Toxic waste reaches Potomac Aquifer

[Forkboy]

Tainted groundwater is spreading across thousands of acres in northern Delaware and has reached the Potomac Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to people across much of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.

In some areas of the upper Potomac near Delaware City and New Castle, concentrations of benzene, vinyl chloride and chlorinated benzenes are so high that exposure poses an immediate health threat. Elevated levels of these industrial byproducts significantly increase the risks of cancer. Sustained exposure could kill.

Northern Delaware is home to some of the worst chemical dumping grounds in America, a legacy of broken promises and corporate misdeeds. Regulators working for Delaware and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have long claimed that the deep clay layers above the aquifer protected it from the foul waters discharged by chemical and petroleum manufacturers.

Those assurances have proved false.

The protective layer over the aquifer, scientists now say, is full of holes.

http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2010/07/toxic-waste-reaches-potomac-aquifer.html

[thereismore]

1. Corporations shit where people eat. nt

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Forkboy.

[madinmaryland]

3. Egads! Our friends from Delaware are ruining our water down here. Too bad

we can't put up a toll to keep out the crap from Delaware.

:mad:

[Evasporque]

4. That is why we have Aquafina....!!

Sheesh...who drinks icky water from taps...

:sarcasm:

[enough]

5. Excellent detailed investigative reporting by a local news organization.

Here's the link to the whole hair-raising report:

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100725/NEWS02/7250361/Special-Report-Delaware-Drinking-Water-at-Risk

[enough]

6. As a resident of the central east coast, I find this to be a huge story. The Potomac Aquifer

has a very large reach, covering Baltimore, DC, and the entire Chesapeake Bay area.

Here's a map of the Potomac Aquifer from the USGS: