Water is one of the most important elements to life, yet it is also something we all take for granted. This is especially true of New York where our tap water is safe enough for us to drink—we do not realize that in other areas of the world this is most certainly not the case. Many other first world countries do not have the wonderful commodity of clean, drinkable tap water, let alone third world countries where the water is so polluted we wouldn’t even wash our feet in it. This is why many people don’t see water pollution as a serious problem—it is hard to imagine that our fresh water supply is limited when we see water all around us. However, I believe that water pollution is a serious issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, before our water supply is permanently tainted.
One important issue of water pollution that hits us close to home is the water pollution of the Hudson River with PCBs. PCBs are chemicals that are harmful to us in that they can affect our DNA and lead to cancer. They are known to bioaccumulate, making the fish in the Hudson unsafe to eat. They were produced as a cheap way to insulate capacitors by General Electric and eventually dumped as a waste into the Hudson. The EPA, realizing the hazardous effects of this chemical ordered a clean up in 1976. However the clean up did not begin until 2008, and has yet to be completed. The river has been dredged, removing thousands of cubic yards of contaminated sediment. This sediment is then relocated to other areas, specifically Texas, where it is buried in the clay there. This clay should serve to keep the toxins isolated for now. While some may protest these chemicals being buried underground, this operation is a viable option for dealing with these toxins and can generate jobs for people in the community. As long as everything goes according to plan there should be no harmful effects from the PCBs. Even though it may seem a little ridiculous to dredge this sediment out of the Hudson River only to bury it underground elsewhere, I think that this plan is a good idea for containing pollutants and keeping them out of the water supply.
While this solution is a little late in coming, at least it shows that the need for clean unpolluted water is becoming more of a concern than before. This solution is a step in the right direction. It is becoming more and more important for us to keep our water clean, since around the world water sources are becoming more and more polluted. The Bay at Rio de Janeiro is extremely polluted, with different oil terminals and refineries, factories, and households all dumping their wastes into this body of water. It has become such a problem that wastes such as diapers can be seen floating freely in the bay. Even in places in America the water supply has become clearly tainted. An article about Treece, Kansas shows that this town is suffering many environmental effects due to the mining that once took place there. The water of the creek in this town has become polluted with trace minerals from the mines, which gave it an orange color, a vinegar-like odor, and killed off all of the life within this water. I sincerely hope this never happens to New York and that we can keep our drinkable tap water for future generations. Fresh water is not an unlimited resource and we must remember to do what we can to keep it clean and pure for as long as possible.
