The DISH
Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use
Vol. 11 Issue 35…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…August 31, 2008
Elixir of Life
By Artist Unknown
One glass will do
after a long hot day
as It moves down from one sip
I can feel the cold fluid
tickle my oesophagus
then settle in my stomach
quenching my thirst
a life saver
each drop is crystal clear
like glistening diamonds
cooler, soother, harmless
the best thing about summer
sip ..
dip..
embrace...
hard to imagine life without water
Situated on the slope of
Prior to the US Civil War, the mineral-rich area
remained unexploited. This changed during the war when the Confederate States
of
In 1872, Samuel Noble and Union General Daniel
Tyler (1799-1882) rebuilt a larger version of the Confederate iron furnace. The
Woodstock Iron Company controlled the mineral-rich company town; it was
basically off-limits to all but company employees. Chartered as a company town
in 1879, it was named Annie's Town for Annie Scott Tyler, wife of either the
railroad president Alfred L. Tyler or the company's founder, General Daniel
Tyler. It was nicknamed "The Model City of the South," because it was
supposed to be a centrally planned utopia, different from the industrial slums
of the North. The company provided cottages, a general store, church and
schools for its workers.
However, utopia quickly devolved into a
heavy-industry boomtown, dominated by foundries and factories with 24-hour
smokestacks. In 1929, one of
In addition to private industry,
Although
On Mother's Day, May 14, 1961,
By
John Burl Smith
The National Resources Defense Council's study, Safety of Drinking Water in U.S. Cities at Risk and Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants
in U.S. Streams, 1999-2000, as well as the Environmental Working
Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of
the treated tap water served to communities across the country, A National Assessment of Tap Water Quality,
reveal some startling facts about the water Americans drink. Although water is
the elixir of life, these studies show we could be drinking ourselves to death.
A Harris Interactive poll published in October 2005 found that Americans ranked
water pollution as the number one environmental concern facing the country,
topping global warming, ozone depletion, and air pollution. Yet there is a huge
disconnect between what people care about and what the government is willing to
act upon. Mystified Americans are concerned about polluted water caused by
agricultural and industrial waste, as well as urban sprawl runoff, poor
planning and a lack of political will to provide funds to stop pollution, which
begins upstream and ends up in their bodies through the water that comes out of
their taps.
The EWG's analysis of tap water testing from 42 states validates the public's
concern about tap water. They found water suppliers collectively identified 83
agricultural pollutants, including pesticides and chemicals from fertilizer and
manure laden runoff in treated tap water served to 201,955,000 people in 41
states in 1998 and 2003. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002,
the agriculture industry spread commercial fertilizer over one-eighth of the
continental
EWG's analysis of water supplier's tap water test results shows that water
contaminated with 166 industrial pollutants, including plasticizers, solvents,
and propellants, is served to 210,528,000 people in 42 states. Ninety-four of
the industrial chemicals detected in tap water are unregulated, without a
legal, health-based limit in tap water. EWG's analysis also found 59 pollutants
linked to sprawl and urban areas, including plasticizers, solvents, and
propellants. Fifty-three per cent of the population in 42 states were served
water with one or more of these contaminants. Forty-one of the urban sprawl
chemicals detected in tap water are also unregulated.
A 1998 EPA study found that 43 percent of chemicals used in the highest volumes
(more than one million pounds per year) completely lacked any of the seven most
basic health and safety screening studies, let alone substantive information on
the potential of the chemical to pollute tap water sources. EPA's Toxics
Release Inventory reporting program shows that in 2003 industries discharged
220 million pounds of 650 chemicals into rivers and streams. Moreover, the vast
majority of industrial chemicals in tap water remain untested and unregulated.
As the
Of the 141 unregulated contaminants utilities detected in water supplies
between 1998 and 2003, 52 are linked to cancer, 41 to reproductive toxicity, 36
to developmental toxicity, and 16 to immune system damage, according to
chemical listings in seven standard government and industry toxicity
references. Despite potential health risks, any concentration of these
chemicals in tap water is legal, no matter how high.
For 64 of the unregulated contaminants found in tap water, the government has
not yet recommended unenforceable, health-based limits in tap water, let alone
set an enforceable safety standard. For 46 of these chemicals, no health
information whatsoever is available in standard government and academic
references.
Altogether, the unregulated chemicals that pollute public tap water supplies
include the gasoline additive MTBE, the rocket fuel component perchlorate, at
least 15 chemical by-products of water disinfection, four industrial
plasticizers called phthalates, which are linked to birth defects and
reproductive toxicity, 78 chemicals used in industrial and consumer products,
and 20 chemical pollutants from gasoline, coal, and other fuel combustion. This
deadly water continues to flow from our taps.
The
Bottles
Water: Deadlier and Costlier
A deadly toxin is getting into mineral water from the plastic used to make the
bottles, according to Dr. William Shotyk of
In
The Seven Deadly Sins of Bottled Water!
