[Iowa-work] Re: [Iowa-dx] A vision for IAGP's future...

[Richard Johnson]

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:25:50 -0600, "Green PartyRon"
<greenpartyron@hotmail.com> said:

> As I said, I hope I am not being nebulous, because I already
> factored in that consideration, which, I hope would be
> considered in my statement, because runoff of animal
> waste has become an old issue.

Yes and no.  Yes, the surface runoff contamination of streams, ponds,
lakes, etc. has been around for some time, and has been studied from
many angles.  This is the area that most people are familiar with when
it comes to pollution from CAFOs.  The contamination of the aquifer,
however, is a much less understood issue (at least from my experience),
and a much more costly issue.  The cleanup of surface contamination is
much easier than cleaning up an aquifer that is some 50+ feet below the
surface.  And once that aquifer is contaminated with this kind of
pollutant, the wells of homes within dozens of miles could easily be
affected.

So while this may be an old issue, it is perhaps the best issue we have
to demonstrate the hazards of unregulated CAFOs.



> _____________________________
> 
> >It is believed that the contamination that spawned the
> >bacteria bloom may have originated in Washington County,
> >some 15-20 miles WNW of us.
> 
> There is more to it than just bacterium; there are also the
> problems of germs, viri (the plural of virus), and other
> micro-organisms.  Viri are the main threat even over the
> larger bacterium, as it causes plague and genetic
> destruction.
> 

True, but it was the coliform bacteria that caused our district to
"invest" nearly $70,000 in chlorination equipment for our wells.  For a
small district that is a large expenditure.

The truly scary part about this is the idea that only our school is
regularly tested for this.  The homes just a few hundred yards from us
are not tested nearly as often.  And, the testing standards for homes is
much less stringent than for public facilities.  Our level of coliform
contamination would not require treatment were it in a home.

But that is another issue altogether.

Rick

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