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Re: Brashears on Hanson




Hmmm... I'm finding that I actually agree with Mr. Lloyd-Jones on a few
points.

charliew <charliew@hal-pc.org> wrote:
>You have to realize that there is a fundamental problem here regarding 
>where to draw the line.  Nature will support a certain population of 
>"natural" animal species.  These species will urinate and poop where they 
>see fit.  This excrement will have the same effect as what you are 
>complaining about.  In fact, I have already read a posting (some months 
>ago) about too many wild ducks congregating at a particular location, and 
>fouling (no pun intended) the water supply of that location.  If such a 
>natural activity occurs, and has occurred for eons, why can't the 
>environmentalists get it through their heads that *nothing* should be done 
>about it?  Or are you telling me that the ultimate aim of the 
>environmentalists is to *control* what happens in nature, rather than let 
>nature take its own course?  If the answer to this question is "yes", the 
>enviros are more self deluded than even I imagined.

Actually, while your premise may have a sound start, yes, animals have
been defecating and urinating for years, it ignores a frew very important
points.  One, the concentration of animals is much greater on a far than
in the wild.  For instance, North Carolina now has more hogs than people
living in the state.  These hogs produce huge amounts of waste which is
then contained in lagoons.  Unfortunately, many of these lagoons leak or
rupture spilling very large amounts of waste into streams and rivers (i.e.
Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers).  Moderate amounts of a good thing is good
but a lot can be deadly (as in the case of Vitamin A).  Non-point source
pollution is largely responsible for eutrophication of water bodies.
Phosphorus and nitrogen are nutrients in excess.  Algae blooms combined
with increases in certain dinoflagellate populations cause a decrease in
available O2 which (along with the dinoflagellates which can be toxic to
fish) cause fish kills.  In the case of the rivers I cited in North
Carolina fish kills of at least a million have been reported.  Not only
does this cause obvious problems for the fishing industry as many of these
fish are food resources - it also causes problems for the water treatment
plants.  Large amounts of organic matter (high turbidity) can lessen the
effectiveness of treatment.  Couple that with storm run-off (which, btw,
often leads to the lagoons rupturing and leaking in the first place) and 
you have an even bigger problem and a greater chance of filter
malfunction.  

In the end, it's a matter of degree.  Generally, hogs don't congregate in
the densities these farms have them at.  Same with cattle etc. 



joan



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