Early in my work covering PCBs and dioxins, I met document collector and author Carol van Strum. She has helped me navigate the political and scientific maze of this notorious chemical.

Carol van Strum, who has been fighting for decades to stop aerial herbicide spraying of Oregon’s Siuslaw National Forest, with (from left) Rudy, Gus and Sadie on her property in that forest. Her research and activism have contributed to the adoption of less insane national forest policies.
Photo by Ken Gagne.Screenshot

More information in this recent post.

Editor’s Note: This is an early release of an interview conducted for Friday’s Planet Waves FM. This mailing is from the nonprofit investigative team Chiron Return. — efc

Dear Friend and Reader:

The dioxin problem associated with the Palestine, Ohio train wreck is being well-concealed; the incident itself is barely breaking the surface of national news. 

Carol van Strum of Tidewater, Oregon, knows what it’s like to have dioxin sprayed all over her home, the forest she lives in, and the whole region of her state. In the 1970s, this was due to the intentional release of the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange. Among other accomplishments, she was responsible for having the product registration pulled for the most toxic component of Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T.

She also personally litigated the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest Service to stop the spraying. We discussed that in our interview from May 2022

Tonight, we discuss what happened 10 days ago in Palestine, Ohio.

I have also prepared this omnibus resource about dioxin, which links to other articles. Earlier this weekend, I published a history of PCBs by Peter Montague that covers many issues related to dioxin. And you can read my history of PCBs and dioxin from Sierra

Please do what you can to get this information to people in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and also into the hands of reporters and other Substackers who may be willing to cross-post it.

For those of you who knew Dr. Ward B. Stone from Hudson, New York, an American environmental hero — Listen to my 2017 interview with Ward Stone

Read more at Planet Waves FM from Chiron Return