{ title: 'Indian time. (Rooseveltown, N.Y.) 1983-current, July 15, 1983, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87008345/1983-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87008345/1983-07-15/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87008345/1983-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87008345/1983-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Northern NY Library Network
ir' -#•• « 4 INDIAN TIME ••••••BBBBB Events •••••••••••••••••••••••••»*••' Tribunal afeet^oup: PCB's at Akwesasne * Akwesisne - it's founding, growth, and a few of the individuals who created it. * Pdetry •I f: -I \• ,,S&*1>———'~~ • I VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2 JULY 15, WATER TO BE BOILED Chenail • Tenants of the Chenail Farm receiv- ed a letter dated 7/14/83 from the St. Regis Housing Dept. stating: Please be advised that you are to boil your water before using it for drinking and cook- ing purposes. ••\\'. ;i PRICE* $ .50 Aerial view of Racquette area near Central Foundry. ALPHABET SOUP: PCB's at .... \more than half oj yearly production entered dumps and landfills in the United States. Since100^ 3<)0,()()0 tons have accumulated in such locations.'-' \.'•• '••': •• .•':'•:.\ :: -\ ••-U;.^ ^v • -•.•'••••: • Whenever the subject of PCB contamination is raised for.; discussion, the people of Akwesasne are not alone in their-; lack of knowledge on the chemistry of PCB's and their ef- fects on people and the environment. Mostpeople come out; the same sewer pipe they went in when confronted with a need or desire to make some sense out of it even in the most general terms. Yet, we do need to educate ourselves on the s.ubjec+of PCB's because PCB's are a regular part of the diets of at least some of the people of Akwesasne, It is entirely possible that ongoing and future studies may establish that PCB contamination of our environment is mortTwide spread and severe than we presently fear. One thing is for certain. : PCB s do not go away by themselves. PCBs J will be with us ^md our decendants for some time to come. . . . :: A good place to start our education might be in learning how to pronounce the actual name. PCB is only the call- letter short form for Polychlorinated Biphenyts. If it looks like Greek to you, that's because it is Greek. However, it is not that difficult to pronounce when the component words are broken down to individual Greek meaning or semantics. Poly (polys) is a Greek term for plurality which simply means many or more than one, and is pronounced the same as in 'Poly wants a cracker.' The second half of the first word is chlorinated, which is also from the Greek, cbloros meaning\ pale green. Chloros is used in the word chlorine, a greenish yellow, poisonous, gaseous chemical element commonly us- ed in water purification, as a bleaching agent, and in various industrial processes. During the first world war chlorine was used in the infamous chemical compound known as Mustard Gas, which when inhaled turns into a form of corrosive hydrochloric acid that eats away lung tissues. Ch.lorina.ted, pronounced klor en ated, however, simply describes that a substance has had chlorine added or bonded to. it, as in to chlorinate. Biphenyl, pronounced bye fenil, describes the molecular structured PCB's. Bi is Greek for duality, Or two; . Phenyl refers to a ring of six carbon atoms depicted as a hex- agonal (six-sided) molecule. Biphenyl then, is a description of two (bi) phenyl molecules joined together to foftn the hydrocarbon molecule. By the process of chlorination pnt to ten hydrogen atoms are substitued by chlorine atoms to form a PCB hydrocarbon. I did say a PCB hydrocarbon, The fact of the matter is that there are 209 different types of PCB's known as isomers. The type or isomer of PCB.that is produced by the process of chlorination is dependent upon , the degree and amount of chlorine bonded to the Biphenyj molecule. Poly (many) chlorinated (chlorine added) Biphenyl (hydrocarbon). So we see that Polychlorinated Biphenyls is only a very general term used to denote all 209 PCB types. Each of the 209 isomers of PCB has its -own WITH THANKS TO P4CASSO, SMUBH iGreek name, (literally alphabet soup!),which I won't bother going into in this article. \•'•' : ' , ,: rPCB's range in consistency from heavy bright oily liquids t<t crystalinifc solids. -.The. highly stable properties of PCB's makes them attractive to many industrial applications. PCB's have great chemical stability in that they do not degrade in \the natural biological environment. Other properties are low flammability, does not burn below 800 degrees C, low solubility in water (but highly soluable in fats and organic solvents), good heat conducting capacity, low electrical con- ductivity, and a high di-electric constant. Because of these properties, PCB's have found wide applications in elec trotechnlcal systems (transformers and capacitors) as a di- electricum. The industrial applications of PCB's can be divid- ed , into three groups. 1). Controlable closed systems: transformers, great capacitors, and electromagnets. These systems are long lived units (50 years) and contain large amounts of PCB's that can be collected and regenerated after use. HoweverXaccidental leakage may occur during this pro- cess. 2) tincontrolable closed systems: heat exchangers, hydraulic systems, and vacuum pumps. These systems per- mit leakage and because of the small amounts used; recovery is nearly impossible and is often dumped. 