Toxic Waters: Clean Water Laws Neglected At A Cost To Health

The New York Times:

Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va.

In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater -- polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals -- caused painful rashes. Many of his brother's teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.

Neighbors apply special lotions after showering because their skin burns.

Read the whole story: The New York Times

Comments

[Alison Rose Levy]

12:29 PM on 09/14/2009

People should be aware that the problems mentioned here are coming home to roost in New York City and New York State-- via upstate gas drilling in the region of the watershed which supplies NYC water.

The gas drillers use a process in which multiple toxic chemicals are released-- it's called "fracking.'' In other states, exposed to this process, water has become highly caustic/toxic and caused severe health problems. The gas companies are no longer required by law to reveal the chemicals used-- even to doctors treating serious illnesses resulting from water contamination.

So far, people in rural areas of NY and Pennsylvania have been organizing to fight this-- but NY-ers need to get involved as it will effect our water too.

For more info, go to: http://www.catskillcitizens.org/

Sign up for the free ezine the Health Outlook at www.health-journalist.com

For more information, go to: http://www.catskillcitizens.org/

[rf dude]

07:23 AM on 09/15/2009

Oh frak !!!
--

[Friese]

10:02 AM on 09/14/2009

This is a great example of the effects that American ideology and "common sense" have on the individual. In any other country, the common sense would be: We need clean drinking water, that is a right, we should protect that right. This protection will cost some money, okay, but if we throw in some cash collectively (i.e. taxes), we'll make it happen (and usually, that is exactly what happens).
Here, on the other hand, the common sense is: Every dollar out of my pocket is a dollar wasted. Every penny, the government takes, is stolen. I earn my money not because there are public roads or public schools, but because I am awesome. It's all me. 100%. And the government? Just a bunch of bureaucrats. As proof they cite the inefficiency of a grossly underfunded government and point to examples of "wasteful spending".
Well, this is what we get: 19.5 Million ill every year. Yay, individualism...

[Alison Rose Levy]

12:04 PM on 09/14/2009

Thank you, thank you. You've hit the nail on the head.

What is running this country into the ground? Greed, check! Denial, check. Laziness, check. Naivete -- you better believe it.

But at bottom, the problem is the myth of individualism-- the cowboy/pioneer American myth which you nail so well.

If you care to, please sign up for my free ezine, the Health Outlook at www.health-journalist.com

I'm writing for people like you who want to connect the dots on health.

[Friese]

08:57 AM on 09/15/2009

Done. Thanks for the link... Should be interesting...

[Dayahka]

01:34 AM on 09/14/2009

Oh, please, cut it out. Neglected, my foot. This is what the EPA and all government agencies are supposed to do--they're supposed to protect the interests of the people who own the country, that is the corporations and bankers. Who gives a rat's tail about people's health? It's profits that matter, and only profits, and those corporations pay the representatives big bucks to either not make laws or if they make them to not enforce them.

[GuyRC]

04:43 PM on 09/14/2009

Since Reagan that is what they do yes, but before that they actually regulated Corporations.

[ReealOne]

11:11 PM on 09/13/2009

Oh man, not the drinking water too! We'll probably all end up with leaky pig snouts, cat whiskers, rat ears and tails, and BIG hairy camel humps from drinking the water.

Where is the EPA or the ASPCA, FBI, CIA or ANYONE who are supposed to be monitoring the drinking water? This has to be someone's responsibility to be vigilant about protecting our drinking water. Come on now!!

[fcsakes]

09:30 PM on 09/13/2009

It's the same reason we'll never have real health care reform: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and tons of it, all in the RIGHT political pockets.

Those efficient water purification systems are expensive and you can bet the CEO's and politicians have them in their homes, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Do you have one?

(All you witless "teabaggers" out there might want to check out bushie's UNenforcement of the protections that were already in place, as well as his weakening of them further to allow even more pollution. But, oh yeah, you're too busy making sure the for-profit insurance people don't lose a dime of their billions at our, and YOUR, expense. duh.)

[Peabodies]

09:30 PM on 09/13/2009

Teabaggers want no stinking government involved in anything. This is one area where they might reconsider.

Gov't regulations=polluters punished for doing harm.

For your, mine and their "greater good".

[PerfectSense]

09:47 PM on 09/13/2009

Govt water districts supply most of the drinking water in the USA. Yet theses socialist agencies cannot provide clean and safe drinking water.

[rivrgrrl]

10:23 PM on 09/13/2009

They supply the water.

The companies and farmers pollute it.

We get to pay for the cleaning up of that water to make it drinkable. But because the companies can get away with continuing to pollute it, even that is becoming a rarity.

[valkyrie607]

11:00 PM on 09/13/2009

When the EPA does its job and enforces the law, local government does just fine at providing clean drinking water. It's not rocket science after all.

It's when corporate lobbyists take over regulating the industries they used to work for and prevent the regulatory agencies from functioning properly that things get f^cked up.

