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M3GA V 7.1 :: CLIMATE changelog :: Gaiasphere :: Bio Terrorism
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #225 on Aug 14, 2009, 1:04pm »
High Levels Of Estrogens Discovered In Some Industrial Wastewater

ScienceDaily (Aug. 12, 2009) — In a groundbreaking study, civil engineering researchers in the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology have discovered that certain industries may be a significant source of plant-based estrogens, called phytoestrogens, in surface water. They also revealed that some of these phytoestrogens can be removed through standard wastewater treatment, but in some cases, the compounds remain at levels that may be damaging to fish.

Civil engineering associate professor Paige Novak and her graduate student researcher Mark Lundgren studied wastewater streams from 19 different industrial sites in Minnesota and Iowa and analyzed them for six phytoestrogens. They found very high concentrations of these hormone-mimicking phytoestrogens -- up to 250 times higher than the level at which feminization of fish has been seen in other research -- in the wastewater discharged from eight industrial sites, including biodiesel plants, a soy milk factory, a barbecue meat processing facility and a dairy. They also detected high concentrations of phytoestrogens in the water discharged by some municipal wastewater treatment plants.

The good news is that the researchers revealed that phytoestrogens can be removed from water as it goes through standard treatment. In fact, they saw more than 90 percent removal of these compounds from the water. Unfortunately, sometimes 99 percent removal is needed to reach levels that are considered harmless to fish.

Plant-based phytoestrogens are naturally occurring but have been shown to function as hormone mimics and alter development and reproductive patterns in fish. These effects include decreased aggression, immunosuppression, and decreased testosterone production. Other estrogens that cause similar effects have been linked to population-level collapse in fish, Novak said.

"Many people have looked at human-related chemicals such as those in birth control pills as the primary source of estrogens in the water supply, but they have not looked at plant-based estrogens from a wide variety industries," Novak said. "Our research is the first study of its kind to provide a snapshot in time of what is going on in these industries. We hope that it can be used in planning new industrial sites and expansion of current sites."

Novak pointed out that some of these industrial facilities are in small towns without sophisticated wastewater treatment plants. In these locations, there is potential for impacts on fish and wildlife, she said.

"Our nation needs to do some careful planning as we rapidly expand various plant processing industries," Novak said. "We need to include good wastewater treatment into our industrial plant designs. We also need to think broadly as we look for the causes of fish feminization in various streams, rivers and lakes, as well as possible solutions."

The research findings will be published this fall in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, an international professional organization dedicated to the study, analysis and solution of environmental problems. The research was funded by the Water Environment Research Foundation and the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA).

Journal reference:

1. Mark S. Lundgren and Paige J. Novak. Quantification Of Phytoestrogens In Industrial Waste Streams. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2009; DOI: 10.1897/09-029.1

http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2009/08/090810162105.htm
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"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #226 on Aug 24, 2009, 11:21am »
How Cities Mimic Life: Megacities Breathe, Consume Energy, Excrete Wastes And Pollute

[image]
This photo shows smog in Cairo, Egypt, one of the world's megacities. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2009) — A scientific trend to view the world's biggest cities as analogous to living, breathing organisms is fostering a deep new understanding of how poor air quality in megacities can harm residents, people living far downwind, and also play a major role in global climate change. That's the conclusion of a report on the "urban metabolism" model of megacities presented here today at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Charles Kolb, Ph.D., reports that the concept of urban metabolism has existed for decades. It views large cities as living entities that consume energy, food, water, and other raw materials, and release wastes. The releases include carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas; air pollutants, sewage and other water pollutants; and even excess heat that collects in vast expanses of concrete pavement and stone buildings. Humans directly produce a significant share of this waste, but emissions from industrial, power generation and transportation systems respire the largest quantities of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. Other urban metabolizers include sewage systems, landfills, domestic pets and pests like rats, which in some cities outnumber people.

During the last five years, this body of knowledge has drawn into sharper focus the hazards of poor air quality in megacities, not just on the large local populations but also on population centers, agricultural activities and natural ecosystems located downwind from these sprawling areas, Kolb said. He is with the Center for Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry and the Center for Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry of Aerodyne Research Inc. in Billerica, Mass.

"Carbon dioxide and other pollutants in megacities make them immense drivers of climate change," he said. "They impact climate on both a regional and global level because these long-lived greenhouse gases are dispersed around the world."

More than half the world's population today lives in cities, and the world's largest urban areas are growing rapidly. The number of megacities — metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 10 million — has grown from just three in 1975 to about 20 today.

Kolb said that the most highly polluted megacities are in developing countries. They include Dhaka, Bangladesh; Cairo, Egypt; and Karachi, Pakistan. Some megacities in less developed regions have recently mounted air quality management campaigns that have resulted in lower levels of pollution; they include Mexico City, Mexico; Beijing, China; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even the cleanest megacities like Tokyo/Osaka in Japan and New York City and Los Angeles in the United States — all in the developed world — still have serious problems, Kolb said.

The hot weather and frequent atmospheric inversions in southern California, for instance, foster Los Angeles' legendary smog problem. Mexico City's high altitude/low latitude location produces high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation that drive photochemical smog production, and the even higher surrounding mountains trap the resulting pollutants in and over the city on most days.

"That causes a very serious situation for residents of Mexico City," he said. "You get very unhealthful levels of ozone and fine particle pollutants that produce large numbers of premature deaths each year. Studies show that for each increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of these particles, you get roughly a 10 percent increase in premature deaths, producing a decrease in average life expectancy of about 0.8 years. Hospital visits, including bronchitis and asthma cases, also rise."

Controlling urban growth in the developing world is key to improving the world's air quality, Kolb said. Urban pollutant levels in poor countries will remain high, with increased emissions expected as the city populations and economic activities increase. Until megacities are rich enough to devote significant funds to reduce their emissions, two factors will invariably increase the stresses on their environment — increasing vehicular traffic and industrial growth.

Southern California, however, has taken successful action to modify its urban metabolism, pioneering efforts to reduce motor vehicle emissions. Kolb noted that Mexico City — unlike most megacities in less-developed countries — has also taken successful steps to partially address poor air quality. In the past two decades, the Mexican Government has introduced policies to improve air quality, including requiring pollution control devices like catalytic converters on newer vehicles, reducing sulfur levels in gasoline and diesel fuel and relocating some large industrial emitters outside the Valley of Mexico. Kolb says that megacities in Asia and Africa urgently need to modify their urban metabolism in similar ways. A few fundamental changes could pay off quickly.

