Green Algae Prevention - Tip 1
Chlorine levels must be kept to an acceptable level. For prevention it is always better to be on the high side of the normal PH range to prevent green algae.

Green Algae Prevention - Tip 2
Give your swimming pool the schock treatment! Use highly concentrated chemicals for this task. You can use simple baking soda if you ever run out of chemicals for the pool. Baking soda is an inexpensive alternative and handy solution that many households would naturally have.

Green Algae Prevention - Tip 3
Save money and place a solar cover on your pool every night. Ensuring your swimming pool is covered properly will prevent rubbish from getting into the water, making it easier to keep the swimming pool clean.

Green Algae Prevention - Tip 4
Test thoroughly! When testing water go down at least 12 inches when testing the chlorine levels. Testing surface water is not as accurate. Always ensure you follow the instructions on the chlorine test kit you have purchased.

Green algae is not all bad; the good that green algae does
Did you know that green algae helps treat cancer?
Did you know that green algae helps with co2 emissions

For further advice on preventing the build-up of algae in a swimming pool see professional advice from a swimming pool chemicals specialist.

Have a look at the following three chemical based products for swimming pool cleanliness.

Pool Clarifiers - Does your swimming pool suffer from cloudy water? It is a common problem especially on well used swimming pools. Common elements such as soaps, body oils, greases and cosmetics can all cause, cloudy dull water, so what do you do?

The simplest win is to use a product called 'Spa Sparkle'. This agent helps break down the matter which causes this with help from the filtration system. This allows your swimming pool water to look as clear as the day your pool was first filled.

Soda Ash - PH Increaser

Maintaining the correct PH levels in a swimming pool is not as an arduous a task as you may think. There are plenty of testing products available which make it easy to maintain good PH in your swimming pool. So what if your PH levels go over the recommended 7.26? If this is happening all too often for you, you need to consider Soda Ash (PH Increaser). Soda Ash enables you to increase the overall acidity of a swimming pool to a maintainable level an ensure your swimming experience is safe.

Algicide

Want to ensure your swimming pool does not suffer with algae growth? There are products (and good products at that) which will help prevent the build-up of algae in your swimming pool. A litre application of a good algicide should last between 3-6 months in a pool containing 12,000 gallons of water. There are a number of algaes which could cause problems for your swimming pool, make sure you are fully protected with the right swimming pool chemicals.

Find further information on swimming pool algaes at Ehow

The Weapon of Mass Destruction Is Cancer
R.B. Stuart

June 24, 2008

In March, 2003 my sister, Army Captain Chaplain Fran E. Stuart was deployed to Iraq with the rest of her battalion, from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, the 101st Airborne. The uncharted desert would not only hold uncertainty for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, but if she survived during her one-year deployment, she would return to the U. S. forever changed.

Although the changes that would occur two years to the day from her return home were changes she never could have fathomed. Not only had the desert sand, gun blasts and heat penetrated the armor of her psyche, but a carcinogen did too. It made a home in her body, mixed between the Anthrax Vaccine, depleted uranium, crude oil smog, and contaminated water dished up with every meal. It would, in two years, become part of the wrapping around her inner organs like an Octopus, gathering its fuel from her central abdomen. The volleyball size tumor would become the pregnancy she never had -- and the birth of cancer she'd never forget.

In March 2006, the 41-year-old captain was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, stage IV Dysgerminoma cancer, the "germ cell" cancer usually only seen in pregnant women, or teenage girls. Captain Stuart was medevaced from her new tour in Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in D.C. to undergo further testing and immediate surgery to remove the massive tumor, only to discover three more. It would take ten months of treatments to corral the cancer. After 35 rounds of chemotherapy and two more surgeries was she deemed in clinical remission.

While her family was supporting Captain Stuart at WRAMC, my exclusive access to WRAMC exposed cancer as a affliction suffered by many soldiers are returning from Iraq/Afghanistan, unknown to the public and unacknowledged by the military.

Although WRAMC Forrest Glen Fisher House provides housing exclusively for soldiers with cancer, undergoing surgeries, chemotherapy or radiation treatments at Walter Reed -- the DoD hasn't gone public with their findings. WRAMC has dedicated floors six and seven to the stricken soldiers arriving daily -- their life may have been spared on the battlefield, but the savage beast within -- cancer -- had created its own war.

Soldiers face a more deadly and rapidly moving carcinogen that covertly infiltrates all ranks, ethnicities, gender and ages from 21-57. Developing different stages and forms of rare cancers within 4-24 months, a portion are medevaced to WRAMC from Iraq already ill. Others, like my sister, are diagnosed two years post-deployment. Since soldiers are uninformed about depleted uranium (DU), they are not wearing protective gear and are unknowingly inhaling and ingesting the toxic dust.

Through the world of military red tape and their language: acronyms, I've witnessed and reported firsthand the challenges and struggles OIF and OEF soldiers undergo as they battle cancer while in the military. While the DoD denies that cancer is a "War Wound," many are left inflicted with the life-threatening illness, uncertain and fearful of their own mortality and military career.

The new veterans of the Iraq War are left afraid of the future. They wrestle with hopelessness and helplessness while they're tucked away alone in VA hospitals across the county, thinking they are the only ones. The response is, no, they're not alone. But, their story on a national and International/ level, remains untold....

Captain Stuart, soldiers fighting daily for their life, and those brave military loved ones who have succomed to the carcinogen -- put a face on Cancer in the military post Operation Iraqi Freedom & Operation Enduring Freedom, as Vietnam Veteran's did twenty years later with Agent Orange, and Desert Storm Veteran's did ten years after with The Gulf War Syndrome. Only let's not wait that long... let the faces be seen, let the names be read, let the stories unfold and let the voices be heard now. And it begins with Army Captain Chaplain Fran E. Stuart.

August 2002, seven months before the Iraq war commenced, U. S. Army Colonel J. Edgar Wakayama wrote a report for the military on DU Munitions, and the risks to health and the environment. He noted DU is produced as a by-product of the enrichment process for nuclear reactor-grade or nuclear weapon-grade uranium. Due to its extreme density (1.7 times the density of lead), it is used as the armor plating [DU penetrators] in 16 different model/size cartridges of U. S. ammunition. DU is radioactive and produces Alpha particle, Beta particle, Gamma ray.

Col. Wakayama addressed the Epidemiological Studies after Wars in Gulf and Balkans where 340 tons of DU munitions were fired during the 1991 Gulf War; 11 tons fired in the Balkans 1990 (about 70-80% of all DU munitions penetrators remain buried in the soil). The estimated DU intake for most soldiers on the battlefield: 0.1 mg uranium/g kidney, but long-term effect is unknown.

