PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to share with the Faithful our views regarding this very current and hotly debated issue: Man's Impact on his Environment. Now that all "experts" have spoken, with President Bush logically sharing his corner with Ratzinger (1) and with Former Vice President Al Gore in the opposing corner, we will speak.


INTRODUCTION

Before his conversion to the no-compromise practice of the Catholic Faith, miguel was a practicing Chemical and Environmental Engineer - a Senior Chemical Process Specialist with much experience at all levels in the field. Temporarily wearing the hat of the man who was to become miguel de Portugal [that is, speaking as miguel B.C. (Before Conversion)], he states: If you have four engineers studying a problem, you will have five different opinions. There will only be agreement by all on one opinion: Further study is necessary. This is because "further study" is the source of additional grants in the Universities and R&D funding in the private industry.

From the same podium he would also state: We cannot discount the contribution of natural causes for the accelerating global warming but, at the same time, we cannot deny the horrific impact "civilization" is having on the Environment.

Theologically speaking we could also say: There you have another silent, but clear, warning from God - Global Warming.... as the "civilized" world approaches hell, it is bound to get hotter!


DETAILS

We will now recount a few front line experiences the man who was to become m de P lived while discharging his professional duties for his employer, who was then the fourth largest petrochemical firm in the world.

The "Grandfather Clause"

A grandfather clause is an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to "grandfather" means to grant such an exemption. For example, a "grandfathered power plant" might be exempt from newer and tougher pollution laws. Often, such a provision is used as a compromise, to effect new rules without upsetting a well-established logistical or political situation. This extends the idea of a rule not being "retroactively applied". (2)

This clause was amply invoke and abused by the chemical and petrochemical industry.

It was a great and profitable clause because... They would keep old polluting plants running, as long as it was physically possible, by essentially rebuilding the same old plant through "routine maintenance" work. The "beauty" of it was that maintenance work is immediately 100 % tax deductible while new capital expenditures have to be depreciated over time. Therefore: It was a win-win solution for the industry and a lose-lose solution for the public.

That is the Petrochemical equivalent to the 007 Agent License to Kill.


What's a little spent uranium mixed with the water to shower? To drink? To bathe in?

Most of you remember the publicity associated with the Gulf War Syndrome wherein some experts felt that the syndrome may have been caused by the pollution caused by the shells used during the war since their armored projectiles contained spent uranium. If that had been the case we would probably have nation wide Gulf War Syndrome. Why? Allow us...

In the mid sixties a new catalyst was developed to produce a certain chemical, which was then the raw material to many every day plastics. Its production, worldwide, was in the billions of pounds. It was m de P (B.C.), who was in charge of all aspects for the change over to the "new and improved" catalyst for the company he was associated with. The reactor redesign, determining and monitoring the environmental impact, overseeing the analytical developments required to monitor the new operations, etc. were part of his responsibilities. As a point of reference - the EPA, as we know it now, did not exist in those days.

The "new and improved" catalyst contained a substantial percentage of Uranium Oxide - containing U 234 (3). Because of its expense, we monitored its use quite closely - a usage which, if memory does not fail, was in the hundreds of thousands of pounds per year.

That uranium containing catalyst was released into the environment via the flare stack and as part of a liquid waste which was disposed of by injection into deep wells. The use of that catalyst spread everywhere in the US and the world - and probably there are a few chemical complexes that still use it. Thus, if the uranium exposure - even if it was from different uranium isotopes - was the cause of Gulf War Syndrome, the disease, or a related one, probably would have been widespread amongst non Gulf War combatants too.


The "purple plume"

In another major project in which m de P (B.C.) was a key player from its very conception, a certain chemical was used - methyl iodide. (4) In those Google-less days part of m de P's function was to determine the toxicity and environmental impact of the chemicals that were going to be used in the new process. The whole operation was so cutting edge that new metal alloys had to be developed to be able to fabricate the equipment that would contain such chemicals.

Among the effects methyl iodide had in humans was dementia (we can see m de P's enemies saying now "We knew it! You see, he is demented!"). Therefore a major effort was made to prevent contamination in laboratories, the pilot plant and commercial plant. "Thankfully" before it affected the human brain it would alert us because it would seriously burn the skin.

 During chemical plants process upsets, the flare stacks that can be seen within chemical complexes, are used to burn the gaseous effluents to minimize hazards to life and property. Sometimes the rate of venting could be as high 250,000 pounds per hour.

When a methyl iodide containing stream was vented and burned at the tip of the flare, a purple plume was visible. That was because the methyl iodide was broken down into molecular iodine which in the vapor state is purple. As one may have expected, those colorful plumes caught the attention of the neighbors and the then existing EPA or equivalent, therefore, formal complaints followed..

The engineers who were in charge of the operations then - m de P (B.C.) was then marketing the process worldwide - had a "brilliant" idea: Inject steam at the tip of the flare and the purple plume would turn into a nice white inoffensive looking fluffy plume.

What happened was that when they injected steam into a stream containing molecular iodine, it reacted - yielding hydrogen iodide and hydriodic acid. (5) Hydrogen iodide is a very corrosive acid with no odor, and no color is detectable to observers. The masses were fooled again!


CONCLUSION

Brethren - this IS just barely the tip of the proverbial iceberg [we could write volumes], but this should be enough to give you an idea how we are really harming the environment and human life. Think of it next time someone "weighs in" denying that we are seriously impacting the environment - it does not matter if the one who denies it wears Pradas and an ermine shawl (1).

The movie Erin Brockovich (6) just gave the people a very small (but accurate) window of a very dark reality.


EPILOGUE

We want to go on record stating that:


Unfortunately, the world has changed much in forty years and ethics and morals have become museum pieces. Now, most individuals in the same positions would sell their mothers, wives and children if they got a good price for them! Therefore, one can easily imagine what is being done to the environment now.
 
Let us continue to pray...



NOTES                          

(1) News Quote


Comments



News report published at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=501316&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490

(2) The Grandfather Clause

(3) About Uranium

(4) Methyl Iodide Hazards

(5) What is this?

(6) Erin Brockovich

(7) We are not bragging about our "goodness" since man should not pride himself of doing what is right and just. That is the least God expects of him.



Published on December 15th, 2007

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