"We need to start with low-hanging fruit," he said. "In some cities in Asia and Africa, they still have lead in their gasoline. In the developed world, we can institute emissions controls on diesel vehicles, which create hazardous fine particles, and we can also reduce pollution by using more rail-based mass transport or setting up specialized bus routes."

The urban metabolism model can reveal how developed-world megacities, such as Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles, have improved their air quality despite a rise in population. The study also assesses how developing-world megacities are seriously grappling with the problem.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090818130414.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

John F. Kennedy
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #227 on Aug 24, 2009, 11:49am »
Romantic, Candle-lit Dinners: An Unrecognized Source Of Indoor Air Pollution

[image]
These candles are tested for pollutants. (Credit: Elizabeth Mosley)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2009) — Burning candles made from paraffin wax –– the most common kind used to infuse rooms with romantic ambiance, warmth, light, and fragrance –– is an unrecognized source of exposure to indoor air pollution, including the known human carcinogens, scientists report.

Levels can build up in closed rooms, and be reduced by ventilation, they indicated in a study presented at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

In the study, R. Massoudi Ph.D., and Amid Hamidi , Ph.D., said that that candles made from bee's wax or soy, although more expensive, apparently are healthier. They do not release potentially harmful amounts of indoor air pollutants while retaining all of the warmth, ambience and fragrance of paraffin candles (which are made from petroleum).

"An occasional paraffin candle and its emissions will not likely affect you," Hamidi said. "But lighting many paraffin candles every day for years or lighting them frequently in an un-ventilated bathroom around a tub, for example, may cause problems."

Besides the more serious risks, he also suggested that some people who believe they have an indoor allergy or respiratory irritation may in fact actually be reacting to air pollutants from burning candles.

http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2009/08/090819153913.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

John F. Kennedy
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #228 on Aug 24, 2009, 11:51am »
Plastics In Oceans Decompose, Release Hazardous Chemicals, Surprising New Study Says

[image]
A boy in Japan points out Styrofoam debris from the ocean. (Credit: Katsuhiko Saido)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — In the first study to look at what happens over the years to the billions of pounds of plastic waste floating in the world's oceans, scientists are reporting that plastics — reputed to be virtually indestructible — decompose with surprising speed and release potentially toxic substances into the water.

Reporting at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the researchers termed the discovery "surprising." Scientists always believed that plastics in the oceans were unsightly, but a hazard mainly to marine animals that eat or become ensnared in plastic objects.

"Plastics in daily use are generally assumed to be quite stable," said study lead researcher Katsuhiko Saido, Ph.D. "We found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes as it is exposed to the rain and sun and other environmental conditions, giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future."

He said that polystyrene begins to decompose within one year, releasing components that are detectable in the parts-per-million range. Those chemicals also decompose in the open water and inside marine life. However, the volume of plastics in the ocean is increasing, so that decomposition products remain a potential problem.

Each year as much as 150,000 tons of plastic debris, most notably Styrofoam, wash up on the shores of Japan alone, Saido said. Vast expanses of waste, consisting mainly of plastic, float elsewhere in the oceans. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch between California and Hawaii was twice the size of Texas and mainly plastic waste.

Saido, a chemist with the College of Pharmacy, Nihon University, Chiba, Japan, said his team found that when plastic decomposes it releases potentially toxic bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer into the water, causing additional pollution. Plastics usually do not break down in an animal's body after being eaten. However, the substances released from decomposing plastic are absorbed and could have adverse effects. BPA and PS oligomer are sources of concern because they can disrupt the functioning of hormones in animals and can seriously affect reproductive systems.

Some studies suggest that low-level exposure to BPA released from certain plastic containers and the linings of cans may have adverse health effects.

Saido described a new method to simulate the breakdown of plastic products at low temperatures, such as those found in the oceans. The process involves modeling plastic decomposition at room temperature, removing heat from the plastic and then using a liquid to extract the BPA and PS oligomer. Typically, he said, Styrofoam is crushed into pieces in the ocean and finding these is no problem. But when the study team was able to degrade the plastic, it discovered that three new compounds not found in nature formed. They are styrene monomer (SM), styrene dimer (SD) and styrene trimer (ST). SM is a known carcinogen and SD and ST are suspected in causing cancer. BPA ands PS oligomer are not found naturally and, therefore, must have been created through the decomposition of the plastic, he said. Trimer yields SM and SD when it decomposes from heat, so trimer also threatens living creatures.

Funding for Saido's research came from Nihon University.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819234651.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #229 on Aug 24, 2009, 11:54am »
Homes Pollute: Linked To 50 Percent More Water Pollution Than Previously Believed

[image]
Polluted runoff originates from several sources, and has been linked to fish kills and a loss of aquatic species diversity. A new study suggests current runoff models may underestimate pollution contributed by homes by up to 50 percent. (Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2009) — They say there's no place like home. But scientists are reporting some unsettling news about homes in the residential areas of California. The typical house there — and probably elsewhere in the country — is an alarming and probably underestimated source of water pollution, according to a new study reported at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

In the study, Lorence Oki, Darren Haver and colleagues explain that runoff results from rainfall and watering of lawns and gardens, which winds up in municipal storm drains. The runoff washes fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants into storm drains, and they eventually appear in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water.

"Results from our sampling and monitoring study revealed high detection frequencies of pollutants such as pesticides and pathogen indicators at all sites," Oki says of their study of eight residential areas in Sacramento and Orange Counties in California.

Preliminary results of the study suggest that current models may underestimate the amount of pollution contributed by homes by up to 50 percent. That's because past estimates focused on rain-based runoff during the wet season. "Use of pesticides, however, increases noticeably during the dry season due to gardening, and our data contains greater resolution than previous studies," Oki says.

