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Do you ever wonder if something, anything dangerous might be in your drinking water?  Ever noticed any suspicious "no trespassing" signs?  Well, prepare to be shocked by what goes on all around the country, each and every day of the year. 

Toxic waste from any number of different places is or has not been properly disposed of in many places across the country.  That's where Superfund comes into play.  Superfund is a branch of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and its purpose is to clean up and dispose of toxic and hazardous waste sites across the United States.  Fortunately for us (and maybe unfortunately for others), South Dakota does not have many Superfund sites, but other places are less fortunate than us.  For a look at hazardous waste sites across the United States, click on the link below.

Hazardous Waste Sites

This issue of hazardous waste and its effects has and will remain a heated issue.  With the Federal deficit at its current unprecedented level, politicians are looking to cut funding to anything not deemed a dire need.  The EPA is one of the Federal programs that could potentially face Congresses ax.  How protecting Americans from potentially hazardous toxic waste is not a major concern for our country is beyond me, but people are much more motivated by making and saving money than in doing what is right.  When Union Carbide's industrial plant had a leak in Bhopal, India in 1984, nearly 10,000 people lost their lives instantly.  Several hundred thousand more suffered and continue to suffer because of the toxic radiation in the groundwater.  Cancer rates, miscarriages, and deformities have skyrocketed since the incident.  And what happened to Union Carbide?  A slap on the wrist.  Sure, they had to pay around 300 million dollars in compensation, but this was far less than the original amount of 5 billion dollars they should have paid.  Years later, when Dow bought out Union Carbide, they did nothing to help and reaped the benefits of a successful corporation.  Because of this, the United States passed legislation saying that companies have to warn residents if something like a leakage or a meltdown occurs.  The passage of the Community-Right-To-Know-Act was great, but shouldn't companies have had to tell people something was wrong anyway?  At least there was some vindication.  "The Yes Men Fix the World" was a documentary done by two men, Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, who go out and try to right all the wrongs that companies have done and continue to do.  They addressed the Bhopal incident in their documentary.  For the full length movie documentary, click here, but if you just want to watch their bit on the Bhopal incident click here.  Unfortunately, this was only a hoax, but oh how wonderful the could be.

In closing, I just want to reiterate that even though something may be deemed as unimportant by somebody with authority, doesn't mean that it isn't worth fighting for.  The EPA needs to remain, and we need to be aware of the implications of what might happen if it ceases to exist and there are fewer regulations on these unscrupulous companies.