hey were aware of the great risk of contamination (Statement 20). It is stated in the EPAs policy that subsurface injection wells created by chemical, petro-chemical, pharmaceutical, and natural gas companies posed a increase of the danger of severe contamination of our groundwater ( A Statement 20). What is not understandable is why, over twenty-five years later, people are dying of cancer related deaths associated with contaminated drinking water. The negligence demonstrated by industrial companies, the military, and our government, is inexcusable for the plain fact that because of their actions, or lack of, people are suffering the horrible pains of cancer.The negligence of industrial companies who pollute our water has been kept in the dark for many years. Although, within the past decade companies are being recognized more and more for their harrowing actions. In one of the largest toxic tort settlements, Pacific Gas and Electric Company agreed to award residents of Hinkley, California $333 million dollars. The citizens of Hinkley claimed that PG&E knowingly contaminated their water with the toxic chromium VI for over twenty years (Blau 1). Many of the residents suffer from lung, kidney, and stomach cancer along with other ailments (Pacific 1). The means of contamination was unlined ponds where the chromium was allowed to leak underground and pollute the water (Liss 1). PG&E alleges that there is no link between the chromium and the illnesses, but a settlement offer of $333 million is as good as an admission of guilt.Similar to the PG&E case is the on-going litigation between the residents of Sugar Creek, Missouri and Amoco Oil Company. Hazardous waste specialist, Syed Hasan, found the toxic metals arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, and uranium, some of which he says are waste products of petroleum and refinery plants (Curtright 2). Not only were these toxic metals found to be in conjunction wit...
