We are campaigning for clean beaches and to close Millstone in honor of Zachary. fertilizer storage building We are campaigning for clean beaches and to close Millstone in honor of Zachary. ......Zachary Hartley was born in 1997. During her pregnancy, Zachary’s mother, Tonia Hartley, swam regularly at a public beach (“Hole-in-the-Wall”) across the Niantic Bay from Millstone in East Lyme, Connecticut. There were no warning signs and Tonia was unaware that she was swimming in the 8,000-foot “mixing zone” containing Millstone’s radioactive and toxic waste byproducts. ......Zachary was born with a rare life-threatening and disfiguring cancer in his face. Surgeons removed his jawbone and a tumor the size of an orange from his face when he was one year old. The doctors determined the cancer was not of genetic origin but was triggered by environmental factors. Later this summer, Zachary will undergo high-risk surgery to reconstruct his face. ......Zachary’s mother was 17 years old and otherwise healthy when she gave birth to Zachary. ......In 1997, the year of Zachary’s birth, Millstone’s owner filed environmental reports with state and federal agencies. These reports acknowledge that Millstone releases contaminated a fish caught in Niantic Bay with cesium-137, a deadly radioisotope associated with a variety of human cancers. Millstone acknowledges its releases have contaminated shellfish, vegetation and sediment with radiation. The following year, Millstone’s owner pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court to committing environmental felonies by discharging toxic waste in violation of a federal permit. ......Dr. Helen Caldicott, Harvard-educated pediatrician and co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, reviewed the Millstone environmental reports and Zachary’s medical and pathology records. She concluded that, while there can never be 100 per cent certainty that a given exposure caused cancer, the likelihood that Millstone radiological and toxic chemical releases are to blame for Zachary’s medical condition is high. ......Sadly, Zachary’s case is not isolated. Similar cancers have caused mortalities in East Lyme. Cancer is rampant within the shoreline communities surrounding Millstone. A black Labrador that frequented the East Lyme public beaches died of spinal cancer while still a puppy. Swimming at the beaches surrounding Millstone is a hazard to health. Chilodren and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. ......We have donated warning signs to the Town of East Lyme to post at public beaches warning swimmers of the hazards of swimming there. The signs list many of the radionuclides and toxic chemicals Millstone routinely releases pursuant to a federal Clean Water Act permit that expired in 1997. When we presented the signs to the East Lyme Board of Selectmen recently, First Selectman Wayne Fraser said we were out of order and he summoned the police. Mr. Fraser keeps the signs locked in his office so they can’t be seen except by appointment. ......Zachary’s mother would not have exposed herself to Millstone’s deadly toxins at the Hole-in-the-Wall Beach had the town posted a warning sign. ......Zachary’s terrible affliction was avoidable. ......Local, state and federal government officials are on notice of the deadly health consequences of allowing Millstone to treat our public beaches as its private nuclear waste dump. It is an act of criminal negligence to allow these offense against our children and our communities to continue. ......Zachary says: Close Millstone or close the beaches!