NASA Space Images Show Dark Polluted Water Spilling From Carolina Rivers Into Ocean

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

October 3, 2018

Satellite imagery has discovered Carolina rivers so polluted their streams appear dark from outer space. These streams, unfortunately, are not only polluting and damaging water quality throughout the Carolina’s but also pouring into the ocean.

As Abbie Bennett of the Herald Sun wrote,

A NASA satellite is tracking flooding in the Carolinas following Hurricane Florence, and its images show dark, polluted water flowing from rivers into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Nearly 8 trillion gallons of rain fell across North Carolina during the storm, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh’s estimate. 

That rain led to catastrophic flooding across the state, and has polluted rivers, streams, creeks and their outflows along the coast, NASA’s satellite images show. 

One image captured on Sept. 19 shows the New River, White Oak River and Adams Creek south of Cape Lookout and the deeply discolored water that appears dark brown — or even black. 

The color of the water in the image “reveals how soils, sediments, decaying leaves, pollution, and other debris have discolored the water in the swollen rivers, bays, estuaries, and the nearshore ocean,” according to NASA.

But that isn’t the only material floating in North and South Carolina’s rivers. Floodwaters from Hurricane Florence were also responsible for the deaths of 3.4 million chickens and thousands of pigs in the state’s notorious factory farm system. While many Americans were horrified to see that these animals were left to suffer and drown, an admittedly horrible and inhumane fate, the issue of factory farming in general was ignored, i.e. the reason why millions of chickens and thousands of pigs were housed in giant factories to begin with.

Toxic Oil And Gas Wastewater Used To Treat Roads Contains Radium

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
June 1, 2018

Toxic Oil and Gas Wastewater Used to Treat Roads Way More Toxic Than Previously Thought – Spills Into Waterways
Particularly in post Free Trade America, municipalities are facing some tough choices when it comes to deicing and suppressing dust on their roads. This is because a number of states are using oil and gas wastewater for these purposes. However, this raises a number of concerns both for the environment and for human health.
A new study published in Evironmental Science & Technology that analyzed regulations across the U.S. to determine whether or not such wastewaster can be used for road purposes found that 13 states permit its use while up to four other states may allow for the same under their “land spreading” regulations.

The fluid in question is that which is used in conventional oil and gas wells, not directionally drilled or hydraudically fracked wells.

At issue is the toxicity of the liquid with contains high concentrations of salt and potentially organic and radioactive materials. It also contains high amounts of calcium, magnesium, and strontium. Further contaminants include radium and other micropollutants. The liquid is known to stay on the road but, after subsequent rain, a portion of it runs off the highway into the earth or adjacent waterways.

"Oil and gas wastewaters are known to have high salt, organic and radioactivity concentrations," said Travis L. Tasker, graduate student in environmental engineering, Penn State. "When we found out that this wastewater was being spread on roads, we wanted to evaluate its potential to cause biological toxicity and accumulate in road material or migrate into water resources."

"We would like to do experiments to test how effective the wastewaters are at suppressing dust in comparison to other commercial products," said assistant professor of environmental engineering, Nathaniel R. Warner. "If the salts in the wastewaters are just as effective, then new regulations or additional treatment prior to spreading could help reduce the concentration of other contaminants of concern that exist in wastewaters, but not in commercial products."

China No Longer Accepting World’s Garbage, Time For A National Recycling Program

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
May 8, 2018

In 2017, China announced that it would no longer be accepting much of the world’s trash in the coming year. In January, it followed through with that announcement and stopped accepting 24 types of waste which includes plastics, mining slap, garbage textiles, and plastics. China’s stated reason for no longer accepting the waste is its own concerns over pollution domestically.

This new policy has caused shockwaves in the United States, Ireland, Germany, Canada, and a number of European countries who are now rushing to figure out a solution to their growing piles of trash that had previously just been sent overseas.

If sanity were to prevail of course, the United States and fellow countries would immediately begin developing methods of recycling and industries/services to do just that domestically. A national recycling program would be a perfect solution that would not only recycle the material that is now piling up but also clean up the American environment and create good paying jobs. In other words, a national recycling program funded by low to zero percent interest credit from a nationalized Federal Reserve that would see the entire country's garbage recycled and sold at a profit as well as the recycling of material already buried in landfills.

Instead, however, the United States is attempting to force China to accept its trash by using the World Trade Organization’s enforcement mechanism for the “Free Trade” and the “Global Economy” that has ruined the living standards of virtually every country that has embraced it. The U.S. is arguing that China’s new policy is causing a “fundamental disruption in global supply chains for scrap materials.”

