WHERE DO THE TOXICS GO?

January 11, 2004

" luckypig "

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 19:31:42 -0500

http://www.carlaemery.com/News.htm

WHERE DO THE TOXICS GO? (excerpt)

Loophole:

TOXIC WASTES CAN BE DECLARED " PRODUCTS "

TOXIC WASTE LAWS NO LONGER APPLY

Into the Road Tar--

A road worker told me that it was routine to mix toxic wastes

into road tar for the purpose of disposing of it. In Maine, I

encountered a community which was fighting this policy for

its local area.

Into the Cement--

A pretzel company mechanic in Ohio told me that his plants'

toxic wastes (heavy metal powder, etc.) were handled by a toxic

waste specialist. He had toured the facilities of that company.

They told him they trucked the toxic wastes to Oklahoma where

they were mixed with the foundation material which would be

distributed to become cement.

A lady told me that she and her husband had moved into a new

home which had bare cement basement and walls. She wanted

to know why she couldn't store food in the basement. She said

she put a bag of flour on the basement floor - and it developed

a really weird smell. She said that vegetables she put in the

basement rotted. It made me wonder if the toxics in the cement

might be a factor. I think that if they're going to put toxics into

house cement, people should at least be forewarned, better yet

given a choice whether they want that kind of cement or not.

Into the Fertilizer--

Federal guidelines allow industrial producers of toxic wastes

to pay fertilizer producers to take the stuff off their hands

by mixing it in with the fertilizer they sell to farmers and

gardeners. Yes, you read that correctly. I heard about farmers

in Eastern Washington who developed severe health problems

and whose ground became poor for growing crops because of

toxics in Cenex bulk fertilizer which they had no warning was

there. I personally talked to an individual in Eastern Colorado

who had run into the same problem with Cenex fertilizer.

In Maine, I heard that toxics also may turn up in bagged

fertilizer in garden stores. The lady told me it was supposed

to be on the label if the fertilizer had toxics in it. In Missouri,

I met a lady who saw an ad for " black dirt " and ordered two

truckloads to be put on her garden. After delivery, she realized

that the " dirt " she had paid for was actually ground-up

municipal garbage, because it was full of tiny bits of ground-up

metal, glass, and plastic. (Obviously, you must now be more

careful than ever about what you allow onto your land.)

[ ed.note: I bought some bagged dirt at the store to plant

some veggies and herbs in, and it killed everything I put in it! ]

Into the " Road Salt " --

Drinking beverages out of aluminum cans is a bad habit that

the public schools promote. Making the cans in the first place

consumes much electricity (usually made by coal burning).

Recycling them is a far more polluting industry. The waste

from aluminum can recycling is tons of salt laced with heavy

metals that were in the paint on the cans: lead, zinc, cadmium.

Formerly, the company had trouble finding places to stow

some 50 truckloads of this industrial waste.

Not a problem any more. They sell the stuff as " road salt "

to counties and municipalities. It's the cheapest " road salt "

available, so their business is good. The waste water manager

of Grand Rapids, Michigan, told me that, because of this " road

salt, " the storm runoff in the city is now way out of EPA limits

for waste water--and a zillion times, or so, too toxic for drinking

water.

The Seattle Times reported that Northwest Alloys, an ALCOA

subsidiary in Addy, Washington, recycled their smelter's

" hazardous waste " by means of a relationship with another

company which " sold it as a fertilizer and road de-icer. " It was

labeled as " CalMag " when sold as a fertilizer. When sold as a

de-icer, it was called " Road Clear. " ALCOA is said to have

saved more than $17 million in toxic disposal costs by this

deceitful method of disposal.

(This situation came to light when an Oregon farmer's red

clover crop died after being " fertilized. " )

Loophole: Toxic Wastes Can Be Declared " Products " and

Toxic Waste Laws No Longer Apply!

The Seattle Times, a major West-coast daily, did a 12-page

special on the subject of toxics turning into " products " such as

" fertilizer " and " road salt. " They titled it " Fear in the Fields. "

(Reprint available from Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA

98111-0070, $1 for p & h. Or view the article on

http://www.seattletimes.com.) Clip..

