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Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumToxic tsunami debris will flood Alaska's shores
An op ed in tomorrow's Anchorage Daily News. I have heard of no federal plans for dealing with this slow-motion catastrophe.
http://www.adn.com/2012/05/24/2478637/toxic-tsunami-debris-will-flood.html#storylink=rss
Very few people recognize and appreciate the scale of the environmental disaster that is about to befoul the western North American coastline, particularly Alaska's.
A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate stated that 1.5 million tons of tsunami-generated debris will hit the North American west coast. That translates into 30 billion pounds. If only 1% of that reaches Alaska's shores, 30 million pounds of largely plastic and toxic debris will flood our sensitive inter-tidal ecosystem. Our predictions are that Alaska will receive closer to 15 to 20% of the debris over a period of years.
In addition to all the plastic and other solid debris, not many realize that millions of containers of hazardous material are coming our way. When one considers that entire cities with all their home garages, auto repair shops, fuel stations, stores, warehouses, industrial plants and everything in between flooded into the ocean, you can comprehend how many containers of chemicals swept out to sea. Those that did not rupture immediately will most likely survive their North Pacific transit and will be deposited upon our high-energy shorelines. If they are not immediately removed, the containers will spill their contents in sensitive inter-tidal ecosystems. Over time, plastic debris will be UV degraded and pounded into tiny particles by our high-energy beaches. When that occurs, a stew of plastic toxins will then be mobilized into the biosphere causing grievous harm for generations. Styrofoam is special concern since it begins to crumble and degrade immediately upon hitting the shoreline.
What we see unfolding is a slow-motion environmental disaster that will far exceed any past pollution event ever to hit the west coast of North America, including the Exxon Valdez and Santa Barbara oil spills. This is not exaggeration or hyperbole. We have purposefully stated that to the press knowing it to be true and that it could help stimulate a response.
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Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/05/24/2478637/toxic-tsunami-debris-will-flood.html#storylink=rss#storylink=cpy
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Toxic tsunami debris will flood Alaska's shores (Original Post)
Blue_In_AK
May 2012
OP
PDJane
(10,103 posts)1. Not to mention that the fallout is everywhere around the world.
We are going to destroy ourselves.
It doesn't give one much hope, does it?
It breaks my heart to think of all this toxic debris on our beautiful shores. To Mark Begich's credit, he's been trying to bring some federal attention to this, but it doesn't seem like anyone cares.