1. Bottled water is often a con, and is really
just purified tap water -- around 40% begins as tap water. For instance, it was
revealed recently, Aquafina (Pepsi) was drawn from the city of
2. Bottled water is not always healthier. A four
year study conducted by the National Resources Defense Council concluded that
at least one third of 103 brands surveyed contained varying levels of
contamination. Furthermore, bottled water often has added minerals that, in
high doses, may be harmful. Consumers in
3. Bottled water encourages the commodification
of water. The bottled water industry is worth a fortune, currently about $100
billion a year, which has made the ownership of water around the globe a hot
commodity for corporations. Furthermore, the privatization of water around the
world, especially in the developing world (such as in Africa and
4. Bottled water encourages depletion of natural
resources. Many brands of bottled water take it directly from the source. This
water is taken and used far too quickly for these water sources to replenish
themselves. In
5. Bottled water encourages waste and pollution.
All that plastic packaging is made from oil; it is estimated that the
6. Bottled water contributes to healthcare cost.
Baby bottles and other disposable plastic water and beverage bottles are made
from compounds using PET, which contains a potentially carcinogenic element
called Diethylhydroxylamine, or DEHA. - A well-known chemical called Bisphenol
or BPA, which adversely affect fertility in women. These carcinogens affect
children's mental and general health, including their reproductive system.
While these adverse affects are now well known facts, there is much more yet to
be discovered.
7. Bottled water helps contribute to war. With
water scarcity an increasing issue, reports project that by 2025, like oil
today,
Profits
Trump People
"Imagine a place so saturated with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that
it's in the dirt people walk on, the air they breathe - even the blood that
pumps through their veins. The 24,000 people living in
Writing for the Washington Post (2002), Michael Grunwald cited excerpts from
internal memoranda uncovered by attorneys representing the citizens of Anniston
in Abernathy vs. Monsanto et al. Filed in 1995, the lawsuit, which is not a
class action, took seven years in the making, thanks to the stalling tactics
employed by attorneys for Solutia, Inc., the name given to Monsanto's chemical
operations after they were spun off into a separate company in 1997. Below are
a few of the things uncovered by defense attorneys and investigators looking
into Monsanto's pursuit of profits without regard for public health and
welfare.
As early as 1935, shortly after acquiring the PCB production facility in
In 1952, Monsanto signed an agreement with the U.S. Public Health Service to
place a warning label on Aroclors. It also warned its industrial customers
about ecological risks. But it did not warn its
In 1966, Monsanto hired Denzel Ferguson, a
In early 1967, Swedish scientists showed PCBs were a global environmental
threat. They identified traces of PCBs throughout the food chain: in fish,
birds, pine needles, even their children's hair. In response, Monsanto
appointed an Aroclors Ad Hoc Committee to address the controversies surrounding
its PCB monopoly, which was worth millions in annual sales. According to
minutes of the first meeting, the committee had two formal objectives:
"Permit continued sales and profits" and "Protect image of . . .
the Corporation."
While the members agreed the situation looked bleak, one option, as a member
put it, was to "sell the hell out of them as long as we can." Another
was to stop making them immediately. Instead, the committee recommended
"The Responsible Approach" -- phasing out its PCB products, but only
once it could develop alternatives. The idea was to maintain "one of Monsanto's
most profitable franchises" as long as possible while taking care to
"reduce our exposure in terms of liability." The committee even drew
up graphs charting profits vs. liability over time, and urged more studies to
poke holes in the government's case against PCBs.
As the company's tests found ominous concentrations of PCBs in streams and
sediments in Choccolocco Creek, as well as deformed and lethargic fish, the
committee members proposed reducing PCB releases to an "absolute
minimum." Even this was changed to protect its profits as the word
"absolute" was deleted, since Monsanto's customers were still
dumping, too: "It was agreed that until the problems of gross
environmental contamination by our customers have been alleviated, there is
little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges."
In the end, Monsanto kept making PCBs until 1977. The federal ban on PCB
manufacturing did not take effect until 1979. Robert Kaley, the environmental
affairs director for Solutia who also served as the PCB expert for the American
Chemistry Council, asked, "What is wrong with that? Corporations, after
all, have obligations to their shareholders, and the federal law banning the
manufacture of PCBs did not take effect until 1979. Monsanto's critics do not
understand capitalism. Look, this was a good product. Did we try to save it as
long as we could? Absolutely. Was the writing on the wall when we stopped
producing it? Sure. But we did stop."
Disgruntled wants to know:
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the first major
Disgruntled feels: Deception! For more
than forty years, Monsanto profitably produced PCBs. They told the public PCBs
were safe, while dumping their toxic waste on the people of
Disgruntled says: It was the coup de
grace! Choosing a woman as his vice presidential running mate, the GOP
presumptive nominee, Senator John McCain, scored big points with a huge segment
of the