Research Project Rough Draft 1-The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

What would we do without plastic? There wouldn’t be any water bottles, plastic wrap, plastic bags, soda can holders, etc. Plastic is convenient, but it’s what happens after we are done with it that’s the problem. These products are supposed to go to the local landfills. However, the Earth’s largest landfill isn’t actually on land; it’s out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in an area called the Great Pacific garbage patch. There are several of these garbage patches located around the world, but the biggest one is closest to the U.S. Although plastic and Styrofoam products have made life easier in the world, they are contaminating the oceans because litter is finding it’s way out into the ocean, the materials are then breaking down and allowing toxic chemicals to leech into the water and plastic pieces are making their way into the bellies of birds and other animals.

 

Large amounts of plastic and Styrofoam are finding their way to the ocean. The largest amounts of ocean trash come from cruise and cargo ships. In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners, dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean (California Coastal Commission, 2011). The Mediterranean’s surrounding countries have adopted bans on dumping in the ocean. They have noticed that when something is dumped in the ocean, it ends up on shore and it soils the beaches. The cruise ships are now only allowed to dump food overboard. The remaining garbage is taken off the ship when it’s in port and sent to a local landfill. The Caribbean, however, has not adhered to these same standards. The surrounding islands do not have the capacity to take the garbage from the cruise ships. When Grenada tried to tax $1.50 per head to Carnival Cruise Line so they could pay for a new landfill, Carnival withdrew and will not go back there (Melia, 2009).  Under the Caribbean guidelines as of 2009, “ships can begin dumping garbage, including metal, glass and paper, three miles from shore as long as it is ground to less than an inch. Almost anything but plastic can be dumped beyond 25 miles” (Melia, 2009). An inch is small enough that a fish or turtle will think it’s food, but large enough to choke on.

 

Another way that trash is finding its way to the Great Garbage Patch is by rain and wind carrying litter to local rivers that eventually dump into the ocean. Trash on the street will accumulate in gutters and will likely get washed into a nearby storm drain. Most storm drain systems empty directly into local rivers, which flow into the ocean (California Coastal Commission, 2011). Once the trash makes its way to the ocean, it gets caught up in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. A gyre is a huge area where water of different temperatures mixes together causing a spiral effect in the current. This is a slow process and can take as long as seven to eight years for a piece of trash to make it from the beaches of California to the Eastern Pacific garbage patch. This current changes during different times of the year due to El Nino. During the summer, it is located more north, and in the winter it is located just above Hawaii. It has also been shown that marine animals tend to congregate in these areas as well (Pichel, et al., 2007).

 

The problems with plastics and Styrofoam in the water are many. The first problem is that plastic and Styrofoam break down and release toxins into the water. There is some debate as the where the plastic is breaking down. In the right conditions the plastic could break down in the water due to the sun and rain. A recent study showed that it would take as little as one year for the decomposing of Styrofoam to start. This would release bisphenol A and styrene trimer into the water (Saido, et al., 2009). Charles Moore doesn’t think that the breaking down of hard plastic is as likely due to the plastic being heavier than water, so it would sink. There is less sun at the bottom of the ocean, so no photosynthesis would occur. Also, the temperature at the bottom of the ocean is colder than the water in the test. Moore does point out though, that if the marine animals eat the plastic, it would digest inside of them and these chemicals would be released into their bodies (Leggett, 2009).

 

It is no secret though that BPA, styrene and PS oligomer are now found in small quantities in the ocean, which has been shown to cause hormonal imbalances in animals and humans. The immediate affects of low doses of these chemicals are largely unknown at this time, but these chemicals and other, man-made chemicals, have been found in the blubber of whales and bottlenose dolphins. A study of 300 blubber samples, from 14 geographic locations, from the years 2000-2007, was completed with surprising results. The closer the dolphins lived to large cities, the higher the contaminant in their blubber. The dolphins that lived in rural areas still had some pollutants, but not nearly as high as the dolphins closer to the cities (Sohn, 2011).

