NEW YORK (Reuters) - “A powerful, mysterious smell of gas wafted through much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday, forcing building evacuations and a temporary suspension of commuter train service before dissipating by mid-afternoon…

Officials were quick to stress that the odor was not dangerous, but at least 19 people went to the hospital with minor ailments (upset stomachs, dizziness or difficulty breathing) and its wide extent provoked jitters in a city that constantly reminded of the September 11 attacks.
“It was all minor,” said the spokesman, although he said a total of 409 fire trucks and hook and ladder rigs were scrambled to investigate the fumes — about six times more than during a normal period.

A spokesman for ConEdison said the company had found no problems in its natural gas system that would have explained the smell. “We did not find any gas leak or any problem on our gas system,” spokesman Joseph Peta said. “At this point the cause of the odor remains a mystery.”"

I am left in a state of disbelief when I read an article such as this.? So many times in our environment, the little upsets aren’t given proper attention.? We will jump up in complete shock and awe, demanding something be found out and a course of action be taken in response to a catastrophic event such as 9/11, but we will let the little ripples fall to the wayside.

It will be interesting to see if the “mystery” of this gas pollution ever becomes otherwise, especially in a public sense.? I naturally doubt it.? Quite often if something foul occurs due to a major corporations mistakes, all will be kept calm and quiet for their fear of money loss and bad press.? A simple investigation into the matter falls into the “money loss” category as well.? This leaves many innocent people in the path of some unhealthy consequences.
The pollution caused by the debris of the Twin Towers after 9/11 was brushed aside.? Thousands of people were exposed to these chemicals that could potentially cause cancer and other long-term health issues.? More immediately, these pollutants have already caused plenty of lung ailments.? At the time, our government made little-to-no effort in investigating the effects of all this.

Time can heal the effects of war and “terror”.? Generations get further away from the reality of such events, to the point where we create them anew.? But our neglect and abuse to our environment is something that will effect every generation.? These things stay within our genes and our soil.? The time it takes to mend these mistakes is far greater.

Why we let money and the impression of power control the larger populaces wellbeing… Well, that is just a weakness we’ll rise against.? Or it will tear us down, and leave us with lessons to build upon for a better future.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 10:36 pm and is filed under Press Over Policies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.