Our World and Everything in It

A report about the Colorado River and benzene was on BBC and I caught some of it, but the articles I found about it are extensive. BBC previewed a citizen singing a country song about poisoning his water with benzene. I guess people are just giving up the fight against big corporations taking over areas and punching holes in the ground for natural gas.

The article explains the process to obtain natural gas. I had no idea how toxic it is. “Each hydraulic fracturing attempt on a gas well uses about 1 million gal of fluid and most wells are “frac’ed” about 10 times, said hearing witness Theo Colborn, president of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a nonprofit group that focuses on health problems from low-dose chemical exposures. Many different chemicals—including surfactants, lubricants, foamers, plastics, biocides, antioxidants, acids, and alkalis—are employed for fracturing operations, she said. These chemicals are added to alter the underground strata to allow methane to escape up the well pipe, she said. Her group has identified 171 products used in Colorado containing altogether 245 different chemicals, 92% of which have adverse health effects, she explained. She went on to say the chemicals have multiple health effects as developmental toxicants and endocrine disruptors that have adverse affects on hormones in the body.

There are lots of side affects. “More than half the volatile chemicals on the list Colborn’s group has identified irritate the skin, eyes, nose, lungs, and stomach. Some affect the nervous system, causing headaches, blackouts, and memory loss, she explained. ‘About 55% can cause cardiovascular and kidney damage, and 35 are carcinogens,’ she noted.”

Meanwhile, another article discloses how badly this particular natural gas exploration is beating up an entire area as well as leaching dangerous chemicals into the Colorado River. The implications are bad considering the Colorado is the only water supply to the four fasting growing states in the southwest. All that population explosion is dependent on this river, which is bad enough, let alone contaminating it too.  “Green activists blame the Bush administration for opening the door too widely for energy companies, a charge backed up by a trail of executive orders and administrative actions, as well as the 2005 Energy Policy Act approved by a then-Republican-led Congress — all geared toward deriving more energy from public lands.”

 http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/86/8606gov1.html

http://www.saveroanplateau.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=36

Many of us had lovely ash trees in our yard once upon a time, and there are many parks around Michigan that have yet to clear out all of the ash trees that died from the ash borer, a simple bug.
Well, there are a lot more bugs to come and we can thank global warming for it.

Colorado is bearing the brunt of an increase in bark beetle bugs that have killed millions of acres of lodge pole pines. These pines are exactly what their name describes, tall, tall trees pine trees whose needled branches are disproportionately at the top third of the entire trunk, think Q-tip. The bottom portion of the trunk is a straight shot of wood, used to build log lodges.

An article on abcnews.com stated 1.5 million acres are already wiped out and all of the lodge pole pines may be gone in 3 to 5 years. It said the infestation was first noticed in 1996. What the heck takes so long for our agencies to act on anything? I lost my ash tree, and the whole time Bayer brand systemic spray would have worked. By time I applied anything to my tree, it was already too late. I know what I found for news before that. Our state officials said nothing worked against the ash borer…so people failed to act. State officials were wrong!

Colorado officials said, “the infestation was concentrated in five northern Colorado counties straddling the Continental Divide and has reached southern Wyoming.” The amount of trees taken by the beetles increased 1500 percent last year and “forest officials attributed the spread of the beetle to warm winters and drought. Susan Gray, group leader for forest health management with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region, said only 20-below-zero temperatures for a sustained period can kill the beetles.” Keep an eye on your spruce trees! Spruce and aspen pines are susceptible to the beetle also.

To add insult to injury relative to our trees and forests, the Bush administration looks to weaken the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. This rule protects millions of acres of trees in Idaho against the oil, natural gas, timer, and mining industries. According to Earthjustice, Idaho contains more unspoiled wild forest than any state outside Alaska, providing the last intact forest habitat for countless fish, wildlife, and plant species. These areas are enjoyed by hunters, anglers, hikers, and all who treasure the backcountry. Earthjustice disclosed why Bush is pushing the Roadless Rule aside:

The administration’s proposal will open the door to logging millions of pristine acres, risk dangerous toxic contamination from mining, degrade clean fish-bearing streams and important wildlife habitat, and fail to live up to the public’s overwhelming desire to protect all of these areas for future generations.

This forest giveaway could lead to 545 million tons of phosphate being mined on nearly 8,000 unspoiled acres near Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Any increase in phosphate mining would worsen the already serious problem of selenium poisoning in local streams and aquifers. Selenium is an extremely dangerous contaminant known to cause birth defects, which bio-accumulates in the food web — persisting for centuries after entering the environment.

Read more about this and sign a petition to stop President Bush before he weakens the Roadless Rule even more. We’re already losing trees and a lot of our landscape from extreme weather, i.e., floods, fires, tornadoes, and now bugs. Does the Bush administration have a clue about conservation? Do they even care? Trees protect us from the sun, and take CO2 out of the air for Pete’s sake, and the powers that be want to give them away to big money.

