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When Nature and Humans Collide. Times Beach, Missouri. Times Beach, Missouri. Times Beach was founded in 1925 along the Meramec river - summer resort town (st. Louis) 1925 - purchase of a 20 x 100 ft (6 by 30 m) lot for $67.50 included a six-month newspaper subscription.In its early years.
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Times Beach, Missouri • Times Beach was founded in 1925 along the Meramec river - summer resort town (st. Louis) • 1925 - purchase of a 20 x 100 ft (6 by 30 m) lot for $67.50 included a six-month newspaper subscription.In its early years
Times Beach, Missouri • the Great Depression and WWII --> town became a community of mostly low-income housing although (a few families spent winters in the city and summers in Times Beach as late as 1970) • one small grocery store and one gas station on old Highway 66 to serve the residents
Times Beach, Missouri • Prone to flooding throughout its history • 1st buildings were built on stilts • town experienced a devastating flood three weeks before an announcement by the EPA which led to the town's evacuation by 1985 and complete demolition by 1992.
Times Beach, Missouri • The site of Times Beach now houses a 419 acre state park commemorating Route 66 • In the early 1970s the town could not afford to pave its dirt roads & had dust problem
Times Beach, Missouri • city hired Russell Bliss to oil the roads in the town • between 1972 & 1976 Roads sprayed with waste oil • Bliss subcontracted to haul waste for the Northeastern Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company (NEPACCO - During the Vietnam War producer of Agent Orange)
Times Beach, Missouri • waste clay & water removed from plant contained levels of dioxin some 2,000 time higher than the dioxin content in Agent Orange • dirt roads of Times Beach were sprayed with the lethal material
Times Beach, Missouri • The EPA began to visit Times Beach in 1982, taking samples and tests that identified dangerous levels of dioxin in Times Beach soil. • In December, 1982, the Meramec River flooded, further spreading the contamination of the town and other areas.
Times Beach, Missouri • panic spread through the town and every illness and animal death was attributed to dioxin • President Ronald Reagan formed a dioxin task force to study the effects of the chemical and in early 1983; the EPA announced the town buyout for $32 million dollars.
Times Beach, Missouri • 1985, the entire population of +2,000 had been evacuated (except 1 elderly couple who refused to leave) • town was dis-incorporated • entire site was quarantined as residents moved on to other areas
Times Beach, Missouri • site sat silent behind barricades protecting public from the toxic threat • 1996 and 1997 the government removed 265,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris from Times Beach and 28 other sites in eastern Misouri at a cost of $110 million dollars • After the soil was incinerated, the incinerator was dismantled and the site was turned over to the State
Hinkley, California • Unincorporated settlement in Mojave Desert • location of a compressor station for PG&E's massive natural gas transmission pipelines • natural gas has to be re-compressed approximately every three-hundred and fifty miles
Hinkley, California • station uses large cooling towers to cool the compressors • The water used in these cooling towers contained Hexavalent Chromium to prevent rust in the machinery • Since the water was stored between uses in unlined ponds, it ultimately severely contaminated the groundwater in the town
Hinkley, California • PG&E knew water contaminated but tried to cover it up - tried to buy property, tell people the chemical was safe found in vitamins • 1996 class action law suit --> $330 million to 648 plaintiffs
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Cameron, Missouri • Border Clinton & Dekalb counties
Cameron, Missouri • Original function was --> house of entertainment • 1830 --> Isaac Baldwin opened a Post office • Sold whiskey for $0.25 a gallon & $.10 for a jug of H20 • For $20 would take people to St. Joseph’s 48 hour trip
Cameron, Missouri • Part of hound dog trail (now US route 36 & interstate 72) • Connected St. Joseph’s Hannibal (Missouri’s 2nd and 3rd largest cities prior to civil war 1861-65)
Cameron, Missouri • Became railway town pop from 100 in 1859 to 3,000 in 1881 • 1883-1930 - College town Wesleyan College run by Methodist Church
Cameron, Missouri • Now most people employed in health care & Education • Pop in 2000 --> 8, 312 • Pop in 2010 --> 9, 279
Cameron, Missouri • Pharmacist Steve Erickson 1st to notice something wrong • Large # of tumors - many benign not reported to health department • Citizens concerned about large # of brain tumors and cancers in the town • Since 1996 - 70 cases • june 2008 - town meeting to discuss concerns • history
Cameron, Missouri • EPA involved in testing to determine the cause • October 2008 - test on old landfill • Found formaldehyde, metals, dioxins & furans, pesticides, semi-volatile organic compounds & volatile organic compounds • All except one soil sample (lead) all levels below screening levels • Erin Brockovich
Cameron, Missouri • Aug. 2008 EPA soil test on former Rockwood industries plant (insulation company) • Found high levels of lead and arsenic but not life threatening • Feb. 2009 EPA - test on drinking water near quarry no problems • April 22, 2009 - Cameron Brain tumor lawsuit (William Kemper (wife Karen) & Janet Lasher (lung cancer) filed by Erin Brockovich
Cameron, Missouri • Prime Tanning Corp - use of Hexavlaent chromium to remove hair from hides
Cameron, Missouri • 1983-2009 - waste sludge given to farms in Buchanan, Dekalb, Andrew & Clinton as free fertilizer lawsuit cameron
Chernobyl, Ukraine • City began in 1193 as a hunting lodge • Politically changed hands many times --> Lithuania, Poland and Russia • Part of U.S.S.R from 1921 until 1991 (independent) • 1964 site chosen for 1st nuclear power plant on Ukrainian soil
Chernobyl, Ukraine • April 26, 1986 (mid-night)reactor #4 exploded (near town of Pripyat) • 4 workers killed instantly • 4 days later residents of Prypyat ordered to evacuate • Worst nuclear disaster in the world • Chernobyl
Chernobyl, Ukraine • Further explosions & fire sent a plume of highly radioactive Fallout into the atmosphere & over an extensive geographical area • 400 times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Chernobyl, Ukraine • plume drifted over extensive parts of the western USSR, Eastern, western and Northern Europe, & as far away as Eastern North American • Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus & Russia were badly contaminated--> evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people • According to official post-Soviet data~ 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus
Chernobyl, Ukraine • The countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination & health care costs of the Chernobyl accident • difficult to accurately quantify the number of deaths caused by the events at as the Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims
Chernobyl, Ukraine • Lists incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on death certificates • The overall cost of the disaster is estimated at US$200 billion
Chernobyl, Ukraine • World Health Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with Thyroid Cancer • ~ 4,000 extra cancer deaths among the approximately 600,000 most highly exposed people • Chernobyl Exclusion Zone & certain limited areas remain off limits, the majority of affected areas are now considered safe for settlement and economic activity
Chernobyl, Ukraine tourism 23 years later 20 years later