A Very Good Day.

[dgibby]

Woke up, brushed my teeth with tap water, went to the kitchen, made coffee with water drawn from the tap. I'll take a shower later, again using water straight from the tap. I'll go to the grocery store later, but won't be standing out in the cold in a line that winds around the parking lot waiting to buy bottled water, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, microwavable food, etc.

Later, if I want, I'll go to a local restaurant and eat a nice meal. If I get sick and/or injured, I can go to the local hospital, which will be fully operational. No need to drive 40 miles to get medical help. It's just 5 miles away.

If I want to bathe the dogs today or tomorrow using the local tap water, I can. I'm retired, but if I had a job, I wouldn't have to worry about losing pay because the business I work for is closed. I'm on a fixed income, but I don't have to worry about spending extra money for water and other emergency supplies.

All in all, it's a very good day, and I'm very grateful that I don't live in the area affected by the chemical spill in WV, BUT, I'm also very mindful that this nightmare scenario could happen in my hometown in a nanosecond. All it would take is a chemical car derailment on the CSX, which runs between Main Street and the river.

The question is when and where the next environmental disaster will strike, not if. In the meantime, House Republicans quietly passed a bill further gutting EPA regulations.

[TheBlackAdder]

1. Or a bomber accidentally droping an an atomic warhead on your town.

It's happened a few times already, with either six or ten missing warheads.

I think NC was almost nuked, one $5 part stopped the detonation.

An A-Bomb is "lost' in the mouth of the Savanah River.

[dgibby]

3. Yep,

but not as likely as a chemical spill. We have chemical rail cars going through here several times a day. It would only take one to derail and spill and we'd have to evacuate the entire town. Considering we have an aging population and live in an economically depressed area, it would be a nightmare of epic proportions. I seriously doubt we have enough able bodied people to evacuate all the nursing homes and assisted living facilities here.

[onestepforward]

2. As with any environmental disaster,

poor people get hit the hardest. What if you don't have family to help and can't afford to live in an out-of-town hotel indefinitely? You just can't live or work in a place where there is no water.

I had high hopes for the EPA when Obama was first elected. Those hopes were dashed after the Gulf oil spill. We don't have a true protector for our basic life support like air and water and that is scary. This could happen to any community at any time.