Pollution Related to Civic Projects

Abstract

America is characterized by the restless roar of Niagara Falls. We sing of the mighty Mississippi and the wide Missouri. The Great Lakes are estimated to contain more than 1/3 of the fresh water supply of the world. Our water resources are the envy of much of the world. Yet a glass of water drawn from the taps in Babylon (Long Island) foamed much like beer and had an oily, fishy tate. As a result of uranium mill wastes, towns along the Animas River in Colorado and New Mexico had drinking water containing 40%o more than the accepted maximum safe levels of radioactivity. Epidemologists have traced the incidence of hepatitis along the Eastern Seaboard to oysters from the Gulf of Mexico and clams from New Jersey's Raritan Bay. Chanute, Kansas had its own problems during the critical drouth of the mid 50's, when the Neosho River ceased to flow except below outlets. Gas bubbles ran from sludge deposits in our own Missouri River below Sioux City. Fish have died in a 140-mile reach of the stream below the waste outlets of a chemical plant near Austin, Texas. Leptospirosis, better known as sewer worker's fever, has appeared in the Missouri River Basin. Health Departments in various cities have noted an upsurge in diarrhea, intestinal disorders and stomach sicknesses in which water is reported to be the vehicle for transmitting the responsible virus. Freighters passing through Chicago's ship and sanitary canal churn up so much foam that sprays are employed to break it up. These are only examples of newspaper reflections of the widespread nature and extent of our pollution problem. In the young, vigorous and fast-growing United States, things not wanted have simply been thrown away. Our waterways have traditionally been a dumping place for the refuse of our civilization. Nothing has been easier than throwing it into the river for the water to hide and carry away. Pollution occurs when any agent is added to a water resource in suffiicient quantity to degrade the quality of the water for a subsequent user. Polluting agents include the organic matter found in sewage and industrial wastes, infectious organisms, plant nutrients, persistent and sometimes poisonous chemicals, minerals, sediment, radioactive substances, and heat. Recognized water uses include municipal and industrial sup-