POISON AND THE PROSECUTOR
Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth is charging an 18-year-old high school student with a felony that carries a ten-year prison sentence for spilling a vial of mercury in a classroom. Meanwhile Forsyth has refused to take any action against the Boardwalk developers who deliberately dumped at least 10,000 times that amount of the deadly metal in local neighborhoods to evade the costs of proper hazardous waste disposal.
Forsyth has accused Ryan Gorter of malicious destruction of property because on May 11th he brought to Cedar Springs High School a small amount of mercury which he spilled in a classroom. It cost the school district more than $40,000 to clean up the hazardous material, because they completely stripped the classroom to ensure that none of the dime-sized spill remained. According to Forsyth, Gorter did more than spill the material, he stepped on it and rubbed it into the carpet. For that reason and the cost involved, the prosecutor insists that Gorter must be charged with a felony.
Of course, mercury can be a toxic poison in sufficient quantity and concentration. It is an insidious substance that can build up in body until it reaches a toxic level that damages vital organs, especially in children. So let’s say that the Cedar Springs school district didn’t overreact in response to a miniscule and isolated spill of mercury in one of its classrooms. Let’s say that Prosecutor Forsyth isn’t grandstanding when he says he must throw the book at the youngster who caused the spill. That still leaves me scratching my head …
If a dime-sized spill of mercury by a boy who didn’t know of its danger means he should go to prison for ten years, why have Forsyth and his prosecutors turned a blind eye to the massive releases of arsenic, lead, and mercury into our neighborhoods by the Boardwalk developers? These polluters spread real poison among us. They did it deliberately. They know how toxic it was. They didn’t care. They plotted their removal of this hazardous waste from the Boardwalk project site on the sly. They lied to their workers about what they were digging up and dumping off-site. They perjured themselves and faked evidence to evade responsibility for their crimes. And when Forsyth had an opportunity to hold them accountable for all this two years ago, he refused to do so.
Why is that? Why does Ryan Gorter get the full brunt of the law and the Boardwalk developers who made millions in profit by dumping their poison on the cheap get a free pass from Forsyth? Well, you see, folks, when it comes election time, Forsyth gets to show you how much he cares about the children and their environment by leaning on Gorter, whereas going after the Boardwalk developers all he does is make a lot of power political enemies. It’s all about what’s good for Forsyth’s career, not the safety of the public he was elected to serve.
Remember the thirteen tons of pure arsenic, lead, and mercury Forsyth let the Boardwalk developers dump in your neighborhoods the next time he asks for your vote.
Dear L.A.W. Readers...
This comment section by Bill is EXACTLY why we at the L.A.W. continue to hold the G.R. Press and other news organizations accountable for poor news reporting in River City.
Solid reporters in this city should be investigating why our county's lead prosecutor is NOT going after real crime and instead focuses on petty crimes he knows he can win. He won't make enemies prosecuting "the little stuff". The teenager taking mercury of any amounts to school is a foolish thing to do without a doubt. If the evidence shows the boy did as they say then he should face appropriate punishment for his bad judgement. He should be held to the law as we all should be. He should be required to pay back the costs of the repairs done, serve a standard sentence in jail if that is what the law deems and do probation once he is out. He should possibly be entered into a counseling program to find out what is going on in his family life that caused him to make such a bad decision as well. These items would be proper punishment for the crime.
The question is why the prosecutor is picking and choosing who he and his office feel are the "true criminals" of this town? A boy taking mercury to school? I sure hope that is not the biggest crime in this town (and we know it isn't). Let's not turn this teenager into the poster boy for bad behavior. Trust us at the L.A.W., the prosecutor has a whole host of "river rats" that could be poster children for bad behavior in this city YET he refuses to prosecute when the evidence screams the truth.
Going after serious crime does create enemies and the prosecutor knows it so, he avoids it. Let's face it, for a prosector in this city, votes mean more than convictions of the guilty.
There is no doubt had the prosecutor gone after all the bad guys involved in the Toxic Towers/Berkey & Gay/Water Filtration Plant hazadrous waste dumping scheme he would have without a DOUBT made some serious enemies. Why? Because all the big players in town had a hand in this rotten, double dealing, fraud and lies scheme of dumping hazardous waste illegally and exposing all the workers, citizens, businesses and schools in this area to dangerous levels of chemicals dumped anywhere else as deemed "deadly".
The bad players in the Toxic Towers scheme remain Fifth Third Bank, Dykema Excavators, Pioneer Construction, The City of G.R. offices/Logie, and others. The prosecutor clearly was shaking in his boots at the thought of taking on these guys so...he pretended not to see the obvious and let illegal actions and activity become acceptable in this town. Remember....be a business person of power in river city - you go free!!! Be a teenager with bad judgement in river city - you go to jail!!!
The other reason the prosecutor did not go after the bad guys in the dumping scheme is simple - he would have had to do real legal research, had a staff of competent people working the details for many years and keep up the good fight until the victims of this scheme were vindicated. It would have taken years of legal fighting but, the rotten players would have been found guilty, placed behind bars for many years AND they would have had to pay the proper fines to the state and city for the actions they did. The prosecutor may have a title and office but, handling a case like this is beyond his ability.
The evidence is profound and clear - a crime was committed in River City by these parties.
The result is equally clear to date - shake the hands of the right people and turn a blind eye to the truth and go after the little guys so, it looks like you are doing your job.
Too bad Mr. Prosecutor....the wise people of this city know the truth. Just because we can't get Lady Justice to do her job in the of Grand Rapids while you are in office doesn't mean we are giving up on exposing damage and wrong doing to the citizens of this city.
Our power may be little but, our voice strong and clear.
Respectfully,
The Editor, L.A.W.
Bridget Dupont-Tingley
Posted by: Bridget Dupont-Tingley | Jul 28, 2005 at 12:48 PM