About the pine beetle infestation:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4133205

More about Bush sidestepping the Roadless Rule: http://www.earthjustice.org/our_work/campaigns/roadless_rule.html
Sign the petition to save our national forests: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/roadless_ID_0308
 

Salmonella was found in the tap water of residents in Alamosa, Colorado. Residents there get their water from 5 deep wells. No one knows exactly how the contamination happened. There is some speculation about groundwater. An article on CIDRAP or Center for Infectious Disease, Research & Policy stated: “Authorities have not said how they think the water became contaminated with Salmonella. Ken Carlson, an environmental engineering professor from Colorado State University, said Alamosa’s water comes from five deep wells and is untreated, the Denver Post reported on Mar 21. More than half of the US drinking water supply consists of untreated groundwater, he told the Post, adding that groundwater typically never comes in contact with possibly contaminated surface water before reaching consumers.

The Denver Post carried this story first and disclosed that the water comes from a well that is not chemically disinfected, (not chlorinated). This is kind of creepy. How many wells around the country serve us our tap water? What about all those trash dumps? What about groundwater runoff from CAFO’s?

Read the articles: http://www.denverpost.com/crush/ci_8679920

This CIDRAP article is two hours old: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/news/mar2408salmonella.html

In 1880, Leadville, CO was a silver mining town with a population of about 40,000 people. By 2005, Leadville had less than 2700 citizens but as a part of Lake County with close to 8000 residents, the area and its citizens are in serious danger from those old mining camps. I wanted to find out more about Leadville so I looked at Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia Leadville was full of lead about 1 million short tons but also produced over 2.9 million ounces of gold, 240 million ounces of silver, 785 thousand short tons of zinc and 53 thousand short tons of copper.

Many years of mining left behind substantial contamination of the soil and water, so that the EPA designated some former mining sites in Leadville as Superfund sites designated for clean up. Wikipedia stated that according to authorities, the town is now 98% cleaned up and the Superfund designation is about to expire. Well guess again.

The Lake County Commissioners declared a state of emergency in Colorado today. As I understand it, because mines are hollow, the water that seeps down the walls and across the floor may carry with it toxic contaminants like lead. If allowed to run free as surface water runoff, it poses a hazardous waste problem to the area. During WWII the Bureau of Mines dug drainage tunnels to direct and contain the runoff.  The Leadville mines tunnel was later sold to the Bureau of Reclamation as many of them were. According to an article in the Vail Daily News, “in 1992, a lawsuit by the Sierra Club prompted the construction of the tunnel treatment plant.” And everyone was supposed to live happily ever after.

However, there is a cave in somewhere in that mine now blocking the tunnel, and water is building up on the one side of the cave-in due to heavy snowfall and ice melt. It’s building up to a tune of “over a billion gallons of toxic acid and metal-laden water to form a pool at the headwaters of the Arkansas River, according to Commissioner Hickman. He explained that the water is now nearly 200 feet high and continues to apply pressure against the cave-in.” The same Vail Daily article said that the Denver Post stated “snow pack levels in the Upper Arkansas Valley are 163 percent of normal,” so more water than ever is going to continue to apply pressure. Commissioner Hickman said that he is afraid that the environmental degradation of the Arkansas River will be beyond anyone’s comprehension if the whole thing explodes. Lately, there appears to be a back-up situation from Leadville’s mine tunnel to the California Gulch tunnel treatment plant also.

The Bureau of Reclamation knows about the problem, has taken some steps but is moving too slowly for the commissioners. The commissioners should be on edge. This administration is not known for its quick action during human disasters, or for their prevention. The Bureau of Reclamation has been accused of failing to warn citizens when the Teton Dam in Idaho gave way in 1976. Fourteen people died and 300,000 acre-feet of water surged through the area causing one billion dollars in damages. A couple of Senators, Salazar and Wiens, have voiced their concern over the Leadville tunnel. Salazar accused the Bureau of not cooperating with the EPA or Colorado’s Dept. of Health. Other than that nothing much has been done as the water continues to build. There is a trailer park situated right where the water will rush through if the dam gives way.

All I can think of is the recent push to mine all over the country again eventually leaving more void pockets like the existing abandoned mines in Leadville. Mountain top strip mining, coal mining, and even in Michigan, mining for copper is on the agenda once again. Look at the age of the mines in Leadville that are still causing a problem and costing millions from the Superfund to clean up or contain. The U.S. hasn’t fully remedied the problems from mines that over 100 years old, but is willing to invest in new mining all over the country again? Add to that the Bureau of Reclamation’s failure to act on the behalf of citizen’s safety as it has in the past, and even though the EPA has pressured them with concern about this particular tunnel for years. Since, I don’t have much faith in the Bush EPA, this must be really bad for them to pay attention. It’s bad enough for us to pay attention and keep a watchful thumb on excessive mining in the future, especially for filthy fossil fuel like coal.

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080214/NEWS/972891293.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadville,_Colorado.