The emerging environmental concerns include a significant exposure to DU among children playing in the impact sites by ingesting heavily-contaminated soil, slow leaching of DU in local water supplies over years, consuming DU contaminated food sources (animals and plants). He outlined the three major routes of human exposure to DU is wounding by shrapnel, inhalation (lungs and thoracic lymph nodes), ingestion (contaminated soil, contaminated drinking water and food in the community).

Once the alpha particle is taken inside the body in large doses there's a hazardous producing cell damage and cancer (he reports lung Cancer is well documented), clothing and skin protects from external alpha exposure. The beta particle is hazardous to the skin and the lens of the eyes. The gamma radiation is an electromagnetic radiation of high energy that penetrates through the body. DU is chemically toxic due to heavy metal like lead, the target organ is the kidney and bone. The cultured human stem bone cell line with DU also transformed the cells to become carcinogenic. Urine samples containing uranium are mutagenic as determined by the Ames test.

Lastly, Col. Wakayama noted in the brief, the radiation effects of inhalation exposure is to the lungs and thoracic lymph nodes. A large inhalation of dust (without radiations) equate long-term respiratory effects (lung fibrosis, in addition to risk of lung Cancer). DU can be deposited in bone causing DNA damage by the effects of the alpha particles. Immune deficiency is a negligible effect, with an extra risk of death from leukemia and other Cancers.

After this study was completed for the DoD, seven months later the U.S. Military began the Shock & Awe Campaign on Iraq. In the early months of the war the U.S. dropped 320 metric tons of DU munitions on Iraq. The radioactive drenched soil in Iraq was reported in 2003 by journalist Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, with a Geiger counter registering radiation in Baghdad 1,900 times higher than normal. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, and total disintegration estimated after 25 billion years.

November 2006, the BBC reported "Depleted Uranium Risk 'Ignored." The investigation found that UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk. Noting, scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars.

February 2007, CNN's American Morning aired a two part special with Greg Hunter, "Is DU Effecting our Troops?"

July 2007, Iraq's environment minister blamed "at least 350 sites in Iraq being contaminated during bombing" with depleted uranium weapons for about 140,000 cases of cancer there and for between 7,000 and 8,000 new cases each year.

May 22, 2008, Representative Jim McDermott a Democrat of Washington, in the most recent Institute of Medicine report, "Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposure to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat," secures DU Amendment in Department of Defense Authorization Bill. The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress within 120 days of the legislation becoming law.

McDermott, a medical doctor who has long expressed concerns over potential health risks to U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians from exposure to DU. McDermott said there are anecdotal and seemingly unexplained stories of cancers striking previously healthy young American soldiers who have served in Iraq, and as a scientist he wants independent and in-depth scientific research conducted to determine if there is any link between exposure to DU and their illnesses.

He reiterates, depleted uranium, is a dense and toxic, low level radioactive material used by the U.S. military to super-harden munitions to penetrate armor. Upon impact the munitions pulverize into a fine dust that can be inhaled into the lungs when breathing, or fall to the ground as a microscopic dust where it can remain in the soil and leach into the groundwater over time. Hundreds of tons of DU were used during the First Gulf War and at the beginning of the Iraq war.

300 feet from Blue Creek… All we need is a good storm like the ones they are having up in Iowa and Missouri and we, too will realize that this is definitely the wrong place for the landfill.  Who’s to say this can’t happen here?   

In discussing the Turkey Run Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, Commissioner Charles Neely has quoted the Greek poet’s and theologian’s words of wisdom; however, those words are not relevant to this particular project. 

 I applaud Mr. Neely for being able to quote words of wisdom. 

But, here are some more words of wisdom for you to ponder:  "He who walks straight and tells no lies doesn't trip when having to walk backwards." If you will recall, not long ago Mr. Neely opposed the landfill.  But, after being elected to office, he had a change of heart -- and mind.  Disappointment is the bitter taste that some of the people who supported him now have. When the time comes for him to ask for their support again, I hope he will remember this, because I know they will.        

                                                                                                                                               Commissioner Neely is not the only one who now conveniently views the landfill as the right development for Meriwether County.  Back in February, the Hogansville City Council stated that “We must reduce our water usage by 10% monthly.” Obviously the council is attempting to restrict its constituent’s water usage so that more water will be available to sell to Meriwether Industrial Park.

More words of wisdom for you: “You can't have it all”.   No matter how pretty a picture Greenbow paints, it is not going to bring in lots of jobs. Unless you consider healthcare jobs.  Lots of those will be needed to care for the people who end up seriously ill or dead as a results from contamination brought on by the landfill.

Think people.

Meriwether’s population was more than 22,000 in 2000. Wasn’t that enough people to have some kind of healthcare facility? Everyday new things are happening.  More people are becoming aware of what is going on with the landfill project.

As Mr. Neely so aptly put it, the Industrial Park that is envisioned is indeed a golden opportunity.  It will be golden for the real estate investors and tax collectors.   I would also like for you to think about this:  How many times have you heard of companies moving into a community and then leaving after a few years because whatever tax breaks they were given have run out and they either cannot afford to stay or simply choose to relocate for other reasons?  (i.e. Ford Motor Company in Atlanta).

The community is then left barren, overwrought with empty buildings the community  can’t find new tenets for.  These buildings either deteriorate or are vandalized and cost the citizens and tax-payers money. 

I don’t want anyone to get the idea that any of us are against progress.  True, the industrial park may be a good thing and bring jobs, however the landfill is a completely different thing.   We don’t have to have a landfill to have an industrial park.  In fact often times having a landfill close by will stop companies from locating in the area, due to all the things that landfills are known for.

Greenbow and it’s supporters claim that landfills have no odors. Come on people!  Even those that have been constructed in recent years smell when you drive by them. I know that landfills have come a long way, but a skunk is still a skunk.  Covering a landfill daily may help cut down on the smell, but will not eliminate it, just like deskunking a skunk does not completely rid it of it’s natural aroma.   

At this moment, Meriwether County roads are not even ready for the physical strain of tons of garbage trucks. Who’s going to pay for the roads to be upgraded when they deteriorate?   I know who, the taxpayers.   To this day, the county hasn’t even paved all of the non-paved roads.   I wonder if that $100,000 is going to cover those costs.   You can bet that burden, too will be born by the taxpayers instead of Greenbow. And who’s to say that all the anticipated industries are going to give me or you those 600 jobs they plan on providing?  

