Ruben Sims:  

I was born in Orlando, Florida. I attended Holden Elementary, Washington Shore Elementary, Ekelston Elementary, Carver Junior High, and Jones High. I lived in Griffin Park, Carver Court, and other areas of the Parramore District. I also lived in Washington Shores. Most of my family still lives in Orlando. I entered the United State Air Force in 1970. My career was nothing short of outstanding. For example, I was promoted to E7, Master Sergeant, in about 8 years. The average for my career field was about 17 years and many people never made it to this pay grade in their entire career. I was highly awarded in my career as one of the best Cost and Management Analyst in the Air Force. I earned a black belt in martial arts, earned my degree, and set goals to become an Air Force Officer and a university professor upon retirement. In 1983, I became the first enlisted man to become a Certified Cost Analyst. However, my goals were cut short in 1983 when the usual minor aches, pains, discomforts and other seemingly minor health issues turned into devastating illnesses and disabilities. I found myself fighting for life and my career because doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. That is something you never what to happen while you are in the military because you could end up a permanent resident on a psychiatric ward or in Leavenworth. So, my last year on active duty was faced with disgrace as I fought medical issues, military punishment, and disability. For the first time in my career, I faced military court martial punishment because doctors could not diagnose my medical conditions. Therefore, Commanders wanted punishment. Over the years, I learned that other family members who lived in or near Carver Court faced similar problems in the Army and Air Force while on active duty. I also learned that this is no coincidence. However, I was dealing with major disability and dysfunction and could no longer function on the job. It got to the point I could only spend a few hours on the job each day. By noon each day I was in excruciating pain. I said my prayers and my family goodbyes because I thought it was over for me. However, Commanders wanted answers but doctors didn't have answers and neither did I. Eventually, the Commander took control of my medical care and demanded doctors either diagnose the problem and fix me, or get rid of me. The Commander appointed his flight surgeon to take over my case and the flight surgeon was ordered to do whatever it took to resolve my medical issues or get rid of me. The flight surgeon could not find answers either, so he concluded it was psychological. I was removed from my job, hospitalized, and, a select team of physicians was assigned to end my career. They put me on the psychiatric ward and promised to leave me there indefinitely until I got better. Well without treatment, I never did get better in fact I got worse. Thereafter, I asked my mom to contact our congressman and a congressional investigation followed. After the congressional investigation, doctors realized I would not go quietly into an indefinite psychiatric holding tank like many others before me, so they decided instead that I was unfit for duty. They assigned me to the hospital until they relieved me from active duty in 1984. Fourteen years and fourteen days after I entered the military, my career ended in shame, controversy embarrassment, disability and the inability to work for a living. In the meantime, I sought help from well-known physicians outside the military. One of the most recognized physicians and medical consultant for the military identified the problem but military doctors wanted no part of it and claimed the problem did not exist. I returned to Orlando where Dr. Cox diagnosed a medical problem, began treatment, and I began to get better. However, recovery was slow, temporary, and there is no cure toxic poisoning. Yes, years later the Department of Defense found that troops exposed to toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War and the Gulf War developed the exact same medical symptoms as me. Today those symptoms are well studied and well documented by both the military hospitals and the Veterans Administration. Today military people with those same symptoms no longer have to endure the same career devastation, punishment, and shame that I did. However, it was too late for me, my career was over, and I had nothing but a faulty military record to show for my outstanding fourteen years of service. I have since tried to get my military record corrected but last time I checked my request for correction of military record had been discarded without consideration, could not be found, and no action had been taken. The system to correct military records is broken and in serious need of repair. I had long suspected that I had been exposed to toxic chemicals and that those chemicals must be responsible for my mysterious illnesses. However, I had no known source of exposure. Even though I did a tour of duty in Thailand during the Vietnam War, I had never been in Vietnam and I had left the military before the Gulf War. So, what was my source of toxic poison? That question stayed in the back of my mind ever since 1984. But I learned to function with my disabilities and went back to work for the federal government for another 15 years as an officer grade civilian. However, disability overcame me again and I fully retired in 1999. Later, I learned that Carver Court was reportedly built on top of a landfill/dump and was contaminated. Officially city officials denied that contaminates found at Carver Court posed any danger to the residence that lived in Carver Court. To put simply, they lied. They didn¿t want the residents to know the extent of contamination or the hazard residents had been exposed to through literally generations of occupancy, nearly 70 years. They were more interested in developing the land for profitability and avoiding the stigma and potential negative impact of an EPA superfund status for Carver Court and the city of Orlando. They also wanted to avoid taking responsibility and liability for the 70 years of disease, disability, and death that has occurred at Carver Court due to the presence of the toxic chemicals. If they reveal the facts about the chemicals found at Carver Court and how they got there, they would reveal an unbelievable atrocity within the city of Orlando. So, they circumvented the Federal EPA requirements completely and secretly excavated the toxic chemicals from the site. Also, instead of using EPA resources to clean up the site they used federal housing dollars, HOPE VI money to clean up the site and avoided the EPA altogether. While waiting for HOPE VI money they allowed the residents of Carver Court to continue to live at Carver Court for nearly a decade after they knew Carver Court was contaminated. So, over the last decade of occupancy at Carver Court the disease, disability, and death of many residents could have been avoided and the overall damages could have been mitigated for thousands of families. The public was never told exactly which chemicals were found at Carver Court. Press releases focused on convincing the public that there was no danger to human health and the residence of Carver Court. However, I located the URS Executive Summary of the chemical investigation and learned there were high levels of three deadly toxic metals and high-levels two deadly pesticides along with high levels of benzo(a)pyrene as deep as six feet below the surface. This specific information was not released to the public. However, each of the toxic metals and the two pesticides would literally cause the disease, disability, and/or death to every person that ever lived at Carver Court depending upon whether they had short-term or long-term exposure to the chemicals. Also, officials reported that Carver Court was constructed on a landfill, a junkyard, and unofficial dump. However, during the excavation there was no evidence of a landfill, a junkyard, or unofficial dump in the soil I videotaped being removed from the site. Also, the chemicals found were not typical landfill, junkyard, or unofficial dump chemicals. Instead, they were chemicals typically found in a toxic waste dump. So, how do you explain that? In Orlando, you lie to the public so you don¿t have to explain it. So, upon finding the URS chemical investigation summary I knew I had found the source of my toxic poisoning and the cause of the unexplained diseases, disabilities, and deaths throughout my family became painfully obvious. Also, it became painfully obvious that thousands of other residents of Carver Court would have similar stories and a wide-range of health issues and horror stories depending on how long they lived there and their amount of exposure to these deadly toxic chemicals. Trouble is, they will never know unless I tell them. Subsequently, I began my investigation and I have found that every person I located that lived at Carver Court have horror stories to tell about family, friends, or others that have diseases, disabilities, and deaths they believe are related to Carver Court. Then I realized that these stories need to be told and these people need to be compensated for the damaged done to their lives. During my research, I learned that historically city officials, the Orlando Sentinel, and many toxic industries that operated exclusively within the Parramore District before 1945 are responsible for the contamination found at Carver Court and other areas of the Parramore District. Therefore, the truth will never surface through these sources. Therefore, city officials and the Orlando Sentinel both have some responsibility and perhaps liability for the problems in Carver Court and cannot be relied upon to provide nonbiased information to the public. Therefore, the citizen¿s constitutional right to a free press is clear...Expand for more