 

We also have the problem of the plastic and Styrofoam debris washing up on shore. While it seems like this would be easier to clean up than out in the middle of the ocean, the huge quantities are not easy to deal with. “Each year as much as 150,000 tons of plastic debris, most notably Styrofoam, wash up on the shores of Japan alone” (American Chemical Society, 2009). Plastic is not easy to recycle. Once you finish with a water bottle, you must remove the cap and the circle of plastic that was attached to the cap. These are a different plastic than the bottle, so even if you place your bottle in the recycle can, if this cap is still on, the bottle will be sent to the landfill. Another hard to recycle plastic product is plastic grocery bags. If these are placed in a recycle can, they will be taken to a local landfill. Only certain places will recycle them. In order to get them where they need to be, you must take them back to your grocery store and place them in a container there. Plastic grocery bags are found all over the oceans. Whales and other animals eat them thinking they are jellyfish. Scientists have noted 170 different kinds of land animals, birds, and marine animals, from calves and albatross to sea turtles to dolphins that have been injured by plastic bags on British beaches alone (Advocacy For Animals, 2008).

 

A major problem with shoreline plastic debris is that every year thousands of albatross chicks are dying from starvation and choking because their parents are feeding them plastic that looks like food. On the shores of Kure Atoll, northwest of Hawaii, the Albatross forage for food in the Western Pacific garbage patch. They are looking for flying fish eggs that are attached to floating object. New studies have shown that “plastics can comprise up to 50% of the indigestible material in an albatross’ intestinal tract” (Mayer, 2003). The plastic causes the chicks to die from starvation, even though they are full of plastic, they can die from blockages from the plastic, and they can become poisoned from all the harmful chemicals in the plastic. Some of the most obvious plastic on the beaches are cigarette lighters. “In a two-and-a-half month period, volunteers collected well over 1000 lighters while working on the atoll” (Mayer, 2003). These lighters were found inland, away from the water, closer to the nesting areas.

 

The best way to clean up this problem is to stop using plastic. Plastic bags are an immediate concern due to their inability to be recycled easily. Several countries have banned the use of plastic bags or made them less desirable by placing taxes on them. While the United States has made no attempt to stop the use of plastic bags, environmentally conscious stores, such as Trader Joe’s and Albertson’s, as well as the cities New York and San Francisco, have taken steps to help the reduction of plastic bag use. “The city of San Francisco banned plastic bags altogether, at least the flimsy ones of yore. National Public Radio reported a few months later that the ban had been a boon for local plastics manufacturers, who have been introducing heavy-duty, recyclable, and even compostable bags into the marketplace” (Advocacy For Animals, 2008). Several European countries, as well as Ireland and Taiwan have imposed a tax on plastic bags. While Bangladesh, Australia, France, Italy and China have gone so far as to ban them altogether.

 

We are a very lazy society. There used to be a time when we had to get up from the couch to change the channel on the TV, we had to cook dinner from scratch in a cast iron pan, and we had to walk or ride a bicycle to work. This was a much cleaner time. Now we need 10 plastic bags to take our groceries home, we have to drink water from a new bottle every time, and we drive everywhere, even if it’s a block down the street. We are lazy and we are destroying our planet. The Great Pacific garbage patch is just one of the many examples of what we have done and we have to fix it.

Works Cited

Advocacy For Animals. (2008 йил 08-12). Plastic Bags and Animals. Retrieved 2012 йил 20-02 from Encyclopedia Britannica: http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/plastic-bags-and-animals-making-the-wild-safe-for-wildlife/

American Chemical Society. (2009, 08 19). Plastics in the Oceans Decompose, Release Hazardous Chemicals, Surprising New Study Says. Retrieved 03 25, 2012, from ScienceDaily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819234651.htm

California Coastal Commission. (2011). The Problem With Marine Debris. Retrieved 2012 йил 23-02 from Public Education Program: http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/marinedebris.html

Leggett, H. (2009 йил 19-08). Toxic Soup: Plastics Could Be Leaching Chemicals Into Ocean. Retrieved 2012 йил 23-02 from Wired Science: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/plasticoceans/

