cheque
came within about a week or two weeks, just like he said.
10:18:30:00
On-Screen Text
Bill Day, Director of Media Relations / Valero Energy Corporation
Page 9 of 24
Bill Day
That’s a very standard procedure in the legal industry. When you go out and adjust somebody’s claim
and say, “OK, we have caused you some inconvenience; we may have, uh, caused you to go to the
doctor. We’re going to take care of that; we will re-compensate [sic] you and pay you something for
your inconvenience.” That ends their claim.
Zed
But what if they have…
10:19:00:00
Zed
…long-term effects caused by that chemical release?
Bill
Well, again, you’re talking about a hypothetical – and in this case there was not a level of H2S released
that would cause anybody any long-term effects. This was an amount that people obviously noticed;
it’s very odorous; they got sick to their stomach; they may have had throat irritation or something like
that. But again, nothing life-threatening; no serious injuries at all, so there’s no lingering healthcare
effects from that one rare, brief…
10:19:30:00
Bill
…instance.
Zed
There seems to be upsets fairly frequently from industry.
Bill
Well it depends on what you mean by an upset, I mean, there’s – Valero and all the refineries have to
operate within, um, air quality regulations and we have certain emission regulations that we have to
meet. Uh, if there’s a process upset where something – not serious to the community – but something
goes awry with the process um, typically what happens is…
10:20:00:00
Bill
…some material is sent to a flare and it’s ignited – that’s a safety device, actually; you’d rather have
that stuff burned off than to have pressures build up and have things back up and so forth. So anything
that’s flared has to be reported to the state – the Texas, uh, TCEQ?
Morris Carter
TCEQ.
Bill
Um, the state tracks all that stuff. That counts as an upset but very rarely do any of those have any
impact at all in the community. That material is safely combusted; goes off into the air…
10:20:30:00
Bill
…it’s something that has to be reported but not anything that anybody would even notice unless they
saw the actual flare.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 10 of 24
On-Screen Text
Corpus Christi, Texas / 320 miles from Port Arthur
On-Screen Text
Alfred Williams has logged the ‘upsets’ from his local refinery for 10 years.
On-Screen Text
They had over 70 ‘upsets’ in a single year
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Alfred Williams
There was a very large flame of fire…
10:21:00:00
Alfred
…and hollering cloud of black smoke coming out of the flare. This went on late into the night. Could
not sleep for – because of the noise and roaring sound. Like I say, my – even my grandkids, my
daughter, my children lived – they all have some sort of respiratory problems.
Zed
Do they?
Alfred
To this day. They say, in America, if you work hard and keep your nose clean, you can move up. I’ve
done all that…
10:21:30:00
Alfred
… Never been on welfare; served my country in the military – you name it; I done it. And at the end
of the day, here I am, you know…right here, stuck in a place where nobody would like to be. … The
average person doesn’t have the kind of finance to fight these people fifteen, twenty years to win a
case. You don’t have it and they know it, so all you do…
10:22:00:00
Alfred
…is you’re like a tumbleweed – just finally blow away. You can fight something for twenty years and
still lose at the end of the day; you still lose in court. And they say justice been served – you lost.
On-Screen Text
Alfred Williams fought a legal case against his local refinery.
On-Screen Text
After six years his lawyers advised him to accept a confidential out of court settlement
Alfred
That’s the way it is in this country. The big and the powerful – they pretty much get what they want…
10:22:30:00
Alfred
…and they pretty much do what they want. If I was doing some of the things they was doing, they’d
have been to snatch me up a long time ago.
On-Screen Text
Mr Williams still cannot afford to move
Page 11 of 24
Alfred
I been in there roughly, already, almost forty years.
Zed
And you were here before them?
Alfred
Oh, way – I was here way before they ever even thought about moving here. When I moved here
there was nothing but a few homes across the road and this company right across the street there. That
was it. And – and all of a sudden – boom. And there were people like, “Why don’t you move? Why
did you buy in…
10:23:00:00
Alfred
…buy property next to a refinery?” I said, “I didn’t buy next to a refinery. They bought next to me.”
Archive Voice (OOV)
Fellow Americans, consider the ranges of Texas. Her open spaces; her crowded places; her western
faces. How peaceful, the ranges of Texas. Here at Port Arthur, Texas, near Louisiana and the sea,
46,000 Texans say…
10:23:30:00
Archive Voice (OOV)
…“We oil the world.” Proud of the Lone Star State. Young city going places. War on the pleasure
pier. College girls swimming.
Archive Voice 2
This is the way they preserve the big crop of peaches down in Port Arthur, Texas – they pour them
(OOV)
into tins then seal them well. It’s all part of a huge high jinks at the largest oil refinery in the nation.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “UP CAME OIL”]
10:24:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “UP CAME OIL”]
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “BACK CANYON (ANW1086/01)”]
Hilton Kelley (OOV)
This is where Ray Charles performed, this used to be Antoine’s Auditorium. Al Green…
10:24:30:00
Hilton (OOV
…James Brown; all the greats right here in Port Arthur.
Hilton
One day I was at the Mardi Gras in 2000, and I looked around and went, “Wait a minute – this town is
devastated. Where are all the businesses; where did all the people go?”
John Owens
My wife used to come down here; uh, shop on the weekends with mom and dad and they’d go to the,
uh – in fact, it was Grant’s, I think it was, and there was another…
Page 12 of 24
10:25:00:00
John
…Bluestein’s. And they would eat, get a soda and get an ice cream cone, you know, the – the things
kids did back then.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “BACK CANYON (ANW1086/01)”]
Latasha Zamora
I’ve always remembered the refineries. As a child we used to play and throw rocks in the ditch across
the street…
10:25:30:00
Latasha
… Yeah. My grandmother, she stays, uh, two blocks down from me. She has, uh, emphysema. I
don’t know if it’s due to her living in this area or the job she had when she was young.
[FAITH MUMBLES]
Latasha
My cousin actually works in the refinery…
10:26:00:00
Latasha
… It worries me because my children are breathing it – even we’re sleeping, the air’s coming through
the windows and stuff like that. But I can’t afford to do better so we have to make with what we have
and be thankful.
Zed
Do you think it affects the kids in any way?
Latasha
Uh, yeah, we always have, like, a – a sinus thing going on with our nose…
10:26:30:00
Latasha
…or a little cough. But most of the time they do good ‘cause we take vitamins.
On-Screen Text
In 2004 the Texas supreme court made a decisive ruling that made it harder for long-term residents to
sue industry for damages
Don Maierson
What the Supreme Court of Texas did in the Schneider v Bates opinion…
10:27:00:00
Don
…has literally thrown out most of the law that we have utilised over the last hundred and forty years to
prosecute these kind of cases.
On-Screen Text
Don Maierson / Attorney
Don
They have held, as a matter of law, that if an adult individual lives in a neighbourhood more than two
years before he brings his case, that he is barred by the…
Page 13 of 24
years before he brings his case, that he is barred by the…
10:27:30:00
Don
…statute of limitations from ever bringing a claim against these refineries. Tom would like to just say
a few words.
