Every day I use water from a tap. Whether for drinking or cooking or showering I simply turn the faucet and water comes out. Like most people that is about as far as my thought process goes. Do I stop to consider how the pollutants from long closed factories upstate or the immense efforts undertaken by the state to treat the water affect me? No, of course not; in a city as developed and successful as New York the thought of having to worry about such matters seems slightly ridiculous, and sadly this mindset may be more toxic to humans then the pollutants themselves.
If you had asked me if the Hudson River was clean two weeks ago I probably would have said yes. I would have known it wasn’t perfect – I’m not that naïve, but it certainly wouldn’t have been a major cause of concern. It just seems so basic that it’s all too easy for a New Yorker to take it for granted. To discover that the Hudson is so contaminated that fishing has even been banned is simply disheartening. To think that out of everyone I know, my family, my friends and even the vast majority of my teachers, no one seems aware, never mind up in arms, about this atrocity is truly alarming. Before this class I had never even considered the state of the Hudson. Virtually my entire life I’ve never been more than a couple miles from the majestic river and yet I can’t say I have ever once, even when standing on its shores or riding down it on a boat, considered the dangers we create or the damage we have already done.
Similarly “PCB” was a term I had never encountered. It just seems so strange to something that can disrupt the structure of DNA, cause cancer and just generally so endanger humans is so off the radar to me. Given the damage they can and already have caused coupled with the fact that they will continue to haunt our ecosystem by means of bioaccumulation unless stopped, it is very sad to think that the general population is so entirely oblivious to them when they should be a household name. This attitude of indifference is far too commonplace; my only hope is perhaps attitudes will change before it is too late. The PCB problem New York has is horrible and needs to be stopped; however in the grand scheme of things the pollution problems in New York Harbor seem frivolous compared the atrocity that is Brazil’s Guanabara Bay.
Guanabara Bay exists as a testament to the danger that humans are to themselves. The degree of pollution there seems truly unreal, and unlike New York Harbor where the masses are oblivious but small factions are still able to make strides against the pollution, the situation in Guanabara Bay seems all but hopeless. While the population surrounding the bay are aware of how terrible the state of the bay is, due to the mass corruption that practically defines Brazilian government and the long established industry that thrives off the bay, whether or not change is even plausible seems unclear. How would one even go about trying to change the entire nature of a bay dominated by 6,000 factories, 16 oil terminals, 2 oil refineries and some of the worlds largest trash dumps? Millions if not likely billions of dollars worth of business thrive from being able to use and abuse the Guanabara Bay and while the government is still able to be bought off by these companies it seems there is almost nothing to be done.
It seems almost ridiculous when comparing New York Harbor and Guanabara Bay to think that New York’s problems haven’t already been dealt with. We are dealing with a (at least relatively) fair political system, we have more resources to put forward and the problem is so much less immense, yet because New Yorkers would rather be in blissful ignorance these problems remain. The further we get into this seminar the more frustrated I am becoming with those around me and with myself.
