Seed Newsvine
(March 2019, Springfield, IL) Former Springfield Alderman Bill Clutter will be holding a book signing event at the Lincoln Public Library Monday, April 8th 326 S. Seventh street from 6pm-8 pm being hosted by Friends of Lincoln Library. Mayor Langfelder will be there in attendance to introduce Mr. Clutter, who served as Ward 1 Alderman from 1987-1991 under Mayor Ossie Langfelder.
Clutter, a private investigator, has penned an in-depth account of his investigation of a rare childhood cancer epidemic that occurred in Taylorville, Illinois after that community was exposed to coal tar by Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS) during a 1987 clean-up of hazardous waste. His work on the CIPS case led to what became an important Illinois Supreme Court precedent that changed the way utility companies cleaned up abandoned coal tar sites in Illinois, requiring more protective cleanup standards.
Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) sites operated in nearly every city of the state before natural gas was discovered. These facilities converted coal into gas. Coal tar was a hazardous waste by-product of that process that contaminated the environment.
Clutter began his career by serving the Voting Rights Act lawsuit in 1984 on the City of Springfield. The lawsuit was filed by leaders of the African-American community who alleged that the commission form of government, consisting of five commissioners who were elected city-wide, prevented Blacks from being represented on the city council. After a federal judge ordered a new aldermanic government Clutter was elected to the city council in 1987, along with two African-Americans, Dr. Allan Woodson, and Frank McNeil, who was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Clutter will read from Chapter 4 “Democracy Comes to Abraham Lincoln’s Hometown,” which tells this history.
The book highlights the legal work of two local attorneys; Michael B. Metnick, who filed both the Voting Rights Act lawsuit and initiated the filing of a civil lawsuit against CIPS on behalf of the families whose children were afflicted with neuroblastoma; and civil trial lawyer Thomas F. Londrigan who took over the case and single-handily won a jury verdict against one of the largest law firms in the world, Jones Day, that now represents President Donald J. Trump in the Mueller investigation.
This book is also about more than that. “This is also a history lesson, a story of a different form of cancer that eats away at democracy, neo-fascism that seeks to set afire the legacy of Abraham Lincoln,” said Clutter.
“I want this book to be the Uncle Tom's Cabin of our generation,” said Clutter. The book includes the story of how the most famous inaugural address ever delivered by an American president originated in Springfield, IL. The words John F. Kennedy’s delivered “. . . ask not what your country can do for you-- ask what you can do for your country,” was borrowed from a speech Ralph Bradley, founder of the Illinois Farm Union, delivered to his members.
“Though this story occurred over three decades ago, what happened to Taylorville, Illinois, should be a lesson for this generation. We need to protect the children by protecting the environment,” said Clutter.
Bill Clutter was one of the co-founders of the Downstate Innocence Project, now known as the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP). Clutter now resides in Louisville, KY where he continues to investigate death penalty cases. In 2013, Clutter founded a national organization called Investigating Innocence, a non-profit organization that investigates cases of inmates who seek to prove their innocence. For more about Investigating Innocence visit
Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit Investigating Innocence.
Coal Tar is available on Amazon, at Springfield's Prairie Archives, and soon at Springfield's Barnes and Noble. For more on the book Visit https://www.coaltarandneuroblastoma.com/
For more information please contact Rochelle Arjmand at 217-553-8115.
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