Smooth Operators

It only sticks to your guts and arteries...

I am a prejudiced person. I think we all are but I think that I am fairly open about my prejudices. I saw this headline the other day; Thousands of pounds of “forever chemicals” have been injected into Texas oil and gas wells, study finds and it just really pissed me off.

A new report from a public health watchdog found that more than 40,000 pounds of PFAS has been injected into more than 1,000 wells across Texas — and warned that the chemicals could pose a risk to public health.

I have a prejudice against chemical and energy companies. Think that they put us at great risk. I hate that people, often knowingly inflict this sort of danger upon the American public, whether it be for cheap energy or simply to make money. Look at the recent train derailments that hit those midwestern communities with chemical exposure. You think that stuff just blows away? Those people will be fighting the consequences of the spill for hundreds of years. The companies will go under and we will be left holding the bag.

I have been battling cancer for the last thirty eight years, various cancers caused by, principally, benzene exposure. This cancer was traumatic for me, I lost a kidney and have gone through a ton of crap and multiple surgeries that I don't need to recount. Obviously I am an expendable statistic to the chemical companies.

All you have to do is look at the Superfund site map to realize what an awful job we have done in managing chemicals and pollution.

Superfund sites  - 2022

The EWG estimates that twenty three contaminants are currently in Fallbrook Public Utility District's drinking water, thirteen known to be harmful and cancer causing. That is not a particularly bad score, comparatively. Rainbow is slightly worse, heavy on the arsenic.

Thank god they aren't fracking around here. As it says on the site, the EPA has not updated its drinking water standards in 20 years, you think there is any political pressure on them to stall?

the nasty ones...

Bromodichloromethane seems to be one of our biggest culprits and offenders. 128 times the guideline. While it is not shown to have conclusive harm to humans it does to lab animals. It is termed potentially carcinogenic to humans in the study. That always makes me squirm. The toxic haloacetic acid levels are troubling.

We live in an imperfect world, some carcinogens are either natural or difficult to evade. But it is also obvious to me that many of our water pollutant ills are self inflicted and could have been avoided by people that knew better.

And I also know that to a big businessman, my health problems are just acceptable collateral damage, you don't make omelettes without breaking a few eggs. But we all have been impacted.

The scientists estimated that more than 200 million people—the majority of Americans—have tap water contaminated with a mixture of PFOA and PFOS at concentrations of one part per trillion (ppt) or higher. Andrews and Naidenko say previous research shows that levels higher than one ppt can increase the risk of conditions such as testicular cancer, delayed mammary gland development, liver tumors, high cholesterol and effects on children’s immune response to vaccinations. 

I have written about the dangers of Teflon and other cancer causing substances for years. People at the big chemical companies always know about the dangers and they always find a way to bury the findings. 

Take the money and run. By the time the shit hits the fan the immoral scientists and engineers are dead and gone, having long since got their cut. But the prior knowledge and perfidy always somehow seeps its way to the surface, eventually.

A pox on these companies and the scientists that play the game with them and put all of the globe and even their own families at risk. May they share in the outcome.

The companies knew exactly what they were doing and we citizens had no vote or buy in.

May they rot in hell.