| October 7, 2005 Dirty Little Secret by Katy Parrish, insurgent49 Despite Alaska's reputation as a vast pristine wilderness, pollution is largely responsible for causing devastating impacts to the health of many people living in the state. Many of these people are children. Many are dying of cancer or mysterious autoimmune disorders. For the most part, these deaths go unreported. Two years ago, I traveled to Fort Greely to attend a protest against the Missile Defense System. While there, I met Karen Button, author of "It's Your Right-to-Know: Your Community's Exposure to Toxics An Alaskan's Guide to the Community Right-to-Know Law." She explained, "There are over 2000 toxic waste sites here in Alaska and Ft. Greely is just one of them. How can the government even consider building a missile defense system on a site with known nuclear contamination?" I was floored. Why didn't I know about this dirty little secret?  When you take a look at the toxic waste site map published by Alaska Community Action on Toxics, it's enough to make you sick. Note how many of the dumps dot our rivers, lakes and coastal areas. Ponder over the variety of sites and where the chemical weapons and radioactive waste sites are, and their relation to where Alaskans live. Due to an operation known as 'Top Cover' by the military, Alaska has been a dumping ground for synthetic chemicals since World War II. Karen Button reports, "Many of these chemicals can be found in the 2,000+ contaminated sites around Alaska. At least 700 of those are from military activities. A site of great strategic importance to the Department of Defense, Alaska has been used as an experimental testing ground for their nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare programs. Weapons testing ranges encompass an area approximately the size of the state of Kansas. The military is responsible for five of Alaska's seven Superfund sites (the most heavily contaminated sites in the nation), leaving one to question if national security can be accomplished only at the expense of the people it is supposed to protect." The military isn't the only culprit leaving toxic waste in our state. Industrial pollution from mining and oil drilling also makes a huge mess. Alaska is the only state that allows production water and expended drilling mud to be dumped into waters from its offshore oil rigs. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2003 Toxic Release Inventory, Alaska released 539,644,265 pounds of toxic chemicals on site - more than California, Washington, New York and Texas combined. Of that 540 million pounds approximately, only 200,000 pounds of chemicals were disposed of, off-site. An additional 543 million pounds of production related waste was "managed", bringing the grand total to over 1.8 billion pounds of industrial pollution reported. One would think that living in rural Alaska, children would be more likely to be healthy and free from severe illnesses. Not so. Take Bethel, for example. Bethel is located 400 miles west of Anchorage, and is the hub of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, serveing a population of twenty-five thousand Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabaskan Natives. Eighty percent of the population lives in fifty villages scattered over an area the size of Washington State. K. Jane McClure MD, pediatrician and the Chief of Staff of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, reports, "Despite excellent immunization rates, children of the region are highly susceptible to invasive bacterial infections. In addition, the rate of RSV infection is the highest in the world. Chronic lung disease and bronchiectasis are relatively common. MRSA (methillicin resistant staph) infections are currently epidemic. Metachromatic leukodystrophy, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, osteogenesis imperfecti, Kuskokwim syndrome, achondroplasia and a variety of other chromosomal abnormalities present significant challenges." Stone Soup Group, the small non-profit, grass roots agency I work for, serves many families living in rural Alaska, caring for children with special health care needs. Stone Soup Group exists to sustain the health and well-being of Alaskan children with special health care needs and their families. Through listening to the stories of families, we identify areas of need and work with communities to find solutions. One parent summarized what we do as, "making something from nothing." Our short term assistance and referral program helps over 200 children per year from rural Alaska with housing, transportation and other essentials when they travel for specialized health care. We also offer emotional support to grieving parents and help them access resources to help their child(ren). However, no matter how seasoned we are in serving families, the death of a child is not only soul wrenching, it leaves us asking why. I believe most of these health problems, birth defects and mysterious deaths could be avoided if the government and major corporations would do what it is right - clean up their own messes. What is it going to take? Watching the rate of birth defects soar? Rendering women infertile? Leaving villages uninhabitable? Killing off whole populations? Citizens can use The Right to Know Law to find out what is being dumped in their communities to hold corporate and government polluters accountable. At least then, we would know whether it is safe to live there, or if we need to move to a less contaminated place in this last frontier. Katy Parrish is a freelance writer and media activist who can be reached at takebackthemedia@hotmail.com. |
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2005
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Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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