Pollutants detected in outdoor runoff included ant-control pesticide products. Previous surveys have shown that the majority of pesticides purchased by homeowners are used to control ants. To encourage pollutant reduction, the researchers initiated community outreach programs centered on improving both irrigation control and pest management.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819110008.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

John F. Kennedy
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #230 on Aug 24, 2009, 12:47pm »
First Measure Of Africa's Coastal Forests: Swampy Mangrove Destruction Threatens Shrimp Farming

[image]
Fatoyinbo used a remote sensing software-based classification method that separates the different types of land cover like forest, urban area, and soil, differentiating by colors or reflectance. Here, mangrove forest cover is shown in green along the coast of northern Cameroon on a Landsat-derived map (with ocean shown in blue and other land cover types in black). (Credit: NASA/Temilola Fatoyinbo)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports. Within a few decades, they may no longer have a livelihood at all.

That's because swampy mangrove forests – essential breeding grounds for fish and shellfish in these countries – are being destroyed by worsening pollution, encroaching real estate development, and deforestation necessary to sustain large-scale commercial shrimp farming.

The decline of these forests threatens much of Africa's coastal food supply and economy. The destruction of mangroves -- one of Earth's richest natural resources – also has implications for everything from climate change to biodiversity to the quality of life on Earth.

Growing up in Cotonou, Benin, environmental scientist Lola Fatoyinbo of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) passed polluted mangroves daily. Inspired to help save the forests, she began a mission as a graduate student in the United States to gain more insight about African mangroves.

Her studies have brought her back to Africa, where she has journeyed along the coastlines to test a new satellite technique for measuring the area, height, and biomass of mangrove forests. She developed and employed a method that can be used across the continent, overcoming expensive, ad hoc, and inconsistent modes of ground-based measurement. Fatoyinbo's approach recently produced what she believes is the first full assessment of the continent's mangrove forests.

"We've lost more than 50 percent of the world's mangrove forests in a little over half a century; a third of them have disappeared in the last 20 years alone," said Fatoyinbo, whose earlier study of Mozambique's coastal forests laid the groundwork for the continent-wide study. "Hopefully this technique will offer scientists and officials a method of estimating change in this special type of forest."

An Ecosystem Apart

Mangroves are the most common ecosystem in coastal areas of the tropics and sub-tropics. The swampy forests are essential -- especially in densely-populated developing countries -- for rice farming, fishing and aquaculture (freshwater and saltwater farming), timber, and firewood. Some governments also increasingly depend on them for eco-tourism.

The large, dense root systems are a natural obstacle that helps protect shorelines against debris and erosion. Mangroves are often the first line of defense against severe storms, tempering the impact of strong winds and floods.

These coastal woodlands also have a direct link to climate, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere at a rate of about 100 pounds per acre per day – comparable to the per acre intake by tropical rainforests (though rainforests cover more of Earth's surface).

"To my knowledge, this study is the first complete mapping of Africa's mangroves, a comprehensive, historic baseline enabling us to truly begin monitoring the welfare of these forests," said Assaf Anyamba, a University of Maryland-Baltimore County expert on vegetation mapping, based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Climbing the Right Tree

Fatoyinbo's research combines multiple satellite observations of tree height and land cover, mathematical formulas, and "ground-truthing" data from the field to measure the full expanse and makeup of the coastal forests.

Her measurements yielded three new kinds of maps of mangroves: continental maps of how much land the mangroves cover; a three-dimensional map of the height of forest canopies across the continent; and biomass maps that allow researchers to assess how much carbon the forests store.

"Beyond density or geographical size of the forests, the measurements get to the heart of the structure, or type, of mangroves," explained Fatoyinbo. "It's that trait – forest type – that drives which forests land managers target for agriculture, conservation, and habitat suitability for animals and people."

Fatoyinbo and colleague Marc Simard of JPL used satellite images from the NASA-built Landsat and a complex software-based color classification system to distinguish areas of coastal forests from other types of forests, urban areas or agricultural fields. They also integrated data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) to create relief maps of the height of the forest canopy. Finally, they merged the broad radar maps with high-accuracy observations from a light detection and ranging (commonly called lidar) instrument aboard NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) to obtain accurate height estimates.

Fatoyinbo double-checked the accuracy of her satellite measurements at the ground level in the only way possible: She went to Africa to measure tree heights and trunk diameters in person. Using a hand-held instrument called a clinometer and a simple trigonometry formula, Fatoyinbo visited Mozambique, measured the trees, and found she indeed had very accurate measurements of the forests.

Preserving the Forest for the Trees

Mangroves are hardy and adaptable forests that can thrive under extreme heat, very high salt levels, and swampy soil. Rampant clearing for agriculture and construction, soil toxicity, and long-term oil and sewage pollution, however, are increasingly threatening their survival and more than 1,300 animal species in ways that nature cannot.

"The United States' largest mangrove forests, Florida's Everglades, are largely protected now and recognized as an endangered natural resource," explained Fatoyinbo. "But in many other places, resource managers lack solid monitoring capabilities to counter mangrove exploitation. Better mangrove monitoring will, I hope, mean better management and preservation."

Free satellite data can help ease the problems of money, logistics, and political instability that can prevent mangrove preservation. For that reason, Anyamba and Fatoyinbo are working to convince the United Nations Environment Program and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to include the study's data in their environmental assessments.

The new technique also distinguishes itself, added Anyamba, "as an excellent example of how we can use different remote sensing technologies together to address science questions and global social issues."

Journal reference:

1. Fatoyinbo, T. E., M. Simard, R. A. Washington-Allen, and H. H. Shugart. Landscape-scale extent, height, biomass, and carbon estimation of Mozambique's mangrove forests with Landsat ETM and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission elevation data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2008; 113 (g2): G02S06 [link]

http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2009/08/090820161142.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

John F. Kennedy
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #231 on Sept 8, 2009, 8:55am »
Using Microbes For The Quick Clean Up Of Dirty Oil

ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2009) — Microbiologists from the University of Essex, UK have used microbes to break down and remove toxic compounds from crude oil and tar sands. These acidic compounds persist in the environment, taking up to 10 years to break down. Mr Richard Johnson, presenting his PhD research to the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, described how, by using mixed consortia of bacteria, they have achieved complete degradation of specific compounds in only a few days.

Tar sand deposits contain the world's largest supply of oil. With dwindling supplies of high quality light crude oil, oil producers are looking towards alternative oil supplies such as heavy crude oils and super heavy crudes like tar sands. However, the process of oil extraction and subsequent refining produces high concentrations of toxic by-products. The most toxic of these are a mixture of compounds known as naphthenic acids that are resistant to breakdown and persist as pollutants in the water used to extract the oils and tar. This water is contained in large settling or tailing ponds.

The number and size of these settling ponds containing lethal amounts of naphthenic acids are growing daily – it is estimated that there is around one billion m3 of contaminated water in Athabasca, Canada, alone - and is still increasing. The safe exploitation of tar sand deposits depends on finding methods to clean up these pollutants.

"The chemical structures of the naphthenic acids we tested varied," said Mr. Johnson. "Some had more side branches in their structure than others. The microbes could completely break down the varieties with few branches very quickly; however, other more complex naphthenic acids did not break down completely, with the breakdown products still present. We are now piecing together the degradation pathways involved which will allow us to develop more effective bioremediation approaches for removing naphthenic acids from the environment."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090907214306.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."

John F. Kennedy
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #232 on Oct 18, 2009, 12:21am »
Ivorian dumping report published

A scientific report into the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast by oil trading company Trafigura has been released to the public.

The report concerns illnesses suffered by thousands of Abidjan locals.

It suggests their likely cause was the release of potentially lethal gas after chemicals were dumped.

The company insists the report was only a draft. It says it was a list of possible outcomes rather than a study based on the specifics of the case.

Trafigura is a privately owned Dutch firm with offices in London, Amsterdam and Geneva.

It attempted to stop the British newspaper the Guardian publishing the scientific report with a five-week legal battle.

On Friday, it abandoned its injunction after some of the report's contents were leaked on blogs and social networking sites.

Severe burns

The now-published report reveals that one month after waste from the ship Probo Koala was dumped at 15 sites around the Ivorian city of Abidjan, the company responsible was told about a series of dangerous potential side effects of the waste.

Among the side effects listed death as well as severe burns to the skin and lungs, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The report also makes clear that such dumping would be illegal in the European Union.

Scientific consultant John Minton was commissioned by Trafigura to produce the confidential study into the events of August 2006 in Abidjan, after thousands of people with burns, diarrhoea and breathing difficulties presented at local hospitals.

The subsequent report was kept secret, and was not made available to the 31,000 Abidjan residents who last month reached a settlement with Trafigura.

Trafigura, however, insists that the Minton report was only a draft, and was an analysis of possible outcomes of waste dumping, rather than a study of exactly what happened in Abidjan.

The report's author has subsequently said that it did not reference specific underlying evidence.

Trafigura denies that anyone died as a result of the dumping and claims that people only suffered flu-like symptoms.

Lawyers for the company say it never sought to attack free speech.

The Minton Report:
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Gu....intonreport.pdf

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8312780.stm

Published: 2009/10/17 19:40:30 GMT
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #233 on Oct 20, 2009, 11:14pm »
Cancer Risk Raised After Northern Italian Industrial Accident

ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2009) — People living in the Seveso area of Italy, which was exposed to dioxin after an industrial accident in 1976, have experienced an increased risk of developing cancer. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health found an increased risk of breast cancer in women from the most exposed zone and an excess of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue neoplasms in all but the least exposed zone.

Angela Pesatori led a team of researchers from the Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, a local hospital associated with the University of Milan, who extended a study of cancer incidence in the area, which now covers the period 1977-96.

She said: "The industrial accident that occurred in the Seveso area in 1976 exposed a large residential population to substantial amounts of TCDD [2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin]. Although the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the US Environmental Protection Agency have both classified TCDD as human carcinogen, scientific debate still persists on the actual cancer risk posed to the general population. We've found that it does pose a carcinogenic hazard, although lower than anticipated from animal studies, at least at the levels experienced by this population after this accident."

The researchers studied the medical records of all subjects living in the area at the date of the accident (July 10, 1976) and those who migrated into, or were born in, the area during the following 10 years. Of these 36,589 files, 99.9% were successfully reviewed. There were 2122 cases of cancer, 660 of which occurred after 1991. Specific and significant increases in risk, compared to the general population, were discovered for breast cancer and lymphatic and hematopoietic neoplasms, although based on a small number of cases.

Speaking about these results, Pesatori said: "These increases were expected based on previous studies. The mortality study, which covered a longer follow-up period, confirmed the excess of lymphatic and hematopoietic risk. We did not identify an all-cancer excess, as seen in occupational cohorts which had similar, sometimes higher, and more complex exposures."

Journal reference:

1. Angela Cecilia Pesatori, Dario Consonni, Maurizia Rubagotti, Paolo Grillo and Pier Alberto Bertazzi. Cancer incidence in the population exposed to dioxin after the 'Seveso accident': twenty years of follow-up. Environmental Health, 2009; (in press) [link]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914194656.htm
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #234 on Oct 20, 2009, 11:53pm »
Oil And Wildlife Don't Mix In Ecuador's Eden

[image]
Oil development near Yasuni National Park (including a road through the park) has led to an increase of commercial hunting. This barge carries an oil truck on the nearby Napo River. (Credit: Julie Larsen Maher / Copyright WCS)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2009) — What harm can a simple road do in a pristine place such as Ecuador's Yasuni National Park, home to peccaries, tapirs, monkeys and myriad other wildlife species? A great deal, it turns out. Specifically, it can turn subsistence communities into commercial hunting camps that empty rainforests of their wildlife, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the IDEAS-Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador have found.

A study by WCS field scientists in the park found that the presence of a single road in a protected area and the subsidies provided by oil companies to local people can fundamentally change how indigenous communities use their resources by providing both access to deeper parts of the forest and a cheap means of getting meat to nearby wildlife markets.

The study appears in the most recent issue of the journal Animal Conservation.

"We've found that a road in a forest can bring huge social changes to local groups and the ways in which they utilize wildlife resources," said WCS and USFQ researcher Esteban Suárez, lead author of the study. "Communities existing inside and around the park are changing their customs to a lifestyle of commercial hunting, the first stage in a potential overexploitation of wildlife."

" A simple, seemingly inoffensive road can have far-reaching effects on a landscape and its people," said Dr. Avecita Chicchón, Director of WCS's Latin America and Caribbean Program. "It provides hunters with more access to a wider range of forest while providing a low-cost transportation route to markets. More importantly, it plugs communities more easily into the larger economic world while creating increased demand for numerous species of animals. It is the road to unsustainability."

