Written October
2003
This letter was written to our elected Officials including the Office of
the President of the
United States
. My name is Brian K. Veerkamp. I live or use to live at
9245 Mosquito Road
, in
Placerville
,
California
. I am happily married and have been for twenty-two years. My wife Lori
and I have two beautiful daughters, Tiffany 18 and Rashell 14. I am the
Deputy Fire Chief for EI Dorado Hills Fire Department. My wife is a
homemaker and great mother to our daughters. I have led firefighting
forces for the Governors Office of Emergency Services throughout the State
of
California
,
Nevada
and
Montana
. We are a very proud family and members of pioneer families to
Northern California
dating back to the 1850's. My family and I watched the Fourth of July
festivities from
New York
on television. My wife, after listening to many of the songs that were
sung mentioned that its sad how far our country has veered away from the
messages that these songs portray and are what shaped our country years
ago. They send a message about this country being full of opportunities,
dreams and goals.
The following will truly
show how frustrated and discouraged my family is. We had been living a
pretty normal life over the past years. Faithful, hardworking, community
involvement, etc. Then during the fall of 2000, my family and I began
experiencing some strange health symptoms. Fatigue, uncoordination,
various aches and pains, gastro-intestinal problems, confusion, increased
heart rates with palpitations, numbness of extremities, etc. We also
noticed an odor in our home but dismissed it as just being a normal smell
of our home. Over the next few months, we all had numerous tests by
numerous physicians. Orthopedics, General practitioners, E,N, T's,
Rheumatologists, Neurologists, Emergency Room Visits and on and on. My
wife Lori was the worst and even got to the point of thinking she was
going crazy because we couldn't find anything wrong, medically with any of
us. Finally, our Family Physician recommended if we felt it was
environmental then move out of our home and see what happens. We moved in
with my Mother in-law at the end of April 2001, and after weeks, we began
to feel slightly better. I then did some checking into Industrial
Hygienists to have our home analyzed. After exhaustive testing and
thousands of dollars, we found levels of chlorodifluromethane or R22 Freon
in our home. We contacted the company that we had purchased and installed
a new Lennox Complete Heating and Air Conditioning System Jan. 2000) from.
The salesperson that sold us the unit came out to our home confirmed the
odor in our home to be that of Freon and found a leak in the system. The
leak was in the indoor coil inside the air plenum, which is, located right
above the heating unit/ heat exchanger. This process of testing,
confirming, etc. took months. We were forced to rent a trailer throughout
the summer of 2001 to live in, in our backyard, since we were unable to go
into our home due to the toxic levels. We notified all companies that had
relation to our system and all declined any responsibility or willingness
to help. Presently, all the companies involved to date are still pointing
fingers at each other as we prepare to take them to court. We now have
been out of our home since April of 2001.
At the end of July 2001 , we moved in with my Mother and lived there for
16 months. After that we moved into a house provided by my brother.
We are all feeling pretty good and are finishing up homeopathic
detoxification processes, since the medical profession didn't have any
answers other than let time pass by. As we've prepared for our legal
battle, we've hit many snags, dead ends, etc., but through perseverance
and determination we have found out some very interesting information that
we urge you to do something about, before other consumers have to go
through the nightmarish hell we've been through and still continue to go
through. We have virtually lost all of our possessions and home, which is
still contaminated to a toxic level. We have confirmed this many times
through tests that have now cost us more than $33,000.00. These tests have
included other houses & contents to compare too. We have spent over
$120,000.00 so far for legal fees and over $30,000.00 for content removal,
airification attempts, storage and etc. We have virtually wiped out our
life savings & funds saved for our daughters' college educations,
gaining proof of this issue.
Out
of the need for more proof and desperation, I posted an Internet message
months ago and by the grace of GOD, got more than I bargained for. My
first hit was a contact from an attorney in Gainesville, Georgia who was
dealing with the same situation and he put me in touch with John Vanzyll
of Diversified Product Inspectors based out of Tennessee.
Based on Mr. Vanzyll's research, case history, our experience and his
experience in this subject matter, this is a very serious problem going on
every day that needs your full-undivided attention. Hopefully, with your
help there will not be anymore consumers who are seriously hurt/die and
lose everything they have worked so hard for.
John has been working on this
very problem since 1996 and has the proof to win lawsuits hands down. The
problem is, should there be a need for lawsuits? I think not. The standard
heating, ventilating, air conditioning systems that are out there in homes
all across the country are capable of causing great harm and damage to
families and will until something is done to prevent it. My family and
thousands of other families are living proof and unfortunately, there are
some deaths as proof of how deadly this situation is.
The
systems if they leak indoors can produce hydrochloric, hydrofluoric acids
and phosgene gas. The Freon decomposes with heat and makes these products.