3) DiSsipative uses or open systems: in these systems PCB's find uses in diverse products such as lubricating, drilling and cutting oils, pesticides, plasticizers in plastics, non-earbon required copypgper, genes (hot-melts), mostly in paints and inks. PjCB's in these systems are in direct contact with the en- vironment and recovery is not possible. There are two methods used to dispose of- PCB-waste: dumping and incineration. Incineration of PCB's.requires specialized combustion plants owing to the fact that PCB's dp not burn below 800 degrees C. Efficient incineration of PCB-s is achieved only at temperatures above 1200 degrees C. Obviously, dumping PCB's is the easiest and least expen- sive method of disposal. Before restrictions on use in open systems existed, more than a half of yearly production entered dumps and landfills in the United States. Since 1930, 300,000 tons of,PCB have accumulated in such locations. It is not known to this author what amounts of PQB were dumped by Generjal Motors at the dump site directly adja- cent to Raquette Point. However, it has become evident that PCB's are entering the groundwater of Raquette Point. PCB contamination has been discovered in a well Ideated on the Tony Cole residence on Raquette Point. The results were surprizing since this well is located further away from the - waste-site than other wells that showed negative results The Cole well is a particularly deep well and the presence of PCB's indicates that the contamination is moving through the groundwater under Mohawk tejrHtory. pVd^t^stiid^es have not established how wide spread the cc^tiiuiu>»atibn is^ but further studies and an ongoing s^pl^ j^^i^w^wiU hopefully establish the flow patterns oi the \0$^0^tt^a;•'. the levels of PCB contamination. It is impor^t tliat the geological structure of Akwesasne and adjacent areis be studied, whereby such flow patterns may be extrapolated and used as an indication guide to further study and sampl- ing of the groundwater. It is absolutely imperaUye that; the I PCB contamination be closely monitored to prcvetit adverse 'health effects in the people of Akwesasne and the people iwlio share our surrounding environment. '•;•','.' : 'y'y-';\'y- • •• •\ • \..••.'•' .'. •' '.;' ;. '.'. '•, ••.••'•'• : I^hTliprrtRS<!M-;'. Akwesasne Hosts Delegates from International W Rotterdam Holland A - Marf a Spakman (left) takes notes wbile Leo listens to Biologist Henry tickers explain bis findings on the St. Lawrence. . Over the riexHthree or four weeks, Akwesasne will be playing host to three delegates from the International Water Tribunal of Rotterdam, Holland. Leo de Vree, an analyst working for the PCB case of the Dutch Society for the Preservation of the Wadden Sea (a shallow sea in the north of the Netherlands), Rick Looyen, a biology student working with' the Foundation Dutch Action Group for North American Indians (N,A.N.A.L), and Marja Spakman, a teacher, are here on a fact finding mission for the Tribunal. They are here: to study the effects and evidences of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's) in thV groundwater at Akwesasne and to help assemble case documents for presentation to the International Water Tribunal by-the Mohawk Council Of ChiefMn Rotterdam in early October \Every user of the environment has the duty towards the world community, cases of force majeure (unavoidable pollution) excepted, to prevent that any aquatic pollution* caused by such use, whether or not ia combination witfe other sources of pollution, could damage the aquatic environment. Consequently, the world community has the right to call every individual user of water to account when this rule is breached.\ Rick, Leo, and Marja will be collecting their own groundwater samples for analysis in Holland. A Preliminary Case Outline has, been prepared and submitted to the Tribunal for review. Thanks to Henry Lickers of the St. Regis Environmental Division, and Jim Ransom of the Environmnental Health office, they have been able to collect sufficient scientific data for the purposes of the Tribunal. However, they have been unsuccessful in finding geological information oh Akwesasne, which is an essential elemenf to their study. They willl be travelling through the region in New York State and Ontario in search of this\ and further information (any leads to Akwesasne's geological structure would be much appreciated). . . _•* Dan Thbmpson • . Rokwabo ;'\ The International Water Tribunal was organized on the initiative of eleven Dutch environmental organizations by the International! Water Tribunal Foundation. The Tribunal gives every individual or organization the opportunity to present cas^s of water pollution to an international, independent jury. The Jury will decide if, in what way and to what extent cases of pollution are in conflict with generally accepted ethical principles, with international declarations and conventions, and with international and national legislation. : The international Water Tribunal stands on the following declaration, ; , ; TRIBE AWARDED WATERLINE HONEY The St. Regis Mohawk tribe has been awarded a $140,000.00 grant towards the placement of additional waterlines on the reservation. This grant is part of Reagan's Job Bill to enable communities to supply more jobs to more men. ;. The waterline will be placed on the Frogtown Road -from Route 37 up to Howard Cole's home. Another line wflt be laid down on the Racquette Point Road - from Route 37 up to Bobby Herne's home, the original plan was to give first priority to men who had families, who were veterans, whose unemployment had run out or who were experiencing other hardships. Because Bi - Henry tickers (sitting right) briefs Rick Looyen (standing) and Leo deVree (left) on contaminants found in St. Lawrence River fish. almost all the 196 applicants fit into either one or more of these categories, a \lottery-style \ hiring procedure took place. This insured equal opportunity to all applicants to the placement of the 30 Job openings. Five crewleaders were also chosen on the basis of their veteran status, past work ex- periences, and dependability. Additional men will be hired when the actual \laying down of pipes'\ takes place. fWt&ii '«W
