Monthly Archive for May, 2010

The Largest Source of Wastewater Mercury Pollution: Dentists

Published on 05/31/2010 in contaminated water and wastewater. 0 Comments Tags: mercury and wastewater, mercury policy project, mercury pollution.

dental mercury pollution photo

“We all know coal-fired power plants are to blame for a lot of the mercury swimming through our waters. But they’re not the worst, according to the Mercury Policy Project. Do you know what is? The dental industry.

“Yep, those silver amalgam fillings are actually composed primarily of mercury, not silver, and the shavings from new fillings and the removal of old fillings—whether when the filling breaks or when teeth are removed whole—help to make America’s dentists, collectively, the single largest source of mercury pollution to wastewater.

“While the EPA has recognized some public concerns over mercury from dental amalgam, regulation up until now has rested largely on voluntary pollution reduction measures, which the Mercury Policy Project says have barely any effect due to low compliance. The group, which testified before Congress last week on this issue, also charges that the American Dental Association has misled the EPA and the public, saying both that dentists have been voluntarily controlling their mercury pollution and that the metal doesn’t end up in the fish that people eat.

India assures Pakistan of addressing ‘legitimate’ water concerns

Published on 05/30/2010 in water wars. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: architecture.mit.edu

“Indian minister says New Delhi has no intention of taking away Pakistan’s water.

“India on Sunday assured Pakistan of taking care of the country’s “legitimate” concerns on water, as both countries began a four-day joint meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC). India’s Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters on the eve of deliberations that New Delhi had no intention to deprive Pakistan of its share of water.

“We never deprived them of water, not even during wars and have no intention to do so ever,” he said.

“A nine-member Pakistan delegation led by Indus Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah began talks on Sunday with the Indian Commission headed by G Aringanathan.

“The annual Indus Commission talks will exchange technical data on river flow, besides devising mechanism to exchange advance flood information during the monsoon season.”

Sewage still stinking up region’s water supply

Published on 05/30/2010 in contaminated water and wastewater. 0 Comments

“Indiana wastewater treatment plants flushed more than 6.5 billion gallons of partially treated sewage into Lake Michigan and tributaries in 2009. Much of that ended up on the shores of area beaches and in Lake Michigan, which supplies drinking water to the region.

“I think it’s pretty simple that humans and children should not be swimming in their own poo. There’s the ‘eek factor’ that seems to be pretty visceral. And we have an unbelievable resource,” said Henry Henderson, director of the Midwest office of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The sewer overflows contain viruses, toxics, debris, trash, used tampons, dirt and E. coli bacteria from human waste that contaminate drinking water supplies. That makes it more difficult and expensive to treat it before it’s sent to your tap. The overflows also contribute to beach closures and litter at beaches.”

Bottled Water Pits Nestlé vs. Greens

Published on 05/30/2010 in bottled water and greenwashing. 0 Comments Tags: bluewashing, bottled water, greenwashing, Nestle.

“CASCADE LOCKS, Oregon—In this idyllic town on the north slope of Mount Hood, an autopsy on three dead rainbow trout may play a role in Nestlé SA’s efforts to reverse a deep slide in its bottled-water business.

“Bottled water, which for years delivered double-digit growth for Nestlé, is under fire from environmentalists. They decry the energy used to transport it and the use of billions of plastic bottles, and oppose efforts to use new springs, citing concerns about water scarcity.

“In Cascade Locks, Nestlé is trying to tap 100 million gallons of water annually for its Arrowhead water brand from a new spring—and keep the environmentalists happy, too. A key is proving that water drawn from the spring—which supplies a hatchery that raises Idaho Sockeye, an endangered species—can be replaced with municipal well water, with no harm to the fish.

“We are accused of mining water, which would suggest we are depleting a resource,” says Kim Jeffrey, chief executive of Nestlé’s North American water business. “But instead, we take water in a sustainable way. The notion that we just take what we want is simply not factual.”

“Nestlé would pipe water from the spring to a proposed new $50 million bottling plant that would employ 53 workers. In turn, it would pump Cascade Locks’ municipal well water to the hatchery to replace all the water taken from the spring—buying 300 gallons a minute from the town for the switch, or about a sixth the total municipal capacity.

“The Cascade Locks efforts are part of a push by the company to cast its water in a friendlier light. Nestlé is launching a lighter bottle with nine grams of plastic, a quarter of that found in some sports-drinks packaging.

“Environmentalists say it is impossible for a company that churns out 20 billion plastic bottles a year to become environmentally friendly and dismiss the efforts as “bluewashing.”

“In Cascade Locks, some resent seeing a rare business opportunity possibly lost. “This is becoming the Battle of the Middle Gorge,” says Mayor Brad Lorang. “Stopping Nestlé won’t save the planet, but getting Nestlé to come here could save the town.”

Tap water kills dozens of fish in Duncanville creek

Published on 05/30/2010 in contaminated water, rivers and tap water. 0 Comments Tags: fish kills, tap water.

“City workers spent hours Friday afternoon trying to clean up a massive fish kill on Ten Mile Creek in Duncanville.

“Crews with the cities of Duncanville and Cedar Hill walked along the shore picking up dozens of dead fish.

“Neighbors noticed the creek’s water changing color earlier in the week, but started smelling the problem Friday morning.

