such as vanadium, manganese, chromium, nickel, arsenic,
mercury, lead and cadmium, which can be toxic at very
minute levels - says Wikepedia!
So, what is an Incinerator? In the 1930’s until
the most of the 1950’s…as the Southland Basin of Los
Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties
expanded….the family incinerator dotted the So. Cal.
landscape. Tiny plumes of black, gray, brown, green and
white smoke would rise in the backyards of family,
neighbors, businesses and cities. Some Incinerators were
the Industrial Kiln types, like that one that James Bond
dumped Ernst Starvo Blofeld into off the runner of a radio
controlled helicopter! Don’t worry…they are still around
- just in case ESB makes a comeback in the next JB episode!
Incinerators like the one Great Grandma had was
this awful cement brick/slab concoction…with a screen
and lid positioned on top. It seemed pretty big to a
little kid…but probably wasn’t much more than 5 or 6
feet in height. One thing was certain…it was a dirty
mess…all the time. The odors and ash and toxic flavors
left in your mouth after dumping your trash into these
vehicles was truly a dirty, messy and later found out
to be….very unhealthful!
People would put virtually any thing you could
think of in their incinerators…..old oil from their cars,
plastic toys from Japan, Kotex, Baby Diapers, fabric
rags and old towels, medical waste - you name it. What
these odors and toxins were doing to your neighbors
environment were probably pretty bad.
Kids used to play with the family incinerator
and throw fireworks, gasoline or anything else they
could find that would explode. We are talking about
Paint Thinner, Ant Poison, Kerosine or Ammonia! There
were some very serious accidents or rather stupid
events which left many dead, serverly burned or some'
disfigured for life. The 60’s brought a concerted
effort to have Waste Disposal people do the curb side
pick-up trash…on a weekly basis, we are now so used to
and in doing so…to reduce smog and the various health
and safety concerns.
http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/Archives/History/marchcov.html
In October of 1947 was the beginning of the
AQMD. If we go back, it was reported that the smoke
and haze was so bad one summer day in 1903…they thought
it was a total eclipse of the sun. In 1959, as you
would drive along the Santa Ana Freeway (5)…and into
Los Angeles “into the bottleneck”…where the Santa Monica
(10), the Gardena (60) and the now Century Freeways all
met…..you might have to pull to the side of one of
those Freeways and stop because the Plating Company
by those Freeways was belching green smoke that was
burning your eyes so badly that you couldn’t see or
drive. If you were lucky, the wind would change and
you could extracate yourself quickly from the vicinity.
Sounds impossible doesn’t it?
Fast forward to 2006, 2007 and now 2008.
New residences are being built without Fireplaces!
That’s right….Fireplaces are being regulated out
of existence. The toxic logs that you pile up and
light up along with your toxic fuel starter…are now
being restricted. Sounds like the end times doesn’t
it? Hearth and Home…what next are they going to
outlaw or ban - the family dog? The reality is that
we are not taking very good care of our environment,
our neighbors, or friends or our families when it
comes to exposing them to toxic fumes! How many
studies have been done or should be done to determine
how many people that did not smoke one cigarette in
their entire lives….got lung cancer from interior
fireplace smoke or in fact - the family barbeque?
Are we over reacting? Perhaps…yet, when people
could care less whether their kids, families, friends
or neighbors get exposed to their backyard smoke…..then
welcome to incinerator land! The throwback may have
never left us….as we decided in our wisdom just not
to pay any attention to our environmental concerns.
Closing the door on Incinerators; started
assertively for residences in the 50’s - but to this
day are still commercially allowed now with what they
call: “enclosed systems”…which means that the toxic
fumes are supposedly filtered out before any venting.
The truth of the matter is: Eventually, all those toxic
landfills in the world will need to be Incinerated…as
they wind up polluting our water tables or wind up toxic
venting and polluting our air. When will we laughingly;
have to eventually send all our trash into outer space?
How long can we allow the unregulated backyard barbeque
to continue unabated. Perhaps, paying an environmental
tax for mitigation…will be a good start. Perhaps,
letting people trade their pollution credits with people
that don’t have barbeques in their bad yards? Perhaps,
basic common sense should tell all that the use of the
family Fireplace or Barbeque should have some semblance
of responsiblity attached to it?
In the meantime:
Happy Memorial Day and enjoy the Last Great Barbeque Season - 2008!
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