57 FREE Years Pet of the Check the ECRWSS Snow Report Week on PRSRT STD Page 8A US Postage Online & 4B PAID Permit #2 North Haverhill, NH POSTAL CUSTOMER www.VermontJournal.com National Love Your Pet Day Feb. 20 Your Local Community Newspaper FEBRUARY 20, 2019 | WWW.VERMONTJOURNAL.COM VOLUME 57, ISSUE 38 Imerys Talc of Vermont files for bankruptcy protection BY SHARON HUNTLEY carcinogen linked to mesothe- since the early 1970s. the best interests of our stake- The Vermont Journal & The Shopper lioma and ovarian cancer. Imerys maintains, however, holders to litigate these claims According to Bloomberg that its product is safe and that in perpetuity and incur mil- LUDLOW, Vt. – Imerys Talc Press, “Under Chapter 11 of the Chapter 11 filing is the best lions of dollars in projected le- of Vermont, along with Imerys the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the way to protect the company gal costs to defend these cases. Talc America and Imerys Talc units can set up a trust to deal moving forward. By deciding to file for Chapter Canada, have filed for Bank- with the current talc cases and “This is an important, mean- 11 protection, we have laid the ruptcy Chapter 11 protection any future claims. It will also ingful, strategic step for our groundwork to efficiently re- Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. Ac- corral the cases under a single business. After carefully eval- solve our historic talc-related cording to the company press judge and allow Imerys to pres- uating all possible options, liabilities and focus on our con- release, the Chapter 11 process sure plaintiffs to accept lower we determined that pursuing tinued success in the industry.” will allow the filing companies settlements.” Chapter 11 protection is the A spokesperson from Imerys the time and protection to ne- Bloomberg Press cites that best course of action to ad- Talc America confirmed that gotiate a global agreement with “Johnson & Johnson faces dress our historic talc-related the filing will have no impact creditors, primarily represen- more than 11,700 claims that liabilities and position the fil- on company operations or tatives of current and future its baby powder causes can- ing companies for continued their employees. “Imerys Talc claimants in cosmetic talc-re- cer…and in 2019, there are at growth. The safety of talc has America and all of its locations, lated litigation, while defining least 21 trials on court calen- been confirmed by dozens including its operations in Ver- a path forward for the impact- dars targeting J&J over tainted Imerys Talc files for bankruptcy protection. of peer-reviewed studies, as mont, will continue to operate ed talc businesses. talc, according to data com- STOCK PHOTO well as regulatory and scien- as usual throughout this pro- Imerys Talc is a key supplier piled by Bloomberg, including tific bodies, and the litiga- cess. Employees shouldn’t see of talc for Johnson & Johnson more than 15 in California’s $4.69 billion to 22 women who dom of Information Act, dis- tion is entirely without merit,” any changes to their roles or Powder. Johnson & Johnson courts and one in Georgia set blamed the talc-based product covered internal documents commented Giorgio La Motta, wages and benefits as a result of is currently facing multiple to start in March.” for causing their ovarian can- revealing that Johnson & John- president, Imerys Talc Ameri- the Chapter 11 filing, and our billion-dollar lawsuits over al- Making headlines last year, cer. Particularly damning to son executives were concerned ca, Imerys Talc Vermont, and company is continuing to pro- legations that their product in July of 2018, a jury ordered Johnson & Johnson, the New about the possible asbestos Imerys Talc Canada. vide safe, high-quality prod- contains asbestos, a known Johnson & Johnson to pay York Times, through the Free- contamination in baby powder “However, it is simply not in ucts to our customers.” Audits complete as SMCS prepares to move forward SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – A Services, provide important The forensic audit, con- from October 2017 through policies, which all agree must with and what it will take to forensic and certified inde- information to the organiza- ducted by the BerryDunn December 2018. Auditors all be addressed. Governance reverse the financial trends. pendent audit, both ordered tion’s leadership as it consid- accounting firm, reviewed talked to employees inside the and financial management are The audit confirms what we by Springfield Medical Care ers necessary changes that will documents, such as bank organization. Auditors found among the priorities as deci- believed to be the case – in- Systems’ Board of Directors help the health system move statements, check disburse- no evidence of funds being sions are made for the organi- creased patient revenues did and shared with the state of toward a strengthened finan- ments, credit card statements, used improperly, such as for zation’s