Dressed in a black suit and red shirt, with chains draped over his body, Imanuel Reed looks more like the Rev. Al Sharpton than an environmental consultant. Invited by Mayor Ruby Cook, he is here to tell Brooklyn, Ill., village trustees his findings. He suspects 1993 floodwaters that ran through a railroad yard in this Mississippi River town have left deadly residue. He tells them he has taken soil samples and that what he's found doesn't look good: Lead. Barium....
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By Jennifer Silverberg
Police Chief Jerome Young herds the media out of a village-board meeting after a reporter asks whether an executive session has been advertised, as required by the state open-meetings law. "Move out of here," he orders. "Advertise that."