Armed with homemade signs and the undeniable First Amendment right to gather peacefully in protest, citizens of Camden County flocked to the downtown square in Camdenton Monday evening for a public demonstration designed to bring awareness to the ongoing chemical contamination affecting residents.
The protest was organized by the Camden County Contamination Board, a public Facebook group that has grown to more than 1,100 members in the last three months.
The lagoon and well no longer serve the city.
Modine purchased the Sunset Drive facility in August 1990 and continued manufacturing operations until its closure in 2012.
For over 25 years investigations by the Missouri Department of Resources, Environmental Protection Agency and consultants hired on behalf of the manufacturers have conducted numerous studies and analyses as well as remedial actions enforced by corrective abatement consent orders that still continue to this day.
Approximately 30 citizens of all ages filtered in and out of the July 3, 2017, demonstration that lasted from 5-7 p.m. in front of the Camden County Courthouse.
Protest signs, carried by both young and old, were aimed at Camdenton City Hall as well as the state and federal governments.
Because some citizens were protesting water and air quality unrelated to the manufacturing facility, the fact that the demonstration was held at the courthouse within city limits was an appropriate location.
“Clean water is a right!” a young man yelled.
“Clean water is a right!”