Tom Pearson
Well, I’m glad Don let me speak last for the people that were willing to stay.
[APPLAUSE]
On-Screen Text
Tom Pearson / Attorney
Tom
This is the group…
10:28:00:00
Tom
…that will clean west Port Arthur up. You got to give a darn. This opinion will not stop this
community from getting environmental justice if the community wants it.
[APPLAUSE]
10:28:30:00
Tom
Isn’t there a book that says, “The little children will lead them”?
Hilton (OOV)
That’s right, amen.
Tom
And the young adults and the children – they will provide the ammunition, if you will, that Don and I
need to take these people down.
Hilton (OOV)
All right.
[APPLAUSE]
Tom
This is the Roosevelt subdivision.
And then there should be a Roosevelt, uh, [UNINTELLIGIBLE].
Leah (Tom’s secretary)
10:29:00:00
Tom
There is.
Zed
So is that your strongest case, uh, for the kids at the moment?
Tom
Yes, without a doubt, because the statute of limitations never runs on a child until two years after his
18th birthday, so it’s irrelevant – the Schneider opinion is irrelevant to these 2300 – how many are
there?
Page 14 of 24
18th birthday, so it’s irrelevant – the Schneider opinion is irrelevant to these 2300 – how many are
there?
Leah
2,376.
Tom
We have…
10:29:30:00
Tom
…2,376 children to which the opinion does not apply.
Zed
What’s the case for the kids at the moment?
Tom
Well, diminished lung capacity; nuisance; trespass; uh, loss of use and enjoyment of their property at
home – the same as it would have been for the adults.
10:30:00:00
Hilton Kelley
There have been some legal battles won but most of the time, the residents will walk away with maybe
four or five hundred dollars a piece and the attorneys get the bulk of the money as usual.
On-Screen Text
Hilton Kelley / Community leader
Hilton
What we’re waging is a different type of lawsuit. This lawsuit is trying to achieve getting…
10:30:30:00
Hilton
…clean air once and for all for the community. And if anybody want to challenge what I’m saying,
they have my best wishes and hopes that they would come out to Port Arthur and dig through the – our
archives, and look at the upset records of many of these facilities, and look at the high levels of
emissions for themselves, on how much they’re dumping on us per year. And then answer the question
for yourself: would you want to live in a community like this; and if you did, wouldn’t you stand up
and fight for your right to breathe…
10:31:00:00
Hilton
…clean air? It’s everybody’s God-given right to breathe free, uncontaminated, clean air.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
Tom
There are essentially three kinds of emissions coming off of these refineries. There are permitted
emissions; that is, those that are allowed under a permit…
10:31:30:00
Tom
…which is sought and granted. There are fugitive emissions; that is that coming out of a, uh, a bad
seal. No one knows how much of that there is. And then there are upset events, and there’s no rule or
law about what is too many upset emissions…
Page 15 of 24
seal. No one knows how much of that there is. And then there are upset events, and there’s no rule or
law about what is too many upset emissions…
10:32:00:00
Tom
… So, not only do they have a quantified legal amount; in practical effect they have a limitless legal
amount.
Wilma Subra
The refineries will tell you they’re doing all that they possibly can to reduce their emissions but in
reality they’re only doing what the regulatory process requires them…
10:32:30:00
Wilma
…to do in order to get their permits. So when they tell you, “Don’t worry, we’re doing everything we
can,” they are in fact not. They’re not doing it on behalf of the community; they’re doing it on behalf
of the corporation.
On-Screen Text
Joe Arnold / Elected spokesman / Port Arthur petro-chemical industry
Zed
One of the criticisms I’ve heard is the petrochemical industry in Port Arthur have been reluctant to
spend…
10:33:00:00
Zed
…money on the best pollution control technology; that they’ve been sort of dragging their heels.
Joe Arnold
I don’t think so, or if that was the case, I don’t believe we would have come off of, uh, our non-
attainment status and I don’t think we would have seen the amount of reductions that we’ve had over
the last, uh, ten to fifteen years. I think you’ve seen a tremendous investment by industry in those
processes and in those technologies to be able to do that. I think that they’ve been very responsive as
an industry.
10:33:30:00
Zed
The benzene emissions in Port Arthur increased from 197 thousand pounds in 2005 to 267 thousand
pounds in 2006, which is a 36% increase. Now, benzene is a known carcinogen – is this a concern to
you as a spokesman of this industry?
Joe
You know, absolutely it is, um, and we take, uh, we take it very seriously. People need to understand
that, uh, that…
10:34:00:00
Joe
…I live and work in this neighbourhood, too. Um, I work in these facilities every day – I don’t want to
be exposed to a known carcinogen. Uh, so we take those, uh, responsibilities very seriously to, um, to
contain those chemicals, and to, uh, to make sure that any release is mitigated as soon as possible.
Page 16 of 24
We went down to Carver Terrace, which might be out of your kind of remit. People there, you know,
Zed
really complain about…
10:34:30:00
Zed
…breathing what they believe is bad air, um, and tests have shown that, you know, there are sort of
elevated levels of benzene, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and butadiene. Do you think that there
is a connection between high rates of respiratory disease, um, childhood asthma, and toxic chemicals
which are released into the air?
10:35:00:00
Joe
You know, um, you were right on your first statement that, uh, Carver Terrace is a long way away
from here and that, uh, their, um, their fence line, uh, with Valero and Motiva, and I’d have to let them
answer questions about that. But, to the bigger question that you ask, um, I really don’t know; I’m not
a physician; I don’t know what the, um, I don’t know what the direct effects are, and so I’d have to let
you ask somebody else that question – I just really don’t know.
10:35:30:00
Bill Day
We would not discount anybody’s concerns about living by the refineries, um, but, by all means, they
should, uh, talk to us. We do have outreach programmes to help alleviate their concerns. Uh, we will
contact them; we talk to people through our community advisory board and our community advisory
panels, and, um… You know, we do what we can to alleviate people’s concerns because we know
they’re going to have concerns.
Zed
But how can you truly…
10:36:00:00
Zed
…alleviate someone’s concern if you haven’t got the facts that it definitely doesn’t cause them any
damage?
Bill
I – I’m…are you asking us to prove a negative that, you know, this won’t do you any harm?
Everything that we have – every piece of evidence shows that the air quality around the refinery is
good and does not cause people harm; nothing in the air would cause anybody any long-term, lasting
health effects – and, you know, except on very, very rare occasions…
10:36:30:00
Bill
…doesn’t cause them any short-term health problems either.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”]
Page 17 of 24
10:37:00:00
On-Screen Text
Tom Pearson’s legal case on behalf of the Port Arthur children was against numerous local refineries.
On-Screen Text
Some offered early out of court settlements
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”]
Tom Pearson
Everything went, uh, our way. The judge, uh, approved, uh, the settlements, which, uh, is a large
number, uh…
10:37:30:00
Tom
…for, uh, the liability of those defendants, uh, that we were, uh, talking with. And, uh, we have set a
hearing for the 29th of March, which I think is going to be the turning point in the litigation, and I had
an opportunity today to say what I needed to say to the judge, uh, about all of those issues. And I did
it...
