Dear EarthTalk: What’s being done to clean up hog farming operations in places like Iowa and North Carolina and others where the industry is quite large? I’ve heard horrific stories about man-made “lagoons” of animal waste spilling into and fouling rivers and groundwater and the like.
-- John Schmid, Fremont, California
Dear EarthTalk: What are the primary environmental concerns in the aftermath of the big earthquake in Haiti? -- Frank Dover, Portland, OR
As would be the case after any natural disaster, water-borne illness could run rampant and chemicals and oil could leak out of damaged storage facilities as a result of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that ripped apart Haiti on Jan. 12. Surprisingly, no large industrial spills have been found during initial post-quake rescue efforts, but of course, the focus has been on saving human lives and restoring civil order.
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