The King Of The Pollution Protecters

Rep. "Smokey Joe" Barton (R-Texas) earned his nickname. He never met a polluter that he didn't love, especially the ones that pour huge dollars into his campaign chest. And he's always been willing to fight for the right of those campaign donors to foul the air that Americans must breathe. We can always count on Smokey Joe to scream first and scream loudest anytime the EPA tries to make polluters clean up their act.

And its not just the air that Smokey Joe is willing to let polluters foul. When BP poured millions (billions?) of gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and President Obama pressured that oil company to set up a $20 billion account to pay for the damage they were causing through their negligent actions, Smokey Joe was horrified. How dare the president make that nice oil company pay for the damage they caused! Smokey Joe was so outraged that he offered a public apology to BP (which even embarrassed his Republican colleagues).

Now we learn that it's not just the air and open water that Smokey Joe is willing to let industry pollute. He is also perfectly willing to let corporate criminals pollute the water underground water that communities across the country depend on for their drinking water. Recent reports from the EPA and others have conclusively shown that the procedure known as "fracking" is contributing to the poisoning of underground water sources -- and once these sources are polluted with toxic chemicals, they cannot be cleaned up.

TRC Tries To Cover For Gas Drilling Contamination

Recently there has been a lot of new drilling in the Barnett Shale formation around and to the west of Fort Worth. These companies doing the drilling are supposed to be using methods that will prevent the poisoning of both the air and water near the drilling sites, but that doesn't always happen.

Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the drilling company Range Resources of Fort Worth had contaminated the ground water of at least two families with benzene, methane and other toxic gases. They ordered the company to provide the families with clean drinking water -- a reasonable request. But when the company had failed to comply with the order a month later, the EPA filed a suit against the company in District Court.

Now the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC), the mis-named commission in charge of overseeing oil and gas drilling in the state, is acting to try and protect the corporation. The three-member commission voted unanimously to declare that the EPA was wrong when it said the drilling was responsible for the water contamination. They claim the contamination was a natural occurrence and had nothing to do with the drilling for natural gas.

I guess they think the benzene, methane and other toxic gases just magically appeared in the water. The declaration of the TRC might be barely believable if only one substance had contaminated the water, but the mix of toxic gases providing the contamination had to have been introduced from the outside. And it would be nearly impossible for anyone but the drilling company to contaminate the water located far underground.

Meanwhile, the EPA stands by its initial investigation. They issued a statement saying, "The decision by the Texas Railroad Commission is not supported by EPA's independent, scientific investigation, which concluded that Range Resources Corporation and Range Production Company have contributed to the contamination of homeowners' drinking water wells. EPA stands by the order issued to Range Resources and seeks to secure Range's full compliance."

So once again we are left with the state of Texas trying to snub its nose at the EPA -- something the state has a history of doing. Texas is already in court trying to prevent the EPA from forcing the state's corporations to clean up their emissions (because Texas is the biggest polluter of any of the states). Now they are fighting to allow the corporations to pollute under the earth as well.

The two agencies in question have far different reputations. The EPA has a long history of acting in the best interest of American citizens to clean up our water and air. The Railroad Commission has a history of acting to protect corporate interests to the detriment of the environment and the health of Texas citizens. Frankly, it looks like both agencies are living up to their reputations.

New Cheap Water Filter Invented For Poor Areas

One of the biggest health hazards faced by millions of people worldwide is impure and contaminated water. Water is a requirement for all living things, and yet in many parts of the world, especially poor rural areas, clean water is just not available -- and the technology to clean what water is there costs far too much for the poor to afford.

But a solution to that problem might now be available. Tata Industries, an Indian company, says it has invented a water filter (shown above) that can not only clean water, but also purify it of bacteria and other microorganisms. They say the filter is the result of a ten-year research effort.

The filter mechanism, which only stands about two foot tall, is called the Swach purifier. According to the BBC, "The Swach uses ash from rice milling to filter out bacteria, and also uses tiny silver particles to kill harmful germs that can lead to diarrhea, cholera and typhoid."

The selling price is what's amazing, if the device works. Tata plans to sell it for under 1,000 rupees ($21.50). This could be a huge breakthrough for world health.

Groundwater Contaminated Near Midland

If you listened to the Republicans, you'd think all we need to do to solve our energy problems is to unleash the corporations to drill for more oil and gas anytime and anywhere they want to. Never mind that the fuels they drill for is damaging the planet and destroying the environment. To hear them tell it, as long as Exxon and Shell and BP are making massive profits then everything is all right.

But consider the case of Cotton Flats, just outside of Midland in West Texas. Their water. has turned the color of urine. They just found out two months ago that much of their groundwater has been contaminated with hexavalent chromium -- a known cancer-causing agent. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is still testing water wells in the area to determine the extent of the contamination.

So far, at least one third of the 125 wells tested so far, has been found to be contaminated. And its not just a little contaminated -- the wells contain 50 times the maximum amount allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. That's enough to cause serious health problems.

Although they just discovered the contamination, they believe it may have occurred as long as five years ago. Who did it? They don't know that yet. TCEQ said they'll look for the culprit once they know the extent of the contamination. But the area only has one real industry -- the drilling and pumping of oil and gas, and it is strongly believed that is the source of the contamination.

The wells found to be contaminated have been outfitted with water filtration systems (pictured), which are supposed to make the water safe for all uses. Resident Sheldon Johnson says he checks and changes his filters frequently. He said, "We go to bed with it on our minds, we wake up with it on our minds. All of us worry, 'Is our filtration system working?'"

Are you paying attention FORT WORTH? Your greed has let the drilling companies inside your city limits. Will this be your groundwater that's contaminated next?

KBR Sells Contaminated Water To Troops

When Bush and Cheney started their ridiculous misadventure in Iraq, they gave a bunch of lucrative no-bid contracts to their corporate friends to provide goods and services for our troops. The company that received the majority of these rewarding contracts was Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton and its many subsidiaries.

Now we learn of another instance in which these companies are failing our troops while making themselves rich. KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton until recently, has been selling our troops contaminated water. This water has been making our troops sick.

Our soldiers have experienced skin abcesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses from using smelly and discolored water provided by KBR. It was not drinking water, but water provided for laundry and personal hygiene.

A Defense Department Inspector General's report was obtained by the Associated Press, which shows there have been water contamination problems in Iraq by KBR between January 2004 and December 2006 -- a full three years!

The report said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and "exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water". The delivery of contaminated water continued for three years, because Halliburton and KBR tried to cover up the problem rather than fix it.

The Bush administration has done a very poor job of taking care of our soldiers. They have allowed second-rate protective vests, poorly-armored Humvees and substandard veteran's care. They have also done a poor job of overseeing the contractors who are supposed to be taking care of our troops.

We not only need to end this war and bring our troops home, but we need to get a whole bunch of congressional investigations going. Our troops have been short-changed by the Republicans and their corporate cronies for far too long.