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January 12, 2004

http://www.carlaemery.com/News.htm WHERE DO THE TOXICS GO? (excerpt)Loophole: TOXIC WASTES CAN BE DECLARED "PRODUCTS"TOXIC WASTE LAWS NO LONGER APPLY Into the Road Tar--A road worker told me that it was routine to mix toxic wastesinto road tar for the purpose of disposing of it. In Maine, Iencountered a community which was fighting this policy for its local area. Into the Cement--A pretzel company mechanic in Ohio told me that his plants'toxic wastes (heavy metal powder, etc.) were handled by a toxicwaste specialist. He had toured the facilities of that company.They told him they trucked the toxic wastes to Oklahoma wherethey were mixed with the foundation material which would bedistributed to become cement. A lady told me that she and her husband had moved into a newhome which had bare cement basement and walls. She wantedto know why she couldn't store food in the basement. She saidshe put a bag of flour on the basement floor - and it developed a really weird smell. She said that vegetables she put in thebasement rotted. It made me wonder if the toxics in the cementmight be a factor. I think that if they're going to put toxics intohouse cement, people should at least be forewarned, better yetgiven a choice whether they want that kind of cement or not. Into the Fertilizer--Federal guidelines allow industrial producers of toxic wastes to pay fertilizer producers to take the stuff off their hands by mixing it in with the fertilizer they sell to farmers andgardeners. Yes, you read that correctly. I heard about farmers in Eastern Washington who developed severe health problems and whose ground became poor for growing crops because oftoxics in Cenex bulk fertilizer which they had no warning wasthere. I personally talked to an individual in Eastern Coloradowho had run into the same problem with Cenex fertilizer. In Maine, I heard that toxics also may turn up in baggedfertilizer in garden stores. The lady told me it was supposed to be on the label if the fertilizer had toxics in it. In Missouri, I met a lady who saw an ad for "black dirt" and ordered twotruckloads to be put on her garden. After delivery, she realizedthat the "dirt" she had paid for was actually ground-upmunicipal garbage, because it was full of tiny bits of ground-upmetal, glass, and plastic. (Obviously, you must now be morecareful than ever about what you allow onto your land.)[ ed.note: I bought some bagged dirt at the store to plant some veggies and herbs in, and it killed everything I put in it! ] Into the "Road Salt"--Drinking beverages out of aluminum cans is a bad habit that the public schools promote. Making the cans in the first placeconsumes much electricity (usually made by coal burning).Recycling them is a far more polluting industry. The wastefrom aluminum can recycling is tons of salt laced with heavymetals that were in the paint on the cans: lead, zinc, cadmium.Formerly, the company had trouble finding places to stow some 50 truckloads of this industrial waste. Not a problem any more. They sell the stuff as "road salt" to counties and municipalities. It's the cheapest "road salt"available, so their business is good. The waste water manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan, told me that, because of this "roadsalt," the storm runoff in the city is now way out of EPA limitsfor waste water--and a zillion times, or so, too toxic for drinkingwater.The Seattle Times reported that Northwest Alloys, an ALCOA subsidiary in Addy, Washington, recycled their smelter's "hazardous waste" by means of a relationship with another company which "sold it as a fertilizer and road de-icer." It was labeled as "CalMag" when sold as a fertilizer. When sold as a de-icer, it was called "Road Clear." ALCOA is said to havesaved more than $17 million in toxic disposal costs by thisdeceitful method of disposal. (This situation came to light when an Oregon farmer's redclover crop died after being "fertilized.")Loophole: Toxic Wastes Can Be Declared "Products" andToxic Waste Laws No Longer Apply!The Seattle Times, a major West-coast daily, did a 12-pagespecial on the subject of toxics turning into "products" such as"fertilizer" and "road salt." They titled it "Fear in the Fields."(Reprint available from Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA98111-0070, $1 for p & h. Or view the article on http://www.seattletimes.com.) Clip..--<<>>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<>----<>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<<>>--

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