What Else Can We Do?

Because, of course, there's no ignoring it...

Metal Levels Found High in Tributary After Spill
NYTimes
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: January 1, 2009

An environmental advocacy group’s tests of river water and ash near the site of a huge coal ash spill in East Tennessee showed levels of arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals at 2 to 300 times higher than drinking water standards, the group said Thursday.

...

“These are some of the most astonishing water-quality sampling results I’ve ever seen in my 10 years of working on rivers,” said Donna Lisenby, a spokeswoman for Appalachian Voices who helped collect the samples.

A news release from the group included a statement by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairman of the national Waterkeeper Alliance, who said, “Although these results are preliminary, we want to release them because of the public health concern and because we believe the T.V.A. and E.P.A. aren’t being candid.”


By not being candid, of course, they mean people are still drinking.
Of course, what do you do if you know... start brushing your teeth with Coca-Cola? In Ecuador the water in one area has an oil-sheen -- everyone is dying of cancer -- but they drink it anyway. "What else can we do?"

Tomorrow I will look at the Waterkeeper Alliance. Didn't know we had one of those.