"G.E. stole something that belonged to the public and then liquidated it for cash."

by Dave Conlin Read, posted Nov. 19, 2001

So spoke Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. during the student interview portion of the press conference held prior to his Dowmel Lecture Series address November 14, 2001 at Monument Mountain High School in Gt. Barrington, MA.

The student had begun the interview on the subject of the St. Lawrence Cement plant proposed for nearby Hudson, NY, an issue that has gotten plenty of attention hereabouts because of the dilligent efforts of Friends of Hudson.

Kennedy begged off any in-depth analysis of that issue, but not before making a few points about St. Lawrence Cement's “abysmal” record and “public communications problems” in the communities where it currently operates, adding that any monetary boon to the area would not be significant enough to justify the environmental damage the plant would cause.

It wasn’t until after the student broached the subject of PSAs (public service announcements) that Kennedy warmed up, shifting roles from polite interlocutor to impassioned instructor. The student had seemed to be under the impression that PSAs were a valuable tool in the area of environmental or public health education.

Kennedy quickly scotched that idea, using the example of the teary-eyed Indian "Please Don't Litter" spot from the 1970s, which he pointed out was a campaign cooked up by the aluminum and bottling industry during the age of the “bottle bills,” designed to divert the public’s attention from the real issue of waste. He added that, because big corporations were behind it, that PSA garnered more than $500 million of "free air time."

Kennedy digressed a bit to explain the real meaning of "free air time;" saying that the airwaves are owned by the citizens, but controlled by corporations through licenses granted by the F.T.C.. Although those licenses stipulate that broadcasters must act in the public interest, the reality is that corporate interest trumps all others.

Then the student interviewer raised the subject of GEs' multi-million dollar PR campaign on the issue of removing its PCBs from the Hudson River, which he admitted had initially persuaded him to the don’t-dredge point of view, giving Kennedy the opportunity to dive into the issue that he had come to talk about.

He is the founder and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance and chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper. The Keeper concept started on New York's Hudson River where a coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen mobilized in 1966 to reclaim the Hudson from its polluters.

“G.E. stole something that belonged to the public and then liquidated it for cash.“ He went on to describe GE's modus operandi, whereby GE promises long-term economic prosperity in exchange for permission to dump toxic waste, adding the threat to move their operation to New Jersey if they don't get what they want.

Since he had described GE's conduct as theft and extortion, we asked Kennedy whether criminal law or the RICO statute would be appropriate in these matters.

He said yes, citing a case he has pending in Florida, where he is suing Smithfield Foods under the provisions of the RICO statute. That company's pollution results from meat processing.

Fear of criminal charges may have influenced GE to accept the terms of the Consent Decree on the clean-up of their abandoned Pittsfield site and the Housatonic River in October, 1999, as the Massachusetts Attorney General's office was then in the process of convening a Grand Jury to investigate those matters.