Mayer, B. (2003). Marine Debris: Cigarette Lighters and the Plastic Problem on Misway Atoll. Retrieved 03 24, 2012, from http://www.fws.gov/midway/Midway_Atoll_NWR_Cigarette_Lighters.pdf

Melia, M. (2009 йил 01-03). Caribbean A Dumping Ground For Garbage From Cruise Ships. Retrieved 2012 йил 23-02 from LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/01/news/adfg-cruise-dumping1

Pichel, W. G., Churnside, J. H., Veenstra, T. S., Foley, D. G., Friedman, K. S., Brainard, R. E., et al. (2007). Marine debris collects within the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone. Marine Pollution Bulletin , 54, pp. 1207–1211.

Saido, K., Itagaki, T., Sato, H., Kodera, Y., Abe, O., Ogawa, N., et al. (2009, 08 26). New contamination derived from marine debris plastics. Washington DC.

Sohn, E. (2011, 05 20). DOLPHIN, WHALE BLUBBER HARBORS CHEMICALS Since we tend to eat the same fish as these marine predators, this is bad news for humans, too. Retrieved from Discovery News: http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-whales-chemicals-blubber-110520.html

Research Draft: All Shall Have Their Ancient Liberties

 

 

The Appalachian mountain region is home to an old and special culture devoted to heritage, storytelling, and in many places coal mining. The hills themselves are said to be among the oldest mountains on the planet. These ancient and worn ridges of the Appalachian region don’t project the magnificence of the Rockies but are uniquely humbling to behold. For a long time communities in towns across Appalachia have made their livelihoods in valleys where generations of people raised their families around and in the coal mining industry. These communities are now as threatened as the ancient hills surrounding them by innovation in coal mining that is able to not only assess if a coal seam is near the top of a ridge, but actually blow that ridge off of the mountain itself in order to expose and mine the coal. Commonly called Mountaintop Removal (MTR) mining , this technology is creating a need for more research into the effects of such a land changing system and causing outrage among activists for the environment and for the well being of Appalachia. With alternative energies constantly being researched, attempted, and utilized it seems shameful to destroy this valuable region, it’s animals, flora, streams and culture to produce electricity so regularly wasted in broader culture. Although an old and trusted source of coal generated energy, changes in coal mining by mountain top removal in the Appalachian mountains are tragically destructive to the natural environment in that region because of water pollution, effects of the changing landscape on streams and animals, and the multitude of ways that pollution hurts the area and it’s inhabitants.

In order to gain access to the valuable coal at or near a mountain’s peak, a mining company must remove part of the mountain itself. This is done by explosion or gigantic shovel, and the earth removed must be put somewhere. The term used for this rock and earth displaced by the intrusion is overburden. Overburden is moved from where nature put it to the valley down below. The crumbled rock of different sizes is then referred to as mine spoil. Settlements of mine spoil form a new geological landscape that differ in degrees of stability and are sometimes used as new space to develop buildings and roads, though the integrity of these settlements in terms of safety vary. (Karem, Kalinski and Hancher, 2007, p. 345)

In their paper titled “Settlement of Mine Spoil Fill from Water Infiltration: Case Study in Eastern Kentucky”, Karem, Kalinski and Hancher describe the three primary causes of mine spoil settlement that would cause damage or danger to structures built atop. They are creep, dry crushing, and hydrocompression, where hydro-compression is the most dangerous. They describe hydrocompression as the wetting of the mine spoil which would cause it to crumble and settle and the causes of this would be the seemingly obvious; seeping of rain water, septic systems, and infiltration of groundwater and elaborate on safety concerns: “Mine spoil material has the potential to settle significantly, which, coupled with its heterogeneous nature and varying thickness, causes structures on mine spoil sites to be susceptible to differential settlement.”(p. 346)

One of many concerns about the integrity of the regions water systems, displacing overburden from the mountain’s ridges to the valley is adjoined with the toxic realities of what is referred to as slurry. In essence this is soap scum disposed of by injecting it into old and abandoned mine shafts or otherwise plunging it into the ground where it is likely to leach toxic chemicals into ground water. (Holzman, 2011, p.A477)

