_ Editor’s note: One of the gost widely acclaimed reports delivered at the B.C. Federa- t of Labour Convention was the Report of the Nat- mar Resources Committee. | The following is the section on pollution which the Com- . mittee describes as “man- _kind’s paramount problem.” Who Is Responsible? Each one of us is respon- ble for pollution of one kind another. If you urinate, de- fe pe, rash, on pepeengents _ {non-dissipating) , have a gar- ‘ urator and don’t have at least ‘asecondary treatment plant in your community, you are part of the water and land pollu- tion problem. s Our Problem Child If you drive an internal combustion engine in a car, boat, ride a bus (trolley coach- "es excepted), a plane, train - (one end gulps oxygen, the other spews out air pollu- fants), you are part of it. Russian Roulette If you use pesticides, herbi- | cides, biocides such as DDT, Dieldrin, Aldrin, Lindane or any of a group known chemi- cally as chlorinated hydrocar- bane, you are chemically play- 4 ing Russian roulette with the lives of your children. i Moon Walk If you think that’s wrong, listen man! It’s too mild. Let + the committee describe it for . you. You watched the moon shot and walk; what was that big pack on their backs? Aye */ — an oxygen pack. Why is | there no life on the moon? . Right — no atmosphere, no » oxygen. All right, have you . watched a man with empha- sema struggle to get enough oxygen from his breathing to ‘| live or a fish gulping dead water with no oxygen in it? Well, the one thing the committee can’t tell you is whether you will watch your * children die from oxygen , starvation or vice versa. But ,, that’s the way it’s going to be unless we stop the use and manufacture of all chlorinated hydrocarbons. Let Us Give You the Reasons 1. About 4/5 of all the oxy- gen we breathe is manu- »’ factured by photo-plank- ton in the sea. 2. Many chemicals impair the ability of photo-plankton to produce oxygen and your committee under- stands the most pernicious are the chlorinated hydro- carbons, 3. It has been estimated that if the Torry Canyon had been carrying the kind of herbicides being shipped to Vietnam by the U.S. as defoliants instead of a car- go of crude oil, the virtual end of the earth’s oxygen supply could have occur- red within two to three THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ERATION’S REPORT ON POLLUTION gallons per cubic foot, that is 42,918 gallons of air per hour, enough air for you to live on for 10 days. The choice may come all too soon. Sea a Sump We have already dumped over one billion pounds of DDT into our environment and are adding about 100,000 pounds per year. Remember, the oceans are the final re- cipient of all pollutants and waste material carried by the world river systems. Thor Heyerdahl, during his attempt to cross the Atlantic in a papy- rus boat, found water in the mid-Atlantic: so polluted that his crew for days refused to wash dishes in it. All pollu- tants contribute to the de- struction of oceans’ ecology. Water Fertilization and Algae In the Federation’s submis- sion to the Pollution Control Board in August 1968, the fol- lowing quote is noted: Algae pollution is normally associated with the presence of nutrients, in particular, phosphorus and nitrogen. In the Willamette study, algae growth was associated with phosphorus levels of below 0.01 PPM. “The chemical constituents termed nutrients stimulate aquatic growth. Slimes, algae forms and other growths cre- ate unsightly nuisance condi- tions and obnoxious taste and odor problems. The exact na- ture of its nutrient balance which will produce algae blooms is not known; how- ever, nitrogen and phosphorus appear to be significant fac- tors in stimulating excessive growths.” Major sources of these nu- trients are animal (including human) waste, and fertilizer. Lake Erie Algae Productions Where these conditions con- tinue to exist as they have done in Lake Erie, the algae uses all the oxygen in the water and becomes self-gener- ating while everything that is oxygen dependent in the water dies. Algae production in Lake Erie is 1,000,000,000 tons per year or, to express it another way, a loaded freight train 40,000 miles long each year. If you had the train loaded, where would you dump it? In the sea? Part of a Picture You worry about inflation, Vietnam, the bomb, Manhat- tan, Nigeria, Russo - Chinese and Mid-East, human rights and racial tension. Let’s look at the whole picture and we quote from the Sun of Sep- tember 13th, 1969, by P. C. Newman: “The world is dy- ing. Rivers and lakes are turn- ing into sewers, forests into deserts, dust swirls in grey clouds across the city skylines. At a Unesco sponsored con- ference last year 200 experts from 50 countries came up with the unanimous verdict that “within 20 years life on our planet will be showing the first signs of succumbing to pollution — the atmosphere ‘ ‘ will become unbreathable for men and animals; life will cease in rivers and lakes; plants will wither from poi- son.” Well, the buck stops here. Your Committee Recommends 1. Every delegate must get involved. Join SPEC (Society for Pollution and Environmen- tal Control), the B.C. Wild- life Federation, the Richmond Anti-Pollution Association. If you haven’t an organization in your area, start one. Your committee is watching with interest the establishment of pollution committees by locals of the International Pulp Sul- phite Union. Such committees are as important as_ safety committees. 2. It’s your life and only you can save it. You’re going to have to raise “hell” with every person in authority from PTA to the federal gov- t [amb = Zeer Si eee OREGON SAW CHAIN is used as original equipment by most of the world’s chain saw manufacturers because they want a chain that will obtain the highest cutting performance from their saws. They want a chain that matches their saws for quality. A chain that’s trouble-free—that stands up to all types of timber, in any weather, under all cutting ernment. We don’t want just laws; we want action. NOW! 3. Fight for tertiary treat- ment for all sewage and in- dustrial effluents. No-one has the right to pollute water to- day in B.C. or Canada. No- one! It must be returned clean and potable for the next user. The oceans must be kept clean and viable so they may con- tinue to supply life-giving oxygen to our atmosphere. 4, Demand at all levels of government the absolute ban- ning of the manufacture, sale or use of chlorinated. hydro- carbons such as DDT, Drel- drin, Aldrine and Lindane. That’s a start. conditions. A chain that is easy to sharpen and stays sharp long. They want a chain made in many types and sizes to match the power of their saws. A chain available for replacement anywhere in the world. Take the word of the men who made your saw—specify Oregon Saw Chain when it’s time to replace your chain. 5. ‘Photosynthesis: no pro- duct should be manufactured or used that interferes with this vital form of oxygen pro- duction by our forests and green plants; the verdure must be preserved. Deserts and barren hills don’t produce oxygen. In the U.S. they tear up three million acres a year. In B.C. look at what your for- est industry alone destroys due to high lead logging and ustalation of the ground to get rid of the slash. The fed- eral government must act now. The gross polluters and destroyers of our environment must be controlled. Oregon Saw Chain Division, 505 Edinburgh Rd. North, Guelph, Ontario CANADA, LTO. oO OMARK OREGON Saw Chain Division why do 37 of the world’s top chain. saw manufacturers use Oregon chain?