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Stephen Colbert takes on lawsuit against Seattle fireworks show
Posted by Richard Wagoner
You know you've struck a nerve when Stephen Colbert weighs in.
In blistering faux outrage, the Comedy Central "news commentator" took a Lake City man to task for filing a lawsuit that says the city must conduct an environmental review before lighting the fuse on the July 4th fireworks show at Gas Works Park, a partially remediated toxic-waste site.
Environmental activist Benjamin Schroeter says, among other things, that those thousands upon thousands of people at the show could kick loose protective soil that caps the contaminated dirt below.
Colbert was having none of it.
"Well, now another holiday is getting kicked right in the cherry bombs, folks," he said on his Tuesday program.
He continued: "I say an abandoned gas plant is the perfect place to shoot off fireworks. The pyrotechnics could last for weeks. Plus, thanks to the underground plumes of carcinogenic benzene, you don't have to bring pot."
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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