RE: Re: EPA to require incineration of VC/EDC wastes

[Joseph R Parrish Jr <JoeParrish@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by INTERNET:dhenshel@indiana.edu
>I find coming to mind the creed now (and forever) taught to doctors:
First, do no harm.

>I think the creed for environmental clean-up, remediation and restoration
is
as simple.  However, we all recognize that our remedies are not perfect so
we can not say "do no harm"   since we still often do harm, to a lesser or
greater extent depending on the physical, political and economic situation.
So, we could modify that, and keep this as the creed:
First, do less harm.

>When considering that then, the recognition is that there's always that
balance, and where we want that balance to end up is on the "lesser harm"
side.

>D. Henshel 

<

The tricky thing about doing lesser harm is to whom the harm is done. 
Typically the waste is moved out of the producing community into a lower
socio-economic community and burned.  Here lies  the rub.  The community
that did not produce the hazard has to be the unwary recipient of the toxic
destruction products of the hazard.  Here the concept of lesser harm fails,
in my experience.  And it puts us back to "first, do no harm."
Joe Parrish
NJ/NY Environmental Watch