Even if the toxins made it into the Ohio River, they would be confined to the Ohio River (and then diluted into the Mississippi), and not travel upstream into the tributaries. This map is not correct. This is showing the entirety of the Ohio River watershed...not the potential impact of the spill.
Are you sure about that? I thought HCl was a byproduct of the burn off, so it would go into the air causing acid rain. Groundwater could still be contaminated by unburned vinyl chloride or other byproducts.
What is the source for this map? Living in East Tennessee (a.k.a., God's Country) the prevailing winds here are almost entirely from the west to the east, and occasionally from the South when we're having bad weather during hurricane season. I'd like to know the source of this map, as it does not seem to comport with prevailing winds here in East Tennessee.
You know, there's a few major problems with this. Besides what u/bcfromfl pointed out, this theory overlooks one major, glaring problem. Water travels downhill due to the basic laws of physics. The Appalachians tend to get higher in elevation the further south you go, which presents a problem with what this post is suggesting.
Ohio and Pennsylvania, even the Appalachian part of the two states, are at a lower elevation than the entirety of West Virginia, and a good portion of the covered areas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
In fact, the mountain range peaks in the North Carolina side of the Smokey Mountains. Ergo, it's physically impossible for nearly half this map to see water contamination in the way described, since it would require water to flow uphill to reach those areas.
The same logic still applies Aquifers aren't all on the same level, they increase in elevation with the land. The water would still have to flow uphill to reach the Aquifers in the southern Appalachians. Otherwise they'd be below the Bedrock level of the area, and thus not flow into the underground aquifers.
You're right, that's why quite a few are basically useless since we'd have to drill so far down to access them it, it's be more effective and cheaper to collect rain water. Every USABLE aquifer in the area we're debating over is at an increased elevation. Otherwise you'd have to drill thousands of feet into the ground to get to them, which isn't feasible by most standards.
Bottom line, the contaminates will still be in the water/ground building up even if the flow map isn't accurate. Regardless, this is a potential disaster for farming and humans and SHOULD have boots on the ground out there studying it.
And where is the EPA? That bloated, sit behind the desk, fat ass bunch of bureaucrats doing nothing. They should have been the first and only responders at that site. In this country EVERYTHING IS BROKEN.
The last time they shut down the government temporarily, all departments were to told to keep only essential employees. The EPA was operating with 15% of it's work force. Do we really need the ofther 85%?
Even if the toxins made it into the Ohio River, they would be confined to the Ohio River (and then diluted into the Mississippi), and not travel upstream into the tributaries. This map is not correct. This is showing the entirety of the Ohio River watershed...not the potential impact of the spill.
If it is mostly just Hydrochloric acid, the salts will neutralize it
I'd be more worried about the vapors
And phosgene produced.
Are you sure about that? I thought HCl was a byproduct of the burn off, so it would go into the air causing acid rain. Groundwater could still be contaminated by unburned vinyl chloride or other byproducts.
All of this is airborne from the fire.
Here is a map of the U.S. aquifers: https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/aquifers-map-principal-aquifers-united-states The map in the OP is showing the Ohio River watershed.
What is the source for this map? Living in East Tennessee (a.k.a., God's Country) the prevailing winds here are almost entirely from the west to the east, and occasionally from the South when we're having bad weather during hurricane season. I'd like to know the source of this map, as it does not seem to comport with prevailing winds here in East Tennessee.
The map is not wind it's water run off into the aquifer.
Ah, got it. I was thrown off by the word "wind" in the title.
I got it from this tweet. https://twitter.com/BooLongfellow/status/1625126996761096194?
Watch the water.
The statement that sticks in my mind over this is when a local said "This area is nothing but farmland."
Exactly!! Beautiful farmland. If this renders it unsafe for farming then here come the solar farms and wind farms....
Why is the media not reporting it? Because they want people to die and not even know what caused it.
Baffling...
They'll claim those that perished did so as a result of the latest CV strain. Go get boosted people!!!
You know, there's a few major problems with this. Besides what u/bcfromfl pointed out, this theory overlooks one major, glaring problem. Water travels downhill due to the basic laws of physics. The Appalachians tend to get higher in elevation the further south you go, which presents a problem with what this post is suggesting.
Ohio and Pennsylvania, even the Appalachian part of the two states, are at a lower elevation than the entirety of West Virginia, and a good portion of the covered areas in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
In fact, the mountain range peaks in the North Carolina side of the Smokey Mountains. Ergo, it's physically impossible for nearly half this map to see water contamination in the way described, since it would require water to flow uphill to reach those areas.
This is showing the aquifer, not surface groundwater. https://digitalatlas.cose.isu.edu/hydr/concepts/gwater/imgs/5comp.jpg
The same logic still applies Aquifers aren't all on the same level, they increase in elevation with the land. The water would still have to flow uphill to reach the Aquifers in the southern Appalachians. Otherwise they'd be below the Bedrock level of the area, and thus not flow into the underground aquifers.
Not all increase in elevation with the land, some do.
You're right, that's why quite a few are basically useless since we'd have to drill so far down to access them it, it's be more effective and cheaper to collect rain water. Every USABLE aquifer in the area we're debating over is at an increased elevation. Otherwise you'd have to drill thousands of feet into the ground to get to them, which isn't feasible by most standards.
Bottom line, the contaminates will still be in the water/ground building up even if the flow map isn't accurate. Regardless, this is a potential disaster for farming and humans and SHOULD have boots on the ground out there studying it.
I hadn't considered this scenario until now, what if they evacuated all of us covered in the blue area and put us in camps? "For our safety".
Now that's a pretty scary thought. They would love an experiment like that.
That's a tuff one to answer. Oh wait, look at the location, PERFECT!
And the winds are blowing the air over great lakes and into Canada.
And where is the EPA? That bloated, sit behind the desk, fat ass bunch of bureaucrats doing nothing. They should have been the first and only responders at that site. In this country EVERYTHING IS BROKEN.
Actually the EPA is busy in court trying to defend Biden admin's indefensible actions.
The last time they shut down the government temporarily, all departments were to told to keep only essential employees. The EPA was operating with 15% of it's work force. Do we really need the ofther 85%?