David Holzman reports in Environmental Health Perspectives about the potential for pollution regarding slurry. He states that there are several opportunities for the complex and varying combinations of chemical deposits to enter water systems, whether by spoil or slurry. In quoting Scott Simonton, professor of environmental science at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia he states “Mining in general having an impact on groundwater is inarguable and well documented, even for surface mining,” Simonton says. “Geology and the impact that mining has on that geology guarantee that contaminated water will move out of the mine voids.” He adds, “I don’t think that the industry is even saying that the slurry doesn’t migrate out of the underground mines in which it is placed— they’re just saying it doesn’t hurt anyone.” (Holzman, 2011, p. A478)

While the issue in their research focuses on the risks posed by water systems to the displaced mountaintop known as mine spoil, it could be suggested that this man made problem is evidence to the fact that the unnatural valley fill becomes intertwined with the surrounding water systems. According to Environmental Health Perspectives (2011), the consequences of dislodging spoil and it’s settlement in surrounding valleys include the burial of at least 2,000 streams and headwaters that all flow, or used to flow, into the Mississippi River. (Holzman, p. A477)

Of particular worry when it comes to the certain impact of watershed downstream of spoil fills is a known chemical toxin, selenium.(Lindberg,et al., 2011) Selenium poses significant threat to aquatic life Appalachia’s water systems, as well as aquatic plant life. Regarding human’s safety in fishing their long trusted rivers and streams, In the journal, Science, researchers warn, “State advisories are in effect for excessive human consumption of Se in fish from MTM/VF affected waters.” (Palmer, et al., 2011, p. 148)

Dr. Allen Hershkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council makes a case in the recent documentary, The Last Mountain, that tens of millions of people in areas where rivers and streams originate in coal mining country are also being affected, while geographically they may live in seemingly non-impacted areas.

However, there are many claims to the contrary. People who have long trusted their drinking water have begun to report a barrage of health related difficulties and other clearly observable problems with their water. Something called “slurry syndrome” is reported, a combination of symptoms believed to be caused by toxic slurry infiltrating the drinking water in Appalachian communities. Ailments include rash and diarrhea, and even changes to the victim’s dental health. (Holzman, p. A480)

Pollution pathways into water systems are significant culprits in the decline of well being for residents of MTR mining areas, but not the only ones. The journal Science affirms that the consequences of this disaster is more far reaching than pollutants via water. “Elevated levels of airborne, hazardous dust have been documented around surface mining operations. Adult hospitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hypertension are elevated as a function of county-level coal production, as are rates of mortality; lung cancer; and chronic heart, lung, and kidney disease…”(Palmer, et al., 2011, p. 149)

In retrospectively studying the 2006 national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, researchers Keith J. Zullig, PhD, MSPH, and Michael Hendryx, PhD report on the “Health-Related Quality of Life Among Central Appalachian Residents in Mountaintop Mining Counties” finding that when controlling for factors such as smoking or obesity, residents in areas where mining by mountaintop removal consistently report on their own health as being worse than those who do not live in those areas. Additionally, Zullig and Hendryx claim that “In addition, a robust body of literature has linked self-rated health to mortality. Because of this link, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend self-rated health as a measure of population health. Therefore, the increased ORs of reporting fair or poor self-rated health among MTM county residents in the adjusted models suggest a significant elevated mortality risk in these populations.”, and “MTM county residents experience, on average, 18 more unhealthy days per year than do the other populations. Across an average American lifetime of 78 years, that is approximately 1404 days, or almost 4 years, of additional HRQOL impairment directly associated with residence in an MTM county. To gain insist into the magnitude of these findings,when MTM and other coal mining counties were not separated in a previous study, there were 462 reduced HRQOL days across an average American life.” (Zullig and Hendryx, 2011, p. 852)