In the study, WCS scientists measured the levels of wild meat sold in a market in Pompeya, located about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) outside Yasuni National Park, between the years 2005-2007. The study also examined the effects of a road constructed in 1992 by oil company Maxus Ecuador Inc. that traverses more than 149 kilometers (92 miles) into the protected area.

The wild meat market emerged shortly after the construction of the road. Although road access was strictly controlled, the oil companies operating this concession provided free travel along the road for hunters from local Waorani communities, according to the study. The availability of cheap transportation is the biggest factor in determining the large amount of wild meat making it to market from Waorani communities. In fact, the road's very existence prompted many Waorani to abandon their semi-nomadic lifestyle; three Waorani communities now live along the road.

The company also hired members of both the Waorani and Kichwa indigenous groups at wages much higher than local salaries, and compensated communities for use of indigenous lands both inside and outside the park. Further, firearms became more widely available to hunters who then abandoned blowguns and other traditional weapons.

Between the years of 2005 and 2007, the researchers recorded more than 11,000 kilograms (24,000 pounds) of wild meat moving through the Pompeya market each year. While the amount of wild meat recorded in the study is still small with respect to other markets, the levels of recorded wild meat sold in Pompeya increased significantly over the study period, rising to over 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of meat per market day in 2007 from approximately 150 kilograms (330 pounds) per market day in 2005.

The majority of animals brought in by hunters were pacas (mid-sized Amazonian rodents), white-lipped peccaries, collared peccaries, and woolly monkeys comprising some 80 percent of the total biomass monitored.

Of the totals recorded at the market, more than 69 percent of the wild meat purchased in Pompeya was bound for restaurants and other markets in other towns, one of which was 234 kilometers (145 miles) away from the first market. Middlemen consistently increased the price of wild meat by up to 60 percent of the original cost paid to hunters. Secondary markets sell wild meat at prices up to two times the average prices of domestic animal meat.

Suarez and his co-authors warn that extractive initiatives in protected areas and wild lands require new governance systems with an emphasis on local participation and increased sensitivity on how development affects the social dynamics of indigenous groups.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910151923.htm
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #235 on Oct 21, 2009, 12:02am »
Chloride Found At Levels That Can Harm Aquatic Life In Urban Streams Of Northern US

[image]
The glacial aquifer system includes all unconsolidated aquifers above bedrock north of the line of continental glaciation throughout the country. The glacial aquifer system is the largest aquifer in areal extent used for drinking water and public supply in the United States. (Credit: Image courtesy of United States Geological Survey)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2009) — Levels of chloride, a component of salt, are elevated in many urban streams and groundwater across the northern U.S., according to a new government study.

Chloride levels above the recommended federal criteria set to protect aquatic life were found in more than 40 percent of urban streams tested. The study was released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Elevated chloride can inhibit plant growth, impair reproduction, and reduce the diversity of organisms in streams.

The effect of chloride on drinking-water wells was lower. Scientists found chloride levels greater than federal standards set for human consumption in fewer than 2 percent of drinking-water wells sampled in the USGS study.

Use of salt for deicing roads and parking lots in the winter is a major source of chloride. Other sources include wastewater treatment, septic systems, and farming operations.

“Safe transportation is a top priority of state and local officials when they use road salt. And clearly salt is an effective deicer that prevents accidents, saves lives, and reduces property losses,” said Matthew C. Larsen, USGS Associate Director for Water. “These findings are not surprising, but rather remind us of the unintended consequences that salt use for deicing may have on our waters. Transportation officials continue to implement innovative alternatives that reduce salt use without compromising safety.”

This comprehensive study examines chloride concentrations in the northern U.S. covering parts of 19 States, including 1,329 wells and 100 streams.

Selected Highlights

Land use matters

* Chloride yields (the amount of chloride delivered per square mile of drainage area) were substantially higher in cities than in farmlands and forests. Urban streams carried 88 tons of chloride per square mile of drainage area. Forest streams carried about 6 tons of chloride per square mile.
* Only 4 percent of the streams in agricultural areas had chloride levels that exceeded the recommended federal criteria set to protect aquatic life (compared to more than 40 percent of urban streams). Overall, 15 percent of all streams had chloride levels exceeding the criteria.
* Chloride concentrations in shallow groundwater (not used for drinking) were 16 times greater in urban areas than in forests, and 4 times greater in urban areas than in agricultural areas.

Highest levels in streams in the winter

* In urban streams, the highest levels of chloride (as great as 4,000 parts per million, which is about 20 times higher than the recommended federal criteria) were measured during winter months when salt and other chemicals are used for deicing.

Increases over time

* Increases in chloride levels in streams during the last two decades are consistent with overall increases in salt use in the U.S. for deicing.
* Increasing chloride yields are linked to the expansion of road networks and parking lots that require deicing, increases in the number of septic systems, increases in wastewater discharge, and increases in saline groundwater from landfills.

Sources can vary locally

* Chloride in ground and surface waters comes from many sources including the use and storage of salt for deicing roads, septic systems, wastewater treatment facilities, water softening, animal waste, fertilizers, discharge from landfills, natural sources of salt and brine in geologic deposits, and from natural and human sources in precipitation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2009/09/090916123513.htm
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #236 on Nov 1, 2009, 6:36pm »
Firestone in Liberia 'pollution'

An investigation by the government in Liberia has concluded that the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company has polluted local water sources.

The three-month investigation found that a plant south-east of the capital Monrovia was responsible for high levels of orthophosphate in creeks.

The report called on Firestone to improve its waste treatment facility.

Firestone said it believed it fully complied with environmental law and its waste water was not harmful to health.

Sample testing

The Firestone plant is about 48km (30 miles) south-east of Monrovia and the creeks are a water source for tens of thousands of villagers.

Many residents had said they could no longer use the water.

The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia says residents in the town of Kpanyah town had been complaining of developing skin rashes on venturing into affected creeks.

The investigation team included government ministries, Firestone representatives and local residents.

Water samples were collected and tested at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Testing was also carried out in Liberia.

The tests confirmed high levels of orthophosphate.

The report called on the management of Firestone to adhere to the Environmental Protection and Management Law.

Firestone said it believed it was in full compliance with the law and with its environmental commitments to the government and that it "strongly disagreed with any characterisation to the contrary".