Lead Exposure May Be The Hidden Cause Of 412,000 Deaths Each Year

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 30, 2018

According to a new study published in the Lancet Public Health, up to 412,000 deaths a year can be attributed to lead exposure in the United States.

This study also claims that exposure to lead may be in “important but largely overlooked” factor in the 256,000 cardiovascular disease deaths that occur every year.

“Our study findings suggest that low-level environmental lead exposure is an important risk factor for death in the USA, particularly from cardiovascular disease,” the paper reads. “It is not surprising that lead exposure is overlooked; it is ubiquitous, but insidious and largely beyond the control of patients and clinicians.”

As EcoWatch writes,

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to study the blood-lead levels of 14,289 people who were 20 or older between 1988 and 2011. Of the 4,422 people who died by the end of that period, those who had high lead levels (6.7 micrograms per deciliter) were at 37 percent greater risk of premature death from any cause and 70 percent times greater risk of cardiovascular death compared with people with lower lead levels (1.0 micrograms per deciliter). 

Based on these risk levels, the authors estimated that up to 18 percent of all deaths every year in the USA (or 412,000 out of 2.3 million annual mortalities) would be among people who had levels of lead above 1 micrograms per deciliter. Further, an estimated 28.7 percent of premature cardiovascular disease deaths (256,000 out of 892000) could be attributable to lead exposure. 

Lead Exposure May Be The Hidden Cause Of 412,000 Deaths Each Year

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

March 20, 2018

According to a new study published in the Lancet Public Health, up to 412,000 deaths a year can be attributed to lead exposure in the United States.

This study also claims that exposure to lead may be in “important but largely overlooked” factor in the 256,000 cardiovascular disease deaths that occur every year.

“Our study findings suggest that low-level environmental lead exposure is an important risk factor for death in the USA, particularly from cardiovascular disease,” the paper reads. “It is not surprising that lead exposure is overlooked; it is ubiquitous, but insidious and largely beyond the control of patients and clinicians.”

As EcoWatch writes,

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to study the blood-lead levels of 14,289 people who were 20 or older between 1988 and 2011. Of the 4,422 people who died by the end of that period, those who had high lead levels (6.7 micrograms per deciliter) were at 37 percent greater risk of premature death from any cause and 70 percent times greater risk of cardiovascular death compared with people with lower lead levels (1.0 micrograms per deciliter). 

Based on these risk levels, the authors estimated that up to 18 percent of all deaths every year in the USA (or 412,000 out of 2.3 million annual mortalities) would be among people who had levels of lead above 1 micrograms per deciliter. Further, an estimated 28.7 percent of premature cardiovascular disease deaths (256,000 out of 892000) could be attributable to lead exposure. 

Science: Endometriosis, Fibroids Caused By These Common Chemicals, Billions In Annual Medical Costs

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

January 13, 2017

In a new study, a team of researchers set out to estimate the health cost of two chemicals in the European Union – pthalates and DDE.

Both of these chemicals are known hormone disruptors and are found virtually everywhere in the Western world. From plastics to pesticides and from makeup to food both pthalates and DDE are almost impossible to avoid by anyone living a life that is considered somewhat normal.

But both have been strongly linked with “common” female reproductive issues, particularly endometriosis and fibroids.

Between fibroids and endometriosis, it is estimated that 70% of women will experience infertility as a result of exposure.

There are substantial human and toxicological studies (in mice and other lab animals) that suggest that exposure to these endocrine-disrupting chemicals, many of which are increasing in use, are contributing to female reproductive conditions,” said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine.

DDE is actually a breakdown product of DDT that was banned for agricultural purposes by the United States and Europe in the 1970s. The product is still used for disease control and its agricultural residue still lingers in the environment. For that reason, most exposure to pthalates comes from eating food produced in contaminated soils/water and from eating food and drinks stored in plastic that contains pthalates.

NY Residents Test Off The Charts For Dangerous Drinking Water Toxin

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

June 28, 2016

In early June at least two residents in the small upstate New York village, Hoosick Falls, were tested to have 50 times the national average of the toxic chemical PFOA (perflurooctanoic acid). Harold and Marion Stevens told News 10 ABC TV that their numbers were 159 and 104 mcg per liter respectively. The nationwide average readings for PFOA are 2.08.

While this may seem like a problem more specific to Harold and Marion, the average reading for residents in Hoosick Falls is 23.5. “The average person up there is about 11 times the national average,” said Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, a village representative.

