Category: Pollution

China, children poisoned by toxic dump, hundreds ill

20/4/2016

Children attending the Chhangzhou Foreign Languages School north of Shanghai have been poisoned by a cocktail of toxic chemicals. Students and staff moved to a new campus in September 2015. Recently 641 of the students were examined by physicians. 493 were recommended for medical treatment.

Some of the students were suffering from fairly mild ailments like eczema and bronchitis, but others were sick with lymphoma and leukemia.

It has been established that the new campus was built on what is called a “brownfield” site, one that is known to have had some chemical pollution but is not heavily poisoned. The site was formerly occupied by three chemical factories, now closed. A former factory worker admitted that the factory that he worked at dumped toxic waste into the local river and buried other poisons.

Investigations into the site have shown that chlorobenzene is present at a level about 100 000(yes it is one hundred thousand) times greater than what is considered safe. It is known to damage liver, kidney and nervous system. In addition it is a carcinogen. In addition, high levels of carbofurans, methomyl(pesticide), carbon tetrachloride, mercury, lead and cadmium have been found on the site.

Professors specializing in environmental issues told CCTV the environmental assessment report that justified the construction of the new campus did not look for pesticides. And they said that builders had used heavily polluted groundwater during the construction process. China Daily

Already it seems that the official news sites are downplaying the seriousness of the incident. A quick check of the Xinhhua news site yielded a “cannot connect” result.

China is in trouble after years of flagrant pollution by factories. The Chinese environmental minister revealed last week that 80% of their ground water, including shallow and artesian wells, is unfit for human consumption.

Sources:
The Guardian
China Daily

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Climate change spells end of 2nd largest lake in Bolivia

27/1/2016

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Lk Poopo leaves only salt flats

Lake Poopo in Bolivia is no more. The high altitude salt lake is reduced to a tiny puddle leaving stranded boats and bereft people.

Climate warming is the primary cause of the demise of the lake. Glaciers in the Andes are smaller and give up their melt water more readily, agriculture and mining steal the water from rivers feeding the lake and El Nino have all conspired to the death of the lake. A lake that was formerly about 1000 square kilometres is gone.

The lake has always maintained a delicate balance between health and death. Since records were kept the lake has gone dry twice. This time its death has been declared final.

Many people who depended on Bolivia’s second largest lake for their livelihoods have had to sell what they could and move. This may be the beginning of more migrations for three million people who live on the arid uplands of Bolivia.

Bolivia’s largest lake, Titicaca, was the chief source of water for the shallow lake.

But when rainfall drops, Titicaca is no longer able to counteract the evaporation rate which has increased. An average of one degree Celsius increase over temperatures in 1995 has hastened evaporation.

Bolivia’s largest lake is also fighting for survival. A combination of sewage from over two million people and industrial wastes has turned Titicaca into a virtual cesspool.

The problem of water body survival is not limited to Bolivia. Many areas around the world have seen fresh water polluted by careless disposal of sewage and laissez faire attitudes towards resource extraction.

Sources:
The Guardian
NASA
Wikipedia

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Colorado river poisoned with mine sludge

10/8/2015

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19th century gold miners in Colorado

The Animas River in Colorado has been poisoned with mine sludge. The US Environmental Protection Agency was engaged in a mine clean-up operation when the disaster occurred. Colorado has many abandoned mining sites. The EPA is tasked with cleaning and protecting the environment.

While the EPA workers were aware that the blocked up mine site had water in the tunnel, they did not expect that a million gallons of contaminated water would rush out and inundate the clean-up site. The toxic water then entered the Animas river and turned the water a bright, poisonous yellow. The accident happened on Wednesday, but the governor of New Mexico was not informed of the spill until the next day.

EPA sources originally claimed that the drinking water supplies along the affected river were not affected. However after testing, high levels of heavy metals – cadmium, copper, zinc and arsenic were detected. The sludge has also turned the river water acidic. Authorities have advised people to avoid contact with the water.

The Animas river has been closed to recreation uses – rafting, canoeing, fishing.

This is in an area of the US that is very arid. Agriculture depends heavily on irrigation. The headgates have had to been shut in order to not contaminate the fields. Farmers have been forced to pray for rainfall. Rangers have been advised to keep livestock away from the river.

Of course river systems eventually flow into other rivers and then empty into the oceans and this is no exception. Eventually the contamination will spread into the beleaguered Colorado River.

The EPA has been cleaning up numerous abandoned mine sites in the area that have been leaking toxic runoff into local waterways. The Gold King Mine is currently leaking about 550 gallons per minute into the environment, down from over 700 gal/min on Friday.

Social media has a lot to say about the incident. Many are angry and refuse to call it an accident but rather gross mismanagement. Whatever it is eventually called, it will be the people along the river system who will be the ones to pay for the contamination.

Sources:
Canoe.com
Washington Post
Durango Herald

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Rio Olympics 2016 athletes sewage battles

14/3/2015

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Rio favela uses waterway as sewer and garbage dump.

Rio Olympics 2016 athletes set to dodge poop and other floaties

The Olympians are pretty special people, but those competing in Guanabara Bay in the sailing and windsurfing events may be able to walk on the water. The bay is so fouled with garbage, some sinking, some floating that it creates a real hazard to the racers. The stench from human sewage and dead animals has even the citizens of Rio complaining.

Rio Olympic organizers have pledged to have 80% of the garbage cleaned up by the Games next year. The state environmental secretary, Andre Correa, differs.

“Removing 80% of the pollutants? It’s not going to happen, it’s not going to happen,” said Correa, who took office earlier this month. The Guardian

Raw sewage from unofficial town sites(favelas) flows untreated into Rio’s rivers and ends up along with anything else that finds its way into the watercourses travelling unimpeded into Guanabara Bay.

In spite of his assessment that much of the dead animals, sewage and floating garbage will remain to showcase Rio next summer, he asserts that there is no health risk to the athletes.

Periodically campaigns are run to clean up the shoreline mess. To date over $1 billion has been spent with no appreciable difference in the pollution.

Rio has hired a Dutch firm to help them with their problem, but the Dutch firm is only tracking water currents and predicting where the worst pollution will be. No one yet seems tasked with actually picking up the floating or shoreline refuse.

It’s not just the sailors who will be exposed to the crud. Swimmers in Copacabana waters will be exposed to a nasty brew of bacteria.

"In the waters just off Copacabana beach, the measurement of fecal coliform bacteria spiked to 16 times the Brazilian government's satisfactory level as recently as three weeks ago, bad news for the marathon swimmers and triathletes set to compete there," the AP noted in November.

Elite athletes give up much to become Olympians, their health shouldn’t be one of those things.

Some nasties they can expect to encounter: hepatitis, worms, diarrhea, tetanus, leptospirosis.

Sources:
Science Daily
The Guardian
The Atlantic

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China, children poisoned by toxic dump, hundreds ill

Climate change spells end of 2nd largest lake in Bolivia

Colorado river poisoned with mine sludge

Rio Olympics 2016 athletes sewage battles

Barbara McPherson

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