In Woburn, Massachusetts, 8 children died of leukaemia and 12 of them got sick. 8 out of 12 of them lived within a half-mile radius of each other. Residents claimed that the water smelled "foul and ill-smelling" after a well was opened in 1964 near the industrial park, causing the city to shut it down. In 1979, Trichloroethylene (TCE) and silicone were found in the contaminated well water. The families, Toomey, Auferius, Andersons, Robbins, and Keynes, contacted Jan Schichtman, a personal injury lawyer from Boston. He has a personal testimony of a former employee of Grace who witnessed dumping chemicals in the water. Significant toxic pollution was found in 2 of the city's waterwells. Jan wanted a settlement of $25 million to clean up the contamination,
The water crisis in Flint Michigan began as early as was as April of 2014. The crisis is concerning a small town called Flint, located at the bottom right of michigan were the majority of the population is African American. The issue began when the town 's water supply witch in past use to come from the detroit river water supply was switched over to the Flint river water supply. People soon began to complain about the taste, smell, and color of the tap water, and of symptoms such as hair loss and rashes from bathing in the water. Even though there were many signs that the water was indeed contaminated, such as when a General Motors plant in Flint stopped using municipal water in October of 2014, claiming that it corroded car parts, the government officials stated that the water was not a threat to the public 's health and safety. However it was later revealed that the water was in fact unhealthy, and contained too much lead. The issue was brought to the eyes of the public when Lee Anne Walters, a Flint resident. This mother of four had seen her family suffer from various alarming symptoms, including abdominal pains, hair loss, and rashes; she also has a son who showed signs of developmental problems. She decided to switch her family to bottled water, and the symptoms abated. Finally, in February of 2015, she demanded that the city test the tap water. A federal investigation was launched and the results came back shocking. The water was extremely toxic containing 400 parts per billion of lead. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is no safe level of lead in drinking water, but the maximum allowed by law is 15 parts per billion. Virginia Tech professor and engineer Marc Edwards, an expert on municipal w...
In the movie Erin Brockovich not only were children affected by the water contamination but the adults were also negatively affected. In this film the families were directly exposed to carcinogens that were used for water pressure in a multi-million dollar company located a few miles away from the home. One particular family that caught my attention was the first family that filed a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Donna Jensen and her family filed a lawsuit again this company because of a real estate issue. Fortunately, Erin Brockovich worked as the lawyer's assistant and was the first individual to realize that this company was hiding the truth about the chemicals used in the facility.
A couple things the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation should have thought about was the respect for persons model and confidentiality. Respect for person means that actions will protect/respect human’s moral agency (Harris, Pritchard, Rabins, James, Englehardt, 1995). At the time, only the School Board knew about the toxic chemicals. However, the corporation should have informed all the citizens so they could make their own logical decisions whether to stay or relocate to another area. It’s definitely crucial to not hold information especially when citizen’s health and safety are at risk. As a result, many people reported that chemicals were entering their houses, women would report miscarriages, children would have high percentages of birth
In this case, PG&E deceived the entire town of Hinckley by allowing them to believe that their water source was safe. Deception was clearly portrayed throughout the film, with a particularly good example toward the beginning of the movie. The film described how PG&E held a meeting with 200 people from Hinckley to explain the benefits of PG&E using chromium 3 at their plant. Chromium 3 is similar to hexavalent chromium, but its effects on the human body are quite benign in comparison, however the deception is clear when the film goes on to show that PG&E was not actually using chromium 3 at their plant, and was actually using the harmful hexavalent chromium instead. As explained previously, hexavalent chromium is extremely dangerous and harmful to humans. This deceit continued for far too long, allowing the community to believe that children could safely play in pools and all members could safely drink water out of their faucet. It was even proven toward the end of the film that PG&E were aware of their actions because there were internal PG&E documents dated 1966 that described how it would be “better for all if documents were not discussed…” (Soderbergh, 2000). This company ended up losing the largest direct-action lawsuit in United States history, therefore in some sense it was resolved with the $333 million paid to the people of
Stan 's plan to operate a toxic waste disposal business as a sole proprietorship raises two significant concerns. As a sole proprietor, Stan will assume unlimited personal liability for all business obligations as there is no legal or practical separation between the business and the owner. Any financial obligations or legal torts would apply to the business, and also, his personal assets. Secondly, Stan, as sole proprietor, can only borrow money directly, limiting growth, and could be considered a risky investment for lenders when they assess his ability to repay the debt, and the nature of the business.
