Recently, I
’ve been accused of being an environmentalist and someone who’s
trying to stir up fear in the community because I suggested that we
demand our water be cleaned to the condition it was in before Olin
fouled it. I plead semi-guilty to the first charge and not guilty
to the second.
Recently, I’ve been accused of being an environmentalist and someone who’s trying to stir up fear in the community because I suggested that we demand our water be cleaned to the condition it was in before Olin fouled it. I plead semi-guilty to the first charge and not guilty to the second.
I don’t think of myself as a staunch environmentalist as much as I like to think that I’m a sensible modern person who believes we should all pick up after ourselves. With a world containing more than 6 billion consumers who also generate garbage, sewage, and every manner of air, soil, and water pollution, there have to be some rules just to keep things from spinning out of control. Such rules are part of the price of civilization, and we expect everyone to abide by them. Otherwise, our world would be littered with thousands upon thousands of Love Canals and our streets slick with effluent from chamber pots, potato skins, or any number of other disgusting things. To that end, there are laws governing such activities as draining our cars’ oil in the street, emptying our toilets onto our lawns, or burning our discarded tires in the backyard barbecue.
I’m a writer, not a scientist. In fact, to be an opinion writer doesn’t require much more than a reasonable level of literacy and a point of view. Nevertheless, I’ve always had a strong attraction to science but didn’t have the burning desire to wear a white lab coat. I’m also a voracious reader, which, most writers will concur, helps to build your vocabulary and in some cases a world-view.
And I work for a company that makes extremely sensitive gas-detection equipment used in chemical and petroleum industries, by OSHA, and the Department of Homeland Defense, among others. Reading and editing pieces written by physicists and chemists, I have more than a treetop-level view of the concepts such as IDLH (immediate danger to life and health) and chronic dosage accumulation. I know that some chemicals can kill at the parts-per-billion level, just as there are some that can build up in your body for years before they mess with you at the cellular level and spring a cancerous surprise.
I don’t advocate living in a world that’s entirely free of chemical hazards. Many of us voluntarily subject our bodies to chemical barrages all day long, especially if, for example, we take multivitamins, drink Diet Coke, use deodorant or shampoo, or drive behind a diesel vehicle for a couple of blocks. We have homes containing knock-down furniture, plastics galore, and Windex, Clorox, and innumerable sources of “bad” chemicals. But we deal with these compounds either at our own peril or as a result of our own ignorance. They don’t enter our homes or bodies unless we invite them.
We didn’t invite pollution from Olin Corp. at any level, however difficult to measure. In addition, my beef isn’t the numbers – whether 1 part per billion, 24.5 parts per billion, or any other amount. I’m torqued up about the irresponsibility of Olin, which won’t even have a plan to clean up their mess until more than six years have elapsed from the time the pollution was discovered.
Let’s put this in another perspective. If I were to unload a dump truck full of pig manure on your driveway, telling you, “Don’t worry. If you don’t touch or eat it, you’ll be okay,” I’m not convinced you’d accept this cheerfully. Your mood probably wouldn’t improve if I were to try “smoothing it over” by further explaining, “I’ll have a cleanup plan to you in 2011.” Even if it were just a teaspoonful and your driveway were 500 feet long (making the ratio of manure to driveway “trivial”), you’d probably still insist on faster action. And rightfully so.
Santa Clara Valley is full of EPA Superfund “hot spots,” where semiconductor makers dumped solvents and heavy-metal compounds into the ground for decades. Our local pollution is minor, compared to the levels in places like Mountain View. But, as I said, it isn’t the amount that matters here. It’s about culpability – and action to right a wrong.
As far as being overwrought about perchlorate or trying to stir up fear, I have to tell you that I’m not. I don’t blame anyone with a thyroid problem, small children, or a pregnant wife for being more agitated, however. No, I’m angry. We must make sure Olin cleans up their mess and ensure that we, as a community, send a strong message to everyone that they can’t just dump stuff here without being expected to clean it up.
A tech writer, editor and web developer, Tom Mulhern is a longtime South Bay resident. He and his wife have been living in Gilroy for three years. His column appears periodically in The Times. You can reach him at tm************@***oo.com
