Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Environmental Science Alarming Information Alarming Information It is scary but true. Water, one hydrogen and two oxygen, is a compound that life on Earth is completely dependent upon. An infinite water supply is imperative if life is going to continue on at the present status quo. If something happened to earth’s water supply, life would cease to exist. A majority of Earth’s water is contaminated with lethal chemicals and more and more water is being polluted everyday. The sad fact is that the pollutants are being injected into the water by none other than man himself. We are slowly, and knowingly, killing off our own kind. Industrial processes all over the world are contaminating fresh water sources with biochemical waste. This waste makes its way into homes is causing unspeakable illnesses and in too many cases death. The predominant cause of death from people’s coming into contact with contaminated water is cancer. Clusters of cancer cases are appearing all over our country in towns and cities whose water supply has been contaminated by industrial carcinogens. The unsettling fact is that industrial companies know they are polluting the water, yet they deny their own guilt and keep on contaminating our natural resources. Numerous times industrial carcinogens have been proven to cause cancer in humans as well as animals in the laboratory. Sadly, without evidence that directly links companies to contamination, the technicalities of our judicial system set them free. There are far too many hazardous chemicals that exist in the environment which are polluting our water. The most common, and perhaps most lethal, are polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. In Drinking Water and Health, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, accounts for PCBs as organic chemicals that are virtually undetectable by the human senses (1). Defined by the EPA, PCBs can be any type of industrial substance from adhesives to lubricants (Drinking 1). When disposed of by industry they are thrust into the environment and somehow end up in the drinking water of millions. The EPA, reports, “PCBs has the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCL: …cancer” (Drinking 2). The Safe Water Drinking Act was passed in 1974 calling for the EPA to outline rules to regulate allowed amounts of classified harmful chemicals in drinking water (US EPA, Drinking 2). Although the EPA has set standards for concentrations of chemicals in drinking water, it seems that the established levels are too high. This is because the law was passed in 1974 and since then the number of cancer cases reported each year has risen. If the law served the purpose it was meant for the number of cancer cases should have decreased. Side by side with PCBs is a solvent used in many refineries and industrial plants called trichloroethylene, or TCE. The largest polluter associated with TCE is none other than the institution that is supposed to be protecting us with the greatest honor - the military. For many years the military has been carelessly disposing of TCE and polluting the water that eventually runs out of our kitchen faucets. With the military so widespread, it would be safe to assume that a majority of the nation’s drinking water is polluted, to an extent, with TCE and the other chemicals used by the military. The usage of TCE also extends to factories such as that of the Orlando Sentinel, a newspaper company. In “Orlando cleanup set to begin,” Mark Fitzgerald reports within the last five years the Sentinel has been discovered to have been using TCE as a degreaser in the printing presses and then disposing of it in plumes that connect with the city’s water supply (1). TCE has been proven to cause leukemia in animal studies in which the animals only ingested small amounts of the toxin (Calhoun 4). As Fitzgerald states, due to such experiments, the federal EPA has declared TCE a “probable” human carcinogen (“Accord” 1). It is very alarming when considering how widespread dangerous industrial chemicals are and how easy it is for them to infiltrate our water supply. Along with PCBs and chemical solvents, there are numerous heavy metals, such as arsenic and an isotope of chromium, which has a possible link to cancer if found in elevated concentrations in water (Blau 1; Liss 1). If chromium is found at levels above what the EPA had established to be “safe” it can possibly cause cancer of the lung, nasal passages, stomach, and kidney (Liss 1). Similarly, arsenic has been linked to several types of cancer including bladder, kidney, lung, nasal cavity, liver, and prostate (“Risk” 1). “They may come from industrial plants and mines,” says the National Cancer Institute, “or from water treatment processes.” No matter where they come from, there are far too many cancer causing pollutants and toxic metals penetrating our natural resources. There are many ways that toxic chemicals and metals can be filtrated into our water supply. A majority of drinking water is taken from underground water resources called aquifers. When industry is careless with the byproducts of their processes our underground water reserves are polluted because the toxins eventually seep through the soil and reach the aquifers. The groundwater sources already receive a small amount of naturally occurring harmful contaminants, so when organic toxins are driven into the aquifers the danger of contamination is doubled. The National Cancer Institute says it best in their essay “Risk Factors: Air and Water Pollutants,” “Seepage of pesticides, industrial solvents, and other industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the underground aquifers (rock formations that hold water) causes further contamination of the groundwater supply” (2). The infuriating aspect of this is that back in 1974 when Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, to which the EPA set forth the rules, they were aware of the great risk of contamination (Statement 20). It is stated in the EPA’s 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 with Amoco, their concentrations in the groundwater exceed the limits set by the EPA (Curtright 1). In the town of Sugar Creek there are more cases of cancer, including leukemia and brain cancer, than demographics would suggest (Orshal 1). This completely supports the Sugar Creek residents’ claim that the water is contaminated. This is the type of evidence that led Sugar Creek residents to file suit against Amoco. To no surprise, the company did everything to deny a link between themselves, the pollution, and worst of all the cancer. In Amoco’s post-trial motion, appealing the decision made in February 1999 in favor of Sugar Creek plaintiffs, Amoco says, “There are no health issues in this case” (Slayton v. Amoco). If there were no health issues plaguing the Sugar Creek area there would be no case to begin with. The filing of suit is almost solely based on the fact that plaintiffs have suffered or are suffering serious illness (including cancer) and have every right to believe it is in relation to the toxic chemicals once used by Amoco Oil. Everything would be much better if companies like Amoco and PG&E would simply admit their guilt and cease contributing to the continuing contamination of the worlds natural water resources. The battle against cancer society is fighting is hard enough without companies like PG&E and Amoco adding to the problem. While medical experts strive to develop cures for the disease, companies who pollute our water with cancer causing toxins act as impediments to their cause. It is easy to see that companies who pollute our groundwater with waste products are completely aware of the severe consequences of their actions. It only takes common sense to realize that dumping toxic waste directly into the ground will inevitably pollute the natural resources in existence nearby. The solution is ironically simple, yet very complicated to enforce. Groundwater contamination is so widespread that most cases are unknown and as long as companies are not suffering consequences they will continue to pollute. Groundwater pollution causes many avoidable cancer cases and pain and suffering that could otherwise be prevented. Until the day arrives when companies cease to pollute our water, this alarming information will continue to be an inescapable reality. Bibliography: Works Consulted Epstein, Samuel. “Winning the war against cancer?… are they even fighting it?.” Ecologist Mar./Apr. 1998: 69-80. 17 Mar. 2000 “Families to Split $10 Million in Pollution Case.” New York Times 21 Nov. 1999, sec. 1: 51. Is someone contaminating…your drinking water?. Oklahoma: Ground Water Protection Council. EPA. King, Jonathan. Troubled Water Emmaus: Rodale, 1985. MacLean, Pamela A. “Cleaning Up.” California Lawyer Aug. 1996: 24. Safe, Stephen H., Kavita Ramamoorthy. “Disruptive behavior.” Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy Fall 1998: 19-23. 20 Mar. 2000 “Sugar Creek Cancer Study.” By Elizabeth Alex. NBC 41 News. KSHB Missouri. 22 March 1999. 6 Apr. 2000 Welkos, Robert W. “Digging for the Truth.” Los Angeles Times 12 Mar. 2000, home edition.: 8. 6 Apr. 2000 Word Count: 1736
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