I remember my daddy used to say, “ you can dress a pig in fine clothing, but it’s still a pig”. 

Evelyn Zarate

Opponent against the landfill not progress

A retired Marine whose daughter died of leukemia after drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is headed to Washington to talk to a Congressional subcommittee about the importance of keeping a current database of information about the risks of chemical exposure.

Jerry Ensminger was asked to testify before the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology next week. The subcommittee is examining the integrated risk information system (IRIS), a database established in the '80s to provide a single source of information about the risks associated with specific chemicals, according to a subcommittee press release.

"They want me to come up there as a victim of some of these chemicals, as an example of why this is so important," Ensminger said Tuesday.

Ensminger's daughter, Janey, was 9 when she died in 1985. Since he learned about the contamination he says caused Janey's cancer, he has become a well-known advocate for service members, families and others who drank the tainted water.

Talking to the subcommittee is "another opportunity for me to get the message out," he said.

Two major drinking water systems at Camp Lejeune were contaminated from the mid-1950s until 1987 by chemicals from spills, on-base underground storage tanks, disposal practices and an off-base drycleaner. The main chemicals found in the water were a degreaser - trichloroethylene, or TCE - and a dry-cleaning solvent - tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Keeping an up-to-date database of chemicals and the risks associated with exposure is crucial, Ensminger said, but IRIS has not been maintained as it should.

"Ultimately, what is suffering here is public health," he said.

Roughly 700 new chemicals enter the market each year, and each is added to the more than 80,000 already reported by the Toxic Substances Control Act, according to a May press release on the subcommittee's Web site. The Environmental Protection Agency also estimates the information about 480 chemicals in the database needs to be updated, the press release reads.

In the past two years, only four new chemicals have been listed on IRIS, Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller, D-N.C., said in the release.

"EPA scientists produced 15 or so assessments in each of these years, but the assessments disappeared into the abyss of elaborate, endless reviews, mostly behind closed doors. The system is fundamentally broken and cries out for reform," Miller said.

Reading GWC reminds us anew that women bear a nightmarishly disproportionate burden of the lack of sufficient clean water in developing countries. Sure the men get their fair share of the disease, the parasites, the thirst, the hunger, and the despair, but they — generally speaking—miss out on the schlepping.

For millions of rural women across the globe, supplying their families with a meager quantity of water is an exhausting life- and soul-destroying regime of walking, waiting, and lugging that can take up as much as six hours a day. As WaterAid—an international agency which claims to be "the world's leading champion of safe water, effective sanitation, and hygiene promotion"—notes in this heartbreaking article:

"In most developing countries the task of collecting water falls to women. In rural Africa women often walk ten miles or more every day to fetch water. In the dry season it is not uncommon for women to walk twice this distance.

The tragedy is that, having spent so much time and effort in reaching a source of water, the water itself is often dirty, polluted and a health hazard."

After reading the article, Waterblogged.info invites you to become further outraged by downloading and perusing Women_and_WaterAid_2006, the organization's informative and well-organized fact sheet.

We also humbly invite you to read our entry, "It's a hard-knock life." While embarrassingly overwrought and loopy, it offers links to more resources about the dire world water crisis.

http://next-thing.net/?p=2233

Greenville, GA

The R.D. Hill Community Center, in Greenville, Georgia was the setting for the recent meeting of the Meriwether County Branch of the NAACP held on Monday night at 6:30.

Monday night’s meeting, comprised of a racially mixed group of citizens, was enhanced by the presence of two speakers, Edward Dubose, Georgia State Conference NAACP President, and David Baker of Anniston, Alabama, Founder of Community Against Pollution (CAP) based in Anniston. 

Among other things, one of the objectives of the meeting was to make clear that the NAACP is here to serve a vital role in the community.  

With growing concern and legal controversy over the proposed Turkey Run Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, several Meriwether County NAACP members felt it was necessary to bring in someone who had already experienced the plight of environmental injustice.  Baker brought that expertise to the community by sharing his experiences with Monsanto in Anniston. 

 Baker runs a non-profit organization, CAP, (Community Against Pollution), which he founded in 1998.  His organization is responsible for many of the monetary awards, and other accomplishments related to the industrial giant formerly known as “Monsanto,” now known as Solutia, which the communities ultimately sued because of a plethora of health problems heaped upon them as a result of the company’s dumping PCB’s into the environment, poisoning the systems of most of the Anniston residents.

Baker shared stories about how in 1993, a fisherman had found a severely deformed fish about 5 miles from Anniston’s Monsanto Plant (now Solutia).  The fish was taken to a laboratory where it was analyzed it and they found it to be a mutated fish.  It had the face of a cat-fish but the body of a bass.  That’s what brought about the investigation of the Monsanto plant.

From 1931 until 1971, a period of 50 years, Monsanto manufactured PCBs, short for polychlorinated biphenyls, dumping the untreated by-products into the streams and landfills, which were located near several minority communities in West Anniston.   

Baker’s brother, Terry had passed away at 17, suffering from a striking array of illnesses including: brain tumor, lung cancer and hardening of the arteries. Although

at the time of Terry’s passing, no one made the connection between Terry’s death, and the pollution of the environment; Baker still recalls how they used to play in the drainage ditches that carried runoff from the nearby Monsanto plant.  Recalling getting boils on his head and rash called core acne under his feet due to PCB pollution, Baker stated, “We use to throw rocks, shoot bows and arrows, tie a tree from a tree and cross over the

water.” He said, “But I always promised my mama that one day, I would find out what happened to Terry.”

Then while working for an environmental company in 1995, Baker accidentally discovered that there had been 50 years of covering up the presence of PCB’s, because Monsanto did not warn the community of the untreated wastes they had been dumping into the steams and landfills.   The result was contaminated fish, contaminated soil, one of the highest cancer death rates in the world, and extremely high rates of developmental and physical deformities in children in that community.   As a result of the discovery of the cover-up, a legal battle ensued, and Monsanto was forced to engage a monumental clean-up operation, buy up several properties surrounding the plant, and award large settlements to residents affected by the contamination.

During his presentation, Baker discussed how the proposed Turkey Run Municipal Solid Waste Landfill will affect the community,  the drinking water, and the health of the citizens, and even make it impossible for children to even play outside.  Baker encouraged the citizens to get involved in the fight to protect their drinking water.