10:38:00:00
Tom
...in such a way that the defendants didn’t have a chance to respond. So, uh, I’m very pleased with the
way that worked out. Where is the litigation standing as a result of this hearing today? Uh, it’s well
financed; uh, it’s vibrant. Ultimately the result here is going to be that these children are all going to
be paid fair amounts of money, and that these refineries are going to be forced to operate in such a way
that they no…
10:38:30:00
Tom
…longer emit these substances causing the foul odours out in these communities.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Barack Obama (TV)
[FAINTLY AUDIBLE] …at this defining moment, change has come to America…
Rev Malveaux
Only little “Dubya”…
10:39:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Rev Malveaux
…only George Bush could have done in eight years what civil rights couldn’t do in a hundred years,
and that is help a black man become president. What do you think of that?
[SOUNDS OF CHILDREN PLAYING]
Alfred Williams
My wife, she heard me jumping in the house and she jumped up and said, “What’s wrong with you?!”
And I said, “Well, Obama won.” And we had a great time…
Page 18 of 24
10:39:30:00
Alfred
…we just prayed and thanked God that he – that he did. And, so, I cried because I thought about all
the, uh…tough times that I had, but it were worth it. Only in America a change can come. And that’s
why I know – like this over here, I might not see it but change is going to come where people going to
be held accountable for what they do…
10:40:00:00
Alfred
…to other people. And…takes a while sometimes but right’s going to win over wrong, I know that.
[SOUND OF DOG BARKING]
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
10:40:30:00
Tom Pearson
[FAINTLY AUDIBLE] …still the same number, isn’t it? …
On-Screen Text
The law suit never made it to trial. In October 2008 the case was thrown out of court.
[SOUND OF DOOR CLOSING]
10:41:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
The judge ruled it was impossible for the children to prove their health claim
On-Screen Text
The funds from the earlier settlements are currently at the centre of competing legal claims.
On-Screen Text
None of the children will receive any money
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
[SOUNDS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD CHATTER]
10:41:30:00
[SOUNDS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD CHATTER / GVs OF REFINERIES AT NIGHT]
10:42:00:00
Eric Schaeffer
My dream is to move a refinery to Bethesda in the Washington, DC area – it’s the suburb where a lot
of the lobbyists and lawyers live…
10:42:30:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 19 of 24
Eric
…because I think the regulations we’d have in the US would get so much stricter after a few days of
exposure to these upsets which “cause no harm.” Um, people just wouldn’t tolerate them.
On-Screen Text
Eric Schaeffer / Former Director of Regulatory Enforcement / Environmental Protection Agency
On-Screen-Text
[Resigned 2002]
Eric
The upset can release more emissions in a few days than would come out of normal operations for an
entire year…
10:43:00:00
Eric
… So, you can’t look at refinery emissions, and you can’t look at risk without looking at those upsets
and asking, you know, what happened; how much came out into the environment and what was the
impact on the community. When challenged, the industry’s defence is: “Uh-oh, it’s an upset.”
Refineries leak a lot more pollution than we thought, and the primitive calculations that we do to try to
guess what those…
10:43:30:00
Eric
…emissions are way understate what is actually coming out of these refineries. If you look at the
toxics data that’s reported to EPA, the massive toxic emissions from the industry as a whole has been
declining - the emissions of cancer-causing chemicals have actually increased in some years and,
overall, we’re seeing more of a flat line. And we really have no idea…
10:44:00:00
Eric
…what it means to be exposed to this cocktail of chemicals that, um, that you live with and breathe in
if you’re in a refinery community. Now, the industry will say, “We don’t know,” and that means
everything’s fine, right? Uh, I think it’s more honest to say, “We don’t know.” And my instinct is if I
think about my children – and I have three – and I’ve got waves of chemicals coming at them, um – I
don’t know…
10:44:30:00
Eric
…how it’s going to affect them, but if it’s all the same to you, until we find out, I’d rather not have
them exposed.
Julio Zamora
Mom, how do you spell “earth”?
E-A-R-T-H. Where’s your dictionary?
Latasha Zamora (OOV)
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
I got it.
Julio
Page 20 of 24
Faith Zamora
F…
10:45:00:00
Faith
…A-S-T
Latasha (OOV)
Spells what? Not “slow” but…?
Faith
Fast?
Latasha (OOV)
Say it again.
Latasha
The map shows that the state of Virginia is what, Julio? To the – please don’t put it on there.
Latasha (OOV)
I didn’t hear anybody say blessings.
10:45:30:00
Faith
God is great; God is good, let us thank him for our food, amen.
Latasha (OOV)
Julio?
Julio
I said “amen.”
[SOUND OF HISSING PIPE]
[SOUND OF AIR CONDITIONER]
[SOUND OF HISSING PIPE]
10:46:00:00
Julio (OOV)
Goodnight.
[SOUND EFFECTS: THUNDER AND RAIN]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
In December 2008, a Washington DC court ruled to close the ‘upset loophole’ in the USA.
On-Screen Text
Industry is has appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
On-Screen Text
Meanwhile the ‘upsets’ continue...
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 21 of 24
10:46:30:00
On-Screen Text
The Port Arthur petro-chemical industry says it uses the best available technologies to monitor
emissions and it’s the job of Texas regulators to set standards which the industry follows.
On-Screen Text
Motiva Port Arthur Refinery says it has taken strategic steps for over a decade to reduce emissions and
improve air quality.
They claim their future improvements will increase production whilst lowering most types of
emissions.
10:47:00:00
Credits
Filmed and Directed by
ZED NELSON
Producer
HANNAH PATTERSON
Film Editor
JOHN MISTER
_____
Executive Producers
SARAH TIERNEY
STEVE BOULTON
KATIE BRADFORD
Assistant Producer
CARINA WILSON
Production Assistants
MARTIN McGALE
CAROL COOKE
_____
Additional Camera
ADAM JEPPENSEN
JAY OLIVIER
Sound
CLARE EDMANS
Page 22 of 24
Online Editor
SUE GIOVANNI
Dubbing Mixer
JEZ FODEN
Titles
MARC KNAPTON
_____
“DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”
Written by Blind Willie Johnson
Publishing by Storm King Music Inc
Used by permission of Harmony Music Ltd
“THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”
Gary Lucas Music
“HEAVY CRUDE”
Little Timmy
_____
Associate Producers
MONOCLE FILMS
BOB BORZELLO
DIONNE & IAN GORST
DENISE PATTERSON
HARRY PATTERSON
LOUISE RICHARDSON
Thanks to
JAN TOMALIN
REBECCA DAWKINS
JENNY LEASK
SAROJ NELSON
AMY PATTERSON
PHIL PEACOCK
DUNJA SELBACH
10:47:30:00
Credits
With special thanks to the residents of Port Arthur
and Mr Alfred Williams
Page 23 of 24
Filmed on location in Port Arthur
and Corpus Christi, Texas, 2004 to 2008
[INDIEGOGO LOGO]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Ident
CHANNEL 4 BRITDOC FOUNDATION
Moving Ident
CLARITY PRODUCTIONS
© Clarity Productions Ltd 2009
END
Page 24 of 24
FORMAT
CONTENT
09:30:00:00
LEADER CLOCK
10:00:00:00
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
On-Screen Title
Shelter in Place
John Owens (OOV)
How to shelter in place. Go inside a building or vehicle…
10:00:30:00
John Owens (OOV)
… Close all windows and doors. Turn off all cooling and ventilation systems. Stay off the telephone
and listen to your television for more information.