There has been a hightend awareness of this issue and it’s far reaching effects in the last decade, and in March 2006 The National Geographic published “When Mountains Move”, explaining to readers the difference between strip mining and what is truly happening in the Appalachian mountains, providing pictures to prove the drastic changes in landscape. Explanations of mining politics, cultural impacts, deforestation and the grief of Appalachian communities are all available in the documentation of writer John Mitchell and photographer Melissa Farlow’s visit to a West Virginia mining community.
The movements by student activists and diverse members of Appalachian communities include the moving words and actions of any major social justice movement. Well known fiction writer Silas House is an outspoken advocate for the health and strength of the Appalachian people and their land. In one speech given as the keynote for a conference on Appalachian studies titled A Conscious Heart, House advocates for the region to reclaim it’s identity as a people, to develop new pride in this identity and to simply not continue to tolerate mountaintop mining and the devastation it brings. According to House this devastation includes a wearing down of the region’s sense of itself, it’s self esteem, and traditions:

The big misconception about mountaintop removal is that it’s an environmental issue. Well, of course it is, but more importantly, it’s a cultural issue. So let’s take into account that we already know about the environmental devastation caused by mountaintop removal and not talk about that. Instead, let’s talk about the way it threatens this place we all know and love. I want to look at the way mountaintop removal threatens our storytelling tradition, and our pride. We talk a lot these days about “a sustainable economy.” But what about being a sustainable people, a sustainable culture? Those things are just as important. And I think the real thing we ought to be exploring is why something as horrific as mountaintop removal can happen in the United States of America. (House, 2008, p. 7)

A long time advocate for environmental justice, Robert Kennedy Jr. visits Appalachian coal mining country in 2011′s The Last Mountain. With the eloquence of his family’s political inspiration, Kennedy speaks of a people’s right to protect their own land. He lovingly references a public’s just right to preserve their land as the film quotes the Magna Carta, “we decree that all shall have their ancient liberties by land and by water”.

Other inspiring stories of people’s dedication to this cause, as well as information about the science that dedication can be found at social justice oriented websites like iLoveMountains.org and mountainjustice.org. In the stories of people’s changed lives and the destruction that lies in the pathway of MTR mining it is impossible to not feel grief that to some degree our greed for energy is responsible for such ancient and beautiful areas to be so drastically scarred. Power to the people who insist that it stops and that the Appalachian mountain region can rest and heal from this devastation.

 

References

 

Bingham, C. Grunebaum, E. Haney, B. (Producer), & Haney, B. (Director). (June 3, 2011). The Last Mountain. [Motion picture]. United States: Dada Films

 

Holzman, D. C. (2011). MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(11), A476-A483.

 

House, S. (2008). A CONSCIOUS HEART. Journal Of Appalachian Studies, 14(1/2), 7-19.

 

iLoveMountains.org-End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. (n.d.). iLoveMountains.org. Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://ilovemountains.org

 

Karem, W. A., Kalinski, M. E., & Hancher, D. E. (2007). Settlement of Mine Spoil Fill from Water Infiltration: Case Study in Eastern Kentucky. Journal Of Performance Of Constructed Facilities, 21(5), 345-350. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(2007)21:5(345)

 

Lindberg, T., Bernhardt, E. S., Bier, R., Helton, A. M., Merola, R., Vengosh, A., & Di Giulio, R. T. (2011). Cumulative impacts of mountaintop mining on an Appalachian watershed. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 108(52), 20929-20934. doi:10.1073/pnas.1112381108

 

Mitchell, J. (2006). When Mountains Move. National Geographic. Retrieved fromhttp://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/when-mountains-move.html

 

Mountain Justice. (n.d.). Mountain Justice. Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://mountainjustice.org

 

Palmer, M. A., Bernhardt, E. S., Schlesinger, W. H., Eshleman, K. N., Foufoula-Georgiou, E. E., Hendryx, M. S., & … Wilcock, P. R. (2010). Mountaintop Mining Consequences. Science, 327(5962), 148-149.

 

Zullig, K. J., & Hendryx, M. (2011). Health-Related Quality of Life Among Central Appalachian Residents in Mountaintop Mining Counties. American Journal Of Public Health, 101(5), 848-853. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300073