Water pollution in Wisconsin’s lakes and rivers is an important issue to recognize. My names is Megan Snyder, I attend Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School as an eighth grader. This letter is one way our social studies class can have practice at being an active citizen within our community. In this letter, I’m suggesting a new, small idea to help decrease the amounts of pollution in Wisconsin’s lakes and rivers.
Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known. A report released for public comment in September 1994 by the US Environmental Protection Agency clearly describes dioxin as a serious public health threat. The public health impact of dioxin may rival the impact that DDT had on public health in the 1960's. According to the EPA report, not only does there appear to be no "safe" level of exposure to dioxin, but levels of dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals have been found in the general US population that are "at or near levels associated with adverse health effects.
Hooker admits to burying about 21,800 tons of various chemicals in the canal. There are at least twelve known carcinogens in the canal including benzene which is well-known for causing leukemia in people (Gibbs 22). The air, soil, and water tests have found chemical migration throughout a ten block residential area. The extent of the chemical migration is still unknown.
Pollution has been found to be a major conflict in today’s society. It’s no doubt that the air we all breathe is filled with toxics. Allowing the toxic chemicals to penetrate deep into the lungs tend to cause damage. In addition, multiple forms of contamination have been in found in many ecosystems as well. These particles poison soils and streams, killing plants and animals. Some particles come naturally, but many of them are caused by us, humans.
Pollution is a dangerous harm in the U.S. to many people. First what is pollution, pollution is the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. Recycling is to convert waste into reusable material. I think that recycling is good to the world in many ways.
Industrial pollution is one if not the largest contributor to the global problem endangering people and the environment. Big cities with steel mills, power plants, heating plants, or railroad stations feel the direct impact of industrial pollution. Countries like China have tried endless ways to decreased the hazardous effects that factories have created. China has developed air purifiers to limits the exposure to pollutants when indoors, but tackling this kind of pollutants outdoors is almost impossible. Domes are known for their enclosing system and adding air purifiers to them could help many countries like China to eradicate smog making the environment a healthier place for everyone.
The phenomenon of soil erosion will create the sediment that can wash into the water, which will cause the problems to the aquatic life. In order to reduce the sediment during building new structure or landscaping, the developers should use the tarp to cover the mound of dirt. As the result, the rain and wind do not carry the sediment into the flowing water. The developers also should not alter the stormwater pond as it can impede the ability of the pond to hold the stormwater runoff.
After the disaster, the chemicals were abandoned in warehouses open to wind and rain. “Twenty-four storms have rusted and spoiled the passing industrial facility. The downpours wash the toxins profound into the dirt. They enter the groundwater and saturate wells and bore channels. They spout from taps and enter individuals ' bodies. They smolder stomachs, erode the skin, harm organs and stream into wombs where they go to take a shot at the unborn. In the event that infants make it into the world alive, the toxins are holding up in their moms ' milk” (Sinha, 2009, para 31).
Fresh and clean water is essential for all life forms on earth. Humans make use of water on a daily basis for household domestic use, industry, agriculture and other use. Our economic and social well-being is therefore dependent on the availability of clean water resources as well as efficient river systems. In South Africa, it is particularly important to monitor and conserve our water resources, due to the low amount of rainfall received and the country’s classification as water stressed. However, the quality, quantity and range of services that are provided by rivers can be diminished when the health of the river is compromised.
Content 1. What is the difference between a Air Pollution 2. What is the difference between a Water Pollution 3. What is the difference between a Land Pollution 4. What is the difference between a Noise Pollution 5.