Chapter 6
In this chapter, yet again we are made aware of the harmful actions of humanity and that terrible stuff named Agent Orange. It should really be named Agent Death, Agent Evil, or Agent Touch Me and Your Dead. It really is awful awful stuff. I feel terrible for our poor troops who had to wade through jungles of this stuff and are still suffering the consequences. Who ever thought spraying this stuff everywhere was a good idea? Really. Who? I want names.
Not only is this stuff absolutely horribly toxic, the byproducts of it making are just as bad, or worse. The book talked about a factory which made pesticides in the Iron-bound part of Newark. Of course it did not dispose of the waste properly, surprise surprise, so now the dioxin went everywhere. I could not believe how high the levels were in the dirt around the factory and don't blame the scientist who yelled at the American man who gave him the samples to test. I wouldn't want another country's toxic waste contaminating my clean laboratory. Even worse, the poor guy had to shut down his entire laboratory for a month!
There are so many people I felt bad for in this chapter who were affected by the bad decisions of the individuals involved in the manufacturing of these pesticides. The people living in this busy city, the military who had to fight not only the human enemy but also the chemical enemy as well, and the lobster fishermen who were going to lose business because of the contaminated fish. Not to mention all the innocent animals who are poisoned and contaminated with dioxin as well. They had no say in the matter at all.
Finally, it disgusted me when he talked about the dumping of waste in the ocean. The lobster-men mentioned how owners of companies in New Jersey and New York who needed to get rid of waste viewed the ocean as a free dumping ground where the waste was out of site so therefore out of mind. But, it was definitely neither of those. Animals living in the ocean now have to deal with this waste, as well as fishermen and sailors working in that area. And, the waste became so bad that it washed up onto the shore where thousands of people witnessed the toxic waste. How disgraceful! I am so thankful there have now been bans put in place on dumping so hopefully we can clean up the mess we have made and have a cleaner ocean for all who wish to enjoy it.
Chapter 7
In this chapter there was a change in the direction taken. Instead of talking about the contaminants that have been leaking into the soil and water, the author discussed how dangerous compounds and chemicals were a result of an originally good thing. The Roebling family and their huge impact on the Tri-State area was talked about in the first part of the chapter. Wow, what a family, what a man! He accomplished so many things in his life, and at first seemingly all good things. Creating aqueducts, "inclined planes," and steel cables for bridges. To be sure, society as we know it would not be the same without him. But, with the good also comes the bad. His company, which was taken over by his son and then other unrelated individuals manufactured a lot of medal for these steel cables, but it also produced a lot of bad things as a byproduct like lead and asbestos which were stored in creeks and lagoons among other inappropriate places. This family was truly revolutionary and the industrial era would not have been the same without them. But, unfortunately they also caused a lot of damage which took many years to be cleaned up.
The chapter then moved on to explain what brownfields are, which are pretty much just places where industries used to be located and took place. These locations are contaminated in some way due to what kind of operations took place there, like laundromats. They can often be cleaned up relatively easily, but the problem is New Jersey has so many of them. Camden is one of these cities with a lot of brownfields. It was so sad to hear about this once thriving town, which is now in shambles because the industries which had once made it profitable left or are no longer needed. Their story is not uncommon, however, now that the industrial revolution has ended and wars like WWII no longer need cities to manufacture goods and ships for them.
On one end it is good we are no longer manufacturing these things. The factories polluted the air and produced harmful chemicals into the water and soil around them. Certainly, these environmental issues are not good and are still affecting us today. However, it is sad that towns and cities like Camden have become so poor and desolate due to their industries leaving or dying. Where there were once many job opportunities are now empty abandoned buildings, decomposing and rotting in their foundations. Hopefully we can one day rebuild these cities and make them come alive again with new job opportunities that will not only help the people living there, but also be environmental conscious and healthy as well.