Residents' anger lingers over Red Butte oil spill

SALT LAKE CITY — Disasters, both natural and otherwise, seem to be stalking Alyssa Kay and Roi Maufas.

The couple was expecting their first child when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana in August 2005. While their hometown of Lafayette was spared a direct hit, Maufas lost his job in New Orleans as a result of the widespread damage.

Less than a month later, Rita, another monster, Category 3 storm didn't miss Lafayette, and Kay gave birth in the aftermath of the worst hurricane season on record. She and Maufas were living in a friend's garage when Darius was born in October.

A move to Salt Lake brought a promise of renewal, and a new focus for the couple. They were in the early stages of launching a business together, constructing solar-powered emergency shelters out of used, steel shipping containers, when more than 33,000 gallons of crude oil erupted from a breach in a Chevron pipeline near Red Butte Garden on Salt Lake's east bench sometime during the night of June 11 and coursed down Red Butte Creek to the pond at Liberty Park, directly across the street from their rented home on 1300 South.

The next morning, young Darius, now 4 years old and asthmatic, was clearly suffering, and a foul smell filled the air.

"Darius was having trouble breathing, his arms and legs were numb, he was nauseous," Kay said. "These are signs of neurotoxic poisoning."

A trip to Primary Children's Medical Center revealed little about what was causing Darius discomfort, but the couple knew they could not return to their home until whatever was in the air was gone, for good.

Whether they can safely return home in the near future and whether Chevron can provide concrete evidence that proves such safety is one of many burning questions posed before a panel made up of local, state and federal officials, including representatives from Chevron at a Town Hall Meeting held Monday evening to address the progress of the oil spill clean-up.

Kay and Maufas were the first to the microphone after the panel opened up for questioning, and Kay became emotional as she recounted the struggles her family has endured since that June morning.

"The air still stinks at my house," she said. "It still makes me sick. Chevron keeps expecting me to take my son back, my son who has a history of asthma and has already had a severe reaction to the spill. What evidence is there that it's safe?"