On-Screen Text
The petro-chemical industry has helped make the Texan economy one of the largest in the world
10:01:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
George Bush (TV)
“…strategy that we rely on is all based towards that vision of a dream of a truly democratic society
emerging. And it’s clearly a lack of trust right now.”
On-Screen Text
Port Arthur, Texas
10:01:30:00
[INAUDIBLE VOICE ON TV]
Julio Zamora
Momma, wash your face.
Clock Face
6:44
Faith, you have dirty clothes in the bathroom.
Latasha Zamora (OOV)
Page 1 of 24
Clock Face
6:45
Latasha (OOV)
You guys need some money for school?
Faith Zamora (OOV)
Yes momma.
Julio
I want papa – one of papa colognes.
Latasha
You want your own cologne?
Julio
Yeah.
Latasha
Why, does it make you feel better about yourself when you have cologne on?
Julio
And a brush.
10:02:00:00
Latasha
And a brush?
Julio
Momma…
Latasha
You smell it all day, fresh. Faith, your turn. Faith, you hear?
Faith
Yes, momma.
Latasha
Don’t get in trouble. … Go walk on the sidewalk; don’t walk in the grass; it’s wet…
10:02:30:00
Latasha
… OK, come on. Come on with me.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “LETHAL INJECTION (ANW1190/08)” & “SUBSONIX
(ANW1038/03)”]
Latasha (OOV)
You got your seatbelts on?
10:03:00:00
Julio (OOV)
…zip it up…
Latasha
I see the kids running. You have to, uh, get going, OK, ‘cause it’s already – we’re already a little bit
late... Bye, have a good day.
Page 2 of 24
Faith
Have a good day, mom.
Latasha
Faith, where’s your – oh, you got your back-pack? OK, go ahead.
10:03:30:00
Hilton Kelley (OOV)
We are literally boxed in. So, no matter where the wind blows, you will get your daily dose of toxic
chemicals.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “LETHAL INJECTION (ANW1190/08)” & “SUBSONIX
(ANW1038/03)”]
Hilton (OOV)
How many people know a child with acute asthma? Hands down.
Hilton
Benzene, butadiene, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen oxide…
10:04:00:00
Hilton
… We know where it’s coming from – we been knowing for years – but we didn’t know what to do
about it. We didn’t understand how these chemicals affected us.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “SUBSONIX (ANW1038/03)”]
On-Screen Text
Each year, Texan industry is permitted to emit millions of tons of toxic pollutants into the air.
On-Screen Text
Refineries are also allowed to release thousands of tons more pollutants in ‘accidental’ or
‘unscheduled’ emissions every year
10:04:30:00
On-Screen Text
The law defines these as ‘upsets’.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “SUBSONIX (ANW1038/03)”]
Jim Marston
The upset law is intended to allow companies to make emergency releases when something
unexpected happens – something that cannot be foreseen happens – in order to protect either the safety
of workers or the…
10:05:00:00
Jim
…integrity of the plant. And it would be something that would be unusual, not reoccurring, and
something that you couldn’t plan against.
On-Screen Text
Jim Marston / Regional Director / Environmental Defense Fund
Jim
In practice in Texas, what happens is one plant will have the same upset dozens of times in one year.
Page 3 of 24
10:05:30:00
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
Refineries are not penalised for upsets as long as they are recorded and reported to the authorities.
On-Screen Text
There were 13,350 upsets reported by Texan petro-chemical plants in 2007 / [Latest available figures]
Sometimes they have, like, a big old torch out there that goes [IMITATES FLARE] you know, it just
Latasha
blows like that and…
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
…it looks like it just lights up…
Latasha
10:06:00:00
Latasha
…this whole area back here, you know. They’re blowing something, and I guess they’re just, like,
letting it go, and it’s – it’s combust or something because it’s fire coming out of there and it’s just like
[IMITATES FLARE] like that; it’s that loud. But yeah, there’s days where it’s worse, and sometimes
you hear the sirens going off out there – you don’t know if something or someone is hurt, you know;
explosions. But yeah…
On-Screen Text
Latasha Zamora
10:06:30:00
Latasha
They tell us to keep our doors closed and our windows down, but my house is old. You know, it’s
going to come through – if it’s going to come through – the cracks in my floors. It gets in the house
either way: if it’s the air conditioner’s on, it’s coming through the vents from the air conditioner.
Rev Malveaux (OOV)
Want you to know that we had to fight for our lives.
10:07:00:00
Voice (OOV)
Uh huh.
Rev Malveaux
We have split some atoms and we have refined some petroleum that – that we can’t even detect what
it’s doing in the atmosphere.
Voice (OOV)
Uh huh.
Rev Malveaux
But I know somebody that knows what’s going on.
Voice (OOV)
Oh, that’s right.
Rev Malveaux
The world may fill us full of toxins. The devil might have meant it for evil.
Page 4 of 24
Voice (OOV)
For evil, come on…
Rev Malveaux
But God meant it for the good.
Voices (OOV)
Yeah.
On-Screen Text
Reverend Malveaux
[SOUND OF CLOCK TICKING]
10:07:30:00
Rev Malveaux
To be blunt, the people are treated like – as if they’re expendable, you know. Uh, in most cases some
of the people don’t have a great education. Some of them haven’t been out of their neighbourhood
since they were born. And so…when they complain it’s as if nobody hears them. All of the issues in
Corpus Christi, Beaumont and Port Arthur…
10:08:00:00
Rev Malveaux
…as well as other places like Texas City are the same; the people are the same; the ethnicity
[MISPRONOUNCED] of the people there – they’re African-American; they’re poor; they’re not well
educated; and they don’t have any political influence. With all of the federal dollars; state dollars – all
of the money that’s generated in that area – there’s no excuse – no excuse – for houses to be lined
up…
10:08:30:00
Rev Malveaux
…that close to environmental pollution; there’s just no excuse for it.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
On-Screen Text
In 1911 the city of Port Arthur ruled all its black residents should be moved into the area known as
West Side
On-Screen Text
Today West Side communities like Carver Terrace remain predominantly African American.
10:09:00:00
On-Screen Text
Wilma Subra / Chemical Analyst, former advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Wilma Subra
So, here’s Carver Terrace, and right between the apartment complexes you can see the Premcor-
Valero refinery. And right in front of us, you see the Motiva refinery. So these…
Page 5 of 24
10:09:30:00
Wilma
…residents and their children are totally exposed to the chemicals being released by the facilities
surrounding them. … This is the worst location they could have possibly found for the playground.