“Fifteen to twenty years down the road, you do not want to be another Anniston, Alabama, where almost 70% of the people are affected with cancer and children are born with birth defects.  It’s a city plagued with high death rates.  Once your water gets contaminated, it is hard to clean up.”  Baker also spoke about the ground and the dirt.  “It’s going to be in the food that you grow and eat.  You may not see it in this generation, but you may see it in the next generation will the children.”

Dubose affirmed Baker’s comments, stating, ‘This situation is going on throughout the state of Georgia.  Companies like Greenbow target rural areas that don’t always have things in place and can’t fight it.  Dubose was happy to know that  this issue is still alive, after 3 years, and that there is growing support from other groups both within and outside of the community.  

Among those present at the meeting was Evelyn Zarate of Troup County, who has joined Meriwether County’s NAACP and is one of the plaintiffs represented by Attorney Christopher Reeves who filed a petition in January, challenging the Landfill permit issued by Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division.  Zarate and her husband, who are active members of the NAACP  asked the NAACP for assistance in addressing some of the concerns raised by the proposed Landfill.

Also at the meeting was Commissioner Freddie Hines, who prepared an appeal on behalf of his constituents in District 1.   Even though Hines’ appeal was denied, he has continued to be supportive of other efforts to challenge the landfill permit.

Shirley Hines, Meriwether NAACP President said, “We want to make sure that people’s rights are not violated, we are going to be a positive force in the community, and are going to be about positive change.   We also want to make sure that certain sectors are not targeted for violations of this kind,” said branch President Shirley Hines.  “We’re concerned about the quality of water and the quality of life in Meriwether County, not just in District 1, but for our neighbors.   We have to be good stewards of our natural resources.  This is not just an environmental injustice issue, but we feel our local elected officials should be focusing on the quality of water, and we should have good quality drinking water.  We need everybody to be concerned about this and support our efforts.”

Administrative Law Judge Kristin L. Miller is set to make a ruling on May 12 on the Petition filed in January by Seagraves and others.

Sniveling and shaking, he pointed to a news story on his screen. “Look at this!" he screeched. "First they tell us to drink eight glasses a day! Then they tell us not to! First it's great for our health to drink a lot of water, and then suddenly it isn't! Then we're supposed to drink tap water, and then they tell us its full of pharmaceuticals! Now they're saying that tap water is as good or better than bottled water. Does that mean all that money I've spent on Evian was wasted? "I feel so jerked around and confused! What the hell am I supposed to do-whoo-whoo-whoooo-whoooo-whoooo?

The last word--that sounded not unlike an owl on meth--was broken up (as we helpfully indicated with hyphens), by sloppy sobs and snotty snorts accompanied by the arrhythmic heaving of his bony little shoulders.

Touched by the stripling's total self-absorption—and making a mental note to revive our dormant employee drug testing program—we handed him a tissue and cooed comforting there-theres and now-nows. He opened his eyes, which he'd squeezed shut to block out the harsh reality of his life, and was momentarily startled at the sight of so many tissue-offering hands. He selected one, blew his nose, but continued to whimper and shake uncontrollably.

Luckily, the editor-in-chief had just been to a workshop on how to take a tough-love approach to in-house mental breakdowns. She put her cigar down and with one hand grabbed him by his black emo T-shirt with the other gave him two smart snap-out-of-it slaps. She had the tough part nailed.

She pulled his wide-eyed face close to her three-day stubble. “Listen copy editor [not his real name], there are a lot of people on this planet who can't make the choice of whether or not to inhale gallons of water all day like a race horse training for the Preakness,” she said ever so softly. “Their choice is what dusty path to take to find a filthy little puddle of bacteria-infested brackish water to give to their emaciated child. Their dilemma is 'Should I let my baby die of thirst now or of diarrhea later?' They don't have to worry about pharmaceuticals in their water because they don't have medicine and they don't have any water. They don't have to agonize about which bottled water is the perfect accessory for their lifestyle, because they don't have lifestyles and did I mention that they don't have water?”

“So, your choice is either move to one of those countries where life won't be so gee-williebillers complicated or stop your whimpering and get your skinny little ass back to work,” she quipped. Squeezing his shoulder firmly but not enough to bruise, she spun his chair around toward his monitor. He must have felt the love, because he immediately grabbed his AP manual and started industriously flipping through it. As the boss turned she noticed our admiring glances and humbly said, "What are you looking at? Get the hell back to work!"

One group of opponents to Meriwether County’s proposed regional landfill scored a partial victory on Wednesday when an Administrative Law Judge issued an order, partially granting and partially denying motions made by Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD), and Greenbow, LLC’s to dismiss their petition.

The petitioners include: Darrell Segraves, Traci Segraves, Evelyn Zarate, Deanna Work, Steven Work, Ronald F. Doche, Darrek W. Haye, Dawn Campbell, Sanford L. Wood, and Herb Bartlett.  While several Meriwether Countians have expressed objection to the landfill, this group, represented by Christopher Reeves, of Swift, Currie, McGhee and Hires in Atlanta, made a strong enough argument about the potential contamination of water resources, to win an evidentiary hearing, scheduled for April 14 and 15.

In December, Dr. Carol Couch, Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) issued a solid waste handling permit to Greenbow, LLC, authorizing the construction and operation of the Turkey Run Municipal Solid Waste Landfi ll in Meriwether County.   

Around the middle of January  Segraves and others petitioned for a Hearing to challenge the issuance of the permit.

At the end of February, Greenbow, LLC, joined by Georgia EPD, entered their motion to dismiss the Petition.

In their motion, they challenged Lone Oak’s Mayor Ronald Doche’s standing to represent both himself as an individual and as a representative of the Lone Oak Community, too.

A hearing was convened on March 21.

On March 29, Segraves and others, filed an amended petition, wherein they set forth 8 grounds on which they argue the permit should either be invalidated or modified.

Among the grounds listed in the amended petition were: respondents failed to demonstrate how the landfill will not pose a bird hazard to aircraft; did not make the required demonstrations where a landfill will be placed in a 100 year floodplain and in a wetlands area; failed to demonstrate that the landfill will not cause or contribute to

violations of state water quality standards and that the ground water monitoring plan approved by the respondent is insufficient; intervener failed to demonstrate that the landfill will not adversely impact private and public wells in the vicinity as well as the Blue Creek Water Supply watershed and a groundwater recharge area under the site; and the permits conditions are impermissibly vague and therefore unenforceable.

The People’s Voice spoke at length with one of the petitioners, Evelyn Zarate, a resident of Troup County, who talked about why she is so concerned about this landfill, and shared her reactions to the ruling.

