On your first point, that the newspapers job is to focus on what's right:
I sadly disagree. The job of newspapers is to sell news papers. More on that at eleven, look in this Sunday's paper for details, more on our continuing coverage... They all want you to keep buying the paper. Sensationalism sells.
Laws have not always existed. Until they are written down by the government and ratified by the people, they are just ethical codes. Ethics are highly debateable. For instance, to me it is not ethical to fly a plane into an occupied building. But by your argument, it must be legal because there is no law that specifically says you can't do that.
Lawyers protect people and their rights? Thank god someone is looking out for Ken Lay, Dennis Kozlowski, the Adelphia kids, Richard Reid... etc. If you look at the actual expenditures of the Superfund, you will clearly see that the vat majority of the funding went to pay the legal bills. It is a published fact, I just can't remember the specific location of the study on the EPA website.
"I guess we all know which way you voted last November." Wrong, I voted for Kerry. I happen to agree with you on the puppet president view.
"Ford polluted our land and now they have to pay to clean it up. Tit for tat." I agree with you. I know that I am sounding anti-environmental in this thread. That is the farthest from the truth. I am in the environmental industry because I care. You might be surprised how many peple with similar beliefs are also involved. The thing that irks me in the previous posts was that while it appears that nothing is happening, there is so much occuring behind the scenes that the general public doesn't know, understand, or care about. NJDEP technical reviews can take a very long time. Laboratory analysis on the amount of samples being collected can also be extremely long.
From the site that Briansnat provided:
Weather Related Delays
The recent snowstorm and unseasonably cold weather have forced Ford to temporarily suspend its paint sludge and drum remnant removal and site reconnaissance survey activities. Ford anticipates that if normal seasonal weather patterns continue, work could resume in early-March. While this work is suspended, Ford is preparing plans for additional investigative and remedial work. Ford’s goal is to resume its current activities, and commence this additional work as soon as weather and Site conditions allow.
OK, it makes sense. Even hiking on some of the trails is difficult. Imagine trying to drive them.
Paint Sludge and Drum Remnant Removal
ARCADIS G&M, Inc., Ford’s environmental consultant, has excavated approximately 300 tons of paint sludge and associated soil from State-owned property. Approximately 160 tons have been transported to an EPA-approved disposal location. The remaining 140 tons will be transported offsite in the coming weeks. Because of the recent snowstorm and unseasonably cold weather, Ford has temporarily suspended further excavation work. Ford has not completed its excavation of recently-identified paint sludge, nor has it excavated drum remnants identified earlier this year at the Ringwood Site. These activities will resume when Site and weather conditions allow.
So much for Jonboy's Quick Fix solution to squash a story. Removal is underway. Once the drums are removed and the site is clear enough to manouver, the investigation work can continue. Until the drums are removed, they represent an possible continuing source of contamination. I AM NOT SAYING THAT THEY ARE A CONTINUING SOURCE. THEY MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT. Either way, they have to be removed before in depth investigation can truly continue. Drilling through them accidently would cause much more damage and risk.
Groundwater and Surface Water sampling
Ford has submitted the results of its October/November 2004 round of groundwater and surface water sampling to EPA. In January 2005, Ford sampled three additional groundwater monitoring wells that had not been in a condition to sample in Fall 2004. One groundwater monitoring well remains inaccessible due to ice and snow.
EPA is reviewing the data. Excavation and drum removal is ongoing. Weather has been uncooperative, but the work continues.
What more can be done? Lets look at some alternatives
1. Turn back time and stop Ford from dumping. Not very practical, but hey, lets keep it in mind for the future.
2. Demolish the mountain and excavate all of the soil and pump all of the groundwater and drain the reservoir just in case a few drops made it that far. Well, it is a possibility. As you can see, this may have a few negative impacts on the environment and local inhabitants. Lets just call that plan Z.
3. Do whatever any local activist group says must be right because it feels right or they have heard a term in a meeting or in a book. Well, if they start running in every possible direction, they wont get to far in any direction.
4. Follow the procedures and practices that have successfully cleaned up Superfund and other similar contaminated sites in the past.
I vote for option 4. The work is being done. The professionals are doing it. Lets let them do it. The website for the company doing the cleanup is Arcadis Have a look.
In response to Avroairs comment "Which is way above the healthy levels that humans should be near... we keep lowering the standards to accommodate more yuck" Lower levels means more cleanup. Just wanted to clarify that direction and thought process. Yes. The levels have been lowered historically, but the result is less permissible contamination. One exception is the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPHc) limit which was originally 100 parts per million and has been raised to 10,000. Apparently, naturally occuring oil isn't as dangerous as previously thought. Heck, in Pennsylvania, some of the contaminated soils shipped from Jersey can be used as clean fill or topsoil. Why? That is what their health and environmental agencies believe to be acceptable. It is based on studies by respected safety and health agencies. Again, I don't know the studies they are based on, but I do know the process involved.
EDIT: A few of my spelling mistakes.