Filed under: Environment | Tags: asbestos, County Commission, Hillsborough County Florida
Old pipes bring new problems
Many of the older areas of Hillsborough County, developed and constructed somewhere in the 1950’s, use a material called asbestos-cement [AC] pipe for water distribution.
This pipe, very cheap to produce, is still made and sold for water systems in the Third World. It is no longer in vogue for water distribution in the USA, for obvious reasons.
The pipe is made entirely from asbestos fibers, mixed with concrete, and either spun or molded into a pipe segment with bells and spigots.
This old AC pipe is approaching nearly 60 years of service in most areas of the County where it was used, and is way past its usable service life. Ask Ken Hagan, your Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.
MORE>> from Tom Mclaughlin
Also:
According to Mount Sinai’s Dr. Landrigan, the EPA is misguided in its attempt to pretend that the short fibers are benign. Howver, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group of scientists and lawyers with a strong track record in fighting for clean water supplies, charges that the EPA is allowing a risk 10,000 times greater than is prudent.
In drinking water the cancer risk seems to depend on the amount of asbestos swallowed. When you take a little asbestos and send it out to other parts of the body no one site is going to have very much, therefore the risk theoretically should be low.
Asbestos has however, one very dangerous quality, as it accumulates in the body; the microscopic fibers lodged in tissues can remain like little time bombs and cause cancer years later.
Since asbestos exposure is cumulative, young people are in particular need of protection. “Adults have three or four decades to develop cancer after exposure”, says Dr. Landrigan. “The kids have six or seven. this means that a smaller dose of a carcinogen is as dangerous to the kids as a larger dose of it is to adults”.
Controlling asbestos so that standards are met is critical. In Woodstock, pipes crumbled so badly that the proposed standard was exceeded. In one 1985 sample, 300 million fibers of every length were found per quart.
As thousands of other North Americans become suspicious of what level of asbestos may be in their drinking water, the big question is how to take preventive measures.
At the very least, water districts should be required by law to tell consumers what type of pipe transports their precious commodity and before major problems erupt they should be required to test their water.
If necessary, districts should be required by law to quickly remove the pipe, just as schools have been required to remove asbestos pipe. Failure to do so dooms millions of people to become test animals in a massive biological experiment involving a known carcinogen.
Let the voters decide.
Related Articles
- Researchers ask Canada to ban asbestos (theglobeandmail.com)
- Weitz & Luxenberg Highlights Import of Mesothelioma Awareness Day (eon.businesswire.com)
Filed under: Campaign, Environment, Ethics, Leadership, Voter Support | Tags: County Commission, Hillsborough County Florida, Ken Hagan
No more Hagan Signs in Our Public Right of Way
Ken Hagan, Chairman of the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners either cannot control his campaign workers or has given them his tacit approval to install his campaign signs in the public right of way throughout the county.
These are not only visual pollution along our roads, they can be a safety issue if drivers get distracted or cannot see around them.
In any event Hillsborough County sign ordinances strictly prohibit such placement of signs. Campaign signs are not exempt from the law.
As Chair of the BOCC Hagan sets the example for the rest of us in how we choose to obey our laws.
Half-Law Hagan should be held to a higher standard of compliance with the law, not a lower standard.
Know the law. Play the video. In come cases, when a person frequently violates the Code, because of the number of signs or because of the manner in which they are displayed, their case can be sent to the Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Board where fines up to $1,000 per day could be assed as a lien against real property.
Email snavelyj@hillsboroughcounty.org to report signs or go to
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/hcce/
Let the voters (and Code Enforcement) decide.
Filed under: Campaign, Environment, Ethics, Leadership | Tags: County Commission, Environment, Hillsborough County Florida, Ken Hagan
Ken Hagan on his 2010 campaign website claims:
“Perhaps, however, I am most proud of championing the acquisition of Cone Ranch through our ELAPP program, forever preserving this integral part of Hillsborough’s environmental and ecological system.”
But this was AFTER he championed the sale of Cone Ranch to a bunch of developers who were going to split up the land into smaller parcels to sell off to private investors. Remember, Cone Ranch was ALREADY owned by the County for preservation. Hagan brought the full force of the county to support his plan. ELAPP was not even considered by Hagan at the time.
We rate Hagan’s campaign statement: Half-Truth.
Let the voters decide.
Filed under: Environment | Tags: County Commission, Hillsborough County Florida, Ken Hagan
Ken was in favor of selling Cone Ranch to private developers for “preservation” until the public pointed out that it was already preserved under the Comprehensive Plan. When the public suggested that ELAPP was a better steward of the land, the developers disappeared and Ken and took credit for ELAPP acquisition.
Run Ken, Run
Filed under: Environment | Tags: County Commission, Environment, Hillsborough County Florida, Ken Hagan
In 2007 Ken seconded a motion to eliminate the Wetlands Division of the County EPC, even though such a vote needed proper public notice.
After 300 citizens showed up at a public meething to support the EPC, Hagan changed his vote to support the EPC, but with a budget cut; just enough to keep it on life support.
Run Ken, Run
"Let the voters decide" 