I was reading an article in the local Columbia Missourian paper the other day when something struck me.

...boiling doesn’t neutralize chemical pollutants, such as pesticides or weed killers. Don Harter, who leads survival campouts for local Boy Scouts, says chemical pollutants are a problem in Missouri streams because of the large amount of agriculture in the state. The only way to neutralize these chemicals is with water purification tablets, iodine or a carbon filtration device. Generally it’s best to go to spring-fed streams for drinking purposes.

This isn't news, but in the moment it really hit me--our entire stream and river system is poisoned, and no one's being held responsible for it! Companies like Monsanto are pushing enormous quantities of pesticides, and large-scale commercial agriculture is dumping them all over the place, and the result is that our whole natural water supply is literally poisonous to us.

How can such a natural resource be so comprehensively poisoned, corrupted, and no one is held accountable for it?

I wonder if it'd be possible to bring a class-action lawsuit against big chemical and agriculture companies. Surely there'd be some way to identify the types of chemicals in the water, and unless they're completely broken down into their component parts, establish a plausible connection to specific manufacturers. Then we could find out to whom these manufacturers sell most of their chemicals, and tests could be run to see where the most runoff is happening.

Anyone have any thoughts on why such a thing would or wouldn't work? I'm just incensed that industry can get away with things like this and our government is too weak-kneed to even pay attention.

Labels: Environment