Jolene Kirk - Love Canal

Military Hazardous Waste Sickens Land and People

http://truth-out.org/news/item/2377:military-hazardous-waste-sickens-land-and-people

Along with the Love Canal article, I included this article about the military in North Carolina. Their toxic waste was not taken care of properly and is not managed by anyone. Their drinking water was contaminated and are now experiencing the same effects of Love Canal. 

Did you know that there were still these major environmental hazards today?

- "I had no idea this was happening! I feel like since we know about these problems we need to actually try and implement solutions rather than just talk about it."

- "I was not aware that this was going on, I would think that our government could and should come up with better ways to deal with this problem."

- "Wow, America is screwed up! Government needs to get control of that stuff!"

- "That shouldn't be happening and we should know about these things. They should talk about this on the news"

- "No, why do dumb people build on top of dangerous substances in the first place?"

- "No, I had no idea it was causing such major problems. Not only the problems with mental issues but that it is actually causing mutations like extra rows of teeth."

- "Yes I did know about this. I live in a place where fracking is a big concern. The EPA says our water is fine but it doesn't seem fine when you can set it on fire with all the chemicals in it. There is a big problem with keeping our environment safe for our survival and health."

- "I think I knew about it but you'd think by now the government would take action."

- "I think I knew but I didn't know it was at such a large scale. The government really should do something about that."

- "I knew about this problem but to be honest I didn't know that it was such a big impact. I thought we had it under control but now I know that what we're doing is not enough."

Environmental tragedies still exist today; what can we do today to mitigate these problems. 

I feed that what we can do to mitigate these problems is to first educate people. The more that people know about his problem the more force and motivation to change it. Second I think we can get as many people's heads together and figure out a solution to stop situations from happening in the future. 

To what degree do environmental tragedies affect you/your family on a day to basis?

I don't think that toxic waste and things quite like this are affecting me and my family on a day to day basis. What I do think is that it will someday affect my family and to be completely honest I don't want that day to come. I hope we can fix it before it harms and effects everyone.

In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis.

Yes I do feel that this is something we should be concerned about. We only have one world and one shot to live here and get it right. If we screw it up we won't have anywhere else to go. We need to take care of what we have so it can be sustainable and survive the ages and the future generations that are to come.