When you’re standing here, you’re getting the emissions from both refineries, depending on the way
the wind is blowing. And these are where children actually climb up the slide and come down, and
start…
10:10:00:00
Wilma
… breathing really hard so that they’re taking in the chemicals and the particles deep into their lungs,
and it’s having a much greater health impact than if they were at rest, say, sitting in their home or
sitting in their yard. So here you’ve put it right where the most toxic hotspot is. The chemicals in the
air in this area consist of benzene and vinyl chloride, which are known human cancer-causing agents.
They also consist of 1,3-butadiene and a whole host of volatile and semi-volatile organics. So, on an
on-going…
10:10:30:00
Wilma
… basis, these citizens, including the children, are exposed to these very toxic chemicals. And if you
look here – this is the general area where we’re located – the air emissions from Premcor move into
this facility, and then the air emissions from Motiva move into this area. So this area is being
bombarded, no matter which way the ambient air is blowing; from this way; from Premcor-Valero;
and from Motiva. So these people are constantly being exposed to the chemicals in the air.
10:11:00:00
Zed
Would you let your own kids play here?
Wilma
I would not, no – absolutely not.
Zed
What, even once?
Wilma
No, no. They don’t need that added burden.
[SOUNDS OF LOUD CAR STEREO AND CHILDREN PLAYING IN CARVER TERRACE]
10:11:30:00
Man in black vest
That’s why – man, I got breathing problems today, man. They always burning something and shit. A
lot of people got breathing problems – my little girl, she five months, she got breathing problems.
Zed
Really?
On-Screen Text
Carver Terrace
[SOUNDS OF CHILDREN PLAYING]
Page 6 of 24
Phillip Baugh (OOV)
…but the servant came and reported these things to the master. Then the master, being angry …
10:12:00:00
Phillip (OOV)
…said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the cities, and bring in the poor,
and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind.” The lord Jesus was a carpenter, and he went to be with
the Father, amen?
Crowd
Yeah.
Phillip
And he’s building – the word says he’s building a house – a mansion for you and I.
Tiffany Baugh (OOV)
Anybody need socks?
Phillip (OOV)
And we got food and potatoes, too.
10:12:30:00
Tiffany (OOV)
Oh yeah, they’re all brand new.
Tiffany
We’re here doing a food distribution, as we do every other Saturday. And when we pulled in, the
smell was real strong and real heavy, and, um – in fact my son said, “I can’t hardly breathe, mom,”
and I said, “Well, it’s just the refinery, you know.”
Linda Bressard
First we was outside, and then we started smelling something – it just came like a heat. And once, uh,
we smelled it, we went in the house and, uh, closed up the doors.
10:13:00:00
Tiffany
Port Arthur Police pulled in and told us, “You need to leave immediately,” and he – there was quite a
crowd here that day, and they said, “You all need to all go inside of your houses and close your
doors,” and, um, “there has been a toxic spill at the refinery.”
Linda
They didn’t really know what it was, but they said it could cause breathing problems so just lock up in
your house.
Tiffany
Before we were able to get our stuff packed up and leave, two ambulances had pulled in for two
different households where they were having respiratory distress.
Linda
People was walking and just falling down…
10:13:30:00
Linda
…passing out. Trying to make it to their house and they was just passing out like flies; just dropping.
Babies couldn’t catch their breath. Nothing.
Page 7 of 24
Tiffany
Like I said, that was a Saturday, and by Tuesday there was a gentleman at our church – had come to
the church – and asked if he could speak to us; he was from the refinery. And so he offered to pay us
at the time $750 if we would sign a waiver stating that they would be no – in no way, um, liable for
any kind of future health issues that may result from, uh…
10:14:00:00
Tiffany
…spending that much time breathing the – you know, breathing that substance.
[SOUND OF NEBULISER]
Tranada Brown
Sit down. Sit down, chick; sit right there.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
10:14:30:00
Fireman
Can you make anything on that – I can’t see shit – can you make anything on that? Negative, not at
this time.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
Fireman
Unable to determine anything about the blue container at this time.
[SOUNDS OF SIREN/ALARM]
Announcer (OOV)
This is a…
10:15:00:00
Announcer (OOV)
…test only for station one… This is a test only for station one.
[SOUND OF WALKIE TALKIE – UNINTELLIGIBLE]
On-Screen Text
Deputy Police Chief Owens / Emergency Management Co-ordinator
John
How to shelter in place. Go inside a building or vehicle. Turn off all heating, cooling and ventilation
systems, and listen to your television or radio for more information. Shelter in place is, uh, where we
ask the public…
10:15:30:00
John
…to remain indoors. Close all doors; close all windows; turn all, uh, external HVAC devices off; and
remain so until it’s safe to do so; and tune to uh, the radio, which in our area we have specific
designated television and radio networks to give them pertinent information as to the emergency, and
for the reason for the shelter in place.
Page 8 of 24
10:16:00:00
[SOUNDS OF FOOD FRYING AND NEBULISER]
Newsreader (TV)
It was a frightening day for dozens of people who live near a Port Arthur refinery. A heavy oil spill at
the Valero refinery Saturday sent close to forty people to the hospital. Tonight, those residents met to
discuss what went wrong.
TV Voice and Visuals
Almost forty people were taken to the hospital because of what happened throughout west Port Arthur,
in particular Carver Terrace apartments.
10:16:30:00
[SOUND OF BIRD]
Charles Gilbert
All your other refineries, they’re out where no one stays, you know what I’m saying. They’re out in
the fields and – and pushed back, you know, on landscapes. But this area here? Right there; right by
the refinery. They sedate you with the little cheques, you know, and they put you – you know, you put
this to the back of your mind for a minute. They give you…
10:17:00:00
…you know, tangible resources, in order for you to address your issues, but at the same time the
biggest issue is still going on, you know – they’re still letting out these pollutants into the community.
Latasha
Valero had a spill last year, and they were offering people money…
10:17:30:00
[SOUNDS OF FAITH AND JULIO PLAYING]
Latasha
… At that time I was in a financial bind so I did get some money from them, too. It was five hundred
dollars for me and my three children, so…
Zed
And did you have to sign anything to take the money?
Latasha
Yes, I signed something stating that I would not sue them for that particular spill…
10:18:00:00
Latasha
… He had on some brown khakis and a Valero shirt, and he had a little clipboard that he came with,
and he asked me how many rooms I had in my home and how much my income was. And the cheque
came within about a week or two weeks, just like he said.
10:18:30:00
On-Screen Text
Bill Day, Director of Media Relations / Valero Energy Corporation
Page 9 of 24
Bill Day
That’s a very standard procedure in the legal industry. When you go out and adjust somebody’s claim
and say, “OK, we have caused you some inconvenience; we may have, uh, caused you to go to the
doctor. We’re going to take care of that; we will re-compensate [sic] you and pay you something for
your inconvenience.” That ends their claim.
