Final Chemistry Paper
Communicating Science about the Gold King Mine Spill and Water Quality in the Animas River
Reflection |
Project Product |
There a several actions that could be taken in order to improve the water quality around Cement Creek and the Animas Watershed. Yes superfund is a way that could improve the water quality around these bodies of water but there are alternatives to a superfund. If communities along the Animas, including Silverton were to let the water treat itself and focus on the reconstruction of wetlands along the river; then there would be a great deal of benefits. Such as cleaner waters without the worries of a superfund site mistake. However there is a superfund, but wetland reconstruction is a step forward in improving the water quality. Wetlands are natural filters and if they were to work alongside the superfund site, it would be a cooperative effort between man and nature. Man with their machines filtering the water along Cement Creek and wetlands along the Animas to mop up any stragglers that weren't quite removed from the superfund site.
What is the role of science in making policy decisions? Science's role in making decisions regarding policy varies. What policies are sciences' potentially taking part in deciding? If these policies regard water quality, water safety, water treatment and pH; then the role of science is rather hefty. May it be determining whether or not a body of water is safe and what policies need to be put in place, such as water quality standards or what has to be done when treating these said bodies of water. To what degree do scientists have an obligation to communicate specific concepts and data to the public in an understandable manner? A scientist should be obligated to communicate concepts and data to the public to high degree. But also to where the data they're sharing makes sense to the public and isn't seen as a large group of binary numbers in a random order. The info the scientists are transmitting to the public should be condensed down to terms that are general science, but still convey what they want to share with the public while maintaining their scientific status. Throughout this past semester, I believe that my understanding of the scientific knowledge and the process of doing science has changed at a very slow rate. Grasping ahold of topics during this semester have been a tedious struggle, however over time, the knowledge I've learned has increased from what I thought I knew at the beginning of the year and at the end of this semester. While performing several experiments in labs at the college, I think it's a possibility that xondicting experiments in labs has been rather helpful due to getting hands on with what's seen as professional equipment and also trying to analyze data is collected. |
Water treatment for the Animas
Alternatives to Superfund? By Kody John Recently, there have been concerns about the Animas River and the options for water treatment. Also Silverton recently decided to pursue a superfund site in order to treat the river. Although that is currently in the works, I'd like to present different alternatives in which the water could be treated. The two alternatives are similar but differ ever so slightly because one alternative from a superfund treatment site would involve wetlands and the other alternative would entail not tampering with the water at all. Both alternatives are done naturally and both have their ups and downs, as does superfund. To begin with, it would be best to briefly recap what has happened within the last four months involving the Animas River. On August 5th, the Gold King Mine had an incident resulting in mine water filled with minerals which had built up within the mine to flow out from the river from the mine site and into the Animas River. However the spill didn't suddenly happen, while a team from the EPA was trying to seal off the mine; however mistakes occurred resulting I. The mine to overflow. The Animas itself runs through the the towns of Silverton and Durango, Colorado in which the toxins within the river stream run through. Millions of gallons of chemicals spilled into the river and turned it orange which moved beyond Silverton and Durango and further downstream which affected large communities such as the Navajo Nation. In very recent events, Silverton officials have decided to pursue a superfund site with the EPA within their town. However, the Silverton officials admitted that the EPA’s hazardous superfund cleanup will have many drawbacks. These drawbacks consist of the uncertainty over funding of the site, the potential for mistakes which could be due to human error, and the clash of opinions. Treating the river overall is the goal but how it’s done is where it is of great importance. Which brings up the first alternative against water treatment which would be to not treat the river at all. By not treating the river water would require no human involvement while the river naturally filters and ultimately cleans itself out naturally While we let the river utilize the natural resources it it has at its own leisure, this will result in cleaner waters on the first and only procedure. Which is more beneficial over the filtering the river water with other chemicals in a superfund site, which would result in a slower cleanup or worse waters due to human involvement. If the river were allowed to treat itself, there would be no monetary cost as well as no chance of error. However. this natural process may take much longer than an overpriced superfund site, a rough estimate on all natural treatment could take years, potentially over a decade; but the results in the end shouldn’t disappoint. The other alternative to a superfund would be wetland filtration. For those who aren’t sure or have no idea what wetlands are, they are areas that generally consist of marshes or swamps, and depending on variant of wetland. It might be filled with trees, moss, or grass. But in order to be defined as a wetland, the area must filled with water at some fraction of the year and these wetlands. What wetland filtration will do is reduce the amount harmful substances and chemicals that flow into the Animas by filtering them out. Plants within the wetlands would take many of these harmful substances into their roots and make then make them less harmful or render them harmless before releasing into the Animas. While the substance are being filtered, they could possibly be buried with the wetland soil while bacterias and many other microorganisms break the substance(s) down, rendering them harmless. However, wetlands can only take up so many of the harmful substances, thus making the types of substances that the wetlands can filter out be limited depending on the substances. Although wetland filtration may be slightly limited, it is still an all natural process. If either of these alternatives were to be considered and done, everyone in the end would feel relief in the end. |