Today’s Daily Times states...
The Wade Dump fire needs to be remembered for several reasons. It’s a reminder of the importance of the dangers of toxic waste and the importance of environmental laws that protect us from them. Some of those laws sprung directly from this tragedy.
I find it personally flattering that until 2008 when I did an article on Melvin Wade in the Chester Spotlight and subsequently wrote the book, 'Black Industrialist, The Melvin Wade Story', the mainstream press had completely buried the Wade Dump Site story.
As a result of my work, the group who has been trying to get a memorial placed at the site for over 12 years finally got the attention of Chester government officials and received $10,000 of CEDA funds towards the memorial.
This week, the Daily Times wrote a 34th Anniversary article and followed it up a day later with the editorial. However, when I searched their archives while researching material for the book, there was no 1-2-5-8-11-16-22 or 28th anniversary mention. Nothing. Nill. Naught.
Even my dear ole dad said that I ‘raised from the dead’ a story that no one wanted to hear again. I had no idea.
The book isn’t popular around here (neither am I for writing it), although there are academics outside of the area very excited about ‘Black Industrialist’.
Hopefully, the anniversary will be remembered every year and a memorial will finally be placed on the site.
Yeah, it has been buried, and imagine only one person doing any jail time or being fined for all the stuff dumped there over the years. The fact of the matter is that while building the new stadium, there was arsinc found buried there, that had been dumped in the arly 1900's. Couldn't have been done by Mr. Wade. Also, nobody ever mentions the first fire at that rubber plant in 1968. All of us kids in the LV ran down to see the fire, and breathed in whatever was in that black and grren smoke!
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