“This is a small victory, but it’s only a step, and we need help from the other citizens who object to the landfill… 

“There are many important reasons why my family and I object to the landfill and we’ve been fortunate to be able to sit down talk to some of our neighbors, and we were able to touch many by telling them why this is troubling for us.”

“First of all, we manufacture corn tortillas, and our business runs with the majority of this water here. For every 50 pounds of flour, we have to have 50 pounds of water. We depend greatly on that water to make our product...”

“Secondly, we’ve got a family.  We have children here and these children drink this water.”

“We also have a son who has hemophelia and him having this bleeding disorder, if he drinks contaminated water.  What if somebody throws away asprin, and that asprin goes to the landfill, and starts to break down? It’s going to leak down into that water. If he drinks water, contaminated with the asprin, it’s going to start him to bleeding, or it’s going to kill him.” 

“Lastly, we have neighbors beside us who are sick, and the ones who are sick, have a low immune system.”

 Zarate said, “It’s been hard getting people involved. The problem is that the majority of people want to fight with their hands close to their sides, and you just can’t fight a battle with your hands close to your sides, you have to put your hands up, and get in it.”

 “We got an attorney and it’s been very fortunate for us that a handful of people would go out and talk with the neighbors and get them to donate a little bit toward paying the lawyer and keeping the fight going.”

 Zarate described Reeves as a wonderful speaker, and said he’s got his feet firmly on the ground, knows what he’s talking about, and when he speaks, people listen. 

“We got involved after Mr. Cecil came and spoke with us. We decided then, after we went to the team meeting, that we should do something. People suggested that we go and talk with the City of Hogansville. So, I called one of the council members, Jean Crocker. I had called her to ask what “side” the city of Hogansville was on with this landfill issue. She asked me where I lived, and I was stunned when she told me that I live in the county, and have no reason to come to a city council meeting. She told me that I was not part of the city of Hogansville, and that I should not come and talk to the city about the landfill.

But evidently the word got around, and they put me back on the agenda. I’ve spoken to them twice. I asked them why can’t they do anything about the landfill. They have closed their mouths and said “There’s nothing they can do.”

 We’ve had to fight. But, if we can’t do nothing but bark we  can bark.  We’ve told them if they sit down and choose to do nothing, this is going to happen, whether they do something or not. They know what will happen if they choose to do nothing. So, why not get up and do something? You never know, what may come out of it. They don’t understand that it’s going to be very unpleasant around this landfill.”

On Wednesday, Judge Kristin L. Miller ruled in favor of Greenbow and EPD’s motion to dismiss the Petition on four counts, 1, 2, 4, and 9.

Miller denied their motion on three counts, 3, 6, and 7 and stated that the Mayor, Ronald Doche’s status as an individual and as Mayor of Lone Oak, is sufficient to withstand Greenbow’s and EPD’s motion to dismiss.

Miller indicated in the order, that a hearing would be convened to address the issue

The evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for April 14th and 15th.

Salmonella Outbreak

An outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella is spreading throughout New Zealand.

The salmonella mbandaka outbreak has claimed 28 reported cases, 10 in the Nelson Marlborough district. A woman infected with salmonella mbandaka recently died in Nelson; however, the date of her death has not been reveled. The New Zealand Government has also failed to disclose the timeline of the outbreak.

According to the director of public health, the cause of outbreak is unknown. The salmonella bacteria usually live in the gut of domestic and wild animals, including poultry, pigs, cattle and pets.

Symptoms included diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, nausea, vomiting and headache.

Risk factors in New Zealand include contact with farm animals and pets, food prepared in unsanitary conditions (the highest risk), drinking contaminated water and overseas travel during the incubation period. Contact with recreational water and infected persons, though less commonly reported, pose a risk. Report

Salmonella Bacteria

Safety Precautions

If you must travel to New Zealand AVOID

• Coming into contact with pets and farm animals (and people with pets and farm animals)
  
• Swimming in untreated water
  
• Consuming meat products
• Drinking tap water

For people outside New Zealand:

• Avoid coming into contact with people traveling from New Zealand
• Do not consume food products imported from New Zealand

Previous New Zealand Poisoning Syndrome (NZPS), Health Bulletins:

• Health Bulletin # 7. Don’t Take Your Children To New Zealand ( March 27, 2008 )
  
• Health Bulletin # 6. New Zealand Emergency Health Warnings: Toxic Honey Poisoning
• Health Bulletin # 5. Food infected with Listeria, March 8, 2008
• Health Bulletin # 4. Sewage contaminated beaches, Feb. 16, 2008
• Health Bulletin # 3. Toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), Feb. 13, 2008
• Health Bulletin # 2. Exposure to Compound 1080 Feb. 10, 2008
• Health Bulletin # 1. Exposure to Bromoethane Feb. 6, 2008

Related Links:

• Truth About ‘100% Pure New Zealand’
• The Poisoning of New Zealand
• Hermaphrodite Lamb Born With Seven Legs
• Toxic Sludge
• Toxic Country – Diseased Food
• 1080
• NZ indiscriminate aerial applications of the potent poison 1080

For further information visit CDC Salmonella Infection (Salmonellosis)

CDC Salmonella Infection (Salmonellosis)

But honestly, our last effort at a more sunny and chirpy water-related blog, Ain'titawonderfulwaterworld.com, folded because it was hard to find anything to write about that didn't relate to whitewater rafting or scuba diving.

But "Michael" has a point: Our posts tend to be relentlessly dreary. In an attempt to lure him and other fun-lovers back into the Waterblogged.info fold, we offer this trendy and frolicsome respite from the usual gloom and doom.

Water is hot!
Bottled water, that is. According to the ubercool trendspotting site, Ubercool.com:

The U.S. bottled water business has jumped 800% in the past 20 years, reaching US$9 billion a year and going from virtually nowhere to the No. 2 U.S. beverage, behind soft drinks. At its current growth pace, bottled water will surpass soft drinks in the next 10 to 15 years, says Beverage Marketing.

In fact, bottled water is the U.S.’ fastest-growing “refreshment beverage,” says the research firm, with 2006 bottled water consumption increasing 9.5% from the year before. Beverage Marketing predicts that by 2011, bottled water’s share of the liquid refreshment beverage market will be 29% — while soda — which currently holds about 42% — will dwindle down to 34% by 2011.

Water is sexy!
Bottled water, that is. And only some bottled water. Take Bling H2o, which, as of this writing, costs US$20 a 375-ml bottle (Caveat: That's for the entry-level Limited Edition Vintage Pink Crystals, Baby Bling, 375ml, on frosted glass). Bling H2o was the brainchild of Hollywood producer Kevin Boyd, who noted that among the myriad cool bottled waters flaunted [his word] by the denizens of Hollywood studios,

. . .none truly made that defining statement. Bling H2o was fashioned to make that defining statement.

