Citrus Heights attorney Joseph H. Marman will soon file a lawsuit against the Shasta County Air Quality Management District in California for failing to ensure good air quality, on behalf of those injured by pollutants used in persistent jet contrails, popularly known as chemtrails.
The type of damage can vary – from reduced agricultural output and reduced solar energy capture, to damaged soils and water systems, to human health problems.
He reported to
Food Freedom that he now has enough plaintiffs to pursue the case, but must first file an Administrative claim.
“Typically after I file a government claim, then we have six months in which to file the complaint,” he said.
Depending on what’s loaded in the spray, as well as particle size, aerial spraying impacts health in a variety of ways. Once inhaled or absorbed through the skin, particles can impede gastrointestinal, respiratory, autoimmunity, neurological and cognitive functions.Chemical, Biological Experiments and Geoengineering
In the wake of spraying in Kitchener, Ontario several years ago, Thomas noticed “1-800 numbers posted which ask you to call in to become part of medical studies,” with the qualification that specific symptoms were contracted “within a certain area within a specific time frame.” He notes, “That sounds like biological warfare tracking to me.”
Could be. Most sources believe, though, that aerosol spraying of chemicals and biologicals is done to modify the weather (via humidity or solar radiation management) or to mitigate industrial accidents. Tracking health effects may be secondary to climate control or bioremediation activity.
During my research for
Atmospheric Geoengineering: Weather Manipulation, Contrails and Chemtrails last year, [33] I discovered that under 50 USC §§ 1512 and 1520, the U.S. government claims authority to conduct open air testing of chemical and biological weapons on civilian populations, without prior and informed consent.
This clearly violates human rights and constitutes a war crime under International Criminal Court statutes, the Chemical Weapons Convention and/or the Biological Weapons Convention, depending on what's being sprayed. [34]
It is no surprise, then, that the U.S. refused to sign the 2010 UN call for an end to geoengineering activities, defined as, “any technologies that deliberately reduce solar insolation or increase carbon sequestration from the atmosphere on a large scale that may affect biodiversity.” [35]
Former crop disease inspector, Rosalind Peterson (who founded Agricultural Defense Coalition) [36], has “great concerns about persistent jet contrails,” she said in an email. She’s been researching and writing about the subject for nine years. In 2009, she wrote, “What we do know and can prove has broad implications for human health, agriculture crop production, the health of the earth’s pollinators … and climate change.” [37]
Previous Success in California Lawsuits
Given the chance, a lawsuit’s discovery process might produce further confirmation that aerosol spraying of toxic and dangerously small substances is linked to human health problems, as well as crop loss and aquatic degradation. But a loss means plaintiffs bear the cost of suit, including defense costs.
In considering legal action, Peterson is cautious. “Being a Plaintiff in any lawsuit subjects the Plaintiffs to all court costs, depositions, filings, and other court costs that may be accrued during the course of a trial,” she said. “And if the plaintiffs lose they may have to pay the costs that the defendants incurred in defending themselves.”
Indeed, she “lost” a case filed a couple decades ago to ban Glyphosate and Diquat, along with 2,4-D (“half of Agent Orange”), from being sprayed near waterways, for having filed too late.
Though officials “agreed not to spray these chemicals near the drinking water intakes of all water systems” in Contra Costa County, Ca., she faced paying “the $10,000 bond and also hundreds of thousands of dollars of their costs.” All of that was waived after agreeing not to appeal the case, she said.
Likewise, for the California chemtrail suit, Marman advises, “We will always have the option to dismiss our case for a waiver of Shasta County pursuing costs if we determine that we will be unable to win the case.”
He is serving
pro bono, but will accept donations to defray costs, which “could range from $2,000 to a maximum of $20,000.” If the plaintiffs lose, they will be responsible for defense costs, but not likely defense counsel fees, he said.
Two high profile cases in California successfully stopped the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture from toxic spraying regimes. Malathion, sprayed in 1994, caused visual and respiratory problems, while aggravating other health problems, leading to that program’s shut down. [38] After a spraying plan for the light brown apple moth was announced in 2007, though its damage to crops was never documented, legal action and administrative proceedings defeated it. [39]
Success in an action like the one Marman will pursue would be bolstered by broad public and media support, especially if like-minded public officials became involved. The information such a case could yield is tremendous – something any litigant should weigh against costs – when deciding how high to reach in defending their health and the environment.
Government officials and NGOs continue to deny the existence of geoengineering experiments in the U.S., much like they deny that biotech foods cause harm, or that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has radiated the Northern Hemisphere at unsafe levels.
As a result, the global movement to document the nefarious clouds continues to grow. Recently, filmmaker G. Edward Griffin developed a method of data collection to build the body of evidence, seeking 50-100 volunteers over the next month. [40]
Such evidence could be used to support any litigation pursuing the halt to such programs.
Rady Ananda specializes in Natural Resources and administers the sites Food Freedom and COTO Report.
The fully referenced version of this article can be obtained directly from the author. Details here.
