Here is an article I found on NPR today regarding air pollution and government being passive to the problem. This is like the example given to us in one the the earlier readings of the unit (can't remember who the author was). The lady has lived a healthy lifestyle, never smoked a cigarette, but has developed cancer and now takes mad pills to keep up. She's only 57 but has been living in a polluted area for 30 years and is now seeing the consequences. The EPA did not challenge the factory's reports on emissions and now people in Tonawanda have grown sick. Luckily a coalition has emerged.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142189390/tonawanda-provides-lessons-for-fighting-toxic-air
Thomas Cullen
Wow--thanks for sharing Thomas!
ReplyDeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. It reminds me of the health consequences that affect many firefighters and first responders at Ground Zero. These people are experiencing many health problems now as a result of being exposed to all the dust and smoke while they were selflessly risking their lives to save the lives of strangers.
It's truly terrible that this lady has cancer yet never smoked a cigarette. If the government doesn't do something about pollution quickly, we all could very well end up like her, no matter how healthy we live.
I think that your post also goes along with the guest lecture on the Clinton Landfill. Dumping the PCBs over the Aquifer that supplies water to much of central Illinois poses an extreme health threat to many people, but the EPA does not seem very concerned with the plausible threat. Even though the disposal company is taking preventive measures, there is still a chance that the toxins can leak into the water and cause a much bigger problem. As long as everything is good on paper, it seems like the EPA doesn't really care about anything else because there are other sites that can house the toxic soil without threatening a water supply, but the EPA is not even looking at these sites.
ReplyDeleteToxic air is always something that has concerned me, especially after I lived in Los Angeles. I remember waking up in the mornings and seeing a thick layer of dust on my car parked outside. I was always nervous about living there, because I felt the air pollution was surely going to get me sick. I really think that the EPA needs to crack down on air pollution, because regulations are clearly not sufficient enough, and people are starting to feel the repercussions.
ReplyDelete