And as he frankly states, Bling H2o is not for everyone:

"The product is strategically positioned to target the expanding super-luxury commodity market."

“I developed the LIFESAVER after I saw the tragic waste of life and serious problems caused by the lack of safe drinking water in the wake of the tsunami in December 2004 and then again the following year on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. I could not believe it. I really felt that something had to be done. It took a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it.......”
Michael W. Pritchard M.W.M.Soc - LIFESAVER systems - Inventor – CEO
LINK - Michael Prichard's website
LINK - Global Distribution points

.
South African distributor
Tel: 011 465-8704 Fax: 011 465-8706 Cell: 082 330 4443
Email: steve@lifesaversystems.co.za
Physical Address 3 Crane Road, Fourways
Postal Address PO Box 10409, Fourways 2055

LINK – to the website with Michael PRichards' contact details, lifesaver bottle inventor and also loads of great science & tech/environment/industry pages. Lists of articles eg Found: Gene Defect Affecting Asthma Sufferers. Smart Plug Shows How To Cut Our Power Use
.

Meriwether County, Georgia

Citizens of Meriwether County, troubled over the prospect of a regional landfill being placed on a municipal watershed, are making their objections known in an effort to invalidate the permit authorizing the landfill, issued by the Meriwether County Commission last year.

One such citizen, Freddie Hines, the newest Commissioner elected in November to the Meriwether County Commission, made his objection known by writing and filing his own appeal several weeks ago.

Hines petitioned The Office of State Administrative Hearings, State Of Georgia, for a hearing to oppose the Solid Waste Handling Permit, previously granted by the Director of the Environmental Protection Division of Georgia, to Greenbow, LLC of Montgomery.

The proposed site of the landfill is 1.5 miles north of the town of Lone Oak, Georgia.

In his appeal, which has been granted, Hines raised legal issues noting that the permit is procedurally defective because one commissioner voting on the Host Agreement had a conflict of interest, the permit is invalid because the applicant failed to follow state laws regarding development around a historic/slave cemetery, the permit is invalid because EPD failed to consider the environmental injustice and toxic racism,

Commissioner Hines served the appeal on January 22, 2008 on Dr. Carol Couch, Director, Environmental Protection Division in Atlanta; Greenbow, LLC, in Montgomery, and Thurbert E. Baker, Georgia State Attorney General, Atlanta.

Hines’ wife, Shirley Grier Hines, who is president of Meriwether County’s newly re-organized NAACP branch is also working through the NAACP to protest the location of this landfill in the Lone Oak Community.  Mrs. Hines notes that the majority of the residents who will be most affected by the landfill are African American. 

The NAACP is currently holding meetings in Meriwether County, to mobilize citizens who are concerned over the landfill as well as other issues of concern.

In upcoming editions of The People’s Voice, relevant aspects of the landfill issue will be further explored as we are able to interview other individuals about their concerns over the regional landfill.

Tuesday March 11th, 2008

Reported by TheRealNews

As The Associated Press documented in a five-month investigation, drinking water provided to at least 41 million people living in 24 major metropolitan areas has tested positive for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals. When water providers find pharmaceuticals in drinking water, they rarely tell the public. When researchers make the same discoveries, they usually don't identify the cities involved.

Why aren't we being informed? Because apparently, we the public are prone to freaking out and being unreasonable.

Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman Laura Copeland said, "It would be irresponsible to communicate to the public about this issue, as doing so would only generate questions that scientific research has not yet answered. We don't want to create the perception where people would be alarmed."

(Translation: "You want the truth? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!")

So, why are we talking about pharmaceuticals in drinking and runoff water? Because a large portion of contaminants in this water is coming from cosmetics and personal care products like soap, shampoo, body wash, etc. As we've written before (here and here) currently the FDA does not regulate the use of phthalates and BPA's in cosmetic products, even though there is a causal connection showing these chemicals are endocrine disruptors.

Some quotes:

*

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), are groups of emerging drinking water contaminants that have been detected in waters around the world.

*

So, what is the true risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and the like in water? Do they present a health threat to humans and/or wildlife exposed? The truth is, no one knows. Some scientists believe the exposure levels are so low theyﾒre ineffective. Others are concerned about long-term, chronic and combined exposures to agents designed to cause a physiological effect in humans. Many more scientists agree we should be concerned about aquatic ecosystems where sperm levels and spawning patterns in aquatic organisms have been clearly altered in environments heavily polluted with a class of hormone-altering pharmaceuticals known as endocrine disrupters.

*

Along with pharmaceuticals, personal care products also are showing up in water. Generally these chemicals are the active ingredients or preservatives in cosmetics, toiletries or fragrances...Researchers Christian G. Daughton and Thomas A. Ternes reported in the December issue of “Environmental Health Perspectives” that the amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products entering the environment annually is about equal to the amount of pesticides used each year.

Soapchix Ash experienced this back when she worked cleaning up toxic environments for the government. This was BK (before kids), so a good 8 years ago, and even then she was finding phthalates in the groundwater of very remote places. She is the force behind educating me about these things, and the reason why our Simply Soaps and Wild Child Soaps are chemical, phthalate, and paraben free. (We're working on changing over our Wildly and Heavenly Soaps, too!)

Ash and I have a more optimistic view of the average public than Laura Copeland or the entire EPA has. Now that there are so many reports indicating that our chemical exposure is increasing exponentially and from places that have been previously unknown (and unregulated), we believe that responsible people will demand accountability and change. We've read some great blogs from moms and dads who understand that consumerism comes with a price, and have a great influence on funneling other conscientious buyers towards natural, responsible products. We have networked with people who are dedicated to creating a natural, responsible product. And we are proud to be one of those companies.

Our focus is on getting endocrine disruptors like phthalates, BPA's, parabens, and other chemicals out of the cosmetic industry by first getting them out of our products. We hope the Senate Hearings that are being demanded by State Representatives will highlight many of our concerns and start the ball rolling with the FDA, EPA, and catch our laws up with those in the EU. In the meantime, we'll keep making our soap and bath products, happy that the only thing rinsing down the drain is dirt...not endocrine disruptors and other chemicals making their way into our drinking water.

