"Getting rid" of the chemical factories is not the answer.

In Bradford’s piece, I agree that there are problems that comes along with the industrialized communities we live in, mostly due to the waste that results from these industries. Specifically, the chemicals and poisons from this waste that we get exposed to, and which cause serious dangers for our health. However I do not see how we could ever possibly “do away” with the entire “chemical way of life” that we have developed, which Bradford calls for us to do at the end of his piece. The industrial revolution was a major milestone for America, and although some, probably including Bradford, would say that it was a bad milestone, some view it as improvement. I realize that without it, we would never have developed certain health care advances and medicines or construction products, home furnishings, paper, paints, electronics (like your trusty cell phone or microwave), and some foods. All produced by these horrible chemical factories. Although, I think with anything, too much of something is never good. I think these factories, although important to our lives, due to all of the products they produce that we use every day of our lives, there definitely needs to be tighter, healthier, more environmentally friendly ways to dispose of the waste they also produce; because, the sickness that these wastes cause is undeniable. However, I think the call to “throw off this way of life” and to say that the “chemical factories must go” is too drastic. They do have some purpose and although probably corrupt, illegal, and currently causing health and environmental issues, they have a purpose and I feel we do need the products they make. Therefore, I think there needs to be better regulations and laws to monitor the disposal of their wastes. Which bring me to my next point; I realized that this paper was written in 1985, and most of the circumstances that were described, although compelling, seemed out of date, and it made the article not hold as much weight for me. For all I know, the situations could be worse now, some 24 years later, or they could have improved. That is the point, I don’t know and I would like to know what the circumstances are today. Are there more regulations on chemical waste disposal? Are there more consequences for illegal activity? Are we still where we were in 1985, or have things gotten worse? All I know is every time the Limerick chemical plant’s sirens go off, I want to hold my breath. Not really sure why, maybe because I think they are leaking chemicals into the air that will give my future children birth defects, and for all I know this could be true. Or those sirens could be a simple test. But if I KNEW that the government had particular laws against the release of harmful toxins in the Limerick chemical plant, I could breathe easy. I guess I just need more information.