Zed
But what if they have…
10:19:00:00
Zed
…long-term effects caused by that chemical release?
Bill
Well, again, you’re talking about a hypothetical – and in this case there was not a level of H2S released
that would cause anybody any long-term effects. This was an amount that people obviously noticed;
it’s very odorous; they got sick to their stomach; they may have had throat irritation or something like
that. But again, nothing life-threatening; no serious injuries at all, so there’s no lingering healthcare
effects from that one rare, brief…
10:19:30:00
Bill
…instance.
Zed
There seems to be upsets fairly frequently from industry.
Bill
Well it depends on what you mean by an upset, I mean, there’s – Valero and all the refineries have to
operate within, um, air quality regulations and we have certain emission regulations that we have to
meet. Uh, if there’s a process upset where something – not serious to the community – but something
goes awry with the process um, typically what happens is…
10:20:00:00
Bill
…some material is sent to a flare and it’s ignited – that’s a safety device, actually; you’d rather have
that stuff burned off than to have pressures build up and have things back up and so forth. So anything
that’s flared has to be reported to the state – the Texas, uh, TCEQ?
Morris Carter
TCEQ.
Bill
Um, the state tracks all that stuff. That counts as an upset but very rarely do any of those have any
impact at all in the community. That material is safely combusted; goes off into the air…
10:20:30:00
Bill
…it’s something that has to be reported but not anything that anybody would even notice unless they
saw the actual flare.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 10 of 24
On-Screen Text
Corpus Christi, Texas / 320 miles from Port Arthur
On-Screen Text
Alfred Williams has logged the ‘upsets’ from his local refinery for 10 years.
On-Screen Text
They had over 70 ‘upsets’ in a single year
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Alfred Williams
There was a very large flame of fire…
10:21:00:00
Alfred
…and hollering cloud of black smoke coming out of the flare. This went on late into the night. Could
not sleep for – because of the noise and roaring sound. Like I say, my – even my grandkids, my
daughter, my children lived – they all have some sort of respiratory problems.
Zed
Do they?
Alfred
To this day. They say, in America, if you work hard and keep your nose clean, you can move up. I’ve
done all that…
10:21:30:00
Alfred
… Never been on welfare; served my country in the military – you name it; I done it. And at the end
of the day, here I am, you know…right here, stuck in a place where nobody would like to be. … The
average person doesn’t have the kind of finance to fight these people fifteen, twenty years to win a
case. You don’t have it and they know it, so all you do…
10:22:00:00
Alfred
…is you’re like a tumbleweed – just finally blow away. You can fight something for twenty years and
still lose at the end of the day; you still lose in court. And they say justice been served – you lost.
On-Screen Text
Alfred Williams fought a legal case against his local refinery.
On-Screen Text
After six years his lawyers advised him to accept a confidential out of court settlement
Alfred
That’s the way it is in this country. The big and the powerful – they pretty much get what they want…
10:22:30:00
Alfred
…and they pretty much do what they want. If I was doing some of the things they was doing, they’d
have been to snatch me up a long time ago.
On-Screen Text
Mr Williams still cannot afford to move
Page 11 of 24
Alfred
I been in there roughly, already, almost forty years.
Zed
And you were here before them?
Alfred
Oh, way – I was here way before they ever even thought about moving here. When I moved here
there was nothing but a few homes across the road and this company right across the street there. That
was it. And – and all of a sudden – boom. And there were people like, “Why don’t you move? Why
did you buy in…
10:23:00:00
Alfred
…buy property next to a refinery?” I said, “I didn’t buy next to a refinery. They bought next to me.”
Archive Voice (OOV)
Fellow Americans, consider the ranges of Texas. Her open spaces; her crowded places; her western
faces. How peaceful, the ranges of Texas. Here at Port Arthur, Texas, near Louisiana and the sea,
46,000 Texans say…
10:23:30:00
Archive Voice (OOV)
…“We oil the world.” Proud of the Lone Star State. Young city going places. War on the pleasure
pier. College girls swimming.
Archive Voice 2
This is the way they preserve the big crop of peaches down in Port Arthur, Texas – they pour them
(OOV)
into tins then seal them well. It’s all part of a huge high jinks at the largest oil refinery in the nation.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “UP CAME OIL”]
10:24:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “UP CAME OIL”]
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “BACK CANYON (ANW1086/01)”]
Hilton Kelley (OOV)
This is where Ray Charles performed, this used to be Antoine’s Auditorium. Al Green…
10:24:30:00
Hilton (OOV
…James Brown; all the greats right here in Port Arthur.
Hilton
One day I was at the Mardi Gras in 2000, and I looked around and went, “Wait a minute – this town is
devastated. Where are all the businesses; where did all the people go?”
John Owens
My wife used to come down here; uh, shop on the weekends with mom and dad and they’d go to the,
uh – in fact, it was Grant’s, I think it was, and there was another…
Page 12 of 24
10:25:00:00
John
…Bluestein’s. And they would eat, get a soda and get an ice cream cone, you know, the – the things
kids did back then.
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “BACK CANYON (ANW1086/01)”]
Latasha Zamora
I’ve always remembered the refineries. As a child we used to play and throw rocks in the ditch across
the street…
10:25:30:00
Latasha
… Yeah. My grandmother, she stays, uh, two blocks down from me. She has, uh, emphysema. I
don’t know if it’s due to her living in this area or the job she had when she was young.
[FAITH MUMBLES]
Latasha
My cousin actually works in the refinery…
10:26:00:00
Latasha
… It worries me because my children are breathing it – even we’re sleeping, the air’s coming through
the windows and stuff like that. But I can’t afford to do better so we have to make with what we have
and be thankful.
Zed
Do you think it affects the kids in any way?
Latasha
Uh, yeah, we always have, like, a – a sinus thing going on with our nose…
10:26:30:00
Latasha
…or a little cough. But most of the time they do good ‘cause we take vitamins.
On-Screen Text
In 2004 the Texas supreme court made a decisive ruling that made it harder for long-term residents to
sue industry for damages
Don Maierson
What the Supreme Court of Texas did in the Schneider v Bates opinion…
10:27:00:00
Don
…has literally thrown out most of the law that we have utilised over the last hundred and forty years to
prosecute these kind of cases.
On-Screen Text
Don Maierson / Attorney
Don
They have held, as a matter of law, that if an adult individual lives in a neighbourhood more than two
years before he brings his case, that he is barred by the…
Page 13 of 24
years before he brings his case, that he is barred by the…
10:27:30:00
Don
…statute of limitations from ever bringing a claim against these refineries. Tom would like to just say
a few words.
Tom Pearson
Well, I’m glad Don let me speak last for the people that were willing to stay.
[APPLAUSE]
On-Screen Text
Tom Pearson / Attorney
Tom
This is the group…
10:28:00:00
Tom
…that will clean west Port Arthur up. You got to give a darn. This opinion will not stop this
community from getting environmental justice if the community wants it.
[APPLAUSE]
10:28:30:00
Tom
Isn’t there a book that says, “The little children will lead them”?
