OK, so it appears I am not going to be able to resist blogging about environmental disasters, and corporate greed without any concern for the planet or the people on it. I keep hearing how the environmental disaster caused by BP's lack of safety concerns is the worst in this country's history. And, it is no doubt right up there.
But really, it doesn't compare with Union Carbide gassing and killing 2,500 to 15,000 (depending on which estimate you use) people and injuring thousands more in Bhopal India.
And there are other Corporation caused disasters in the U.S. that rival or exceed BP's spewing hole. There was the Tennessee Valley Authority’s a massive coal waste spill in 2008 that sent over billion gallons of potentially toxic sludge into the Clinch River and surrounding land in Kingston, Tennessee. That spill was about 50 times larger than the 1989 Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska.
I doubt many remember the Love Canal Toxic Dump fiasco that was indentified back in the late 70's. In 1952 Hooker Chemical was given permission to dump 21,000 tons of industrial chemicals at the site, covering it up with dirt and vegetation. Then sold the land to the local school board for one dollar - The toxins were unknown for years and caused high rates of asthma, miscarriages, mental retardation and other health problems among the children of the community. Love Canal Homeowners Association found that 56% of the children born from 1974-1978 had a birth defect.
And, my personal favorite, because it affects me and my family directly: The Asbestos Contamination of Libby, Montana, and its residents over about 50 years from the 1940's to the 1970's By W. R. Grace & Co. In a town with an average population of something like 3,200, over 200 hundred death are directly attributed to the contamination, and another 2,000 to 3,000 have been diagnosed with asbestosis - a progressive lung disease... leaving affected with something like a 70% increased risk of cancer.
What do these all have in common, The fact that none of the companies have ever had to own up and pay up for all of the damages, through extended law suits (drawn out for years by companies with really deep pockets), Bankruptcies, Transferring of assets to other companies and all kinds of legal hocus pocus to keep from having to pay out any more than a few cents on the dollar in reparations for damages to people and property, these companies have avoided ever truly being held liable for the damages they caused.
Yes, BP's spill is doing a number on the country, but this isn't the first time and it won't be the last time corporations put profits ahead of safety, human life or the environment. Because "Corporations are good for the economy, they create jobs, and we need jobs".... (The Kiddy Porn Industry creates jobs, too - if you want to extend that argument out.) And, as long as corporations have the right to influence elections and buy, er um... support politicians we are going to see them get away with murder, quite literally.
Enough of the gloom and doom. I will try to go lighter next time.
Cheers!
