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.

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. 

Ohio Gov. Candidate Dennis Kucinich Releases Scathing Anti-Fracking Statement, Intent To Ban Fracking

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
January 29, 2018

Ohio Gubernatorial candidate, Dennis Kucinich, released the first in a series of forthcoming detailed platform points surrounding his campaign on January 25. Fracking, a contentious issue for the people of Ohio (but not for their politicians) has contributed to poor water quality, decrease in agriculture, and damages to human health throughout the state and many have simply accepted it as a way of life. But Kucinich is putting it back on the table as an issue that will be tackled, given he wins the election.

While most politicians and candidates only go so far as to “address the concerns that people may have” regarding fracking, Kucinich outlined a plan that would end fracking completely in the state of Ohio and begin remediation for the people and communities that have suffered damages as a result. Kucinich is no stranger to the issue of Fracking since he and his wife have both traveled to Standing Rock, North Dakota and the Hudson Valley in New York opposing fracking and the use of eminent domain being used for the benefit of the oil and gas corporations.

Standing next to his running mate, Akron city councilwoman Tara Samples, Kucinich read a statement that listed the immense dangers of fracking.

Kucinich stated,

Today I am making my first major policy announcement as a candidate for governor, first to review the consequences of fracking and deep well injection of frack waste, and secondly to detail new policies for the state which I intend to pursue if elected, consistent with changing the relationship of the people of Ohio to their state government, under our campaign motto of #PowerToWeThePeople. 

An American Water Crisis Is Just Around The Corner And No One Is Talking About It

Brandon Turbeville
Natural Blaze
January 15, 2018

Anyone who pays attention to their local news has seen the signs of a coming apocalypse in the United States, although they are probably not aware of it. While many equate a water crisis to the sucking up of resources by big business interests or an offhanded moment of pollution from the local industry, there is another type water crisis looming over America. It’s not just Coca-Cola and property rights, it’s the failure of municipalities, states, and the federal government to ensure that drinking water is actually drinkable.

There have been a number of notable incidents in the last few years that showcase the crumbling infrastructure of the United States and the lower living standards Americans are being forced to accept. Flint, Michigan is the most notable and recognizable instance of water pollution in recent memory. That crisis is still ongoing and, while the U.S. has plenty of money for Israel, foreign aid, and foreign wars, it simply can’t find anything in its already tightened spending belt to help the people of Flint have access to clean water. At this point, the U.S. federal government is doing more to help Africans than it is to help African-Americans. Unfortunately for Flint, State and local governments are the reason for the crisis in the first place.

For two years, industrial chemicals and lead poisoned Flint’s water supply and no one did anything until one woman blew the whistle. Had it not been for her, Flint would still be drinking lead and other pollutants unknowingly. Now, despite the outcry, they know what they are drinking but, unfortunately, not much else has changed.

Colorado Springs Water Supply Contaminated By Firefighting Chemical At Nearby Military Base

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze 

December 27, 2017

Toxic chemicals have polluted the water for people in Colorado Springs for years, going all the way back to the 1950s. Finally, in 2017, researchers are beginning to take a greater look at the levels to which the water in Colorado Springs has been contaminated and the possible consequences of that pollution.

Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Colorado School of Mines recently received a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Sciences, an offshoot of the National Institutes of Health, that will last for two years in order to investigate the contamination of water in the communities of Widefield, Security, and Fountain.

The water supplies in these areas were contaminated with chemicals that came from “aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF)” that are used in fighting fires and training. 

See: Invisible Plastic Nanoparticles Now Being Found In Drinking Water

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.

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. 

State Of Emergency Declared As Legionnaires’ Disease Spikes In Flint Michigan

Brandon Turbeville

Natural Blaze

January 18, 2016

As if Flint, Michigan needed more problems other than an economic depression which has left the city a virtual wasteland, Flint is now the scene of a massive poisoned water scandal that has seen lead flooding the city’s drinking water supplies. Now, on top of the water emergency, a sharp increase in Legionnaires’ disease is hitting the community.

State officials were forced to admit at a press conference on Wednesday that there was indeed an uptick in the cases of Legionnaires’ disease and that they have “yet to determine the cause of the disease.” Chief medical executive of the Michigan department of health and human services said that a more thorough analysis was in the works. Officials gave no new advice to Flint residents regarding their water usage in relation to the Legionnaires’ uptick. RT reports that “between June 2014 and November 2015, there were 87 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, with 10 ending in death, according to Wells. The fatality rate for the disease ranges from 5-30% depending on access to antibiotics and other factors, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.”

As Kahlil AlHajal writes for MLive.com:

From June 2014 to March 2015, 45 cases of Legionella bacteria were confirmed in Genesee County, according to the state Health and Human Services Department Director Nick Lyon.

Seven of those cases were fatal.

From May 2015 to November 2015, 42 cases were confirmed in Genesee county.
Three of those were fatal.

Is Water The New Enron? - Fake Crises, Fake Bills, And Fake Solutions

David Simon
Activist Post
November 21, 2014

"In places like Benton Harbor, Michigan and Detroit, there is something called the emergency manager, which essentially is a local dictator. He can depose the mayor and offer decrees and answer to no one except the governor. In these two cities and others, because they are lacking tax revenue (because of lack of industry) they are jacking up the water rates as much as 40%. ... One of the people who was leading the charge against this stuff was recently convicted in a kangaroo court in Benton Harbor and is now facing 20 years in prison. He is Reverend Pinkney." - Brandon Turbeville

"Little bitty Benton Harbor was the testing ground. It was the testing ground to see what they can get away with. ...It's comin' to your city next, whether you like it or not.
- Rev. Edward Pinkney

Readers may remember my past article dealing with the apparent corruption regarding water rates in places like Dekalb County, Georgia. Electricity, Gas, Water. It's crucial that people be aware that they are not safe from those providing these services and necessities. They should know that their "government" can even move to take water from them.

But Dekalb County is not the only place in the United States where water rates and the restriction of access to water has become a significant issue. As the quotes above demonstrate, Benton Harbor, Michigan appears to be ground zero in the battle for access to water.

Reverend Pinkney had been, up until his recent conviction, leading the charge for the people of Benton Harbor. As the World Austerity Report writes,

Is Dekalb County, Georgia Government Running An Immense Financial Scam?

David Simon
Activist Post
October 17, 2014

It seems that Dekalb County residents have had it with corruption and abuse from their representatives. According to a number of sources, it appears that what the government in Dekalb County, Georgia is doing is preying on its citizens, while Georgia state agencies are failing to protect them from predation. Indeed, it seems that Dekalb County government officials have taken a page from this corrupt government and from the bankers who have robbed the country blind, stolen homes, destroyed jobs and rigged the whole economy. The Dekalb County government deserves some sort of corruption medal for originality as they have now entered the territory of entirely fictional billing for water services.

Over the last year, residents of Dekalb County have been receiving enormously high bills that are simply unbelievable when matched to their actual energy consumption, sometimes up to ten times higher than their bills should have been. When these citizens attempt to contact the proper authorities to rectify the situation, however, they are met with stonewalling, buck-passing, or simply ignored.

Some residents of Dekalb, however, are speaking out against this government corruption.

For instance, one citizen, whose name has been removed for purposes of anonymity, wrote a letter addressed to the Interim CEO of Dekalb County, Lee May, and Chief Financial Officer Patterson. The letter read,

Dear Mr. May (CEO of Dekalb County) and Ms. Patterson (Chief Financial Officer) , 

This is a formal letter of complaint to you as CEO of Dekalb County, and to you in your financial role in the county.