As a country we have lost all love for our waters. We are placing two of the country’s great estuaries in grave danger. In “Poisoned Waters” the narrators dive deep into this issue. Throughout the years, United States citizens have proven that convenience trumps the lives and the habitats of thousands of animals. By far, the largest contributor to the destruction of the waters in this country is agriculture. However, agriculture is one of the world’s largest industries. In order for agriculture and water conservation to coexist, we need to find a balance.
Our waters were being damaged at an exponential rate that something had to be done.
Congress realized the mistakes that were being made and one of the ideas that was seen a possible solution was regulation. As a result, 35 years ago Congress passed a safety standard enactment; presently perceived as the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act set confinements on the measure of contaminations enterprises and urban communities can release.
It granted the Environmental Protection Agency permission to sue and fine polluters that went beyond the limits that were given. A program of voluntary agreements with the Clean Water Act was established by Ronald Reagan’s administration when he became president. This program is one of the opening points used to discuss the two US waterways that are being greatly impacted by pollution.
Waterways like Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are being affected tremendously by Agriculture. The Agriculture I’m referring to is not the traditional one many are familiar with.
These waterways are being destroyed by the industrial production and waste caused by large-scale agriculture. The waste that eventually runs off into these water ways, resulting in the slow destruction and contamination life in the area. The damage in Puget Sound is so critical that a speaker for Puget Sound stated, “I would put Puget Sound in intensive care.” Pollution to the water destroys our marine life. Frogs that originally had 4 legs now have 6 and males have grown ovaries. These are mutations that have been caused by the waste that we allow to go into the water. One of the main areas that affect ocean life are known as dead zones. These dead zones occur when extreme amount of fertilizers like nitrogen and phosphorous run off into the water. This in turn creates algae and the algae then sucks away all the oxygen that is needed by marine life to survive.
A speaker shows the narrator how chicken farms affect waterways. Such huge farms like Purdue Farm with thousands of chickens would inevitably produce tons of poultry manure. That manure is filled with nitrogen and phosphorous just like the kind found in fertilizers that cause algae. Rainfall eventually causes the chicken manure to flow throughout the path finding its way to waterways. In places like Richmond, if manure was to flow into a stream, the same contamination can eventually find its way into water for humans to consume. The fact that humans must deal with this issue instead of the companies that are causing the issue means that there is a negative externality. The production of Purdue chicken, for example, is a negative externality. Negative externalities occur when a company makes a decision and does not have to pay for the full consequences of that decision. Throughout this film, the speakers repeatedly showed how these negative externalities harm not only our oceanic life but also humans.
The toxic substances that are killing the animals can also potentially kill humans. People are developing illnesses from contact with water every day. There are people that adore nature and marine life. They enjoy swimming, diving, sailing and other activities that occur in the water. However, they will eventually be unable to continue such acts that they love to do because of the dangers that they would be exposed too. We are also limiting our water supplies, because we are destroying all the bodies of water that provide us with drinking water. Fishermen are losing business because the abundance that they used to encounter has remarkably decreased. One of the watermen at Chesapeake Bay stated that the only thing that they have left in abundance is Rockfish; and that years ago they would catch over 2 million bushels of oysters a year which has decreased to a hundred thousand a year.
Even though Congress passed the Clean Water Act, it is clear that one of the largest supporters to pollution is also deregulation. We have spent years creating toxic substances that are terrible for our environment in exchange for convenience. Substances like pesticides and house cleaners may seem useful and makes our lives easier but have the potential cause damage to our society if not used properly. This has become harmful to the environment because society does not follow the instructions on how to dispose of such items to avoid pollution and contamination. Rick Dove performed a test on the waters at Chesapeake Bay for E. coli. The E. coli standard Is 126 colonies but he tested 48,392 which is extremely high. The need for action is imperative. Protection of our waterways can be achieved though better pollution regulations. This is a change we all need to strive for in today’s society.