Word: toxicity
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...armed forces, whose installations cover 25.6 million acres of America, have for decades allowed the leakage of oil and other fuels, drained toxic chemicals into waterways, dumped lethal sludge at unlined landfills and littered the country with unexploded shells and bombs. Military bases often sit astride local water sources, and some neighboring towns have detected higher incidences of tumors, cancer and birth defects. "Each of the military services is guilty," says Seth Shulman, author of The Threat at Home: Confronting the Toxic Legacy of the U.S. Military. "From coast to coast, there's an unbroken seam of toxic time bombs...
Supporters of Question Four, which would tax companies for producing toxic waste, said they would continue their efforts using residents who live close to hazardous waste sites...
...terms of environmental problems, safe disposal of toxic waste remains one of the most problematic issues. Residents and non-residents alike will be surprised at the astounding number of toxic waste sites in Massachusetts: the state's Department of Environmental Protection lists approximately 2,700 confirmed sites and 2,500 suspected ones. The Cambridge-Boston area alone is home to several hundred toxic sites. In Woburn, about 30 minutes from Cambridge, several lethal toxics-related cases of leukemia among children were reported a few years ago. In Leominster (about 90 minutes away), in an even more publicized case, parents...
...with this understanding that we support the Polluter Pay Initiative--Question Four on the ballot. If passed, this binding referendum would place an excise tax on toxic chemicals and industrial petroleum purchased by major users. The money raised will go to the state's Environmental Challenge Fund that will be used to clean up abandoned sites in Massachusetts and to hire environmental officials to monitor existing hazardous waste sites. Proponents of the legislation cite the grim statistic that only two of the 5,000 sites in Massachusetts were cleaned up in the last 18 months...
Question Four's biggest weakness has actually been ignored in the advertising, at least so far. Although proponents of Question Four have powerfully noted that the polluters of over 200 of Massachusetts' toxic sites--companies like W.R. Grace and Mobil--are paying for the "No on Four" campaign, this still doesn't seem quite fair to those companies currently not engaging in illegal dumping. Under the initiative, all companies using hazardous chemicals will be taxed, even ones with strong environmental policies...