Articles Quoted:
Popular Science: "Tainted Tap Wate r"
Popular Science: "Your Sewer On Drugs"
USA Today: "Cities rarely release water test results"
WCP Online: "Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Supply"

An AP investigation found pharmaceutical drugs present in 24 surveyed municipal water sources, affecting at least 41 million people.

The investigators contacted 62 municipalities, but only 28 had tested their water system for pharmaceuticals and many only tested for one or two types of drugs.

Some water utilities declined to answer citing post 9/11 security issues; the heart disease drug nitroglycerin is widely used to make explosives.

City tap water
- Philadelphia: at least 54 drugs
- Southern California: anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications
- Northern New Jersey: heart medication and the mood-stabilizing drug
- San Francisco: a sex hormone
- Tuscon, Arizona: 3 medications, including an antibiotic
- New Orleans: a pain reliever, the sex hormone, and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct
Washington, DC: an anti-seizure medication, two pain relievers (ibuprofen and naproxen), two kinds of antibiotics (including one given to cattle), and a common disinfectant (triclocarbon).

Route of exposure
People take drugs, but they do not absorb and process all of them. They then flush away trace amounts. The wastewater flows through a sewer system to a treatment plant and then is released to the environment. Some of the water makes it back to surface water or percolate to groundwater where they are then withdrawn for drinking water. No wastewater treatment system is specifically designed to remove drugs.

Livestock are also treated with antibiotics and other drugs. Their waste is not treated but is released directly to the environment.

Concerns
- Over-exposure to antibiotics can lead to bacterial resistance.
- Combinations of drugs can have adverse effects.
- Ecological damage is already being seen; for example, fish communities are declining in certain areas with high concentrations of some estrogen-containing drugs (birth control).

False solutions
- Reverse osmosis can remove virtually all pharmaceuticals but it is very expensive and leaves behind several gallons of polluted water for every one that is drinkable.
- Bottled water wont help. Most bottled water is just prettily packaged tap water. And most bottlers do not test for pharmaceuticals.  Compared with bottled water, tap water is more stringently tested.

Solutions
Source water protection. Instead of spending outrageous amounts to treat our drinking water, we should make sure that industries and cities do not pollute them in the first place.

"The ongoing conversation about these substances should remind us of how precious our source waters are and the need to protect them," said the American Water Works Association, "The best and most cost-effective way to ensure safe water at the tap is to keep our source waters clean."

The Senate will hold hearings in response to these results.

What's in your tap water?
Although public water systems are not required to report pharmaceuticals, you can view where your water comes from and what regulated contaminants it has: EPA's Local Drinking Water Database.

Water makes US troop in Iraq sick.
Thanks to Dick Cheney (Where is he now, anyway? We should never let him out of our sight.), G.I.'s in Iraq are exposed to water so contaminated that it makes them sick after using it for personal hygiene or laundry.

California farmers planning to sell "their" water.
From the economics blog, The Bayesian Heresy:

With water becoming increasingly precious in California, a rising number of farmers figure they can make more money by selling their water than by actually growing something.

Yes, we know, WTF?? Rather than toiling in their fields, many California farmers will soon be spending their days sipping avocado gimlets on their spacious redwood patios overlooking their fallow acres, iPhones to their ears, entertaining competing bids for their subsidized water from drought-panicked Southern California municipalities.

The water is subsidized so the indolent hayseeds can raise crops at competitive prices, not so they can become languorous water magnates. It's not "their" goddamn water to do with as they please. If it's more money they want, why can't they grow marijuana or opium poppies like other struggling farmers around the world?

California avocado growers forced to restrict crops.
An avocado shortage could cause riots in California. The money graf (at least in respect to why Southern California should quickly be put under martial law):

The tree cutting comes as residents in Los Angeles, San Diego and most other area cities are still getting 100 percent of the water they need, with most of it going for lawns and landscaping.

"People need to know that in Southern California, water is a precious resource. But they'd rather water their lawns and cut off the farmers," said Laura Blank, executive director of the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau.

Tri-state water war heats up!
Because states are run by developers and their elected minions, water disputes are not settled in a rational manner beneficial to the states' residents. They are instead fought out in court in an endless series of expensive lawsuits and counter-suits on the taxpayer's dime solely to determine which group of snorting water hogs will have first dibs at the trough. If you think any of this water war business has anything to do with anything but screwing the many for the benefit of a very few, well, we over here at Waterblogged.info—where today's motto is A tool and his pool are soon parted—just don't know what to tell you.

Kansas City resident finds water on the bottom of her dishwasher between washings!
Plumbing advice columnist Andy, of Andy's Pipe Dream in nearby Lenexa, urges bringing in a professional to handle the problem! Waterblogged.info smells a conflict of interest coming up from that drain.

Our crack research team, utilizing the latest technology for accessing satellite images of the planet, believe they've pinpointed the lake of sewage cited in an AFP story about the dire water situation in Baghdad. The February 2008 article states that:

One of three sewage treatment plants is out of commission, one is working at stuttering capacity while a pipe blockage in the third means sewage is forming a foul lake so large it can be seen "as a big black spot on Google Earth," said Tahseen Sheikhly, civilian spokesman for the Baghdad security plan.

Of course, a black spot the size of a car shows up on Google Earth if you zoom in sufficiently, but, if our researchers are correct, the offending cesspool can be seem in the map below, indicated by the poorly drawn arrow, and while it doesn't look black from this view, it's visible from Google Earth's highest altitude. Scroll down to the next map and note how zooming in reveals what appears to be a large, black body of something extremely undrinkable.

Our researchers admit that they couldn't find the malfunctioning waste water treatment plant (wwtp) that the article states is responsible for this ghastly new hydrological feature of Baghdad, but they did locate a massive wwtp called Rustimiyah North (which is in the southernmost reaches of the city, but is designated north to differentiate it from a sister—or brother—plant that lies slightly to its south.) It doesn't seem to be operating at all. Those twenty or so basins should be filled with blue water like those in the image below it of a water treatment plant in the northern part of the city, which appears to be operating at 60 percent capacity.

1. catatonic
2. dead
3. Jack Bauer

Oh wait, you may also be Jeff Siegal. [After being terrified by the trailers, check out our page of web resources on water privatization from our slowly-but-surely growing Getting Serious with Waterblogged.info series.]

From the documentary's site:

With an unflinching focus on politics, pollution and human rights, FLOW: For Love of Water ensures that the precarious relationship between humanity and water can no longer be ignored. While specifics of locality and issue may differ, the message is the same; water, and our future as a species, is quickly drying up.

