Author: Olivia

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Benzene in LA

Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-fracking-20150211-story.html#page=1

 

There are now high amounts of benzene found in fracking waste waters in California. It is said that for years, California allowed companies to inject fracking flowback water into aquifers that had drinking water. California’s oil field waste water injection program does not comply with federal safe drinking water act. There are about 9 drinking water wells that have shown benzene in them. 98% of waste water samples taken from fracked oil wells exceeded federal water quality standards. The EPA states that another 279 disposal wells were drilled into aquifers. They contained water that was suitable that would be drinkable if treated. However, there were 48 wells that contained water that was not drinkable. The EPA is now directing $500000 to help California establish a baseline for water quality.


I think that the state as a whole needs to take responsibility for this. They allowed for companies to do this so they should pay the price. The state complains that we are in a drought but yet they allow this go on? Benzene is known to be toxic. It is not good that the benzene may be in our drinking water. Wells should provide drinkable water because that is what California is in great need of. We do not need toxic, polluted water that we cannot drink.  I think that it is good that the EPA is helping out. We need to get this issue resolved.

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Toxic Waste Water

“Oil Industry’s Toxic Wastewater Threatens California Water Supplies.”Sacbee. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article10718264.html

 

In California, oil industries produce about 130 billion gallons of wastewater per year. Documents revealed that state regulators allowed the oil industries to drill more than 2,400 illegal injections wells. This was for wastewater disposal and oil production into protected California aquifers. This illegal injection was not just in one part of the state but throughout the state. Even though many were already shut down, some are still shooting oil industry wastewater into underground water resource that should be protected. Not only are the oil industries dumping into wells, but also to open pits. In the Central Valley, water officials state that a least 383 of these sumps lack permits. There are fracked wells that contain benzene at levels as high as 1500 times the federal limits for drinking water. The levels were 700 times the federal limits for drinking water. 98% of operators found a level over the limit.


The illegal injections in wells needs to stop. As we can all see, it is not doing anyone any good. It does not do the state any good knowing that it is not just in one part of the state but all over. 130 billion gallons of wastewater per year is a lot that can do us harm. This is not just being dropped into wells but to open pits as well. The best thing that can be done in order to slowly decrease the amount of wastewater being dumped is to stop the oil industries. The sooner they stop dumping, the sooner this issue can be resolved. Also, there needs to be more attention towards these industries. Many lacked permits and had they been stopped sooner, this issue could have been fixed as well.

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Fracking

“Confirmed: California Aquifers Contaminated With Billions Of Gallons of Fracking Wastewater.” DeSmogBlog. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/10/07/central-california-aquifers-contaminated-billions-gallons-fracking-wastewater

 

In October of last year, there was a problem with California’s underground injection program reported. It is now said that the issue is much worse than what was reported back in October. Last July, 11 wastewater injection wells were shut down. This happened because there were concerns that the wastewater may have been contaminate aquifers. This is a big issue because these aquifers are used for farm irrigation and drinking water. It has been stated that 9 of those sites were dumping wastewater. About 3 billion gallons of wastewater were injected illegally into central California aquifers. Some of the sites had high levels of chemicals like arsenic, which can weaken the immune system. There are about another 19 injection wells that may have been contaminated. Many say that Governor Jerry Brown needs to do something to stop this.


I was not aware of this issue that we had in California. This has been an ongoing issue for a while now. The fact that it is worse than what was stated I think shows how much attention is given. I do not think it would be as bad as it is if we paid much more attention. We really need to watch our aquifers. Since they do provide us with drinking water, it is important that wastewater is not dumped here. 3 billion gallons is a lot of wastewater. We do not need more wastewater than we already have. The last thing needed is for people to get sick from this a start spreading diseases.

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Water Contamination

Bernstein, Sharon. “Health Experts Warn of Water Contamination from California Drought.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/19/us-usa-california-drought-idUSBREA1I06P20140219

 

Rural communities in California that depend on wells for their drinking water are at risk. Groundwater is becoming more contaminated than ever before. Our drought put 10 communities in California at a tight risk of running out of drinking water in 60 days. The state has already helped 22 communities that were identified as a reliant on contaminated groundwater. In total, there were 183 communities in need of help. The California Farm Bureau has estimated that the impact of idled farmland will run to about $5 billion. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. This is because the reservoir levels decreased due to the small amount of rain and snow we have received. There are 10 communities in need of a lot of help.


The fact that we are in a drought does not help this situation at all. The fact that we had 10 communities with the risk of running out of water within 60 days is not a good sign. I personally think that people have not been conservative towards water and we are now paying the price. California is in great need of water. Having the little water that we have being polluted does not help us anymore. I think it is good that Governor Brown declared a state emergency. Now we must be careful oh how we are using our water. There are too many communities that are in need of help just because of contamination.

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Groudwater

“NRDC: California’s Contaminated Groundwater – Executive Summary.”NRDC: California’s Contaminated Groundwater – Executive Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ccg/execsum.asp

 

For about 100 years groundwater has been providing California with an essential and substantial resource for its industries, agriculture, and cities. About 25-40% of California’s water supply comes from beneath the ground water and not from the surface water. California is the number one state in the country that uses the most groundwater. We use about 14.5 billion gallons of groundwater a day.  There are so many gallons used because over 50% of our population depends on groundwater. However, it was not until recently that groundwater received so much attention. It was recently seen that groundwater is naturally pristine an immune from contamination by surface activity. It is possible that the groundwater could contaminate more than it already is. By this happening contamination can spread everywhere.


