Environmental tragedies still exist today; what can we
do today to mitigate these problems?
Sludge Spill in Kentucky, March 2000
Love Canal
http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.html
Heather Lifferth: So
gross! And it is gross they compare it to icecream... But I agree with Dianne -
I was wondering if anyone got charged for the damage. Of course it was a
accident but if people are dealing with that type of substance they should be
prepared to pay if something goes wrong. This also shows that each person and
people in a community needs to be prepared for natural disasters or even oil
spills. You never know what could happen!
Terry Krieger:
There is no doubt that many mistakes were made by manufacturing companies and
the government in the early part of the 20th century. Lack of knowledge, no
idea of the consequences, etc. Now we have the EPA to clean things up and
protect us. Unfortunately, in many ways they've gone to the extreme with too
many regulations and restrictions, especially on new energy.
Drew Botcherby:
People should stop complaining and start scooping up the oil in their
backyards! It could pay for at least a month's groceries.
Dianne 'Di'
Singleton: I personally feel that the company should be
responsible for ALL damages to not just the environment but the local water
supply, etc. Instead of a potential fine, it needs to be a mandatory
fine/penalty. Our natural resources are too precious to have these types of
events happening. It is frustrating to see these things happening. I would
think that a company would take MAJOR precautions.
David Miner:
Its unfortunate that this happened. The Oil Company is responsible. It should
have to pay a penalty for the damage its responsible for. But, be careful not
to bankrupt the company. I'm not saying $25,000 a day isn't fair. The company
may be able to pay it just fine. I'm just saying that that company probably
employs the surrounding area. If the company goes down so does the community
and then who is going to fund the clean up?
Drew
Botcherby: This is happening again right now in Arkansas. Oddly
enough, some (I hope just a few) residents are actually happy about it. It
actually sounds a lot like my first sarcastic comment, except in real life. One
could also look at these things as having positive benefits! http://gawker.com/5994203/massive-exxonmobil-spill-in-arkansas-backyards-is-not-all-bad
Ten days ago, an ExxonMobil pipeline pumping
crude oil from the Alberta tar sands down to Texas refineries burst open in
Mayflower, Ark., causing the evacuation of nearly two dozen homes and coating
wildlife and the surrounding area in thousands of gallons of oil.
Carole
Lifferth: It's really too bad. No one has any idea what the long
term effects are on humans or wildlife. It could be great. The oil company
should definitely be fined. And more regulations should be put on companies to
contain their sludge.
Not really.
To be quite honest, I don’t hear a lot about these kinds of events. Sadly, they
aren’t the things that make the breaking news reel or end up on the front cover
of the daily newspaper. Environmental tragedies such as these should be given
more voice, and citizens should give more ear to what’s going on and how it’s
affecting them now and in the future.
How do environmental tragedies affect you on a daily basis?
Why should we care about them?
The sludge
spill stories shared for example, create not only negative environmental
changes, but also negative (and sometimes positive) economic changes. Money
either provided by the government or the firms responsible for the mess will
need to pay big time to fix the mistake made. The money used for clean up could
have been used to take extra precautions in making sure that oil wouldn’t spill
into surrounding areas.
In your opinion are environmental hazards something we
should be concerned about on a daily basis?
YES. Environmental
hazards need to be closely monitored so that we can prevent future tragedies
from occurring and causing damage to the environment as well as to the health
of people everywhere.
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