tailieunhanh - OUT OF THE GUTTER: Reducing Polluted Runoff in the District of Columbia

The hazards of methylmercury poisoning received modern international attention in 1956 when many of the residents of Minamata, Japan, became seriously ill, or died, after eating the fish and shellfish in Minamata Bay. A chemical plant that used methylmercury to manufacture plastic (acetaldehyde) was dumping methylmercury-contaminated wastes into Minamata Bay. The mercury built up or bioac- cumulated in the fish and shellfish, which were a major part of the residents’ diets. A similar tragedy unfolded in the nearby town of Nigata, Japan. Eventually, hundreds of people died, including many stillborn children, and thousands were made severely ill from eating the contaminated seafood. The official Japanese government estimate. | OUT OF THE GUTTER Reducing Polluted Runoff in the District of Columbia Principal Author James W. Woodworth Jr. The Josephine Merck Environmental Policy Fellow NRDC Contributing Authors George Aponte Clarke Blue Heron Consulting William Huang Spiegel McDiarmid Nancy Stoner NRDC Natural Resources Defense Council July 2002 Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC The Earth s Best Defense OUT OF THE GUTTER Reducing Polluted Runoff in the District of Columbia July 2002 ABOUT NRDC The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national nonprofit environmental organization with more than 500 000 members. Since 1970 our lawyers scientists and other environmental specialists have been working to protect the world s natural resources and improve the quality of the human environment. NRDC has offices in New York City Washington . Los Angeles and San Francisco. Visit us on the World Wide Web at . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Natural Resources Defense Council would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Watershed Protection Division of the Washington . Department of Health as well as The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation The Davis Family Trust for Clean Water The Mary Jean Smeal Clean Water Fund and The Summit Fund of Washington. In addition the authors would like to thank William Huang at Spiegel McDiarmid for his excellent pro bono assistance. Finally this report would not be possible without the support of NRDC s members who now number more than 500 000. NRDC Reports Manager Emily Cousins NRDC President John Adams Editor Dana Nadel Foley NRDC Executive Director Frances Beinecke Production Bonnie Greenfield NRDC Director of Communications Alan Metrick Cover Design Jenkins Page Copyright 2002 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. For additional copies of this report send plus shipping and handling to NRDC Publications Department 40 West 20th Street New York NY 10011. California residents must add sales .