The Superfund Act was passed in 1980. this was done to limit the use of multiple illegal and dangerous substances in any form of production, this was also used as an attempt to clean up the toxic waste cites. The Superfund act/ C.E.R.L.A. also required most companies to clean up the mess that they had made, this act was funded by the companies themselves that used the toxic chemicals, there was a tax put on these big companies for their petroleum and chemical consumption.
In November, 1995, A large flock of geese were attempting to rest in a nearby pond. This Pond had been nearby a Copper mining pit, this mining pits called the Berkeley pit. the water nearby the pit had been contaminated with residue from the the excavation and material used to mine and transport the copper. these thousands of geese that migrate every year decided to rest at the pond near the Berkeley pit. The next day after the geese landed there, 342 of them died of chemical poisoning. a couple of autopsies done on the geese revealed that they had suffered massive ulcerations and died due to drinking the water in the pond. 21 years later, on the 26th of November another occurrence of mass bird death happened again. Another massive flock of geese landed in the pond ( about 10,000), one reporter told the News that the lake was"white with birds" due to the amount of dead birds. These birds had similar issues as the first 342 bids 21 years earlier. These waters are full of heavy metals and toxic chemicals that are not safe for consumption, a few of these are copper, iron, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
The Berkeley pit is said to be permanently contaminated even after an attempted cleanup.
Nearest Superfund site is only 7 miles away from LAHS
Superfund National Priorities list site, 1710 Villa St, Mountain view, CA 94041
According to the NRCC, about 40 million people in the United states live within 4 miles to the nearest superfund sites
A really good movie about one specific Superfund site is: Dark Waters
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-cercla-overview
https://fortune.com/2018/10/30/aerial-photos-superfund-sites-usa/
http://duluthreader.com/articles/2016/12/14/8500_lessons_from_the_most_toxic_open_pit_copper_mine
This is very interesting and sad. There are just so many superfund sites. So many that the government can only prioritize certain cites. The State tends to pay 10 percent but can pay more than 50 percent if it is their fault.
ReplyDelete