Hilton (OOV)
That’s right, amen.
Tom
And the young adults and the children – they will provide the ammunition, if you will, that Don and I
need to take these people down.
Hilton (OOV)
All right.
[APPLAUSE]
Tom
This is the Roosevelt subdivision.
And then there should be a Roosevelt, uh, [UNINTELLIGIBLE].
Leah (Tom’s secretary)
10:29:00:00
Tom
There is.
Zed
So is that your strongest case, uh, for the kids at the moment?
Tom
Yes, without a doubt, because the statute of limitations never runs on a child until two years after his
18th birthday, so it’s irrelevant – the Schneider opinion is irrelevant to these 2300 – how many are
there?
Page 14 of 24
18th birthday, so it’s irrelevant – the Schneider opinion is irrelevant to these 2300 – how many are
there?
Leah
2,376.
Tom
We have…
10:29:30:00
Tom
…2,376 children to which the opinion does not apply.
Zed
What’s the case for the kids at the moment?
Tom
Well, diminished lung capacity; nuisance; trespass; uh, loss of use and enjoyment of their property at
home – the same as it would have been for the adults.
10:30:00:00
Hilton Kelley
There have been some legal battles won but most of the time, the residents will walk away with maybe
four or five hundred dollars a piece and the attorneys get the bulk of the money as usual.
On-Screen Text
Hilton Kelley / Community leader
Hilton
What we’re waging is a different type of lawsuit. This lawsuit is trying to achieve getting…
10:30:30:00
Hilton
…clean air once and for all for the community. And if anybody want to challenge what I’m saying,
they have my best wishes and hopes that they would come out to Port Arthur and dig through the – our
archives, and look at the upset records of many of these facilities, and look at the high levels of
emissions for themselves, on how much they’re dumping on us per year. And then answer the question
for yourself: would you want to live in a community like this; and if you did, wouldn’t you stand up
and fight for your right to breathe…
10:31:00:00
Hilton
…clean air? It’s everybody’s God-given right to breathe free, uncontaminated, clean air.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
Tom
There are essentially three kinds of emissions coming off of these refineries. There are permitted
emissions; that is, those that are allowed under a permit…
10:31:30:00
Tom
…which is sought and granted. There are fugitive emissions; that is that coming out of a, uh, a bad
seal. No one knows how much of that there is. And then there are upset events, and there’s no rule or
law about what is too many upset emissions…
Page 15 of 24
seal. No one knows how much of that there is. And then there are upset events, and there’s no rule or
law about what is too many upset emissions…
10:32:00:00
Tom
… So, not only do they have a quantified legal amount; in practical effect they have a limitless legal
amount.
Wilma Subra
The refineries will tell you they’re doing all that they possibly can to reduce their emissions but in
reality they’re only doing what the regulatory process requires them…
10:32:30:00
Wilma
…to do in order to get their permits. So when they tell you, “Don’t worry, we’re doing everything we
can,” they are in fact not. They’re not doing it on behalf of the community; they’re doing it on behalf
of the corporation.
On-Screen Text
Joe Arnold / Elected spokesman / Port Arthur petro-chemical industry
Zed
One of the criticisms I’ve heard is the petrochemical industry in Port Arthur have been reluctant to
spend…
10:33:00:00
Zed
…money on the best pollution control technology; that they’ve been sort of dragging their heels.
Joe Arnold
I don’t think so, or if that was the case, I don’t believe we would have come off of, uh, our non-
attainment status and I don’t think we would have seen the amount of reductions that we’ve had over
the last, uh, ten to fifteen years. I think you’ve seen a tremendous investment by industry in those
processes and in those technologies to be able to do that. I think that they’ve been very responsive as
an industry.
10:33:30:00
Zed
The benzene emissions in Port Arthur increased from 197 thousand pounds in 2005 to 267 thousand
pounds in 2006, which is a 36% increase. Now, benzene is a known carcinogen – is this a concern to
you as a spokesman of this industry?
Joe
You know, absolutely it is, um, and we take, uh, we take it very seriously. People need to understand
that, uh, that…
10:34:00:00
Joe
…I live and work in this neighbourhood, too. Um, I work in these facilities every day – I don’t want to
be exposed to a known carcinogen. Uh, so we take those, uh, responsibilities very seriously to, um, to
contain those chemicals, and to, uh, to make sure that any release is mitigated as soon as possible.
Page 16 of 24
We went down to Carver Terrace, which might be out of your kind of remit. People there, you know,
Zed
really complain about…
10:34:30:00
Zed
…breathing what they believe is bad air, um, and tests have shown that, you know, there are sort of
elevated levels of benzene, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and butadiene. Do you think that there
is a connection between high rates of respiratory disease, um, childhood asthma, and toxic chemicals
which are released into the air?
10:35:00:00
Joe
You know, um, you were right on your first statement that, uh, Carver Terrace is a long way away
from here and that, uh, their, um, their fence line, uh, with Valero and Motiva, and I’d have to let them
answer questions about that. But, to the bigger question that you ask, um, I really don’t know; I’m not
a physician; I don’t know what the, um, I don’t know what the direct effects are, and so I’d have to let
you ask somebody else that question – I just really don’t know.
10:35:30:00
Bill Day
We would not discount anybody’s concerns about living by the refineries, um, but, by all means, they
should, uh, talk to us. We do have outreach programmes to help alleviate their concerns. Uh, we will
contact them; we talk to people through our community advisory board and our community advisory
panels, and, um… You know, we do what we can to alleviate people’s concerns because we know
they’re going to have concerns.
Zed
But how can you truly…
10:36:00:00
Zed
…alleviate someone’s concern if you haven’t got the facts that it definitely doesn’t cause them any
damage?
Bill
I – I’m…are you asking us to prove a negative that, you know, this won’t do you any harm?
Everything that we have – every piece of evidence shows that the air quality around the refinery is
good and does not cause people harm; nothing in the air would cause anybody any long-term, lasting
health effects – and, you know, except on very, very rare occasions…
10:36:30:00
Bill
…doesn’t cause them any short-term health problems either.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”]
Page 17 of 24
10:37:00:00
On-Screen Text
Tom Pearson’s legal case on behalf of the Port Arthur children was against numerous local refineries.
On-Screen Text
Some offered early out of court settlements
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”]
Tom Pearson
Everything went, uh, our way. The judge, uh, approved, uh, the settlements, which, uh, is a large
number, uh…
10:37:30:00
Tom
…for, uh, the liability of those defendants, uh, that we were, uh, talking with. And, uh, we have set a
hearing for the 29th of March, which I think is going to be the turning point in the litigation, and I had
an opportunity today to say what I needed to say to the judge, uh, about all of those issues. And I did
it...
10:38:00:00
Tom
...in such a way that the defendants didn’t have a chance to respond. So, uh, I’m very pleased with the
way that worked out. Where is the litigation standing as a result of this hearing today? Uh, it’s well
financed; uh, it’s vibrant. Ultimately the result here is going to be that these children are all going to
be paid fair amounts of money, and that these refineries are going to be forced to operate in such a way
that they no…
10:38:30:00
Tom
…longer emit these substances causing the foul odours out in these communities.
