Floods foul Iowa environment

[maddezmom]

By PERRY BEEMAN • [e-mail] • July 27, 2008

The scope of environmental damage in the wake of this spring's massive flooding is just starting to come into focus.

The early findings: Iowa is awash in bacteria, plagued with pesticides, and doused in oil and dangerous compounds, but at concentrations that don't pose an immediate risk to aquatic life or human health.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collected 169,836 stray computers, appliances, televisions and containers as of July 17, most in Linn County. Contractors are still collecting wastes for burning, burial or recycling from scores of containers holding propane, gasoline, pesticides and kerosene that were sent downstream.


Many of the containers never broke. But tons of waste — chemicals, oils and sewage — ultimately spilled into floodwaters, communities and fields, killing hogs, spoiling waterways, and closing state-park campgrounds and beaches.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory and the EPA fanned out in the wake of the flooding in one of the largest sampling efforts in recent Iowa history. Crews checked upstream and downstream of 15 communities, screening for 300 compounds and amassing 20,000 readings.

more:http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/NEWS/807270329

[madokie]

1. I wonder what the difference would be if their national guard had been there

in larger numbers to help with keeping some of that flood waters contained. After 8 years of no government help to speak of I wonder just how much of America will be truly left when they do exit the stage.

[Bluzmann57]

2. The Iowa National Guard did a pretty good job

And the Minnesota Guard came to help out as well.
Look around the rooms in your house/apartment or wherever you live. Look about a foot or two from the floor on the walls. There are electrical outlets at various places. They all have to be replaced because with all the sludge and even raw sewage that got into them, they are unusable.
I am not sure that even if we had a full contigent of National Guard people here, that they would have been able to hold back the water. It rained and rained and rained...and these small rivers around here just couldn't take it. And they all empty into the Mighty Mississippi, which is still only able to take so much even though she is the biggest river in the USA. See, I remember 1993 (worst flood ever) when we had all of our National Guard here. But they still could only hold back so much of the water.

[madokie]

3. I wasn't taking away from what they done

just wondering what could have been had they not been in Iraq with so much of their equipment is all.

[4dsc]

4. Very little..

The magnitude of these 500 year floods was unpresidented.. I was in these area's during the 93 floods and that was pale to the level's reached this year..

I really don't know what else anyone, including the NG, could have done..Mother nature was showing everyone who's really the boss here..