This article really makes me sad. Another spill from that coal plant in Alabama yet this time it couldn't be determined how much was released because it was caused by a flood.
when government doesn't set rules
I once had to deal with a similar situation a few years back. It was 4 acres of contaminated water. We first contained the area with sandbags then set up a suck pump and filtered the water. I was the one who figured out how to do the pump set up. As I recall I got a nice bonus for figuring out how to deal with that much water in short order. It took us about two weeks to pump and clean the entire area.
The sad thing in Ala. was that they could have set up a prevention dike around the whole thing fairly cheap.
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On the other hand, when Joe and I were on the fire department the EPA had all kinds of stupid, nit picky rules: car wreck? get that contaminated rain water off the streets NOW (it had gasoline in it) If we'd get a panic call from a woman hanging out her laundry because she thought she saw an oily reflection in the creek? Haul out the hazmat trucks with sandbags, booms and sump pumps!
But for the BIG things? HA! NO PREPAREDNESS AT ALL
Oh yes, I've done a couple of those types of clean ups as well. A diesel spill where we had to dig up a front lawn and go back and dig some more because the owners smelled a slight odor two weeks later.
And let me tell you you don't want to know how this country dealt with nuclear waste. I refuse to do that kind of work.
Laws? Laws? we don't need no stinking laws.
Permits? I don't need no stinking permits to do what I do. I gutted out and redid my place without them and putting up with others telling me what and how to do things.
But that is just in my little space and I don't do things that is harmful to the ecology of the planet if I can help it.
When I die and they tear this place down they will cause more damage to the planet than I ever did here.
Dana is right, some rules are nit picky. Not that I enjoy taking her side, ha ha ha.
We are now enjoying the fruits of the last 28 years of deregulation pressure from the right. Sure much of government is focused on stupid shit. Don't get me started about OSHA. But to allow the private sector to police itself and be trusted to follow guidlines has been like telling a kid not to stick their hand in that cookie jar and walking away assuming it will still be full later.
Unfortunately we are about to enter a new phase of over regulation because of idiots like the banks, the investment sector, the healthcare profession and yes, more federal involvement in anything concerning the environment. A more proactive approach is needed by government, but as these things go, they will most likely go way overboard. One extreme seems as bad as the other. Why we can't hit that sensible middle ground is beyond me.
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