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ACTIVIST "Until that tire pile is Continued from Al completely gone, I will impacts," Stanislaus County be involved. If there Supervisor Paul Caruso said. "It kept everybody on their toes." wasn't the pressure, Tree of activism they would have let it Behind the collective voice is 'burn. ... The only way Karen Cox, a Westley farmer's you are going to wife, who was dumbfounded Sept. 22 when she saw the black cloud change anything is to billowing from the tire pile. get out there and get "My husband took me outside and he said, 'Honey, something's involved." happened that you should see.' I spent the rest of the day crying, — Annette Smith, she said. mother turned activist, Cox hasn't been this active Patterson since the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors 13 years ago allowed Modesto Energy to recycle Smith has put in 40 hours and tires without conducting an envi- spent at least an equal amount of ronmental impact report on the time worrying about her health Filbin fire-pile site. She said after and her son. she lost that battle, she fell silent. "Until that tire pile is com- Three weeks ago, Cox started pletely gone, I will be involved," calling neighbors, an organising she said. "If there wasn't the pres- effort that drew a crowd of 200 sure, they would have let it burn. people to the Westley Hotel for It's just like registering to vote, the the first in a series of community only way you are going to change meetings with state officials. anything is to get out there and At the second community meet- get involved." ing, two weeks ago, more than 300 people packed the Patterson High School cafeteria shouting out Taming Tracy requests to put out the fire and Lowney's point exactly. complaining of bloody noses and She believes that if Tracy resi- difficuln' breathing. dents — many of whom are com- Two days later, officials an- muters — had risen up like resi- nounced that they would begin an dents around Westley have, the assault on tires burning on the Tracy fire would have been extin- flat areas of the property. "I'm not guished a long time ago. sure (officials) would have been She hopes that Westley is an quite as active as we've pushed opportunity to reignite the issue them to be," Cox said. over putting out the Tracy fire and Since then, she has organized a begin cleanup on the site. letter-writing campaign to local, "The Tracy fire was just too state and federal politicians and easy to brush under the rugs. spent many hours on the phone There is still a lot to be done; with officials trying to convince that's why I am trying to blow the them to put out the entire fire whistle on the Westley tire fire," and follow through with a clean- Lowney said. UP. Officials contend that the Tracy Following her lead are more fire can't be put out because of than 100 residents of Patterson, risks of groundwater contamina- Westley and Tracy. Most of them tion — the aquifer is just under- are new to the art of activism. neath the area where the pile is "This is a major difference, burning — and the fact that the because so many people are just tires are very deep and in a howl- scared for their health, and there like basin. are some who are just mad," said But Lowney doesn't buy it. Claude Delphia, a 50-year Patter- She has written dozens of Let- son resident and longtime com- ters to politicians regarding both munity activist. "Some of (these the Westley and Tracy tire fires people) are new faces to activism, and made even more phone calls This really hits the button. to officials from the Environ- mental Protection Agency, San Phoenix rising Joaquin County and the Integrated When the Westley fire broke Waste Management Board. out, Annette Smith shipped her Officials from San Joaquin 10-week-old son to Campbell and County and the federal Environ- attended the first meeting Cox mental Protection Agency did not organized Sept. 27. return telephone calls by The Like most who have joined the Record asking for comment. committee, Smith was frustrated John Frith, spokesman for the with the answers politicians gave Integrated Waste Management on air quality and the lack of Board, said the Tracy site will information available on the eventually be cleaned up but health effects of such a fire. She deferred questions about when began making phone calls, writing that will happen to the EPA. letters and researching. "I've never Lowney hopes to start getting a had to get a hold of a politician. regular group to attend the San I have not found myself in this Joaquin County Board of Super- role before," she said. visors meetings. She also hopes to Even though she said getting in organize a group like Cox's that touch with staffers in Gov. Gray could elicit help from federal offi- Davis' office has been nearly cials. impossible — "I was on eternal "How can we get the feds to hold. I realized I had a life to live" care unless we throw a huge stink — she isn't giving up. like they did in Westley?" she said.