Question 2

The PBB contamination in Michigan

The PBB contamination in Michigan is a historical disaster whose consequences have spread up to over forty year lifespan since 1970. This contamination led to various consequences which are majorly classified under political, health, environmental and economic. From the health and environmental perspective, these were the effects of PBB contamination both in animals, humans and the environment. Some of the young ones were born with deformities, chicks were hatched with twisted legs and some of them had weak immunity (United States, 1977). They also had little immunity to withstand simple diseases and so they died often. The most common human health problems were interference of the normal body’s hormonal system and the development of the endocrine system of those children whose mothers were affected before their birth.  Those women with high levels of PBB infections were at the risk of getting breast cancer. According to a research done, women also had miscarriages of their pregnancy. Infertility problems were also experienced as a result. The newborns were also affected by this contamination and so all generations down the lifespan of forty years were affected.  

From an economic perspective, farmers had to undergo a financial disaster after all farms were shut down. Large plantations were burnt down and crops and cattle were destroyed. Thousands of cattle were gathered in a ranch and all were shot dead. People could not bear the pain and loss of shooting all they had which formed the basis of their lifestyle. There were large tracks of land that were made dumping sites which would have been used for better and productive means (United States, 1977).

Michigan had three dumping sites: one in Kalkaska, in Mio and the municipal damp. All the affected animals were dumped in this site which later caused massive environmental pollution. Soil around these damping sites was tested positive of PBB which meant that the land no be no longer productive. Wells, water streams, and boreholes were affected by this contamination causing all other aspects of the environment to be polluted.  

Politically, PBB had become a public issue that called the attention of the government and intrusion of the private sector. Individuals started turning this issue into a political controversy in their efforts to handle safety, illnesses and disposal (United States, 1977). These controversies came up when the environmental policies were being defined. The stability of the political body was triggered off when the scientists put across questions that had to be attended to in handling the disaster.

Flint’s water crisis

Flint’s water crisis originated from the government’s decision to replace pure and safe water with a cheaper alternative of lead contaminated water.  This crisis has brought health, environmental, political and economic disorders to the residents of Flint as discussed below (Calabrese, 1989).

First, lead water have brought health and environmental consequences. Exposure to lead on continuous basis may cause abdominal pain, constipation, memory loss, depression and irritability among other health problem. Children, fetuses and infants are the most affected age group by the lead water. Children were born with deformities; some had poor immune to fight diseases while some died in the process due to the effects of lead water (Calabrese, 1989).

Economically, lead water has apparently improved the economy of Flint. This is because the government had tried to go for a cheaper alternative in its efforts to reduce the cost incurred in bringing importing the water. However, there has been a big economic problem of bringing things back to normal. The government has invested so much in offering treatment to those who have been affected by this water. This cost surpluses that which would be saved from buying cheap poisonous water (Calabrese, 1989).

Politically, the effects of this water lead to declaration of a state of emergency in the state. The government has lost the trust from its citizens for choosing to endanger their lives for cheap water.  The county councils are also to be blamed for their carelessness because despite them being in knowledge of the effect of this water, they still supply to the residents.

Comparison between the two disasters

Both disasters have significant effects on the residents of Flint and Michigan at large. However, the PBB contamination was more devastating considering the widespread of the effects, duration through which the effects lasted and the political and economic loss that was experienced in both cases.

 

 

 

Question 4

Problems associated with regulating nonpoint source pollution

Nonpoint source pollution regulations are restrictions that tend to safeguard water sources from pollution that comes about due to diffusion of chemicals that are found on the land. This pollution majorly comes from agricultural areas where a lot of farm chemicals are used. Runoff from the nearby rivers splash all these waste and drain it into the water bodies such as lakes swamps and seas. Indoor air pollution comes about due to small practices that pollute air within the buildings (Haab, Whitehead & Caviglia, 2014).

 The governments have put several regulations so as to stop water and air pollution through this mean. However, these regulations have caused problems to those who release the pollutants in all dimensions including political, economic as well as technological.

Economically, the farmers, industrialists and other contributors of nonpoint pollution are disadvantaged. Under the regulation of WPR, those who release water pollutants are required to register. The registration comes with a registration fee which overloads small scale farmers and producers. Farmers are also restricted from applying certain chemicals which are thereafter washed by rains and drained in to the water bodies (Haab, Whitehead & Caviglia, 2014). This may reduce the productivity of the work since those chemicals are necessary for the production and farming to take place.

Politically, the law enforcers get assigned a difficult work of ensuring that these regulations are followed accordingly. The government is also forced to invest so much in maintaining the water resources. It also has the obligation of giving alternatives to the producers on better methods of safety on pollution.

Technologically, these regulations hinder the introduction of new and advanced mechanisms that tend to cause the nonpoint pollution. Newly introduced chemicals such as farm inputs are at times rejected by the government and hence this many slowdown the technological development.

To some extent, point sources and outside air have successfully handled by the pollution regulations. However the threat to environmental pollution still remains since nonpoint and indoor air pollutions are still effective. This occurrence is due to various reasons explained as follows. First, nonpoint source pollution is difficult to control than point source pollution. This is because, cleaning in urban areas, farming in the rural areas and reticulated sewage systems are very important practices that cannot be done with. The only measures that are taken are only to minimize the effect otherwise it is not possible to stop them (Haab, Whitehead & Caviglia, 2014).

The licensing and registration of nonpoint and indoor air pollution is not done directly. The management has to work with those bodies that cause pollution in tackling some of the issues. Some of these nonpoint pollutants come as a result of leftovers of the point source pollutants. For instance, when large hips of waste and sewage are collected, the remains get washed away into the water bodies. This is uncontrollable hence becoming difficult to stop it. Controlling the nonpoint pollution and the indoor air pollution is also difficult because it is not attributed to a single source (Haab, Whitehead & Caviglia, 2014). Unlike the point source pollution whereby the origin of waste is defined, nonpoint source pollution comes from collection of waste over a large area. Controlling this would be difficult.

 

Reference

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Haab, T. C., Whitehead, J. C., & Caviglia, J. L. (2014). Environmental and natural resource economics: An encyclopedia.

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United States. (1977). Toxic substances: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.

Calabrese.E.J, (1989) Safe Drinking Water Act