It is interesting to see how dependent we are on groundwater. I find it more interesting that we are the number one state in the country to use groundwater the most. I do think that it is important that we do pay attention to our groundwater. It is ironic that this is what we use as our drinking water but never payed much attention to it. Due to the fact that we did not pay attention to it like we should have, the groundwater is now contaminated. The best thing that we can do is first, try to fix the contaminated water. Second, we have to pay more attention to our groundwater. We really need the water as it is considering that we are in a drought. We should not wait until it is too late to try and use our water wisely.

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Pollution in Mexico

 

Stevenson, Mark. “Mexico Pollution, Water Disputes Turn Political.” The Big Story. N.p., 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/mexico-pollution-water-disputes-turn-political>

State officials in Mexico are being fought against after more than 200 tons of fish died in a lake, in a town in western Jalisco. An inspector said that the cause for so many fish dying in Lake Cajitatlan are high levels of sewage dumped. Marco Antonio Cuevas Contreras, the head of the state forensic office stated that fecal coliform levels were six times higher than the limit they have. The city is blaming temperature change and algae bloom change. They, however, have re-opened the lake to boaters through this time. Jalisco is not the only state in Mexico dealing with polluted lakes. Sonora, a neighboring state, had 10 million gallons of copper sulfate and heavy metals leak into two rivers as well.

The fact that 200 tons of fish died shows that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. If there is a lot of sewage being dumped into the lakes killing living organisms they need to stop and find an alternative. There is no denying that the lakes are highly polluted especially since the head of the state forensic office said that fecal coliform levels were six times higher than they were supposed to be.  I believe that the lake should not be opened to boaters or to the public at all during this time. By having it open, it i giving people the opportunity to pollute the lake more than t already is.

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Issues In China

Chen, Kathy. “China Says First-half Results Exceed Target for Cutting Water Pollution.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/24/us-china-water-idUSKCN0HJ0FF20140924>

China has decided to take a $326 billion action plan in order to clean up its lakes and rivers. 70% of lakes and rivers and over half of groundwater in China is polluted right now. Within the first 6 months of 2014, ammonia nitrogen and chemical oxygen levels have dropped 2.7 and 2.3 percent. China’s goal for 2014 was to cut by 2%. There are regions, such as in the north, that are running low on water. In order to provide more water, China launched a $63 billion project to transfer water from the south to the north.

I was aware that China had high air pollution but I did not know that they had high water pollution as well. I think it is good that they have action plan to clean up their waters. This is good especially since 70% of their water is polluted. Also it is good that they are working on providing the northern region with more water since they are short on it. It is clear that there is slow improvement towards reducing the pollution. The fact that they have a goal and are working hard to reach it shows how committed they are to this big situation.

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Effects

Nuwer, Rachel. “Are There Any Pollution-free Places Left on Earth?” BBC Future. N.p., 4 Nov. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141104-is-anywhere-free-from-pollution>

One thing that some may not know is that air pollution also affects water. However, pollution from land is the main contaminant for freshwater resource. Chemicals, waste, and fertilizers go into groundwater draining to the ocean. This all leads to dead zones. Dead zones is when, “ nutrient loads from land cause massive microbial blooms, which in turn deplete the water of oxygen.”  This can be found all around the world today. One example of dumping pollutants into bodies of water is in Mexico City. They pump all of their liquid refuse into the Mezquital Valley.

I was not aware that air pollution highly affected water pollution as well. One thing that can be done to reduce pollution is limit the amount of chemicals used around the world. Also, the biggest change that can be done to reduce water pollution is the use of fertilizers. Many farmers use fertilizers such as pesticides that are later drained to rivers and lakes then going to oceans. Other options instead of fertilizers is having farms be organic. Organic farms do not really use pesticides or fertilizers in general.

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Yamuna River

Kaur, Ramandeep. “The Most Polluted River Yamuna.” My India. N.p., 7 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/society/the-most-polluted-river-yamuna>

Many rivers in India are not just considered bodies of water, but sacred to people as well. However, many rivers are polluted due to things such as lack of sufficient sewage treatment plants and open sewage drains. The Yamuna river is one example of a polluted river that used to be clear blue. 58% of waste is dumped into the river by the capital. Unfortunately, 70% of Delhi’s drinks treated water from the Yamuna river. The main reason for the Yamuna river being polluted is that they lack sufficient numbers of sewage treatment plants.

The fact that the Yamuna river used to be clear blue and it is now highly polluted shows how much people in India are contaminating their waters.  They should not continue to dump waste into the river because once again the water is just getting worse and further away from retrieving the clear blue color that the river once was. Also since a lot of Delhi’s drinking water is from the Yamuna river dumping into the river highers the risk of sickness for people as said in the previous article. Since India is one of the poorest countries in the world, they should receive sewage treatment plants from neighboring countries that have a lot of money so less people die.

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Improvement needed

Scott, Mike. “Action on Improving Poor Water Quality Needs to Come from Government.” Www.theguardian.com. N.p., 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/grundfos-partner-zone/2014/oct/27/action-on-improving-poor-water-quality-needs-to-come-from-government>

Water is a very important factor in our world today. However, around 780 million people around the world are lacking access to clean water. From the 780 million people lacking clean water. 3.4 million people are dying annually from water related diseases. The majority of the people dying come from developing countries. The vice president of global water treatment, Poul Madsen, says, “every second hospital bed around the world is occupied by someone suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water.” The two main causes for poor water quality are failure to human and industrial waste.

It is clear that there needs to be a lot attention on our water today. There should not be that many people lacking clean water. Everyone deserves to have clean accessible water. The amount of water pollution is so high that there are millions of people dying due to the contaminants put in our body waters. There is a lot that can be done to reduce the amount of contaminants that are put into water. The developing countries should receive help from other countries to resolve the issue of heavily polluted water.