That the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts have been very effective pieces of regulation is evidenced by the transformation of our country's streams and rivers, as well as the rapid cessation of acid raid and CFC emissions (those hurt the ozone layer, remember?) Unfortunately, ever since the Reagan revolution, free market ideologues have done their best to turn America into a playground for corporations, no matter how immoral their business plan may be. The Bush administration in particular did a lot to turn the EPA, the DFA, and other agencies into the lapdogs of big polluters, rather than lapdogs.

Look: government is accountable to us. Corporations are not. If government isn't doing the job right, we citizens have no one to blame but ourselves. If you really want no government at all then move to Somalia. Me, I prefer to have some organized, powerful entity that is SUPPOSED (at least in theory) to be responsible to my interests. Some corporations are completely evil, and some are okay, but either way there's no built-in mechanism to make them take into account the health of our communities and our environment. It's up to us.

[SonofLiberty1]

09:17 PM on 09/13/2009

Flouridated water prevents cavities period.
I've known that for years.

Older folks do have Osteopororsis and there are medications that deter that disease such as

FOSOMAX AND BONIVA.

[Peabodies]

09:31 PM on 09/13/2009

Liberty -- watch TV commercials much? Trust TV commercials much?

[Citizen4Justice]

09:43 PM on 09/13/2009

Fluoridated water doesn't prevent cavities. Its not even done in much of Europe.

Getting too much fluoride can cause dental fluorosis and even more exposure can cause skeletal fluorosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_fluorosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal_fluorosis

Toxic sludge is good for you!

[dadw5boys]

08:55 PM on 09/13/2009

The EPA raised the acceptable level of Floride to 4 parts per billion and the National Instutite of Health Ask them why they did this.

No Answer.

Any amount of Flouried over 2.2 parts per billion begins to deplete calcium from the bones and teeth.
TYhe save level for Flouride is 1.2 part per billion. The Nazi's used 5 parts per billion in drinking as a drug to break the will of people who resisted them. See Operation Papaer Clip World War ll.

The possible reason to raise the acceptable level of Flouride is the amount of Sodas and other flavored drinks people consume add Flouride to your diet.
Studys in isolated towns show a direct result of increased Flouride consumption and fractured hips and bones.

[SonofLiberty1]

09:20 PM on 09/13/2009

And your dentist will advise flouride treatments especially if you live in an area without flouridated water.

And we are just starting to hear about all the other compounds that waste treatment plants
DO NOT TAKE CARE OF...

PESTICIDES AND ANTIBIOTICS AMONG THEM.

[Benthead]

08:51 PM on 09/13/2009

Too bad our supposedly "intrusive" federal government (so say the tea-baggers) won't enforce the laws that make sure kids won't get painful rashes if they dare take a bath. Big corporations get to poison citizens to make big profits; meanwhile, the tea-baggers are saying that the government is communist and anti-capitalism.

[APVEGAS]

08:50 PM on 09/13/2009

I can't believe the Dems have been in charge of congress since 2006 and this stuff is still going on

[LisaLisa1234]

08:18 PM on 09/13/2009

This reminds me of "The Jungle". Then, as it now, it's all about the almighty profits.

How do these corporate executives live with themselves?

[Citizen4Justice]

09:55 PM on 09/13/2009

Corporations behave like psychopaths. We cannot trust them to do the right thing.

An excellent documentary on corporations:
The Corporation
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3203253804055041031#

[netzwerg]

08:07 PM on 09/13/2009

When I was living in Germany, the tap water qualty was awesome, even better than many bottled waters. Tasted like Evian (Im serious!).

Wikipedia: Water supply in Germany is continuous, at good pressure, and drinking water quality is excellent, as evidenced by the universal compliance with the EU drinking water directive.

WHY NOT IN THE US??

[TheBaffler]

08:59 PM on 09/13/2009

Because it would be socialism.

[Peabodies]

09:32 PM on 09/13/2009

chuckle, chuckle, Baffler.

[mydwyf]

07:47 PM on 09/13/2009

'Poisoning the well' has long been recognized as an act of warfare.
These corporations should be charged with waging a war against the residents.
It is too late now to clean up the groundwater and all those homes will have to be
on holding tanks for a very long time (not just for drinking and cooking but also for
other domestic water uses). The going rate for delivered water where I live is between
eight and ten cents per gallon. The coal mines should be footing that bill, plus tank installation, etc.

We are lucky to have very good well water. I can't imagine how I would feel if it became polluted like that.

[Coyote777 7]

07:44 PM on 09/13/2009

--------------------------------------------------
The American Dream is over: it has poisoned us.
--------------------------------------------------

[marco01]

07:51 PM on 09/13/2009

It has indeed.

[Alethea]

07:30 PM on 09/13/2009

This is what a true free market system gets us.

Regulation and government do in fact have an excellent purpose when done correctly. The purpose? Making sure the public interests are preserved.

Now that's not to say that corporations can't serve the public interest too... but they do have to be monitored.

[marco01]

07:32 PM on 09/13/2009

But, but, I thought the market would self-regulate!

[Alethea]

07:37 PM on 09/13/2009

Self regulation is a total farce.

Even if someone could choose NOT to drink water (which they can't), how would that punish the coal mine for it's bad practices?

[valkyrie607]

11:01 PM on 09/13/2009

Yeah, doesn't the invisible hand belong to God Almighty?