“A fishing boat dredging for clams off New York's Long Island pulled up 10 canisters, including one that broke open and released an unidentified chemical that caused two crew members to blister and struggle to breathe… The vessel returned to New Bedford at about 4 a.m. Monday to drop off the sickened crew member for treatment before heading back to sea with the remaining five crew members, Faria said. But a second crew member reported feeling lightheaded, and the boat brought him back to the port at about 9:30 a.m. before going back out…” HEADED BACK TO SEA TWICE! Hey, I get it. The economy sucks and you need that income but still… Damn guys, what wouldn’t you be willing to expose the world to for that catch of the day?
“Crews Begin Cleaning Mustard Gas-Tainted Clam Boat”
So, Joyce Brennan, St. Luke’s Hospital spokeswoman, what ya got to say now? How about an apology ‘cause the EMT’s damn sure got it right this time!
“The Coast Guard plans to work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make sure the area where the hazardous containers were found is clearly marked…” “The crew of six caught the canisters in their nets Sunday about 45 miles south of Long Island but dumped them back into the ocean…” Good odds that they have NO idea where those canisters are now! How they gonna mark THAT?!
Why do I care? After all, this is a long way away from me. I’m near Houston and we’re hearing about the oil spill all day, every day. What we humans ditch into the sea, whether on purpose or by accident, can hang around a VERY long time and come back to hurt us all. The world is huge and yet so very small. We should never become so involved in any one thing that we lose sight of the rest of what is “up” in the world. All are pieces of a whole. We must watch both the trees AND the forest. That's why I care.