In a stomach turning civil case against petroleum industry giants Chevron Phillips Chemical and Union Carbide, a jury in Smith County, Mississippi awarded a man named Thomas “Tony” Brown a hefty amount for the life altering illness he developed working with their products.

This story sounds typical until you hear about the astounding monetary damages awarded, the offensive and discriminatory defense argued by the two behemoths, and the positive social repercussions that the case brought forth.

Brown worked since he was sixteen for the oil drilling industry in oil fields of Mississippi as a mixer of drilling mud. The drilling mud that was produced by Union Carbide and distributed by CP Chemical consisted of nearly 100% asbestos and was known by both companies to cause cancer and lung disease when inhaled by humans.

Mississippi regulations require oil field companies to warn their employees about the dangers of working with their asbestos containing products. Both companies used the sickening defense that because Mr. Brown, as is the case with many young men entering the oil drilling field, was not able to read. His illiteracy, they claim, excluded him from the protection of the Mississippi warning regulations.

Fast forward to today and Mr. Brown has been suffering from asbestosis, the debilitating lung disease, and requires around the clock oxygen administration to allow him to breathe. Brown’s lawyers argued successfully that all workers are entitled to the protection the laws offer, regardless of their ability to read.

Mr. Brown’s lawyers were successful to the tune of “$322 million dollars for future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and punitive damages,” according to their press release. That award was the “single largest plaintiff’s asbestos verdict in United States history,” the press release continues.

The verdict awarded to Mr. Brown will not ever allow him to breathe normally, or ever be completely healthy again, but if there is a silver lining for him it is that this case sets a precedent for other plaintiffs who became or become sick from inadequate warning by their employers. Most importantly, the case demonstrates the state of Mississippi’s commitment to protect all of its citizens from companies who knowingly put their employees in grave danger, and shows that the state does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of literacy.

Three 55-gallon barrels are like the ghosts of Wildwood that keep rearing their ugly heads and reminding everyone that decades ago the site was used as an illicit dumping ground for dangerous chemicals. EPA has finally removed the recently found drums, which contained toxic elements including the waste byproducts of paint.

According to Stephen Deere of StlToday.com, “Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hauled them away, along with 1,500 cubic yards of soil, an amount roughly the equivalent to a swimming pool.”

The recent EPA move to remove the hazardous waste material-containing barrels has caused a heated debate between two camps: Those who feel that the agency has made sure the site is cleaned up to environmental compliance, and those who disagree, saying the drums should have been taken care of long ago and that the risks have been downplayed. To sum this up, Deere states, “To some, the recent cleanup proves that the agency has gone out of its way to alleviate concerns about the site; to others, it only shows the EPA can’t be trusted.”

Some question why the drums were left behind while the rest were transported away and discarded back in the beginning of the 1980s. Dan Topik, a neighbor to the Wildwood site, says, “They screwed up.”

But controversy lies in the fact that the EPA declares the land suitable for environmental safety and are removing the last three barrels because it is the right thing to do. In fact, Chris Whitley, speaking on behalf of the EPA, said, “The barrels pose no risk to nearby residents and showed no evidence of contaminating groundwater. The EPA could have easily left them.”

Opponents believe all toxic materials should have been removed in the “multimillion dollar cleanup” and go as far as linking the dioxin and other industrial waste with an increased level of childhood cancers in the area.

Bottom line is that the EPA has completely remediated the site and only now can the homeowners feel some reassurance that their properties are safe IF there truly is no residual contamination.

One decrepit burnt-out building in Albany, New York sits as more than just an eyesore. The environmental safety of the Washington Avenue area is in question as drums of potentially harmful substances remain in the water-soaked basement of a former dry cleaner.

According to Jordan-Carleo-Evangelist of TimesUnion.com, “Earlier this month, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy called on the state to test for the presence of toxic chemicals feared to be stewing in drums submerged in the rank, rust-colored water.

After the building burned down to just its smoke-stained shell in December 2000, only rubble and plywood remained at the site. The county now fears that squatters have been calling the dry cleaning building home, making the situation that much more dire. Dry cleaners were notorious for their use of hazardous solvents, including tetrachloroethylene, or perchloroethylene, or simply perc.

Perc is a dry cleaning solvent popular because it is non-flammable. The problem with the substance is that it is a possible cancer-causing agent to humans. As stated in Wikipedia, “Animal studies and a study of 99 twins by Dr. Samuel Goldman and researchers at the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California determined there is a "lot of circumstantial evidence" that exposure to tetrachloroethene increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease ninefold.”

Building inspections have been slow-going because the town is hesitant to take over the property. Knowing the liabilities that lie within, Albany officials are aware that the property could come with a sizable cleaning bill.

