It is interesting how ignorant people can be about their own water until something happens and there is an awareness of it's contamination. Currently, only five percent of the 300,000 people effected by water contamination from the Freedom Industries plant have returned to drinking the water.
Freedom Industries, (cute name, lousy product) which spilled thousands of gallons of a coal-washing chemical into the Elk River, is pictured on January 10, 2014, in Charleston, West Virginia. (Tom Hindman/Getty Images)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Chapter 4
Gaping Holes in Government Bottled Water Regulation (click here)
The bottled water industry often makes the claim that it is far better regulated than tap water suppliers are. For example, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) testified in 1991 that "When compared to the level of regulation and scrutiny applied to tap water . . .bottled water consumers come out way ahead." IBWA asserted that "If one considers the full range of FDA consumer protection standards, bottled water safeguards have been more complete and protective for a longer time than tap water standards."
This continues to be the industry argument. In a 1998 fact sheet, for example, IBWA contends, "Quality is in every container of bottled water. It's consistent and it is inspected and monitored by governmental and private laboratories. Unfortunately, tap water can be inconsistent -- sometimes it might be okay while other times it is not." The IBWA further declares that "bottled water is strictly regulated on the federal level by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and on the state level by state officials. This ensures that all bottled water sold in the United States meets these stringent standards."...
It is extremely ironic that West Virginia, the home of bottled water, should actually find it citizens need it more than ever, but for every different reasons. How did West Virginia ever get here?
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
It’s been called one of the most serious episodes of drinking water contamination in U.S. history. Four months after thousands of gallons of the coal-washing chemical MCHM spilled from an unregulated above-ground storage tank into the Elk River, many people in and around Charleston, West Virginia, are still using bottled water.
Water bans after the Jan. 9 spill lasted as long as nine days in some Charleston communities. But residents continue to report that the water smells like licorice and it has sent people to the emergency room. A recent article in The New Yorker that profiled the power of the coal industry in West Virginia called the spill an accident with no clear ending, with the most basic question — “Is the water safe?” — unanswered....
The article above by "Here and Now" brings out a very interesting point. "The too big to fail West Virginia Coal Mine industry." But, that is only one aspect to this story.
Above is a picture of the Freedom Industries plant. Why is it located on a river to begin with?
Over the past five decades we have watched while 0.1% grew to monopolize the wealth of the USA. How did they get there? They got there by deregulating protections to consumers, allowing greater and greater lax government including the local and county governments and basically by impoverishing the country so citizens would be groveling for work to put food on their tables. Am I correct? Is there greater poverty? Is there more danger to consumers? Has the desire for consumer safety become cast aside in order to have a job?
Yes.
Part of the problem regarding Freedom Industries is that the USA has hit bottom when it comes to protecting it's citizens and allowing the wealthy to get away with it. Industries in the USA complain and moan and grown about regulations and how it costs them so much money and how it is going to put citizens out of work.
Okay. I suppose that is their point of view. But, is your life as an American worth the job you have today? That is the question Americans should be asking themselves. The regulations of today practiced by all levels of government are not the regulations of our parents and grandparents. The regulations today are intended to 'point to environmental deficits' of too big to fail industry and then supply expertise and funding to HELP them IMPROVE on their polluting.
Excuse me? Improve?
Let me see if I get this right.
The industries in the USA are too big to fail, so they have plenty wealth. But, the government has to come along to point to their deficits in polluting the environment. And then the governments have to supply HELP to get them to comply.
I don't think so.
The priorities of government in pandering to the wealthy have created monsters that WON'T, not CAN'T comply with protections for our environment. Part of the problem in West Virginia is that the 'so called SAFE level of chemicals' in the water are still intolerable and it is allowed. As Jay Rockefeller said, "I wouldn't drink the water." The facts are clear. Over 50 years of political pandering to the wealthy have resulted in monopolies too big to fail that don't care about the safety of their products to consumers or otherwise. They have gotten away with it because they can THREATEN Americans with their jobs. They have taken the American citizen hostage to their greed.
Is that what Americans want for their children and grandchildren?
One of the examples of excellence in discovering and mitigating pollution were the days of the New York State Love Canal. It lead to huge awareness of water quality standards and how without them people, their pets, livestock and wildlife can become very ill while their longevity is cut short. Those same standards don't exist today because the EPA of the 1960s has been dismantled by politicians winning elections that have dismantled those standards piece by piece.
Today, the USA is scraping the bottom of the regulation barrel and it shows. Over and over we are seeing imposition of poverty and pollution on Americans so the wealthy can continue to be wealthy and get wealthier while they purchase their personal representatives in the House and Senate.
