How Does Toms River Affect The Environment

“Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation” By Dan Fagin explores the economics, scientific, political, and personal tragedy of how a chemical giant known as Ciba-Geigy and entrepreneurs failed to properly dispose the industrial waste which eventually contaminated the ground water of a coastal town. The book delves deeply into the history of the dye industry and the lesson learned from the environmental disaster. Fagin takes on complex issues to address the history of industrial processes in both Europe and the United States. He then explores further about the long struggle that parents and public officials took in Toms River, N.J., to scientifically identify the cancer cluster in children and then to determine the best way to handle the discovery.

There is certainly not enough space to examine all twelve stories presented in Lerner’s book in this paper, and they are all shocking—both in terms of the level of exposure to toxic chemicals and the questionable choices of corporate and government officials—but a few stories stand out.

The need for water in all of society is of the upmost importance in order for humankind to survive. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that the Earth’s surface is made up of about 70% water and only 3.5% of the water is fresh water suitable to consume (Perlman, 2013). In order to have the resource of water that society needs, companies such as the Trinity River Authority (TRA) are formed in different communities around the globe. Water supply and reclamation companies range in size and structure from public to privately owned and run.

In Shreveport, LA, many residents suffer from respiratory issues that they believe are caused by the local refinery, Calumet (Moskowitz). Residents have suffered for generations losing family members to cancer that they believe is brought on by pollution that the refinery emits. Some residents suffer lesser but chronic health issues ranging from minor respiratory issues like asthma to blood clots in their lungs. “Calumet denies that its refinery is the cause of any of these health issues” (Moskowitz). Many chemicals that are released by refineries can cause respiratory problems, cancer, nerve damage, and in some cases even death. There is no absolute way to be sure that all health problems happening near Calumet are caused by the pollution that it emits, but it could be a contributing factor in worsening symptoms. A resident of Marrero, LA, a town south of Norco refining, stated that they could not leave their house due to excess levels of pollution triggering asthma attacks (Ludwig). Sulfur dioxide is a known chemical that can trigger asthma attacks, it is also one of the many harmful chemicals that can be released by refineries (Sturgis). Refineries will measure levels of emissions when there is a chemical spill, so they know almost exactly how much pollution they have emitted. Minor incidents are not always reported or are under reported, but they can have the same damaging effects on the environment and the overall health of the community (Sturgis). “LABB’s reports confirms what workers and residents have known for years-petrochemical companies to often skirt the laws for reporting serious incidents”

The article from the Huffington Post entitled Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia: Home to the most brazen, deadly corporate gambits in U.S. history describes the atrocities performed in part by the DuPont chemical plant in West Virginia. The plant was dispersing its hazardous chemicals into the streams and landfills. The hazardous chemical known as C8 was causing extreme health effects to the local residents of the town of Parkersburg. People were getting severely ill and people’s cattle were dying faster than they could be replaced. Yes, these acts were heinous, but the worst of it all was the fact that the company had so much control of the area that they were able to keep doing what they were doing and only face minor penalties if any…sickening. So basically the lesson here is, if you have money and the resources, you can control just about anything. DuPont had both, and that is why they were able to do what they did. C8, or Perfluorooctanoic acid was the chemical that was causing the massive health issues across the state. People were wanting to sue DuPont for the takeoff of C8 being into the water that they were partaking in.

In the beginning of this essay I would like to present some facts and figures related to our topic. On December 3, 1984, at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India there was a deadly leak of methyl isocyanate. It caused thousands of people to die and affected generations to come. The leak happened due to a series of human and mechanical failures. The local health officials were neither knowledgeable about the deadly chemical that was being stored there nor were they equipped to handle the tragedy. Another incident happened at the Union Carbide plant in West Virginia. A toxic cloud of the same chemical was leaked into the atmosphere and it was a shocking reminder that such accidents could happen in the both developed and developing countries. The statistics prove that chemical spills occur on a regular basis in different parts of the world. In 1976 there were

Carol Browner was the administrator for the EPA from 1993 to 2001 which gives her credibility in establishing an argument about the topic of public health. In “Clean Air Regulations Public Health” article, Browning opened by mentioning the 1997 updated air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter. Throughout the remainder of the article, it is clear that she means to inform the reader about the issues of public health and discuss how the government has attempted to improve while at the same time showing what should take priority.

