Thursday, June 21, 2012

EPA DOES LANDSCAPING

Most people are aware that USEPA regulates public water supplies under the Safe Drinking Water Act and wastewater disposal under the Clean Water Act. And, we know that EPA also fights bed bugs (see my posting January 16, 2012 "EPA Brings Bed Bugs To Justice"). Now we learn that EPA is in the landscaping business as well.

According to EPA'a June 5, 2012 press release, it has completed clean-up of arsenic-contaminated soil at some 600 homes in a South Minneapolis residential neighborhood (#12-OPA044). According to the press release, the neighborhood is near a location where a pesticide containing arsenic was produced for 30 years starting in 1938. "Contaminated material from an open-air conveyor belt railcar-unloading and product-mixing operation is believed to have been wind-blown into surrounding neighborhoods," according to EPA.

EPA removed over 50,000 tons of soil from the yards of the houses, refilled the yards with clean soil, and replanted the yards with new vegetation and grass.

The cost incurred by EPA for this work was $28,000,000. That works out to be approximately $46,000 per house. Residents of these houses paid nothing, although EPA said that the work "enhances the resale value of these properties."

Thursday, June 14, 2012

GOOD WATER FOR GOLD SEEKERS

I just finished reading "All Roads Lead To Deadwood".* It is a book which details the many trails, and their travelers, on stage coaches and on oxen/mule freight wagons, heading to the gold camps of Deadwood, Black Hills, Dakota Territory, in 1876-90.

Passengers and freight originated from such towns as Cheyenne, Fort Pierre, Medora, Bismarck and Sidney. Gold discoveries were a magnet in the frontier West, and no magnet was stronger at the time than the gold deposits in Deadwood, particularly after Custer's 1874 expedition into the Black Hills.

Travel on these "roads" was hazardous. In Winter, there were blizzards and 40 degree below zero temperatures. In Spring, there were flash floods, rains that turned soil into mush, and swollen rivers to be crossed without benefit of bridges. And, at all times, there was the threat, and reality, of ambush by Indians and road agents.

Nevertheless, stage and freight outfits had concern for the "comforts" of travelers.
Each trail had stations about every 10 to 20 miles, where passengers and freighters would stop for a meal or rest, and horses, oxen and mules would be fed or changed.

While many of these stations offered alcoholic and entertainment opportunities, the book makes it clear that drinking water was a key feature of a successful rest stop operation. It describes many of the stations as "here was a fine well with good water." Stations generally had "good water" except for a few that had water termed "alkaline"-which tended to make travelers sick. One trail had an area of many springs, often simply called "holes". At some locations, a barn or shed would be built over a spring-the cold flowing water had the effect of creating refrigeration within the building.

At one relay station, on Oak Creek, there "was a watering stop with the well built into the bank of the stream. It had excellent water."(P.202) A trail from Sidney, Nebraska, had a stage stop where "the water from Beaver Creek was clear but cathartic caused by the high lithium content. Good water was available at five cents a bucket and three dollars for a wagon load-but the water was only for drinking as the women still made coffee from creek water." (P.80) No doubt, that morning coffee gave quite a wake-up!

For the most part, therefore, drinking water available to these travelers appeared to be simply "good", unless something obvious such as alkalinity made it "not good." There were, of course, no EPA, no Maximum Contaminant Levels, no primary or secondary drinking water standards and no regulations requiring treatment of water.

Interestingly, while the book details many situations when stage drivers and passengers and freighters were killed by Indians, bandits, weather or in fighting, it gives no indication that anyone died from drinking "good water." So, it seems, all who endured the hazards of travel then made it to Deadwood to seek their fortune. In 1890, the railroad reached Deadwood, and overland stages to the Hills road into history.

One may speculate that what made drinking water "good" at these stations was the fact that it came from wells, springs and streams untainted by "civilization." Perhaps it is a sad commentary on "modern" times that drinking water must be subjected to extensive governmental regulation and treatment because of the reality or simply perception that civilization has contaminated sources of supply. On the other hand, maybe I am still back in the 1880s, as I still get all my drinking water from an untreated well, and it is good.

______________________
*(Klock, 1979)

Monday, June 4, 2012

ROUNDING UP THE NOT USUAL WATER SUSPECTS

In 1935, Klaus Hansen was a pharmacologist at Oslo University. That year, he became the first human to drink something called "heavy" water.

Heavy water was discovered in 1931 in the United States by Harold Urey. What is heavy about this water? Ordinary water, the kind that pours from our faucets, is H20. Heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, is D2O. Thus, in heavy water, deuterium, a heavy isotope
of hydrogen, replaces the hydrogen of ordinary water. Heavy water is about 10% heavier than ordinary water and has higher freezing and boiling levels.

Apparently, ice cubes made from heavy water will sink to the bottom of your gin and tonic. However, it is not recommended for that purpose. Instead, heavy water commonly is used as a moderator of neutrons produced in nuclear fission reactions in nuclear reactors. As one might guess, there also is something called "semi-heavy" water, where deuterium replaces only one of the hydrogen atoms of ordinary water, thus DHO.

So, what happened to Prof. Hansen after he drank the heavy stuff? Apparently, nothing. He lived past age 75.

Well if ordinary water is not to your taste, and heavy water not your cup of tea, are there other water alternatives? Why not consider "drinking" fruits and vegetables?

For example, there is the obvious choice--watermelon. Typically, watermelon is 92% water. Of course, watermelons tend to weigh a lot, so this could be said to be a form of heavy water. Watermelons are said to contain beneficial nutrients, as well. In fact, watermelons have their own website: watermelon.org. There also has been some suggestion that ingredients in watermelons may have male enhancement benefits. (sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080630165707.htm) There is no indication whether seeded or seedless melon is to be preferred. Of course, eating watermelon heartily could leave one bladder-challenged.

There are other choices for water, as well. Cucumbers and iceberg lettuce comprise 96% water. Tomatoes, zucchini, radishes and celery are 95% water. Eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet peppers, spinach and strawberries are 92% water. Grapefruit and broccoli are 91% water.

Because of the high water content of such fruits and vegetables, they are said to be good conductors of electricity. I find this information of little use, unless one wishes to wire a house with cucumbers and zucchini.

So, when it is all said and done, the best and most convenient water source probably is the usual suspect--the faucet.