It said an external consultant had found the plant's waste water was not harmful.

Firestone said that phosphate was also not harmful to human health but that it would work to address any elevated levels.

It said it believed its water treatment system was working as designed and intended.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8332851.stm

Published: 2009/10/29 19:56:31 GMT
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #237 on Nov 3, 2009, 7:00am »
Huge oil leak off Western Australia finally stopped - rig owner

AAP

November 03, 2009 09:08pm

AN oil well that has been leaking into the Timor Sea for 10 weeks has been plugged and a fire raging on the oil rig is almost out, the operator says.

Australasia announced this afternoon that its fifth attempt to plug the leaking oil well had been successful and it had stopped the main fire at the Montara wellhead platform.

The oil began leaking on August 21 at the Montara oilfield near the West Atlas oil rig, more than 200km northwest of Western Australia's Kimberley coastline.

During an attempt to plug the oil well with heavy mud on Sunday a fire broke out at the wellhead platform and the West Atlas oil rig.

"Some material on the topside of the West Atlas rig might still be on fire but it is expected to be extinguished as the fuel source burns out,'' the company said.

Well control experts on the nearby West Triton relief rig reported they had pumped approximately 3400 barrels of heavy mud down the same relief well that had successfully intercepted the leaking well on Sunday morning.

The operation began at 2.20pm (CST) and the main fire was contained at 3.48pm (CST).

The well kill was completed about 5.15pm (CST).

PTTEP said the online well data indicated the situation was stable and the well pressure was being maintained.

The well continues to be monitored and a mixture of light mud and brine is continuing to be pumped into the relief well to maintain a stable situation,'' it said.

"The next phase of securing the well head platform will now be undertaken subject to strict safety considerations.''

Once the well platform has been secured the owners of the West Atlas drill rig, Atlas Drilling, a subsidiary of Sea Drill, may make an attempt to reboard the rig to assess the damage caused by the fire, PTTEP said.

"We are relieved and thankful that we have killed the well and stopped the fire," PTTEP Australasia chief financial officer Jose Martins said.

"We still have a lot more work to do and our priorities are now to determine the best method of plugging the No1 well bore.

"We do not underestimate the significantly increased technical complexity, logistical challenges and hazards of the work now required in the wake of the damage caused by the fire to the well head platform, and the West Atlas Rig," he said.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited is preparing an insurance claim to recover its multi-million dollar bill from the disaster.

PTTEP said it spent more than $170 million on the oil and gas leak since August but had still recorded a net profit of $175.5 million in the third quarter.

It said PTTEP had an insurance coverage equivalent to $301 million.

"The company is in the process of claiming all expenses related to the incident under the terms and conditions of the policies and will realise as incomes once claim payment is made from the insurance companies."

PTTEP will foot the clean-up bill for the oil spill conducted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

Last week the estimated cost of the clean-up had reached $5.3 million.

Mr Martins said he was confident the well could still be used for future production.

The well was in the development stage and was scheduled to start producing oil in the final financial quarter of this year but last week Mr Martins said he expected production to be delayed until mid-next year.

Mr Martins said PTTEP remained fully committed to funding the spill clean-up and environmental monitoring programs undertaken by Federal Government agencies.

"We will continue to work closely with AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) to assist in the oil spill clean-up operations and with DEWHA (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts) in continuing to roll out what is likely to be the largest industry environmental monitoring program ever seen in Australia," Mr Martins said.

"The company will fully cooperate with the Federal Government inquiry which has been foreshadowed by Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson."

He told reporters it would be 24-48 hours before two to three engineers would be able to board the platform to inspect the damage.

PTTEP said it would consider spraying the well head platform with seawater in an effort to help cool it before any reboarding attempt is made.

The company said that while the well was declared shutdown or 'killed' at about 1715 CST, "some material on the topside of the West Atlas rig might still be on fire but it is expected to burn out as the fuel source runs out".

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26300863-421,00.html
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #238 on Nov 7, 2009, 2:13am »
Shell Oil to shell out $US19m over violations

Agence France-Presse

November 07, 2009 01:57pm

SHELL Oil Company will pay California more than $US19 million ($20.85 million) because of environmental violations at service stations throughout the state, officials said.

The agreement, filed Friday in a California state court, requires Shell to pay $US17.8 million ($A19.53 million) in civil penalties as well as $US1.7 million ($1.87 million) in costs to state and local agencies.

The deal ends a three-year investigation into more than 1,000 Shell stations throughout the state focusing on operation and maintenance of underground storage tanks, as well as the handling of hazardous waste materials.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a news release that the investigation found hundreds of violations at the company's gasoline stations in California.

”Shell Oil Company disregarded the state's underground fuel storage and hazardous waste laws, committing hundreds of environmental violations at its gasoline stations across California,” Mr Brown said.

Shell released a statement saying it already was working to fix the problems with its underground storage tanks, or USTs.

”While admitting no liability, Shell is pleased to reach this settlement and has been working cooperatively with the state of California since 2006 to resolve this matter,” said the statement attributed to Shell spokesperson Alison Chassin.

”We are proud of the great strides we have made to improve our UST operations, and in fact many of the measures outlined in the settlement are actions that Shell has already implemented.”

Shell, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, has about 102,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Under the terms of Friday's deal, Shell agreed to take immediate steps to improve spill and alarm monitoring, employee training, hazardous waste management and emergency response at its gasoline stations.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,26317473-31037,00.html
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Re: Bio Terrorism
« Reply #239 on Dec 4, 2009, 9:20pm »

Bhopal: 25 years of poison

Indra Sinha, who was Booker-nominated for his book on the Bhopal disaster, explains why the gas leak that killed 20,000 people 25 years ago – and continues to create health problems for countless more – is still a national scandal

o Indra Sinha
o guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 December 2009 18.38 GMT

[image]
Tasleen, 26, who was poisoned by the Bhopal gas leak, cares for her disabled daughter. All photographs by Alex Masi, all rights reserved

In September 1982, Bhopali journalist Raj Keswani wrote a terrifying story, the first of a series of articles, for the city's Jansatta daily. Bhopal was about to be annihilated. "It will take just an hour, at most an hour-and-a-half, for every one of us to die."