The reasons why the tests were conducted in the first place is because residents of Hoosick Falls launched their own effort to determine whether or not something toxic was in the water after several of them died of rare cancers. These residents suspected a nearby plastics manufacturing site as being the most likely culprit.

The chemical they found in their water supply and the residents themselves – PFOA – has been linked to both kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis as well as many other illnesses. But what is even more concerning than the presence of PFOA in the water supply is that both state and local officials knew about the situation a full year before the federal Environmental Protection Agency warned residents to stop drinking their water November 2015.

All the while, these officials did nothing. In fact, despite the warnings from the EPA and high levels of PFOA found in recent tests, Rensselaer County officials and the state government continued to assure residents their water was safe.

Is This The 4th Recent Nuclear Disaster To Strike The U.S.?

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

May 6, 2016

Is there any nuclear site in the United States that is not currently collapsing, leaking or otherwise posing a major health or environmental risk? Certainly there are, but that number is becoming smaller and smaller.

In addition to three other nuclear disasters unfolding across the country, a fourth has now arisen. This new disaster is located in Washington state in a facility known as the Hanford site.

One week after 19 workers were sent for medical evaluation as the nuclear waste tank was being transferred because of a leak, 3 more workers are now being reported as injured at the site. According to RT, the workers inhaled radioactive fumes – the same issue facing the 19 previously hospitalized workers. This brings the injured number of workers up to 22.

The Hanford site has reportedly been leaking massive amounts of radiation for more than two weeks. By no means a recent facility, the Hanford nuclear site is one of the original nuclear facilities in the United States, having been part of the Manhattan Project itself. Weapons-grade plutonium was stored at this facility for use in atomic weapons, one of which was dropped on Hiroshima.

Although the facility was decommissioned at the end of the Cold War, the facility has been used to store nuclear waste. In fact, according to RT, two-thirds of America’s radioactive materials are stored at this location which makes it one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

The storage tanks which were built as early as 1940 and as late as 1970 contain 56 million gallons of radioactive chemicals.

Explosive Upsurge in Virus Causing Tumors on Endangered Sea Turtles

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
February 8, 2016

No one knows for sure what is causing it, but one thing is for certain, sea turtles off the coast of Florida are increasingly becoming sick and the numbers of sick turtles are starting to alarm the veterinarians treating them.

Doctors and staff at the Turtle Hospital near the Florida Keys are reporting that cases of fibropapillomatosis are exploding. It’s a disease caused by a herpes virus. “When I first started here 20 years ago, I would do 6-8 of these a month. Now we are doing 6-8 a week,” said veterinarian Doug Mader.

Many of the turtles that wind up in the hospital are covered in tumors with some having growths on their necks, underbellies and even their eyes. A number of the turtles have such massive growths that they are blinded or otherwise disabled, yet the doctors have no idea what is causing this increasing in fibropapillomatosis cases.

Some conservationists have suggested that the increase in cases of tumors is simply because the population of sea turtles itself has increased. Green sea turtles were listed as an endangered species in 1976, but the numbers of turtles nesting have reached record highs. Still, their status may only be changed from endangered to threatened as early as March of this year.

Some experts have predictably blamed the increase of illness on global warming, while others have suggested more plausible reasons such as agricultural run-off and increasing pollution.

Hillary Clinton: Fracking America

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
February 4, 2016

There are essentially two kinds of environmental initiatives – the kind that are legitimately geared to protect the planet, animals, and humans and the kind that are anti-progress, de-industrializing, and based on political ideologies. Whenever one examines the positions of Hillary Clinton, it is easy to see that the latter occupies the vast majority of her environmental stances while the former rarely enters into the equation.

Such is the case with her support and promotion of fracking. While Clinton constantly promotes her fantasies of a de-industrialized America on the altar of disproven man-made CO2 based Global Warming theories, the destruction of whole drinking water supplies, landscapes, and ecosystems is buoyantly promoted.

The environmental watchdog organization, Food and Water Watch released a short description of the toxic effects the process of fracking – using pressurized water, sand, and toxic chemicals with which to break open shale deposits in the earth.

Food and Water Watch describes just a few of the dangers of fracking in the following way:

Affordable access to clean water is a public health issue and a human right. Fracking requires large amounts of fresh water in order to extract natural gas from the ground – about five million gallons of water per well. That water is mixed with sand and toxic chemicals, including over 100 suspected endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. Wastewater from fracking and water that escapes from fracking wells can pollute our streams, lakes and rivers, and ultimately our drinking water.