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The Power of Grants – Part 2

By Jillian Wheeler | March 26, 2008

Texas is a very diverse state, in geography and in population. Much of the state, however, remains vast areas of ranchland dotted with small towns, and this fact has made Texas a preferred location for companies whose business is the disposal of chemical and nuclear waste.

Until recently, inadequate state laws and lax enforcement have favored these companies. But citizen action is changing that.

Panna Maria, Texas, is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. Although the town itself is tiny, it is the center of a conservative community, industrious and proud of its history. A few years ago, residents in Panna Maria and the surrounding small towns began to notice some disturbing trends. More women than ever before were having miscarriages, and babies were being born with birth defects. Cancer rates were rising sharply, and more cancer patients were dying. Livestock were similarly affected.

People were concerned, and that concern grew when state officials began visiting and asking to test well water. When the results were in, they were not explained in detail, but residents were advised to stop using the well water unless they could install costly filtering systems.

Suspicion soon fell on a “tailings pond” owned by a major oil company. The pond was situated on the site of an old mine, and few people knew how it was currently being used, although trucks were frequently seen entering and leaving the site.

Most people in Panna Maria are devout Catholics, and it was natural for them to consult their local priest. Father Frank had grown up in Silesia in Poland, and he had seen the damage inflicted by unregulated industrial pollution there. He strongly believed the community must act to protect itself, but he also knew understood that social activism was foreign to the local culture.

The people of Panna Maria are ranchers, nurses, teachers, housewives and mothers. Most of them are staunch Republicans. Many of them were employed by local oil and chemical companies, or had family members who were. Much of the community was opposed to questioning the status quo.

Nevertheless, over the course of a few weeks, some local residents began to meet regularly at the church. They formed Panna Maria Concerned Citizens, and incorporated it as a non-profit. They submitted formal inquiries to state agencies, demanding information.

Responses were slow in coming. Eventually, they learned the tailings pond was unlined, in violation of a state law passed years before. State officials had been extending variances to the company permitting them to operate without the required environmental protections. Whatever substances were in the pond were leeching into the groundwater below.

When Panna Maria Concerned Citizens began investigating exactly what kinds of substances were being trucked in and dumped into the pond, they hit a brick wall. As the company extended its considerable legal and financial resources and blocked every attempt of the citizens to get more information, it became clear the group would need deeper pockets of its own. An environmental lawyer from Austin donated his services, but money was needed for staffing, depositions, fees and court costs.

Help came in the form of grants from foundations dedicated to environmental causes. With grant funds, Panna Maria Concerned Citizens spent the next two years exerting legal and media pressure. Eventually, they were successful in getting more (although not complete) information from the company and convincing the State to enforce environmental regulations. Ultimately, the oil company sold the site.

The environmental damage done to the Panna Maria area will continue to impact the community for generations. But through the courageous actions of Panna Maria Concerned Citizens, the damage was halted.

In other communities throughout south and west Texas, similar groups have mobilized to stop the dumping of nuclear and chemical wastes. Grants have provided these citizen organizations the power to operate effectively.

If you have a community project that could benefit from the power of grants, please consider joining our Spring Grants Training Classes:

www.GrantMeRich.com/classes.htm

Put the power of grants to work for your project.

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