Below are two video segments about the documentary from Pacifica Radio's essential Democracy Now. Each features clips from the movie and commentary by water expert/activist extraordinaire, Maude Barlow. Barlow, a Canadian—who was probably moved to action by the water profligacy of her fellow citizens (see Waterblogged.info's Canada: Water hogs of the planet)—is the co-author of the water privatization exposé, Blue Gold, and has recently published The Blue Covenant, described by its publishers as

". . .a powerful response to this trend [privatization] : the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to have water declared a basic human right, something that can't be bought or sold for profit.

(Here is a link to a pdf bluegold2.pdf, a 67-page, very readable white paper with a bibliography, which appears to be a summary of the book's arguments.)

Except it's no longer true. Water being everywhere, that is.

I happen to come across a show about this on TVO last night, that talks about this very topic. And a part of the show stuck to my mind throughout the night. In fact, I had trouble falling asleep, and staying asleep, because of this imagine it created in my head.

The show will repeat again on February 12, 2008. I doubt I'll have time to watch it again, particularly the parts I missed yesterday (the beginning and the end). What with all the issues we've been having over the past couple of days (toddler pooping, painting, infant sick, deep freeze, living LIFE).

But I digress. The gist of the show was about whether water is a human right or a commodity that can be bought and sold. We all know what it should be, but the reality is that many people in various parts of our mostly water-covered planet don't have access to safe water at all. Which brings me back to the image in my head that left me sleepless.

The show took us to Bolivia. It followed a little family who lived in a breathtakingly beautiful mountain village. The daily view they have is even an amateur photographer's dream. But the lifestyle the little family is living is far from beautiful.

The little house where our Bolivian family dwelled is little more than a shack. The camera focused in on a broken doll lying on a dirt floor. There were two beds covered in colourful blankets, indicating a higher standard of poverty than what one might imagine. The beds were filled with the entire family: parents, grandparents, children. (Makes one think about this whole idea that co-sleeping is often termed as unsafe here in the West's middle class, but that's another day's post.)

Early in the morning the family rises, collects containers, and walks a fair distance toward a well where they will obtain their daily requirement of water. I don't recall how far they had to walk, but remember a narrow path along a mountain ridge, downhill. I also remember the narrator speaking of the well not always having enough water, or any water at all, for this and other families whose livelihood depends on it. And, that the water wasn't reliably clean. In fact, the head of the family spoke about two of his children dying what he thought was due to contaminated water from the well.

The father or grandfather was interviewed for this story. He and the about 10 year old girl Vanessa were the "stars" of the Bolivian part of the story (the show went to India, and other places as well). They explained solemnly about how they don't have enough water, and how they have to ration it when they do manage to bring water back home.

Vanessa at one point cried when she told her very heartfelt perspective about this situation she find herself in. Other children won't play with her because she has no water in her home. Other children call her a filthy pig because even if she has water available to wash herself with, there isn't enough water to wash the clothes. Or vice versa.

Vanessa and her father (grandfather?) walk along the path one day and sit down on a rock. The view is breathtaking. There is a huge mountain covered in ice and snow in the distance.

The man explains to the girl that all this snow and ice will melt into water, but it won't be made available to her when she grows up.

No, the Americans will come and buy it for their Coca Cola factories.

That is what he says.

And that is the sad reality. A Coca Cola factory in fact exists next to the family's well. They visit it sometimes, when their well has run dry, to look at all the water splashing about in the humongous reservoirs, over the chainlinked fence. This water that is pumped from the mountain, their mountain, is a commodity now. It has been bought for money.

And the little family living next door to the factory can't keep their 10 year old girl clean enough so she can play with her friends.

We North Americans are probably more wasteful with water than anyone else. Even in the days of ecological and environmental awareness, not to mention the high price of water and electricity, the abundant use of water in our households is nothing less than luxurious. Everytime I turn on my High Efficiency washing machine during prime time electricity use I feel guilty. On the days I shower twice, say after a day of painting in the basement, I feel guilty. Visiting Las Vegas years ago still makes me feel bad. I mean, they import water into the desert for our amusement! Now I hear that the middle class likes the dry air of Arizona, so golf courses are springing up left, right and centre there too. And golf courses require immense amounts of water.

I commend shows like this to remind us of our responsibilities to our planet. And to teach our children that water, even though it comes out of the tap, should not be treated disrespectfully.

Water, safe water, should be available to every single human being. It is, after all a necessity for life.

TPV NEWS STAFF

Lone Oak, Georgia

Shirley Grier-Hines and her husband Commissioner Freddie Hines of Lone Oak, Georgia say they are lone rangers, fighting a battle that the whole community should be involved in, especially the black community. 

Lone Oak is a small town in the southern part of Meriwether County, Georgia.   The Meriwether County Board of Commissioners have voted to allow a Montgomery based company, Greenbow, LLC, to build a regional land fill on a municipal watershed that supplies the drinking water for Hogansville residents, as well as those in several surrounding communities.

Grier-Hines said she believes that Greenbow, LLC was formed specifically for that purpose.

Sometime in November, 2006, Meriwether County and Greenbow LLC signed an agreement for a master plan of a 300-acre tract Greenbow is donating to the county for commercial and industrial development.  Greenbow, a Montgomery, Alabama firm, is planning to develop a regional landfill on Meriwether County land adjoining Interstate 85.  The company earlier agreed to donate the land and another 54-acre recreation park as part of a package with the county.

But, according to Grier-Hines, there are facts about this land fill that the people don't know enough about.   First, that the land-fill will cover 15,000 acres of land.  Secondly, the land-fill is to be located right in the predominantly black community, within 500 or so feet of Saint Paul C.M.E. Church, the church she and her husband attend.   And third, there is a slave cemetery, and reportedly also there are Indian mounds located in the proposed land fill, and no provisions have been made to preserve this historic site.

They are going to try to cover it up with this landfill, and these things have still not been addressed by the County Commission how the cemetery is going to be preserved.

Commissioner Hines stated that some of the graves in the slave cemetery date back as far as the 1800's.

Most of the people are on wells.  In this part of the county there is no county water or sewerage.  “I just don't believe that the people realize how important this is.   Within a year after the landfill is operational, the atmosphere will change.   The water will become contaminated...  

We are really concerned that our elected officials have not done their due diligence on the company (Greenbow) itself.  We don't even have a fire department.   And the commission has not put into place any safeguards to protect the citizens, and ensure that the water will be safe for citizens on down the road.   They don't have all the answers, and they are not doing everything they can to protect us.  And no one with the expertise is answering our questions...”

The Georgia Environmental Protection Department (EPD) have broken promises