In Anniston, Alabama two small neighborhoods known as Sweet Valley and Cobb Town have become ghost towns after years of contamination of PCB by the local Monsanto plant. PCB, short for polychlorinated biphenyl's, are tox-ins that are known to cause cancer in humans. In 1966, the Monsanto company hired a private scientist to undergo tests in the local waterways of Anniston. Af-ter releasing bluegill into the water, fish violently reacted to the toxins as blood gushed from their gills. Monsanto terminated their use of PCB toxins five years later. They did not report their findings nor potential health hazards of the toxins that their own experts had proved. In 1979, the toxin PCB was banned by the United States government.
             Many young and old people hard working people of this community have lost their homes, life and dreams. These small towns, that were known as "working class neighborhoods" now look like ghost towns with Danger signs and fences to confirm it. In 1971, a young man died due to complications from a brain tu-mor, lung cancer and hardening of the arteries. I can not conceive that this was thought of as a "natural" death. Most folks in Anniston, Alabama didn't give a second thought to why the water often ran red or purple. Their children played in this creek and the waterways it fed. They ate fish from them. Their livestock drank from them. Like the residents of many small towns who are dependent on a single local industry, the people of Anniston were not eager to bite the hand that fed them. With much courage 3,500 members of the infected community have won their fight in court. Monsanto was found liable for the negligence of their acts. The company may very well be paying tens of millions of dollars to their victims, but it is only fair considering the fact that the company grossed over eight million in profit during the use of the PCB.
             I could not imagine being a prisone...