Dear Editor,

The government must explain the inconsistency between its new report on the Rubis fuel spill that apparently gave Marathon a "clean bill of health", and the earlier report showing that residents were exposed to high levels of toxic chemicals. More than 20,000 gallons of gasoline leaked into the ground and into the water supply of residents. Doctors told us that we won't know the full effects for years, yet now the government tells us that the coast is clear and we will all be fine?

Last year, a foreign company called Black & Veatch, which I believe Rubis hired, said that adults and children in Marathon were facing "unacceptable risk of incurring adverse non-carcinogenic health effects from the exposure that occurred early in 2013." Carcinogenic means "cancer-causing" as I am sure the people at Rubis and in the government are aware. So then, how can the government's new "Report to the Nation" tell us that Marathon has a "clean bill of health" and that we are all "out of harm's way"?

Clearly these reports do not add up. Either the Black & Veatch is wrong, or the government is. Which is it? The most likely answer will come to you if you keep in mind who has the most to lose.

- Skeptical in Marathon

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