I saw this news story and thought, “How terrible. Why weren’t the locals outraged?” Can you imagine the outcry if this sort of thing ever happened here?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, large quantities of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are entering our waterways. Environmental agencies used to believe that the source was primarily industrial and agricultural, but recent evidence points the finger at residential sources.
What do you do when you have unused prescription medications, or cosmetics, or common products such as sunscreen, medicated lotions, or aspirin? What about the cleaners, insecticides, herbicides? Many people flush these materials down the drain. Even when you don’t intend to send these chemicals down the drain, you may be. A large percentage of the pharmaceuticals you take in end up passing through your body unchanged. And all of these materials go straight to our waterways. Wastewater treatment plants neither detect them nor modify them. In many communities, putting them in the trash sends them to landfills, where they find their way into the soil or sometimes into groundwater.
Newspapers have a responsibility to separate their news stories from their editorials. When, on July 6, the Berkshire Eagle ran their supposed news story entitiled “Airport upgrade intended for all,” they were neglecting this responsibility. First of all, what prompted this article. If you read carefully, you will discover that the news event that prompted the story was the fact that airport spokesperson Randall Christiansen had spoken. The story has nothing to report other than this man’s words. So what did he say that prompted the Eagle to announce that the airport is “for all.” He said, “There’s still a sense out there that pervades a small portion of the community that this is a rich playground for the rich and famous….” Nothing else in the story addresses this point. There is no supporting evidence offered to support the position that this is a minority opinion, and there is nothing in the story that explains how the expansion will benefit the average person in Pittsfield; and yet the title proclaims this revelation. Read more…