The people of West Virginia aren't being difficult, they are taking a stand to say, "There is a lot wrong here and we aren't going to take it any more." The rest of the country needs to join them.
Over the past five decades we have watched while 0.1% grew to monopolize the wealth of the USA. How did they get there? They got there by deregulating protections to consumers, allowing greater and greater lax government including the local and county governments and basically by impoverishing the country so citizens would be groveling for work to put food on their tables. Am I correct? Is there greater poverty? Is there more danger to consumers? Has the desire for consumer safety become cast aside in order to have a job?
Yes.
Part of the problem regarding Freedom Industries is that the USA has hit bottom when it comes to protecting it's citizens and allowing the wealthy to get away with it. Industries in the USA complain and moan and grown about regulations and how it costs them so much money and how it is going to put citizens out of work.
Okay. I suppose that is their point of view. But, is your life as an American worth the job you have today? That is the question Americans should be asking themselves. The regulations of today practiced by all levels of government are not the regulations of our parents and grandparents. The regulations today are intended to 'point to environmental deficits' of too big to fail industry and then supply expertise and funding to HELP them IMPROVE on their polluting.
Excuse me? Improve?
Let me see if I get this right.
The industries in the USA are too big to fail, so they have plenty wealth. But, the government has to come along to point to their deficits in polluting the environment. And then the governments have to supply HELP to get them to comply.
I don't think so.
The priorities of government in pandering to the wealthy have created monsters that WON'T, not CAN'T comply with protections for our environment. Part of the problem in West Virginia is that the 'so called SAFE level of chemicals' in the water are still intolerable and it is allowed. As Jay Rockefeller said, "I wouldn't drink the water." The facts are clear. Over 50 years of political pandering to the wealthy have resulted in monopolies too big to fail that don't care about the safety of their products to consumers or otherwise. They have gotten away with it because they can THREATEN Americans with their jobs. They have taken the American citizen hostage to their greed.
Is that what Americans want for their children and grandchildren?
One of the examples of excellence in discovering and mitigating pollution were the days of the New York State Love Canal. It lead to huge awareness of water quality standards and how without them people, their pets, livestock and wildlife can become very ill while their longevity is cut short. Those same standards don't exist today because the EPA of the 1960s has been dismantled by politicians winning elections that have dismantled those standards piece by piece.
Today, the USA is scraping the bottom of the regulation barrel and it shows. Over and over we are seeing imposition of poverty and pollution on Americans so the wealthy can continue to be wealthy and get wealthier while they purchase their personal representatives in the House and Senate.
The people of West Virginia aren't being difficult, they are taking a stand to say, "There is a lot wrong here and we aren't going to take it any more." The rest of the country needs to join them.
Chapter 4
Gaping Holes in Government Bottled Water Regulation (click here)
The bottled water industry often makes the claim that it is far better regulated than tap water suppliers are. For example, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) testified in 1991 that "When compared to the level of regulation and scrutiny applied to tap water . . .bottled water consumers come out way ahead." IBWA asserted that "If one considers the full range of FDA consumer protection standards, bottled water safeguards have been more complete and protective for a longer time than tap water standards."
This continues to be the industry argument. In a 1998 fact sheet, for example, IBWA contends, "Quality is in every container of bottled water. It's consistent and it is inspected and monitored by governmental and private laboratories. Unfortunately, tap water can be inconsistent -- sometimes it might be okay while other times it is not." The IBWA further declares that "bottled water is strictly regulated on the federal level by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and on the state level by state officials. This ensures that all bottled water sold in the United States meets these stringent standards."...
It is extremely ironic that West Virginia, the home of bottled water, should actually find it citizens need it more than ever, but for every different reasons. How did West Virginia ever get here?
West Virginia’s spring waters (click here) have a long history, including the regular patronage of George Washington at Berkeley Springs. Mineral water was bottled at West Virginia springs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Capon Springs, Berkeley Springs, and Pence Springs. The bottled water industry was revived on a large scale in the late 20th century, with the national boom in bottled-water sales. Today West Virginia producers bottle both spring water and well water, and in one case even the recaptured water from the sap of sugar maple trees.
Our state’s mineral springs and warm springs were originally valued for their reported health benefits, later becoming social gathering places. Resorts were developed at springs from the Eastern Panhandle to the southeastern region of the state. Drinking was often secondary to bathing in the spring waters, although both were believed therapeutic for a variety of medical conditions. Some springs were valued for their sulfur content, which makes their water unpalatable by today’s standards....
