Both REEF Environmental managing partner Kent Hall and Preserve Our Environment for Tomorrow president Clara Curtis believe their stance is correct on the issue of whether or not Curtis admitted to slandering REEF during a deposition.

Curtis was deposed July 22 as part of the civil lawsuit of plaintiffs Sandi Boone and Sammy Rudd against REEF. In an Aug. 7 Daily Home article, Hall said Curtis admitted to slandering the company during this deposition. When reached for comment, Curtis denied this accusation.

REEF’s legal counsel provided a copy of Curtis’s deposition to The Daily Home. Hall said, “I wanted to provide this to you in response to the article on (Aug. 7). Ms. Curtis hasn’t been forthright with the citizens of Sylacauga. It takes her being under oath for her to be honest.”

Hall cited an exchange in the deposition between REEF attorney George Walker and Curtis in support of his viewpoint.

Walker and Curtis were talking about statements Curtis had made to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Environmental Management Council in April involving health problems people living around the REEF facility were facing since the company began operations. This was said:

Walker: Did you have the first fact to have made that public assertion to ADEM?

Curtis: Word of mouth of citizens.

Walker: That’s rumors. Did you have any evidence?

Curtis: No.

Walker: OK. So you were making statements of fact when you had no basis in fact to make them, right?

Curtis: Other than what people have told me.

Walker: So you had no basis of fact?

Curtis: Yes.

Walker: So you were defaming this company? You were slandering this company by making statements that you had no basis to make? That’s what you were doing, wasn’t it?

Curtis: That’s what you are saying.

Walker: Well, that’s what you did.

Curtis: That’s exactly what I said.

When reached for comment by The Daily Home, Curtis said she reviewed her comments and did not slander REEF.

“(The attorney) never understands from the very beginning that I spoke (to ADEM), not on my behalf but on the behalf of the 3,000 citizens that are part of the complaint,” Curtis said. “He wants to indicate through the whole deposition that it is just me.”

She points out at one point in the deposition Walker asks her if she has made shutting down REEF her life’s priority to which she answers no and says she estimates she only spends around three hours a week in matters involving REEF.

At another point Walker asks Curtis to list the number of politicians or government agencies to whom Curtis has complained. It includes the Environmental Protection Agency, ADEM, President Barack Obama, the Talladega County Commission, Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Rep. Mike Rogers, Gov. Bob Riley, state Sen. Jim Preuitt, state Rep. Ron Johnson and possibly the U.S. Justice Department.

Curtis testified that as long as she is uncomfortable in her home because of odors and fumes she believes are coming from REEF she would continue to fight against the company, even if no assistance comes from the people or agencies she has contacted.

She further testified about how the odor in her home affects her quality of life. She said it causes her anxiety because there are many times the smell is inescapable and causes her to have sinus problems, a numb tongue and occasional nausea. It also causes embarrassment because friends no longer want to visit her home because of the smell.

She shared a story in her testimony of when Hall came and visited her home and checked out her home. She said she is still not sure why he came. Curtis said she expressed to Hall how uncomfortable the odors from REEF were making her.

Hall noticed a couple of small air purifiers and suggested a type of purifier for her to purchase, according to her testimony. She said she did not think she should be responsible for buying an air purifier. She asked Hall if he could smell the REEF odor in her home, and he responded he could not.

Also in the deposition testimony, Walker mentions Curtis called REEF’s operations a “terrorist crime” in a letter requesting a meeting with the Environmental Management Council.

Curtis later told the newspaper that she used terrorism in the context of a thing or person that is especially annoying, not in the sense of using acts of terror as a means to coerce.

In the deposition, Walker points out that none of REEF’s employees, who work closest to the source of the treatment process have reported illnesses or symptoms that Curtis has complained about. He also points out that there is no medical documentation that REEF may be causing health problems.

Curtis told the newspaper she has numerous copies of testimonials of people who say their health has been affected, especially with respiratory problems but also in other ways.

She added that the odor continues off and on for residents in the area almost every day, and residents are daily sending complaints to the EPA. She said she does not feel that REEF will ever be able to mend the relationship with residents in the area.

“My fight is to help people who do not have a voice or are not able to stand up to highfalutin lawyers,” Curtis said.

Contact Brandon Fincher at bfincher@dailyhome.com.