Re: Re: NOW mini-mansions and disgust now municipal water

You're entitled dear. I'd be wanting to choke the "responsible" (ha)
parties my own self. Unconscionable behavior to poison groundwater.
Heads need to roll but never will. Cover-up & subterfuge are the order
of the day w/ Uncle Sam - no matter which party sits in the White House.


Pam Evans
Kemp, TX
zone 8A
----- Original Message -----
From: Melody
Sent: 3/25/2004 7:28:20 PM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] NOW mini-mansions and disgust now municipal water

> Jim: All of that makes perfect sense to me...under those conditions I
> probably wouldn't vote for hooking up to municipal water either. Our
> town is faced with a dilemma, however...our selurian acquifer, which is
> the source of our shallower sandpoint wells, is contaminated with a
> chemical called perchlorate, a byproduct of rocket
> fuel/munitions/fertilizer manufacturing. At this point in time, only
> half the town is contaminated...roughly the people on the south side of
> Main street, which divides the town roughly in half. No scientist in
> America is prepared to tell us that the other half will or won't become
> contaminated over time, nor are they willing to tell us how long this
> stuff will persist in the acquifer. Worst case scenario of this chemical
> contaminant involves thryoid cancers, neurological toxicity to fetuses
> resulting in learning disabilites, etc. So far there appears to be no
> known health cluster of any identifiable kind in the residents, past or
> current, of Hills, but data measurements have changed over the years so
> this may not be reliably tracked, either. Please note that this is a
> chemical that is not routinely tested for in water...a special test must
> be done to detect it...you have to actively go looking for it to know it
> is there. Problem #1 comes in that the Dept. of Defense is loathe to
> have widespread testing of this done, as at one time perchlorate was
> used as a stabilizing agent for the transport of uranium and plutonium
> therefore the DOD feels that wholesale identification of perchlorate
> contamination might potentially disclose locations of storage of these
> nuclear chemicals to terrorists. Problem #2 comes in that the
> aerojet/space industry and the DOD have routinely been taking rocket
> fuel out and dumping it in vast quantity whenever they needed to get rid
> of it, thinking it would just soak up into the ground and not be a
> problem...major liability issues there. Anywhere you have an airforce
> base, you have perchlorate contamination. problem #3: The folks at the
> EPA tell me that onc
> 
> e perchlorate testing is done on a widescale basis across the nation, it
> will probably result in much of the entire US' underground water supply
> being contaminated in low levels with this...now isn't that a
> frightening thought? All of Lake Mead and the Colorado river is
> contaminated and as you know this is the source of irrigation for the
> portion of the US that supplies a large % of the country's leafy green
> vegetables ,especially lettuce whose cellular structure easily uptakes
> perchlorate.
> 
> 
> So, in this case, I think this time, I will be voting yes for municipal
> water. Have you had your well tested for perchlorate today? That's kind
> of a catchy tune, don't you think? :-) I sometimes think I have to laugh
> about this whole thing or I'd really be wanting to take a shotgun and
> shoot whoever started dumping this stuff in the first place!
> 
> 
> okay, I'm off **my** soapbox now...sorry folks!
> 
> 
> Melody, IA (Z 5/4)
> 
> "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."    
> --Albert Einstein
> 
>  --- On Thu 03/25, james singer < jsinger@igc.org > wrote:
> From: james singer [mailto: jsinger@igc.org]
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 18:31:07 -0500
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] NOW mini-mansions and disgust
> 
> Zem has shamed me into it, so I guess it's time to fess up. I live in
> <br>one of those areas that regularly votes down city water. And I vote
> <br>with the majority. There are several reasons to reject city water
> here, <br>not the least of which is you can strike water at about 10
> feet or less <br>so wells are not all that expensive or mysterious or
> difficult--just <br>stick a shovel in the ground and sweat a
> little.<br><br>Second, the older subdivisions were not plumbed for city
> water. If you <br>live in an older subdivision, as I do, and you vote
> for "city" water <br>now, you're first assessed for bringing in the
> mains from wherever the <br>closest connecting point is. That seems
> reasonable--if you want it, pay <br>for it.<br><br>But it's not just a
> water main they bring in or you will pay for. We <br>don't have
> municipal sewerage in these subdivisions either, so when <br>they bring
> in the water mains, they also bring in the sewer mains, <br>which only
> makes sense--dig the street up once, piss the residents off
> <br>once.<br><br>Except the rules are you've gotta hook up to both water
> and sewage when <br>you hook up to one.<br>they're fiscally linked--you
> pay for water by a yearly tax that <br>includes a sewer tax [the sewer
> tax is based on water usage--doesn't <br>make sense--how many toilet
> flushes equal watering a pear tree? but I <br>guess it's got to be based
> on something].<br><br>But wait! They also lay grey water mains when
> they've got the road dug <br>up, which also makes sense [if piping
> reclaimed water in a separate <br>system makes sense. Someone has to
> ask, "If it's re-claimed, why isn't <br>it potable?].<br><br>And when
> you hook up to the city water and the city sewer, you're also
> <br>required to hook up to the city grey water system. The upshot is you
> <br>have to hire someone with a proper license to sort out your plumbing
> <br>system, get all the proper permits, and pay off all the bureaucrats
> so, <br>maybe, the right fluids go to the right place. Does anyone
> remember the <br>movie "Brazil"?<br><br>
> 
> <br><br>A well and a septic tank--a proper distance one from another,
> mind <br>you--meet the requirements of Occam's razor. And, perhaps more
> <br>importantly, annual costs are in the hands of the public utility
> <br>commission [electric wattage] and not in the hands of the local pols
> <br>and their taxing authority.<br><br><br>On Thursday, March 25, 2004,
> at 01:48 PM, Zemuly@aol.com wrote:<br><br>> In a message dated 3/25/2004
> 12:38:49 PM Central Standard Time,<br>> richa@midlands.net writes:<br>>
> So now the town is repaying<br>> a $90,000 bond that was our part of the
> new water system<br>> Sounds like us! When we first got our water system
> everybody agreed to<br>> participate and no written contracts were drawn
> up. Then when the <br>> system was up and<br>> ready to get connected
> several families dug wells and refused to <br>> participate.<br>>
> Apparently there's nothing the town can do about it, either. We did
> <br>> get<br>> some codified rules regarding the water department and
> passed an <br>> ordinance<br>> stating that should a property without
> city water change ownership, <br>> whether through<br>> sale or death,
> the new owner had to connect. That was the best we <br>> could do.<br>>
> Those people do not pay anything -- not even a fire protection fee to
> <br>> pay for<br>> the hydrants. If you are interested check out our
> website: <br>> www.lagrangetn.com<br>><br>> zem<br>> zone 7<br>> West
> TN<br>><br>>
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> Florida<br>Zone
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