Drinking Water in Newark Schools, Lead Problems 6 Years Ago?

ScrAPES#20: Water In Newark School Lead Problems For 6 Years

by Patrick McGeehan

April 8, 2016

        Studies found out that drinking water from Newark School in New Jersey have been contaminated with lead since six years ago. During 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 contained lead about 15 parts per billion. In early March the superintendent ordered to stopped water fountains in school and distributed water bottles for their safety. The district who analyzed the water sample from Newark stated that at least 25 percent of those samples had lead concentrations and 5 percent was really high. Majority of the lead contamination originated from old plumbing.

        This is interesting to me because this highly reminded me of the lead contamination in Flint, Michigan where the governor exchanged the pipelines to the local lakes. This makes me wonder if lead contamination will spread throughout the country and if we, globally, are all safe. It also makes me wonder if we can do anything to 99 percent eliminate the lead contamination and prevent lead from ever occuring in our water system.

       This is important to the environment because lead is an extremely dangerous chemical element. It has tons of negative horrific effects to living things. It can damage the nervous system, can cause nephropathy and colic-like abdominal pains. This will happen if lead is in the lakes and rivers. It will kill the aquatic ecosystem (and animals) as well as humans because we all drink water because water is a major priority for all living things to survive.


Resources:

• Drinking Lead in Newark  

Deer Island Reflection

Deer Island

During our Deer Island field trip I learned that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) that is located in Deer Island are the one who are responsible for providing 34% of Massachusetts' water which covers 2.5 million people. I also learned that the founder of MWRA has an engineering degree. They also take sludge (or poop) from people's toiletry pipelines and turn it into fertilizers which is called Bay State Fertilizer.

The waste water treatment works like this:

• pump -> grit chamber -> primary clarifiers -> secondary clarifiers -> digester -> disinfection -> chlorinate -> dechlorinate. 

It is important to our environment because it cleans out our waste and turns our waste into something useful which are fertilizers. Apparently sludge fertilizers are much better than regular soil fertilizer. 

Pacific Garbage Patch Reflection

Pacific Garbage Patch

        I learned that in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where it is secluded, there is a large ring area of waste from plastic bottles and bags to fishing nets. The animals think they are food and tries to eat the wastes but they get stuck and die. I also learned that the wastes come from developed countries but majority of them comes from developing countries due to waste pollution. That no one is trying to help out the aquatic ecosystem by reducing or eliminating plastic and wastes that are not disposable.

        This affects the world because the waste in the Pacific Ocean will destroy the aquatic ecosystem and fishes who eat these harm substances can go to us because we also eat fish. It is very deadly and hazardous. Water is also a major factor of our lives and we need it in order to survive and if water is unsanitary then that can lead to us being scarce of water. 

Corner Stalk Farm Reflection

 Corner Stalk Farm

       I learned that people in Boston are transforming old unused shipping containers into a renewable source of material by simply harvesting organic fruits and vegetables in it. These fruits and vegetables are natural and of high quality, while the old shipping containers are being used usefully instead of turning into garbage.  The containers and fruits and vegetables are created to be sustainable and efficient to the environment.
        It important to the environment because firstly harvesting fruits and vegetables in shipping containers is more efficient and eco-friendly. The shipping containers contains controls for environmental factors from temperature to carbon dioxide and plants gets provided with LED renewable lights, which is drastically healthier. It is important that we create food that is beneficial to our health and lifespan so that we do not die young from healthy and unecessary food. Plus it is super efficient due to the amount of renewable resource it attains and it will most likely fix food miles.

Food Miles Reflection

Food Miles

      In the Food Miles activity we learned about the carbon footprint of food.  Some of the carbon footprint of foods that we anticipated were:

•Spaghetti and meatballs: 1600 units
•Whole Grain cereal: 1224 units
•Fresh fruit: 84 units
•Waffles: 800 units

        Spaghetti and meatballs had the highest carbon footprint, while the fresh fruit had the lowest carbon footprint. Spaghetti and meatballs has been procressed thoroughly before being delivered to our groceries. Maybe this is one of the many factor to why the United States is considered overweight because of the different processes placed in our food. Plus unhealthy food like spaghetti and meatballs are intensely cheap compared to fruits and vegetables. The manufacturers trick their people into buying the unhealthy food by advertisements and commercials. It has less nutrition because it has been touched with, than the major nutrition fruits and vegetables contain.
        The food that I eat comes from Market Basket which most likely comes from food manufacturers mostly in Western rural states and California because they mostly have farmers in Western States. I try to eat healthier by eating fruits and vegetables but I just love my meat. Food miles is important to the environment because when food originates from China it contains greenhouse gases due to fossil fuel emissions plus their severe pollution. It also determines the amount of processing our food endures before being stocked in the supermarket. We can healthier by turning organic, even though it's expensive, it's much healthier because nearly everything naturally made.

Oregon Rancher Standoff Reflection

 

Oregon Rancher Standoff

      The Oregon Rancher Standoff started when a militia protested against the government about land regulations. The government has been taking people's land without basically their permission. In Harney County, ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven were condemned of arson for setting fires on federal lands. The disagreement among rancher Cliven Bundy and the United States Bureau of Land Management on a $1 million unpaid grazing fees led to a standoff in Nevada. Western militant states protested for the pending re-imprisonment of the Hammonds in 2015 which they considered as unjustified. An armed protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refugee. They would not stop protesting until they had rights to their lands and more for cattle business. The militants encouraged ranchers to stop paying the federal government grazing fees. They believed that the government is too much and is abusing their power and empowering over the citizens.

        This reminds me of the Boston Public School walk-out where students protested against budget cuts. Even though only one person got arrested for throwing a bottle at a police and the police threatening to tazer the students, it was not as bad as the Oregon Rancher Standoff because it did not have any deaths involved. The ranchers should have not overreacted and instead calmed down first. Then they should have dicussed the situation at hand in a civilized mannered and protested "peacefully". They should have put signs and petitions around towns and states. And if it did not work they could have took it to the Supreme Court, if it was doable.