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Barack Obama (TV)
[FAINTLY AUDIBLE] …at this defining moment, change has come to America…
Rev Malveaux
Only little “Dubya”…
10:39:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Rev Malveaux
…only George Bush could have done in eight years what civil rights couldn’t do in a hundred years,
and that is help a black man become president. What do you think of that?
[SOUNDS OF CHILDREN PLAYING]
Alfred Williams
My wife, she heard me jumping in the house and she jumped up and said, “What’s wrong with you?!”
And I said, “Well, Obama won.” And we had a great time…
Page 18 of 24
10:39:30:00
Alfred
…we just prayed and thanked God that he – that he did. And, so, I cried because I thought about all
the, uh…tough times that I had, but it were worth it. Only in America a change can come. And that’s
why I know – like this over here, I might not see it but change is going to come where people going to
be held accountable for what they do…
10:40:00:00
Alfred
…to other people. And…takes a while sometimes but right’s going to win over wrong, I know that.
[SOUND OF DOG BARKING]
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
10:40:30:00
Tom Pearson
[FAINTLY AUDIBLE] …still the same number, isn’t it? …
On-Screen Text
The law suit never made it to trial. In October 2008 the case was thrown out of court.
[SOUND OF DOOR CLOSING]
10:41:00:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
The judge ruled it was impossible for the children to prove their health claim
On-Screen Text
The funds from the earlier settlements are currently at the centre of competing legal claims.
On-Screen Text
None of the children will receive any money
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
[SOUNDS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD CHATTER]
10:41:30:00
[SOUNDS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD CHATTER / GVs OF REFINERIES AT NIGHT]
10:42:00:00
Eric Schaeffer
My dream is to move a refinery to Bethesda in the Washington, DC area – it’s the suburb where a lot
of the lobbyists and lawyers live…
10:42:30:00
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 19 of 24
Eric
…because I think the regulations we’d have in the US would get so much stricter after a few days of
exposure to these upsets which “cause no harm.” Um, people just wouldn’t tolerate them.
On-Screen Text
Eric Schaeffer / Former Director of Regulatory Enforcement / Environmental Protection Agency
On-Screen-Text
[Resigned 2002]
Eric
The upset can release more emissions in a few days than would come out of normal operations for an
entire year…
10:43:00:00
Eric
… So, you can’t look at refinery emissions, and you can’t look at risk without looking at those upsets
and asking, you know, what happened; how much came out into the environment and what was the
impact on the community. When challenged, the industry’s defence is: “Uh-oh, it’s an upset.”
Refineries leak a lot more pollution than we thought, and the primitive calculations that we do to try to
guess what those…
10:43:30:00
Eric
…emissions are way understate what is actually coming out of these refineries. If you look at the
toxics data that’s reported to EPA, the massive toxic emissions from the industry as a whole has been
declining - the emissions of cancer-causing chemicals have actually increased in some years and,
overall, we’re seeing more of a flat line. And we really have no idea…
10:44:00:00
Eric
…what it means to be exposed to this cocktail of chemicals that, um, that you live with and breathe in
if you’re in a refinery community. Now, the industry will say, “We don’t know,” and that means
everything’s fine, right? Uh, I think it’s more honest to say, “We don’t know.” And my instinct is if I
think about my children – and I have three – and I’ve got waves of chemicals coming at them, um – I
don’t know…
10:44:30:00
Eric
…how it’s going to affect them, but if it’s all the same to you, until we find out, I’d rather not have
them exposed.
Julio Zamora
Mom, how do you spell “earth”?
E-A-R-T-H. Where’s your dictionary?
Latasha Zamora (OOV)
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
I got it.
Julio
Page 20 of 24
Faith Zamora
F…
10:45:00:00
Faith
…A-S-T
Latasha (OOV)
Spells what? Not “slow” but…?
Faith
Fast?
Latasha (OOV)
Say it again.
Latasha
The map shows that the state of Virginia is what, Julio? To the – please don’t put it on there.
Latasha (OOV)
I didn’t hear anybody say blessings.
10:45:30:00
Faith
God is great; God is good, let us thank him for our food, amen.
Latasha (OOV)
Julio?
Julio
I said “amen.”
[SOUND OF HISSING PIPE]
[SOUND OF AIR CONDITIONER]
[SOUND OF HISSING PIPE]
10:46:00:00
Julio (OOV)
Goodnight.
[SOUND EFFECTS: THUNDER AND RAIN]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “HEAVY CRUDE”]
On-Screen Text
In December 2008, a Washington DC court ruled to close the ‘upset loophole’ in the USA.
On-Screen Text
Industry is has appealed to the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
On-Screen Text
Meanwhile the ‘upsets’ continue...
[START NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Page 21 of 24
10:46:30:00
On-Screen Text
The Port Arthur petro-chemical industry says it uses the best available technologies to monitor
emissions and it’s the job of Texas regulators to set standards which the industry follows.
On-Screen Text
Motiva Port Arthur Refinery says it has taken strategic steps for over a decade to reduce emissions and
improve air quality.
They claim their future improvements will increase production whilst lowering most types of
emissions.
10:47:00:00
Credits
Filmed and Directed by
ZED NELSON
Producer
HANNAH PATTERSON
Film Editor
JOHN MISTER
_____
Executive Producers
SARAH TIERNEY
STEVE BOULTON
KATIE BRADFORD
Assistant Producer
CARINA WILSON
Production Assistants
MARTIN McGALE
CAROL COOKE
_____
Additional Camera
ADAM JEPPENSEN
JAY OLIVIER
Sound
CLARE EDMANS
Page 22 of 24
Online Editor
SUE GIOVANNI
Dubbing Mixer
JEZ FODEN
Titles
MARC KNAPTON
_____
“DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”
Written by Blind Willie Johnson
Publishing by Storm King Music Inc
Used by permission of Harmony Music Ltd
“THE JUDGEMENT AT MIDNIGHT”
Gary Lucas Music
“HEAVY CRUDE”
Little Timmy
_____
Associate Producers
MONOCLE FILMS
BOB BORZELLO
DIONNE & IAN GORST
DENISE PATTERSON
HARRY PATTERSON
LOUISE RICHARDSON
Thanks to
JAN TOMALIN
REBECCA DAWKINS
JENNY LEASK
SAROJ NELSON
AMY PATTERSON
PHIL PEACOCK
DUNJA SELBACH
10:47:30:00
Credits
With special thanks to the residents of Port Arthur
and Mr Alfred Williams
Page 23 of 24
Filmed on location in Port Arthur
and Corpus Christi, Texas, 2004 to 2008
[INDIEGOGO LOGO]
[END NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC: “DARK WAS THE NIGHT, COLD WAS THE GROUND”]
Ident
CHANNEL 4 BRITDOC FOUNDATION
Moving Ident
CLARITY PRODUCTIONS
© Clarity Productions Ltd 2009
END
Page 24 of 24