Keswani's information came from worried staff at the Union Carbide factory, where a worker, Ashraf Khan, had just been killed in a phosgene spill. The first world war gas was used in the production of MIC (methyl-isocyanate), a substance 500 times deadlier than hydrogen cyanide, and so volatile that unless kept in spotless conditions, refrigerated to 0C, it can even react explosively with itself. Cooling it slows reactions, buys time, but MIC is so dangerous that chemical engineers recommend not storing it at all unless absolutely necessary and then only in the tiniest quantities. In Bhopal it was kept in a huge tank, the size of a steam locomotive.

Far from the shining cathedral of science depicted in Union Carbide adverts, the Bhopal factory more closely resembled a farmyard. Built in the 70s to make pesticides for India's "green revolution", a series of bad monsoons and crop failures had left it haemorrhaging money.

Union Carbide bosses hoped to dismantle and ship the plant to Indonesia or Brazil, but finding no buyers, went instead on a cost-cutting spree.

Between 1980 and 1984 the workforce was halved. The crew of the MIC unit was cut from 12 to six, its maintenance staff from six to two. In the control room a single operator had to monitor 70-odd panels, indicators and controls, all old and faulty. Safety training was reduced from six months to two weeks – reduced in effect to slogans – but as the slogans were in English, the workers couldn't understand them.

By the time Keswani began his articles, the huge, highly dangerous plant was being operated by men who had next to no training, who spoke no English, but were expected to use English manuals. Morale was low but safety fears were ignored by management. Minor accidents happened routinely but were covered up. There were so many small leaks that the alarm siren was turned off to avoid inconveniencing the neighbours. A Union Carbide memo boasted of having saved $1.25m, but said that "future savings would not be so easy". There was nothing left to cut. Then bosses remembered the huge tank of MIC. They turned off its refrigeration to save freon gas worth $37 a day.

A 1982 safety audit by US engineers had noted the filthy, neglected condition of the plant, identified 61 hazards, 30 critical, of which 11 were in the dangerous MIC/phosgene units. The audit warned of the danger of a major toxic release.

Safety was duly improved at Union Carbide's other MIC plant in West Virginia. In Bhopal, where six serious accidents had occurred – one fatal, and three involving gas leaks – nothing was done.

If safety was ignored inside the plant, Union Carbide had no plan at all for the surrounding densely packed neighbourhoods. As the situation worsened, factory staff, fearing for their own lives and those living nearby, put up posters warning of a terrible danger. Keswani wrote begging the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh to investigate the factory before Bhopal "turns into Hitler's gas chamber". His sensational style, perhaps, caused him to be ignored. His final article, "We are all about to be annihilated", appeared just weeks before the gas disaster.

As night fell on 2 December 1984, none of the factory's safety systems was working. The vent gas scrubber lay in pieces. The flare tower was undersized. The siren stayed silent. Years later – too late for the thousands who would now die in unimaginably hideous ways – a prosecuting attorney would say that Union Carbide had demonstrated a "depraved indifference to human life".

'That night'

[image]
Safety slogans at the Union Carbide factory Bhopal Safety slogans at the Union Carbide factory were in English - not a language all the workers spoke

3 December 1984, just after midnight. Death came out of a clear sky. From Union Carbide's factory, a thin plume of white vapour began streaming from a high structure. Caught by the wind, it became a haze and blew downwards to mingle with smoke coming from somewhere nearer the ground. A dense fog formed. Nudged by the wind, it rolled across the road and into the alleys on the other side. Here houses were packed close, shoddily built, with ill-fitting doors and windows. Those within woke coughing, their eyes and mouths on fire. Across the city countless women were saying, "Hush darling, it's only someone burning chillies. Go back to sleep."

Survivors' leader Champa Devi Shukla says, "We woke with eyes crying, noses watering. The pain was unbearable. We were writhing, coughing and slobbering froth. People just got up and ran in whatever clothes they were wearing. Some were in their underclothes, others wore nothing at all. It was complete panic. Among the crowd of people, dogs, and even cows were running and trying to save their lives and crushing people as they ran. All climbed and scrambled over each other to save their lives."

In the stampedes through narrow alleys many were trampled to death. Some went into convulsions and dropped dead. Most, struggling to breathe as the gas ripped their lungs apart, drowned in their own body fluids.

Aziza Sultan had two young children and was pregnant with her third. When the panic began, her entire family ran out of their house. They were in night clothes and it was bitterly cold, but nothing mattered except to run. Outside in the lane, it appeared that a large number of people had passed that way. Shoes, slippers and shawls were strewn about. A thick gas cloud enveloped everything, reducing the streetlights to brown pinpoints.

"In the panic," Aziza recalls, "lots and lots of people were running, screaming for help, vomiting, falling down unconscious. Children were wrenched from their parents' grasp. Their cries were heartbreaking. I was terrified of losing my children. I was carrying my baby son Mohsin. My daughter Ruby was holding on to my kurta, she did not once let go. We had gone about 500 metres when my father-in law spotted a truck and told us to climb aboard. We couldn't, but he was tall and strong so he got in. In the confusion, instead of lifting up his grandson, he grabbed another little boy who was running around on his own. My mother-in-law was vomiting. She was a heart patient and Hamidia hospital was still two kilometres away, much of it uphill. Soon Mohsin was being sick on me. Ruby was also vomiting. We all fell on the ground. I had a miscarriage right there in the middle of the street, my body was covered with blood."

At least 8,000 people died on "that night". Half a million were injured. In the years since, as more people died of their injuries and illnesses caused by inhaling the gas, the death toll has risen above 20,000.

The long-predicted gas leak at Union Carbide was, and remains, the worst industrial disaster in history.

The aftermath

[image]
Thirteen-year-old Salman who lives near the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal Thirteen-year-old Salman, who lives near the Union Carbide factory, is blind, and has other serious health problems

Light came to city streets full of corpses sprawled in the agonised poses in which death had found them. They lay in heaps, limbs twisted, faces contorted.

In some places the dead were so many that it was impossible to walk without stepping on them. These were scenes from an apocalypse. The sun came up on choking, blinded people making their way to the hospitals. Some, desperate to relieve the agony in their eyes, were washing them in sewage water from the open drains.

The hospitals were full of the dying and doctors did not know how to treat them because they did not know which gas or gases had leaked, and Union Carbide would not release the information, claiming it was a "trade secret".

