Murrow Award, Best Writing. "Bad Chemistry," Alabama Public Radio
“In 1944, the D-Day invasion took place during World War two. That same year PCBs were officially declared toxic. But nobody told my great grandfather. Monsanto salesmen were warned to stay clear of the chemicals. That information didn’t filter down to any of the black men working maintenance jobs at the plant. The company didn’t even provide protective gear,” said Taylor Phillips, of Anniston, Alabama.
Please find Alabama Public Radio’s entry for the Murrow Award for Best Writing, titled “Bad Chemistry: Monsanto, Anniston, and Taylor.” The APR news team spent eight months, with no budget, on this in-depth project.
Please click here to listen to the feature...
https://www.apr.org/news/2023-08-30/monsanto-anniston-and-taylor
2023 marked 20 years since the Monsanto Chemical Company settled with residents of Anniston, Alabama. 20,000 people in this town northeast of Birmingham blamed chemicals called PCBs, produced a local factory, for medical problems ranging from cancer to birth defects. Twenty years later, Anniston still bears the scars.
The impact of Monsanto’s PBCs in Anniston didn’t harm one generation, but many. APR news worked with twenty four year old Taylor Phillips to tell her story of how these chemicals killed members of her family in Anniston, going back to her great grandfather in 1930. Her family began suffering from cancers and birth defects about the time NASA astronauts first landed on the Moon in 1969. Taylor’s mother, brother, and aunt were among those who had blood tests taken. They found had levels of PCBs higher than what the federal government considered safe.
This radio feature began as an academic paper by Phillips during her studies at Rice University. She’s now entering medical school at the University of Pennsylvania.
Respectfully submitted.
Please find Alabama Public Radio’s entry for the Murrow Award for Best Writing, titled “Bad Chemistry: Monsanto, Anniston, and Taylor.” The APR news team spent eight months, with no budget, on this in-depth project.
Please click here to listen to the feature...
https://www.apr.org/news/2023-08-30/monsanto-anniston-and-taylor
2023 marked 20 years since the Monsanto Chemical Company settled with residents of Anniston, Alabama. 20,000 people in this town northeast of Birmingham blamed chemicals called PCBs, produced a local factory, for medical problems ranging from cancer to birth defects. Twenty years later, Anniston still bears the scars.
The impact of Monsanto’s PBCs in Anniston didn’t harm one generation, but many. APR news worked with twenty four year old Taylor Phillips to tell her story of how these chemicals killed members of her family in Anniston, going back to her great grandfather in 1930. Her family began suffering from cancers and birth defects about the time NASA astronauts first landed on the Moon in 1969. Taylor’s mother, brother, and aunt were among those who had blood tests taken. They found had levels of PCBs higher than what the federal government considered safe.
This radio feature began as an academic paper by Phillips during her studies at Rice University. She’s now entering medical school at the University of Pennsylvania.
Respectfully submitted.
Taylor Phillips