future. not exceed the growth in ex- Vermont’s Agency of Human cial outlook. and payroll distributions, personal gain. “It’s important to note that penses, which led to a low “Our Board ordered this the audit did not reveal any- cash position.” audit to explore and review thing that could have affected The audit shows that ap- records and review and imple- patient care,” Halstead added. proximately two-thirds of ment improvements to inter- “We will implement changes SMCS’s loss was due to in- nal controls, so we can keep necessary to help get us back creases in employee benefit providing quality care to this on solid financial footing.” costs. It also shows SMCS pro- community,” said Michael The full audit of SMCS vided approximately $2 mil- Halstead, interim CEO. “The was also conducted by Berry- lion in charity care for mem- forensic audit does show that Dunn and covers the time pe- bers of the community. at times, former leadership riod ending Sept. 30, 2018. It The auditors noted that the did not report to our Board shows a significant operating SMCS provided them with all all of the information that was loss and also provides specific of the sufficient and appropri- needed to make strategic de- guidance to leadership about ate evidence in order to com- cisions. That is something we financial challenges. plete their examination. are fixing.” “This is the audit informa- “This audit information will In order to safeguard the or- tion we were expecting,” said prove valuable as we complete ganization’s assets, the forensic Halstead. “Since our manage- the difficult, but necessary audit suggests that the Board ment team arrived in Spring- job of working with the com- and leadership should review field to see the situation up munity to secure the financial Audits of SMCS and Springfield Hospital show more inside financial information to the public. internal controls, training, close, we had a good sense of future of this organization,” PHOTO BY SHARON HUNTLEY and the Board’s investment the numbers we were dealing added Halstead. Jones & Lamson project building momentum BY JOE MILLIKEN and Environmental Protection or PCB fluids in the concrete The Shopper Agency on this project since floors, and oil that seeped from our acquisition,” Bob Flint an underground tank that was SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – In a said in a recent interview. “The used to store fuel for heating Springfield Selectboard meet- Southern Windsor County Re- the building to name a few. ing held Jan. 14, the discussion gional Planning Commission They also mentioned a clean of the environmental clean has been by our side through- up of the adjacent river bank up and demolition of the for- out this entire process and has that took place last fall in which mer Jones & Lamson machine helped facilitate much of the metal and stone grinding waste tool plant building, located at funding for assessment work at was cleaned up. 280 Clinton St. in Springfield, the site.” Also discussed was the over- picked up steam. Empty since The agenda at the meeting all structural damage to the 1986, the building was pur- was to look at some of the ex- building itself, through a study chased out of bankruptcy by isting conditions and structural map completed by Heritage the Springfield Regional Devel- concerns on the property, some Engineering, based in Perkins- opment Corp. in 2003. details of the corrective action ville. The maps indicate large At the meeting, the recent plan itself, and the schedule. sections of the building that partially completed corrective The various areas and degrees are completely unsound. Also Jones & Lamson Machine Co. in Springfield, Vt. action plan draft was discussed of contamination, over some 20 reviewed were severe problems PHOTO BY ALAN LAMPS with Dan Voisin of Stone Envi- years of site investigation, were with asbestos and the various ronmental; Bob Flint, executive explained during their slide- costs and procedures needed to final corrective action plan can begin. fore the end of 2019.” director of the SRDC; and site show presentation. “The firm dispose of the waste, as well as will be complete and put out “Once the DEC approves the In addition to applying for the manager Trish Coppolino from Stone Environmental, based in the continued plan of the “trail to bid sometime this spring. partial corrective action plan, community development block the Department of Environ- Montpelier, is our environmen- extension project” or expan- From there, the plan is to start we will move forward with an grants, which will be submitted mental Conservation, all key tal site engineer and who wrote sion of the existing bike path the demolition process some- application for a community in June, some additional site in- players in the development of the partial corrective action that runs alongside the vacant time in the fall, which would development block grant to vestigation inside the building the plan, which took approxi- plan,” Flint added.