EDITORIAL : PLAN FOR THE FUTURE; UNCONTROLLED GROWTH AND IGNORANCE OF THE HAZARDS OF CHEMICALS LED TO THE CONTAMINATION OF THE VALLEY'S GROUNDWATER.FOR the next 30 to 40 years - and possibly longer, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. residents will be paying higher water rates because 85 percent of the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Valley's natural underground reservoirs are contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with chemicals used in aerospace manufacturing, dry cleaning dry cleaning, process of cleaning fabrics without water. Special solvents and soaps are used so as not to harm fabrics and dyes that will not withstand the effects of ordinary soap and water. Dry cleaning began in France about the middle of the 19th cent. and gasoline. The high cost of water is attributed to the price of importing water from the Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada, mountain range, Spain Sierra Nevada (syā`rä nāvä`thä), chief mountain range of S Spain, in Granada prov., running from east to west for c.60 mi (100 km), parallel to the Mediterranean Sea. and elsewhere and cleaning up the groundwater supplies so future generations can once again drink from the rain-replenished wells. Last week, the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Institute of the Environment gave the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, region a grade of C, for its relatively weak performance in cleaning up groundwater contamination. The region received an F for its past performance in the 1999 Southern California Environmental Report Card. Scientists say the poisoning of the water was partly due to man's ignorance of the chemicals' harmful effects. But that's not all. Poorly controlled planning in the Valley contributed to the situation we're in now. In the 1950s and '60s the Valley grew exponentially and today developers are pushing the limits anywhere they can find an opening. All this stresses the region's natural habitat, minerals and man-made amenities, like electricity. Most of all, it affects our water supply. Before officials approve massive residential projects - like Ahmanson Ranch in Ventura County and Newhall Ranch in Santa Clarita - they must fully investigate the impacts on the environment beyond how they affect commutes or pollution in the near future, particularly how they will change the environment for the long term. If officials in the 1950s knew the chemicals used at an aerospace plant would force the closure of drinking wells three decades later, would they have allowed the factory to be built without stricter building codes? The same goes for gas stations. At least two groundwater wells have been closed due to contamination from the gas additive MTBE MTBE Methyl-tert-butyl-ether Surgery An aliphatic ether that rapidly dissolves cholesterol stones in vivo, introduced under local anesthesia via a percutaneous transhepatic cholecystectomy catheter, as a non-invasive method for treating gallstones; after injection, , which Gov. Gray Davis banned earlier this year for health reasons. Now gasoline storage tanks must be double-lined to prevent leakage. Information like that would have been helpful to know decades ago because it's going to take as long to clean up the groundwater as it did to spoil it, and at far greater expense. One cleanup estimate is $2 billion. Planners need to be much smarter about projects they approve to ensure that the region can support the growing communities. |
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