A Story of Three Minerals

      More Letters From Paradise
       A Story of Three Minerals

In the vast empty reaches of the Southwest, where Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado all meet together, lies the Navajo Nation. The Navajo scratch out a bare living herding sheep.

The federal government had a hospital built, along with offices and residences for doctors. The well dug to supply water was found to be filled with arsenic. As a result, the buildings now stand empty and abandoned. And the Navajo still are without a hospital.

The next story is about the result of the mad rush to mine uranium. The tailings from the mines and the dust on the ground became a playground for Navajo children. The result was radiation poisoning.

My final story concerns the people living in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The city lies alongside the Colorado River. The lake was formed when Parker Dam was built. For a number of years I wondered why the citizens of Lake Havasu could not get its water from the Colorado River. I now know the answer. The water drawn from the Colorado River is strictly regulated. Much of the water is used by farmers in California.

Lake Havasu draws its water from wells. And the water contains manganese. The people living there have reverse osmosis filters in their homes. The filter traps the manganese, which looks like black gunk.

It's in all the news. The city of Flint, Michigan, began drawing its water from the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure instead of from the Detroit water system.    The river contains lead. Many children have been poisoned.

So, friend, how's the water where you live?

       Aloha
       Grant