>>18136026
Conspiracy or simply storage?
Submitted by editor on Mon, 08/11/2008 - 13:50.
Theories surface around vaults stored in Madison
By Kathryn Purcell
Managing Editor
Type in βMadison, GAβ under Googleβs Blog Search, and it shows up on the first page. Search βMadison, GAβ on YouTube, and itβs the first video that shows up. Web sites like Alex Jonesβ Infowars.com and AboveTopSecret.com are talking about it.
As of late, some of these sources have started to link the government, particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to rows and rows of black, plastic βcoffins,β 500,000 to be exact, currently being stored outdoor in a field within the city limits of Madison.
Theories abound as to whether these are being stored near a major transportation hub (Atlanta) in an effort by the government to prepare for American victims of biological warfare, or whether they are being stored for a natural, or man-made, disaster. Even more sinister, some of these sources speculate that these βcoffinsβ are part of a conspiracy on the part of the government that involves the institution of martial law, the separation of desirable and non-desirable citizens, according to government opinion, and the establishment of American concentration camps, some of which are currently functional, according to these sources.
βYep, these are cheap plastic coffins. Hundreds of thousands of them. Donβt believe it? Why coffins? Why in the middle of Georgia?β the entry βHalf a Million Plastic Coffins?β on Alex Jonesβ Infowars.com, dated July 18, states. βWell, apparently the Government is expecting a half million people to die relatively soon, and the Atlanta Airport is a major airline traffic hub, probably the biggest in the country, which means Georgia is a prime base to conduct military operations and coordination. It is also the home of the CDC, the Center for Disease Control. I donβt want to alarm anyone, but usually you donβt buy 500,000 plastic coffins βjust in case something happens,β you buy them because you know something is going to happen. These air tight seal containers would be perfect to bury victims of plague or biological warfare in, wouldnβt they?β
While the origins of the theories are unclear, there are blog postings that date back to December 2007 (AboveTopSecret.com), although the majority of postings have come within the latter half of July.
And, according to Vantage Products Corporation Vice President of Operations Michael Lacey, thatβs exactly when the calls started pouring in.
βItβs been going on for quite a while, about a week,β Lacey said.
Lacey maintains that the theories regarding the property, and whatβs on it, arenβt quite accurate.
The βcoffinsβ arenβt coffins at all, according to Lacey. Instead, they are burial vaults, βthe outer container for caskets,β Lacey said, placed in the ground before the coffin to protect the coffin and maintain level ground above.
There are currently 50,000 of these burial vaults on the property, according to Lacey. As the vaults were placed on the site around 1997 or 1998, there may have been as many as 70,000 or 80,000 to begin with.
βItβs nowhere near the quantity they talk about on the Internet,β Lacey said.
This quantity of burial vaults, Vantageβs Standard Air Seal model in black, also the least expensive model and the most in-demand, was made to cater to what Lacey calls the funeral industryβs βpre-need.β This βpre-needβ occurs when people make arrangements for their funeral before they actually pass away, so that the family doesnβt have to go through the perceived stress of making the arrangements. When these arrangements are made, the products are paid for; obviously, though, they are not yet needed.
So, Vantage stores the product until the person dies, and the product is needed.
Further, pallets of the burial vaults are moved truckloads at a time, as there is space for a palate at the
Contrary to the beliefs of the theorists, then, the burial vaults arenβt owned by the government, or FEMA. Instead, theyβre owned by individuals, or not yet sold.
βTheyβre not owned by any one individual, company or the government,β Lacey said.
Further, Vantage leases the land, located at 1200 Madison Industrial Boulevard, from Conyers Welding & Supply and has for four to five years, a fact confirmed by Conyers Welding & Supply. Conyers Welding & Supply took over the lease when the property was purchased from Robert Usury in 2000. Usury purchased the property in 1989, according to information provided by the Morgan County Tax Assessorβs Office and the Morgan County Online Public Property Portal.
The answer as to why the vaults are being stored in Madison? To put it simply, the Covington-based manufacturer got a good deal close to home.
βIt was the most cost-effective place,β Lacey said.
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