Mr. Vanzyll's company has contacted the major H.V.A.C companies with the
above referenced problems, offered a patented solution at no cost and has
been threatened to not cause a problem for their industry. The companies'
basic response is that they will deal with independent issues on a one on
one basis, but are unwilling to fix the problem. This is where we as American
citizens need your HELP. We have the proof of how deadly the HVAC
systems are and need your assistance to make something happen to protect
American consumers. We have contacted the Federal Consumer Product Safety
Commission, filing a complaint, but to date we have not received a
response yet. After conversations with Mr. Vanzyll, regarding the above
commission, there is knowledge that they are very aware of many HVAC unit
problems and are unwilling to do anything regarding the issue. As you can
see, people's lives are being ruined and lost because of this and it must
be corrected now. My understanding of government is to help protect the
people you serve and we along with all consumers need your help now to
correct the design flaws or add a leak detector mandated by the
government. Please, do not turn your back or be intimidated by anyone
regarding this problem, my family and many others presently, and in the
future need your help. just as you have urged us all to get involved,
volunteer, help others, your dedication to those you serve is greatly
needed on this situation. Our proof shows the expenditures of major moneys
being wasted on undetectable, related health issues for an identifiable
reason of faulty HVAC systems. Together we can solve a lot of peoples
problems, provide safer HVAC systems and virtually eliminate other people
of this great country having to go through the nightmare we've experienced
and still are. Please help other American citizens and us. We are
available for contact and will be awaiting your reply. John Vanzyll owner
and President of Diversified Product inspections has all documentation,
proof, etc. to this issue and has presented it and it is continually
covered up or investigators lives are threatened. Mr. Vanzyll can be
reached at 1-800865-6220 or www.dpi.inc.com.
UPDATE
June 2003: Our
story continues. We are just about through all depositions and the case is
looking strong. The defendants are still pointing fingers at each other as
the evidence continues to mount. We have a Toxicologist from
Texas
who can link the causation of the symptoms to refrigerant gas exposure,
etc. Six new cases have been discovered in the last month, with one of
them being in
Placerville
with a system just like ours. Through aggressive testing and results we
have helped these people get out of their homes and away from the exposure
and guess what they all feel better just by getting away from the exposure
to the toxic gases. Some of the people have had some very serious health
problems and their doctors could not determine the cause. The defendants
continue to argue that what is leaking is pure Freon and it will not harm
you. This is the same story that the H.V.A.C. technicians are told by
their employers to tell consumers, yet in their basic training manuals
they are taught quite differently. It's clearly written that any leak must
be fixed and by just having a leak you may have hydrofluoric and
hydrochloric acid and Freon coming from the system and with any heating
you will have those products along with phosgene gas. There are no
acceptable levels for phosgene gas exposure. There also may be some
fluorine's and solvents. Any hazardous waste until their
reclaimed are a hazardous waste, with toxic potential pure
and simple. Another interesting piece of evidence we have discovered
is Dupont produces about 28 million metric tons of Freon per year for
leaking systems and yet the EPA says you can't have a leaking system, especially
commercial ones. We have seen numerous cases where industry has put
in as much as 60 lbs of Freon and still not fixed the leaks. They
just keep putting in more Freon and allowing it to leak. This not
only damages the ozone, but is hurting people when it leaks into their
home. This must be stopped. Our trial will begin July
8th in El Dorado County. We urge your support and would love for
some disclosure on this issue so others can at least be warned.
These systems need California Proposition 65 warning labels on them or better
yet a leak detector, or better manufacturing so they don't leak at
all. If they can't stop the leaks then the systems need
disconcontined until their safe. I and our expects believe there are
literally thousands if not hundreds of thousands that are being affected by
this problem but yet don't know it. We are and will be very
available to discuss this with you and our experts will testify to all the
above. Please help us get something done about his.
UPDATE
2006: We lost our lawsuit in 2003.
The defendants brought in a NASA Scientist/Toxicologist and he
testified it can't happen on the Space Shuttle so it can't happen in
your home and yes he did work on both Shuttle Programs that ended with tragedy.
Instead of appealing the loss we decided to get on with life and
pick up the pieces. The
financial burden was overwhelming for us. After three years and extensive airification we were able to get
the house to no detectable level of FREON. We then had to do repair work, repaint inside and out, discount it,
disclose all of our problems, and provide all legal documents, and we sold
what we thought was our dream home. The
home we had hoped we would live in for years to come. Even after the new paint and thorough cleaning, an odor was still
present. Based on our exposure, we didn't jeopardize our health any
further. We have slowly replaced and rebuilt our lives, but still have some
minor health issues, especially when we are exposed to hydrocarbon based
products. We have gone
completely holistic, organic and very basic and are reluctant to use modern,
convenient things. We have and
continue to do a lot of research into natural products, cures, foods and
appliances as well as holistic doctors. We have done extensive detoxing of our bodies and try to eat as
healthy as we possibly can. We
don’t use microwave ovens, TEFLON coated appliances or pots and pans,
air conditioning with FREON, hydrocarbon based products or anything that
we don’t know what’s in it or know what it could do to us. We eat meat that I hunt or fish and grow most of our own vegetables
in the summer. By now I hope
your getting the picture. If
it’s convenient it’s probably not good for you. There’s no substitute for faith in God, hard work, the truth and
being responsible and taking care of yourself. If you think the CPSC, Industry, FDA, Pharmaceutical, Health care
and Insurance companies are going to look out for your best interest, you
better think twice. All they
want is your money. Since our
situation ended, we continue to get contacted by perfect strangers via the
internet that are having the same ordeal happen to them as happened to us.
The most recent was the family in Virginia
and we have helped them get on a road to recovery as they prepare for
their legal battle. With this
continual saga we dedicate this web-site to helping others and gathering
more information to uncover industries corruption and poisoning of
thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people.
-Brian
Veerkamp