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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed

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To: GraceZ who wrote (44738)	12/6/2000 7:30:21 PM
From: yard_man	Read Replies (3) of 436258

it was in Missouri and it was dioxin, not PCB. I've driven past it several times on I44. Now a haven for deer ... bigisland.ttclients.com the point is not that poison should be dumped or that the EPA shouldn't do its job. That guy who sprayed the oil had no idea what he was doing -- he thought he was providing a valuable service ... When GE dumped the stuff in the Hudson river it is very likely that it had no idea what it was doing ... My only concern is that efforts to clean up are really worthwhile. Just penalizing somebody for something they were unaware of at the time provides little benefit ... From what I understand about PCBs -- for transformer manufacture at least -- PCBs were produced when these transformers were tested using a fire resistant oil in place of the regular mineral oil that is used while they are actually in-service. This oil was recovered -- but there was some remainder that was "flushed." Only a very small part of that oil -- ppm was actually PCBs ... At the time one danger was avoided -- namely a fire during a performance test -- while another unknown chemical danger was created many of these chemicals are not dangerous in small qtys -- it is the potential for the chemical to build up through the food chain -- & the fact that they are fat soluble I think in regards to some of these chemicals -- it is not popular to say so -- but the release and damage is largely irreversible -- dredging the bottom of the Hudson will probably cause more harm in and of itself than leaving it alone --- Some are idealists -- thinking as long as you have enough money you can restore the pristine nature of the environment -- ain't so What we can do is avoid future problems where the science is clear (e.g. dioxin & PCBs & some pesticides)... EPA is often in the punish mode or jumps to conclusions before there is good science and often creates more problems than they solve. Witness the rabble about global warming -- that there has been a marked increase in temperatures in the last century is hardly arguable, but it is by no means clear that the origin of the rise is necessarily man-made ... But suppose for the sake of argument that it is ... There are two primary greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 -- CH4 accounts for 2/3 of the total but has better heat-trapping characterisitics. CO2 accounts for 1/3 and electrical gen accounts for about 1/3 of that -- i.e. elec gen accounts for about 1/9 of the problem if you believe there is a causal relationship ... The burning of coal is the primary culprit here (for 1/9 of the gases emitted). CO2 can't be scrubbed like other undesirables -- how many would really be willing to pay the price to move toward a no-coal future. Currently coal provides over 50% of our generation in the US? Should we do this when global warming may not be linked to CO2? What if natural sources of CH4 are really the driver? Idealogues -- I have one in my own family -- say that clean air and water are priceless, but they all drive cars, use synthetic materials and eat foods (meats) that require huge energy inputs without a thought -- they think that if we could just pay enough taxes and include enough "externalities" in the price of the goods we consume -- supposedly we could live in some ideallly clean world. It is just not true ...

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