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350-700 tons of DDT dumped in Pacific near Catalina

Parrothead

Member III
As you said, the dump site is known to locals and is clearly identified on the charts. Depth at the site is 3000 feet, typical currents run NW to SE.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
this is likely old news to those of you in the area but it is inconceivable that we (people in general) do these things to save a few disposal bucks and think there will be no long-term consequences. And it happens everywhere... just so demoralizing.

Look at the bright side of things sunny! The last of this dumping was 40+ years ago when it was legal and we've come a LONG way since then in terms of regulation and environmental awareness (Some would even argue we've gone too far!). Many damaged ecosystems and species are rebounding and we're definately doing better today than 40 years ago. It's not all doom and gloom =)
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I used to work out at the Lazy-H ranch (Hanford Atomic Works). It has the worlds worst hazardous waste. Literally "the worst stuff on earth." But back in the early days, before the "big" projects got going, they used to just order GIs to "haul these barrels out into the desert and get rid of them." (They think most of them have been found, but nobody's really sure.)

That's just how things used to work when nature was limitless and before there was any "environment."
 

garryh

Member III
the issue has now become (was always, really)... that you cannot 'throw it away'. There is no away. Even dumped properly, it is leaching out of landfills and into the eco-systems. There neeeds to be a major world-wide rethink about so many things... plastics/packaging/non-biodegradable products and chemicals. Not to mention carbon dioxide. And over-population. And it is going to be a long time coming because it is not politically or economically convenient. And the clock is ticking.
 

Teranodon

Member III
I used to work out at the Lazy-H ranch (Hanford Atomic Works). It has the worlds worst hazardous waste. Literally "the worst stuff on earth." But back in the early days, before the "big" projects got going, they used to just order GIs to "haul these barrels out into the desert and get rid of them." (They think most of them have been found, but nobody's really sure.)

That's just how things used to work when nature was limitless and before there was any "environment."
I read a technical article about Hanford. In a footnote, there was a back-of-the-envelope calculation of how much it would cost to restore the site to acceptable levels of radioactive contamination. The answer: more money than there is in all of the countries of the world.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
the issue has now become (was always, really)... that you cannot 'throw it away'. There is no away. Even dumped properly, it is leaching out of landfills and into the eco-systems. There neeeds to be a major world-wide rethink about so many things... plastics/packaging/non-biodegradable products and chemicals. Not to mention carbon dioxide. And over-population. And it is going to be a long time coming because it is not politically or economically convenient. And the clock is ticking.
No better way of participating in population control than by leading by example. :egrin:
 

Don Smith

Member II
This an old story locally inasmuch as it was covered years ago in great detail by the LA Times newspaper, as I recall. At the time some of the more strident tree-hugger types insisted that all of the the DDT had to be removed from the sea floor and properly disposed of on land. However, scientists decided that to try to move the DDT would stir up and spread it to such an extent that it would be best to just leave it alone. I think they towed some barges loaded with sand to the area and attempted to cover the DDT.

As Gabriel notes above we've come a long ways on environmental issues, so something like this is unlikely to be repeated.

Captain Don
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I read a technical article about Hanford. In a footnote, there was a back-of-the-envelope calculation of how much it would cost to restore the site to acceptable levels of radioactive contamination. The answer: more money than there is in all of the countries of the world.
To pursue this line would risk becoming political, but I propose the opposite. Cut the annual budget by 90% or even 99% to acheive clean-up. The work/budget relationship went asymptotic a long time ago. (extended rant deleted)
 

garryh

Member III
"No better way of participating in population control than by leading by example"

Sorry but that is just silly and trite, so I will ignore it. Other than to say it is silly and trite.
There is nothing funny about this. And the rosy picture you try to paint is misguided at best. While our criminal disposal policies have improved, the problem has not stopped. Both at the macro and micro levels.
The word population is EIGHT billion people… the earth’s resources are strained providing for that many people. In 2050 it will be around 10.5 billion. How will they get fed..? watch Soylent Green.
Water supplies also are threatened, quality and quantity.
There are something like 150 million metric tonnes of plastics in the oceans; and we add 8 million metric tonnes more every year. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1.6 million square km… bigger than Texas. The plastic breaks down and enters the food chain… every year each of us consumes the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of micro plastic. And there is no end in sight.
We make CO targets but no one adheres to the plan and you even get some politicians refusing to believe that global warming is happening. It is inconvenient. The Arctic ice is going fast, the polar bears will soon be extinct, the Antarctic ice shelf is starting to decay. Water levels will rise, entire countries will be underwater as well as all low lying land everywhere in the world. There will eventually be mass migrations and walls and wars. Weather patterns will be extreme and chaotic.
But at least we can sail the Northwest Passage.
Now we are looking to populate Mars or maybe Titan… we have totally destroyed this planet in basically in a couple hundred years; and we are likely past the tipping point. So where else can we destroy..?
Just nothing funny about this. There is also no answer to it and no solution because until it reaches crisis stage, when it will be too late, it is politically and economically inconvenient. Everything is dollar driven.
So best to have a beer and go sailing. We will be fine, our kids ok; it will start to get quite messy after that.
 
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