Evening star., 1935-12-24
WATER POLLUTION
WARNING ISSUED
Senator Lonergan, in Forum
Talk, Sees National
Disaster Courted.

Declaring tnaJ 10 UeIHpOIl1e IOIlSeA
with stream pollution sis to court ma
tional disaster" Senator Lonergan,
Democrat, of Connecticut asserted last
night that Federal intervention-or at
least some centralized authority-must
be invoked.
Lonergan spoke in the National
Radio Forum, arranged by The Star,
and broadcast over a nationwide net
work of the National Broadcasting Co.
The Connecticut Senator, a student
of the pollution problem and now
identified with interests studying legls-
lative action, cited conditions over the
country, using as one example Rock
Greek.
To embark on a publication CAM
paign, he said, would aid employment.
Further. he added, there would be
greater health protection, return Of
millions of dollars worth of food fish
to streams. restoration of the natural
ice industry in some places and recla-
nation of recreational areas.
The text of Senator Lonergan'S ad-
dress follows:
Stream pollution and its control rep
resent an important problem OF vital
interest to our public health. Too
often in times of stress and strain we
tend toward measures for our eco
nomic and financial Improvement and
push into the background those prob
lens related to our public welfare, our
educational needs and our public
health-which, fundamentally, are of
great Importance to cur stability and
happiness.
AS a young man I often heard it
said that God made the rivers. but
men made them sewers I was not
fully conscious of the significance of
that statement until some time after
ward, when I was appointed to board
which studied methods Of treating
sewage dumped into streams in Con-
necticut. What l learned then has
since been the cause of growing inter-
est in stream publication.
No person who has been in actual
contact with a defiled stream, with
its stencil and discoloration, affecting
both the nostril and the eye, or who
has seen contagion spread by its germ
>
or who has seen the destruction of fish
and aquatic life along its shores. will
ever again turn deaf ear toward
proposals intended to remedy such
conditions.
Four Major Types.
To understand just what the prob
lem of stream pollution is you should
pollution are. First is the pollution
by sewage from our increasing city
populations. Second is the pollution
from industries which use various
chemical processes and discharge the
residue into the streams. Third is the
pollution by oil deposits thrown into
our waters by industries or by craft
used in navigation. and fourth is the
pollution caused by acids flowing from
abandoned coal mines. I shall illus
trate a few cases.
In New York Harbor it is estimated
that 100000 gallons of sewage are
discharged each day, carrying approx
mately 800 tons of organic matter, and
its general effect is manifested in the
reduced oxygen content, detrimental to
maintenance of aquatic life and to
the -purifcation of streams.
Another example of sewage pollu-
ton is the Delaware River. Cities
along its course discharge tremendous
quantities of sewage into it hourly. 1t
is estimated that Philadelphia alone
pours from 10000 900 to 100000, 900
gallons of sewage into the lower Della
ware daily. Wind blows odors from
vast quantities of undigested sewage
in the river onto the New Jersey
shores, making living conditions very
uncomfortable, especially in warm
weather. Ships are said to shun their
docks at times because the gases aris-
ing from decomposition discolor the
ships paint. attack the caulking, open
seams and make occupation of ships by
passengers and crew while in the docks
almost unbearable.
Industrial Pollution.
Or take the case of mine which
pumps sulphuric acid drainage into
stream to save the cost of pumping
it or of properly treating the sewage;
or the case of tannery putting an
unbelievable amount of pollution into
stream which has very little pollution
from other sources: or paper pulp or
soda ash mill which discharges chem
ical refuse; or an iron and steel proc
essing company which uses picking
acid to take rust scales from iron and
then dumps the acid into nearby
streams.
Notable examples of pollution have
been found in the Nations Capital
here in Washington. where the Poto-
mac River for many miles is unsuitable
for bathing and where some one re-
Gently discovered that a stream flowing
through large public golf course was
carrying a high percentage of waste
matter from large hospital. Golf
balls, driven into the stream, We're
often retrieved with bare hands by
persons who had no knowledge of con-
ditions and whose fingers soon after
ward came into contact with the mouth
through cigarettes or candies. Chill
uren, enjoying one of the Nations
best parks here in Washington, have
been wading for years in the same
stream.
These are common situations on
every watershed in the country. Slow
Iy but certainly the Nation is becoming
aroused over it. People see not only
the grave danger to public health,
but a vast destruction of fish and
wild life, and serious effect upon
real estate values in areas where pol
tuition odorS, or commercial diSadvan-
tages arising from pollution, make the
locations unattractive In some in
stances communities have seen not
only their fisheries, but also their ice