“When I came out this morning, I smelled something really strong,” said D.J. McCasland, who has lived on the creek for 15 years. “I walked down here, looked over to the creek, and there were hundreds of fish piled up on the ledge — dead!”

“Although homes in Duncanville noticed the problem, city leaders blame a water main break upstream in neighboring Cedar Hill. On Thursday morning, crews discovered a 16-inch water main break.

“Officials fixed the leak within hours, but they aren’t sure how long the main was spewing chlorinated tap water into the creek.

“Tap water is extremely toxic to fish.”

Radioactive fish near Vt. nuke plant deemed common

Published on 05/30/2010 in contaminated water and rivers. 0 Comments

“When a fish taken from the Connecticut River recently tested positive for radioactive strontium-90, suspicion focused on the nearby Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as the likely source.

“Operators of the troubled 38-year-old nuclear plant on the banks of the river, where work is under way to clean up leaking radioactive tritium, revealed this month that it also found soil contaminated with strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer and leukemia.

“Three days later, officials said a fish caught four miles upstream from the reactor in February had tested positive for strontium-90 in its bones. State officials say they don’t believe the contamination came from Vermont Yankee.

“Tritium was reported leaking from the plant in January, and since then has turned up in monitoring wells at levels 100 times the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for that substance in drinking water. Other radioactive isotopes have been found as well, including cesium-137, zinc-65 and cobalt-60.”

In Mexico, fear of tap water fuels bottled-water boom

Published on 05/30/2010 in bottled water, contaminated water and tap water. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: courtneybrownonair.com

“It’s a simple warning – don’t drink the tap water – and Mexicans take it to heart as much as any foreign tourist does.

“Mexicans drink more bottled water than the citizens of any other country do, an average of 61.8 gallons per person each year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a consultancy. That’s far higher than Italy, and more than twice as much as in the United States.

“A rising mistrust of tap water is behind the thirst for bottled water. Other factors are also at play, however, including clever advertising campaigns by multinational corporations and the failure of the Mexican government to provide timely data on water safety.

“The boom in bottled water has an underside, too. Empty plastic water bottles litter landfills and roadsides at a rate that alarms consumer and environmental groups. Recycling experts say that only about one-eighth of the 21.3 million plastic water and soft drink bottles that are emptied each day in Mexico get recycled.”

Saving Water, the (Really) Old-Fashioned Way

Published on 05/29/2010 in rivers and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments

Woman Retrieving Water from the Arvari River, Retrieved from: flickr.com (Patrick McCully)

“Drawing on indigenous Indian knowledge of geology, hydrology and ecology, Rajendra Singh helped to save a watershed.

“Rajendra Singh, founder of Tarun Bharat Sangh, (TBS, or Young India Association), always wanted to be a farmer. Bowing to family pressure, he studied to be a doctor of traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine and after school moved to the Alwyn district in the arid state of Rajasthan. Singh was not simply practicing medicine, he wanted to test some ideas about healing ecosystems.

“The local Arvari River had dried up during the 1940s when the surrounding hills were stripped of trees. It flowed only during the monsoon season. Since that time most people fled local villages to seek a livelihood elsewhere. When Singh arrived in 1985, he noticed that only the oldest and poorest people were left in the area.”

Split Enviro Groups Ready to Rumble Over $11B Water-Bond Referendum in California

Published on 05/29/2010 in policy. 0 Comments

California Aqueduct, Retrieved from: polizeros.com

“California environmental groups are split over whether to support an $11 billion water bond on the November ballot, setting up a family feud between activists who usually stand shoulder-to-shoulder against corporate interests.

“The bond is backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), the California Farm Bureau, construction companies and dozens of irrigation districts, to name its most prominent advocates. But also working for the initiative are the Nature Conservancy, Audubon California and the National Heritage Institute.

‘That deep-pocketed coalition will be opposed by Sierra Club California, the Planning and Conservation League, Friends of the River and Clean Water Action, among others. Also set to oppose the bond are a number of Democratic and Republican state legislators, mostly from the Bay area and the Sacramento region.”

Thames boaters face Environment Agency pollution drive

Published on 05/29/2010 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

“Boaters along the River Thames in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey are being targeted by the Environment Agency in a bid to tackle pollution.

“The agency says boat pollutants, such as oil leaks and the discharge of phosphate-based cleaning products, harm wildlife and water quality.

“Staff will be stationed at 14 locks to hand out pollution packs, including phosphate-free detergent.

“They will also hand out a quiz and tips on ways to prevent pollution.

“The pollution packs also contain “bilge socks”, which are placed in a boat engine to soak up any possible oil present in boat waste water.”

Monthly Archive for May, 2010

The Largest Source of Wastewater Mercury Pollution: Dentists

India assures Pakistan of addressing ‘legitimate’ water concerns

Sewage still stinking up region’s water supply

Bottled Water Pits Nestlé vs. Greens

Tap water kills dozens of fish in Duncanville creek

Radioactive fish near Vt. nuke plant deemed common

In Mexico, fear of tap water fuels bottled-water boom

Saving Water, the (Really) Old-Fashioned Way

Split Enviro Groups Ready to Rumble Over $11B Water-Bond Referendum in California

Thames boaters face Environment Agency pollution drive

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