A quarter of a century later, Union Carbide and its owner, the Dow Chemical Company, which acquired it in 2001, still refuse to publish the results of studies into the effects of MIC. With or without these studies, 25 years of suffering prove that mass exposure to MIC destroys bodies, minds, families and a whole society.

Abdul Mansuri speaks for thousands. "My breathing problems started after the gas and got worse and worse. I can truthfully say that I have never had a day's health, or a day without pain, since 'that night'." For some the pain, physical, mental, emotional, has been too much.

Kailash Pawar was a young man. "My body is the support of my life," he said. "When my breathing is normal I feel like living. But when it becomes heavy, thinking stops and absolute pain takes over. I have become worthless." He was still in his 20s when he doused himself in kerosene and struck a match.

Today in Bhopal, more than 100,000 people remain chronically ill.

The compensation paid by Union Carbide, meant to last the rest of their lives, averaged some £300 a head: taken over 25 years that works out at around 7p a day, enough perhaps for a cup of tea.

Over the years the survivors have received little medical help. Being mostly very poor, they were often treated rudely. Government doctors would refuse to touch them. They were theoretically entitled to free treatment but were prescribed expensive drugs they did not need and which in some cases actually harmed them. In 1994 the Indian government, eager to put the gas leak behind it, shut down all research studies into the effects of the gas, just as new epidemics of cancers, diabetes, eye defects and crippling menstrual disorders were beginning to appear.

Abandoned by all who had a duty of care, the survivors decided to open their own clinic. In 1994, an advertisement appeared in the Guardian, launching the Bhopal Medical Appeal. The generous response of this newspaper's readers and others enabled the survivors to buy a building, hire medical staff and begin training. In 1996 the Sambhavna Clinic opened its doors, offering survivors a combination of modern medicine, ayurvedic herbal treatments, yoga and massage. Consultations, treatments, therapies, medicines and post-treatment monitoring are all absolutely free.

The water poisoning

[image]
A young girl in the monsoon rains of Bhopal When the monsoon rain falls in Bhopal, it seeps through buried waste before filling up and polluting the underground reservoirs

After the night of horror, the factory was locked up. Thousands of tonnes of pesticides and waste remained inside. Union Carbide never bothered to clean it. The chemicals were abandoned in warehouses open to wind and rain.

Twenty-four monsoons have rusted and rotted the death factory. The rains wash the poisons deep into the soil. They enter the groundwater and seep into wells and bore pipes. They gush from taps and enter people's bodies. They burn stomachs, corrode skin, damage organs and flow into wombs where they go to work on the unborn. If babies make it into the world alive, the poisons are waiting in their mothers' milk.

Atal Ayub Nagar is a slim strip of housing sandwiched between Union Carbide's factory wall and the railway line. It used to have no handpumps and fetching water meant a trek to a well in Shakti Nagar, half a mile to the south. People clubbed together to install two handpumps. At first the water seemed OK, but then oily globules began appearing. The water acquired a chemical smell, which grew gradually worse.

A private Union Carbide memo, obtained via a US court case, reveals that as far back as 1989 the company had tested soil and water inside the factory. Fish introduced to the samples died instantly. The danger to drinking water supplies was obvious, but Carbide issued no warnings. Its bosses in India and the US watched silently as families already ruined by their gases drank, and bathed their kids in poisoned water.

In Atal Ayub Nagar, many damaged babies were being born. The situation did not improve after the state government took possession of the site in 1998. The following year, when Greenpeace was testing soil and water around the factory, it visited this place and found carbon tetrachloride in one of the handpumps at levels 682 times higher than US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits. People drank this water, washed their clothes and bathed in it.

In August 2009, a sample of water from the same handpump was analysed by a Greenpeace laboratory in the UK. Carbon tetrachloride was found at 4,880 times the EPA limit. In the last decade, the water has become seven times more poisonous.

Rehana is a nine-year-old from Atal Ayub Nagar. She was born without a left thumb, her growth is retarded, her mind is weak and she hasn't the strength to go to school. Rehana's vision is not good, she's plagued by rashes and is constantly breathless.

Her father sadly asks, "Why was fate so cruel to our poor child?"

Why was fate so cruel?

[image]
A boy sits on the wall of the former Union Carbide industrial complex The factory was abandoned by Union Carbide, who did not clean it out after the accident

Long before "that night" there had been troubling rumours, mysterious deaths of cattle grazing near the factory. Babulal Gaur, a Bhopal lawyer, mediated a settlement between Union Carbide and the aggrieved farmers.

In 2004, Gaur became a minister in the local BJP government and to him fell the duty of caring for the city's gas survivors. He told the Christian Science Monitor that the Union Carbide factory had contaminated the groundwater, and complained that the previous Congress government had tried to hush the matter up.

In May 2004, India's Supreme Court ordered the state to supply clean water to the poisoned communities. Gaur's government ignored this order.

A year passed and a group of women and children went to the government offices to ask why nothing had been done. They were savagely beaten, punched and kicked by police. Weeks later Gaur, by now promoted to chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, announced an ambitious £120m plan to beautify the city with ornamental fountains and badminton courts.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the gas leak, Gaur, demoted to Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation minister, announced that he would open the derelict factory site to the public. There was no water contamination, he said, echoing Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who, with curious naivety, told journalists that he had handled some waste and not become ill.

A cynic remarked that this was like touching a cigarette and saying, "Look, I haven't got lung cancer."

Denying that contamination exists clearly serves the company's interests. No doubt it is mere coincidence that the Dow Chemical Company, has made at least one donation to Gaur's party, the BJP.

This sordid little tale is itself an echo of the bigger machinations at the centre, where Dow has been trying to twist the arm of Manmohan Singh's Congress government into letting it off the Bhopal hook in return for a billion-dollar investment in India.

When people ask, "Why is the disaster continuing? Why has the factory not been cleaned? Why have Union Carbide and Dow not faced justice?", the answer is this: Union Carbide's victims are still dying in Bhopal because India itself is dying under the corrupt and self-serving rule of rotten leaders.

Indra Sinha is the author of Animal's People, a novel based on the Bhopal disaster.

For more on the Bhopal Medical Appeal: http://www.bhopal.org/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/04/bhopal-25-years-indra-sinha
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."

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