Southend

This documentary about the health risks of coal power is set in an ecological ghetto known as "Southend" in Muscatine, Iowa.

The residential neighborhood is surrounded by coal plants, clouded by an ethanol manufacturer, and criss-crossed by railroad tracks.

Produced by Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility as part of an educational campaign about the health effects of our dependence on coal power

http://www.psriowa.org

Interviews, videography, audio and editing by Atom Burke
http://atomburke.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• ecological
• ghetto
• southend
• muscatine
• iowa
• coal
• ethanol
• mercury
• energy
• power
• SO2
• cancer
• EPA
• asthma
• coalpower
• dirty
• air
• pollution
• smog
• clouds
• toxic
• smoke
• coalsoot
• ash
• breathing
• problems
• health
• sky
• GPC
• monsanto
• MPW
• midamerican
• cipco
• particulate
• matter
• COPD
• change
• nebulizer
• purifier
• epa
• ej
• environmental
• justice

[atomburke]

I'm not convinced that the "bowl" is the main factor for all the breathing problems in Muscatine although it probably does contribute. It's all the coal and other pollutants.

The river bluffs make some houses at the exact elevation as the stacks, so on windy days it may blow coal soot right to your doorstep even if you don't live in Southend.

Don't discount Iowa's imbalanced dependence on industrial agriculture as a factor either.

[getjacked1]

shouldnt build resisdential areas around industrial plants such as these. We need these plants for what they generate ( power ). Because for now there is no solution to our need of power that could compinsate for our coal power plants. Not solar, nor wind, can generate base load energy like a coal plant can. Nuculear plants arnt the solution either there spent rods fuel still do not have a perminent home. And they remain radioactive for 100's of years.

[TheMbiniowa]

Adam, it was an exceptional short piece. The one thing I didn't see here was a discussion of the geological shape of the area with its high hills surrounding Muscatine, so the region is a kind of fishbowl, preventing the fumes from escaping, keeping them "bottled up" in this relatively small area and thus concentrating their affects. But of course, this is just a more observable example of the pollution prevalent in much of Iowa because of our imbalanced dependence on dirty coal power plants.