Submitted by John Stauber on
Environmental activist and college instructor Adrienne Anderson has been the victim of an "outrageous" defamation campaign at the hands of the PR department of Colorado's largest sewage plant, and a judge has hit the plant with a $450,000 damage award. According to the Denver Post, the judge has ordered the sewage district "to publicly apologize in a full page ad." The Post notes that the judge "singled out Metro's public relations director Steven M. Frank for harsh criticism, concluding that Frank made false statements under oath." The ruling came after Anderson "claimed that Lowry Landfill accepted radioactive waste from the Rocky Flats (nuclear) bomb plant, material that the district's sewage system was unable to safely treat. Processed wastewater leaving the sewage plant ends up in the South Platte River; leftover sludge is used as fertilizer on a district property east of Denver. Anderson and other activists say the process simply dilutes hazardous waste and spreads it out where the public might be exposed to it." The judge found "there was 'overwhelming' evidence that the district's 'five-year history of illegal and retaliatory action' had damaged Anderson's professional reputation and career."
Printer-friendly version