The prevalence of environmental issues in the public awareness reached a point where government was forced to take action in 1979. When Henry Love abandoned construction of a canal in New York in 1920, the site was bought by Hooker Chemical and used as a toxic chemical waste dumping site for the next 33 years (Schons 2011). Then in 1953 Hooker Chemical sold the Love Canal to the school board, and construction of a school began. In the mid to late 1970s, when children’s shoes began melting to the ground and children got sick the residents organized and protested. Media coverage increased and showed toxic black sludge oozing into people’s basements (Schons 2011). The lack of awareness of environmental and health consequences of chemical dumping

Lois Gibbs and the other homeowners at Love Canal had no idea that their neighborhood was built on a chemical dump. So for this question I went to the EPA website and looked up three different superfund sites closest to me. My findings were actually shocking. There were four to five different super fund sites near where I live and most of them were in Newark. I did not realize that they were only two towns away. Before this assignment I had no idea about these superfund sites. I did know that Passaic river is a dirty river because Newark was an industrial hub before.

1. We refer to your request for advice on Coal Seam Gas operations to advise you on the matter of potential CSG operations on or near your property and what these may entail.

The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.

Below the Mogollon Rim near Payson runs the East Verde River, a waterway that is supplemented with discharge of water collected on The Rim at CC. Cragin Reservoir. According to Clay Thompson of the Arizona Republic, the area gets its name from the mechanization of the water’s power through a metal water wheel fashioned from milk cans that was used by gold miner James “Dave” Greer to crush ore and supply a sluice box with water.

Hazards and pollutants are apparent in a variety of outcomes. Possible outcomes include asthma, cancer and chemical poisoning (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Furthermore, “Although debated, the main hypothesis explaining these disparities is that disadvantaged communities encounter greater exposure to environmental toxins such as air pollution, pesticides, and lead” (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Therefore, disadvantaged groups, such as people of color and the poor, experience greater environmental risks. Additionally, “Blacks in particular are exposed to a disproportionate amount of pollution and suffer the highest levels of lead and pesticide poisoning and other associated health problems” (Jones and Rainey 2006: 474). People of color, essentially, compete to live healthily. For example, African-Americans and Africans alike, struggle with the negative affects of oil refineries and unresponsive governments. The same can be said for Hispanics in California and the natives of Ecuador, who are forced to cope with the pollution of the Texaco oil refineries (Bullard 2001: 4). Environmental racism not only exploits natural resources, it abuses and profits from the communities involved. Governments and polluting facilities will continue to capitalize on the economic susceptibilities of poor communities, states, nations and regions for their “unsound” and hazardous operations (Bullard 2001: 23).

In 1987, there were “fifteen cancer victims in a two-block stretch” in an area along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana (“Cancer Alley, Louisiana” 2006). The population of cancer alley is low-income and African American, and it has been reported that “19 to 47 million pounds of ethylene dichloride (EDC), a suspected human carcinogen, was discharged into a local stream” (“Cancer Alley, Louisiana” 2006). Due to the many cancer cases, those who could relocate did and those who did not have privilege stayed back and endured the pollution without help from the government. Most of these citizens have little education, and even though there are about 136 facilities on site, unemployment was high (“Cancer Alley, Louisiana” 2006). Then, a few years later, another company planned to build a toxic complex on cancer alley and continued to do so until 1996. Despite the complaints from the community against these entities, companies continued to routinely place their facilities on the very same spots rather than look for an alternative. Because they knew these people are highly disadvantaged minorities, they see no huge complications against their landfills that they cannot simply brush off, making it a deliberate decision to target these people of color. This indicates that African Americans are more likely to live near industrial plants than whites, creating a resource apartheid in which blacks do not have the same access to public health and clean natural services. Consquently, “those in poverty are subject not just to widening income inequality, but to environmental injustices as well” (Lee,

Thank you for letting me know about the management position. I understand your decision and appreciated the opportunity to have met you and interview for the job. I wish you and the candidate you selected the best in a successful transition. Based on my impression of you and Hudson Clearwater I am certain you will have continued success. Please keep me in mind for future