Neighbors of the building are optimistic that something will finally be done, not only for aesthetic reasons, but also because of the safety and health issues that come with it. “I hope that we are finally moving toward actions to mitigate and remediate the site to become a functional part of the neighborhood again,” said Pine Hills Neighborhood Association President Todd Hunsinger.

As a precautionary measure, the Public Works Commission of Fayetteville, North Carolina will now regularly test the Cape Fear River, which provides the city’s drinking water, for industrial contaminants. Sitting next door to the P.O. Hoffer Water Treatment Facility is the former building of Texfi, a now defunct textile mill that was a heavy polluter, especially of TCE, a known carcinogen. Although no industrial pollutants have been found yet in the river, contamination was found in the mid 1990’s in area groundwater.

Fayetteville Public Works has taken previous steps to safeguard the city’s drinking water. The water is held securely in a large underground container with one-foot thick concrete walls. Millions of gallons of water are held in the container, which is known as a clear well. In addition to the concrete well, a hard clay wall was built as deep as ten feet down creating a barrier between the ground water contamination and the public water supply.

Until this decision was made, the PWC routinely tested for other industrial contaminents, but not the ones found in the water near Texfi. Lou Olivera, board Chairman of the PWC called the measure precautionary. “Just for another level of safety and protection. I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, but I’m just saying leave nothing to chance.”

Another board member, Terri Union agreed and said, “I think we need to do everything we can to protect the water and reassure that [sic] our customers there is not an issue.”

The move to conduct regular testing of the Cape Fear River could not come at a better time. Studies of the Texfi water contamination have shown that the pollution has reached much deeper than once thought. It’s spreading faster than expected and now can be found as deep as thirty feet. The Fayetteville PWC should be applauded for their proactive approach to protecting its city’s drinking water, which is drawn directly from the Cape Fear River. This is an excellent example of positive environmental management.

China is the world’s fourth largest country, has about 1.3 billion citizens, and is one of the most industrious nations ever to have existed on this planet. But the rapid growth of its economic engine has far outpaced its efforts to curb pollution. Many reports claim the country enforces virtually no environmental regulations. A 2007 report by World Bank found that China is home to 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. With the exception of a few valiant environmental advocates, China’s water contamination, air pollution, and toxic waste ground pollution is largely ignored and denied by the government.

Increasing research (and common sense) has shown that the industrial giant is not a nation encapsulated in a protective vacuum, but instead, China’s air pollution is not only hurting the Chinese people, it is also traveling across the Pacific jet stream and causing air quality issues in America. Air quality testing in California has shown pollution from China has reached its skies and not only is polluting the state, but is even changing weather patterns.

“It’s no longer just their problem; it’s our problem,” said Kim Prather of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The international arena is starting to take notice. According to CBS News this week, “A U.N. conference on climate change ended Sunday without a major deal to cut emissions. No country emits more carbon dioxide than China- a byproduct of its booming economy. Those Chinese emissions are having a big impact in the U.S.”

Air pollution from our neighbor across the Pacific is harmful in and of itself, and now, to find out that precipitation patterns are changing due to the different size particles that make their way over the state is downright disturbing. As stated in the same CBS News article, “Understanding the factors that influence California’s rain and snow is important because what falls in the mountains is the main water source for most of the state’s 37 million people.”

There are a number of alarming environmental trends taking place in China that are also affecting Americans. The nation’s lax environmental management has lead to a shudder-inducing amount of water contamination in lakes and rivers. According to Yahoo News, “Hu Siyi, vice minister of water resources, said ‘last year that 20 percent of China's rivers were so polluted that their water quality was rated too toxic for human contact, and that up to 40 percent of the rivers were seriously polluted, according to state media.’”

An ongoing public campaign led by Chinese citizens tired of the state of their polluted rivers involves offering government officials in charge of protecting the water large sums of money to swim in the contaminated cesspools. The Yahoo News article names a few examples. Here’s one: “A Chinese businessman angry about a filthy river made an equally dirty dare: He'll give an environmental official about $32,000 just for swimming in the polluted waterway.” The officials have all declined to take the dare.

Why does America need to worry about China’s water crisis, aside from human compassion for the Chinese citizens? Because we import a tremendous amount of products, including food and natural supplements, some even labeled organic, from China. The water used to create those products or as irrigation for the crops that we import leaves its toxic residue on and in our food. 

China’s air pollution and water contamination problems are a current environmental issue that the entire world needs to be concerned about. The country’s industrial boom is not ending anytime soon and without much of a voice, the citizens have very little power to enact change, other than modifying their own habits. But to make a real dent in China’s off-the-chart pollution levels, the other countries must put pressure on the nation to clean up its act and clamp down on its industrial pollution.