Green insights

Author: Sejong Kim

  • Dam Busting in Tar Creek

    Its a hot July morning, and I find myself in a pair of waders along with around 8 other people, walking in Tar Creek and pulling out rocks from the stream. The water is much higher than usual, attributable to the recent downpours. We determine that the water is still safe enough to work in, using long metal poles to help us with balance as we get to the faster moving parts of the creek. We have waders on to reduce our exposure to the contaminated water, but the kids who built these dams did not.

    You may be wondering: Why are the dams here? Well, local teens would want to have a better fishing hole or deeper water to swim in, so they decided that blocking water flow was the best choice for this. While they are not wrong, the creek they chose to do it in can have detrimental health effect. Tar Creek is high in heavy metals, exposing anyone in the water and even those on the banks to heavy metal poisoning. Also, the accruement of still water in a water system can lead to increased bacterial growth and less ideal conditions for local wildlife. Overall, the effects are negative on humans and the environment.

    During my summer at LEAD Agency, we decided we wanted to do something about this. Thus, we dedicated a day to go out and break down these dams, and we left informational signs about the creek’s health dangers to help educate those that have been hanging out around the creek.

  • Music and Environment

    I recently helped run a summer camp for LEAD Agency where we connected music and environmental contamination and educated kids on local environmental harm. At the same time, we were teaching them how to play instruments and express their emotions about the local creek and how they want to remediate in a musical form. They took a song that we used at previous summer camps and added another verse. They also decided to make a punk rock version that was much more “heavy metal” oriented (pun intended).

    All of the kids who attended the camp were local to Miami, Oklahoma or neighboring cities. However, there were still kids who did not know about the dangers of swimming in Tar Creek. They also did not know of the Superfund site sitting in their backyard. Now, this is not their fault, because no one took the time to teach them about the environmental dangers surrounding them. This need is what made this experience so important to me, knowing that informing these kids about the heavy metal contamination around them could prevent them from getting sick from it.

    Everyone in the camp also wished it lasted longer and had an amazing time with both the music and the environmental aspects. I am very confident that these kids are going to go out into the world and spread the word about the state of the creek and land, and hopefully bring more attention to the need for remediation in Tar Creek.

  • A Day of Pulling and Planting

    I recently took a nature walk through a prairie after pulling out invasive plant species and planting new native species in the neighboring land. We were pulling out lespedezas, which are one of the most invasive species’ in Oklahoma. I was walking through grass and sedge that was up to my waist. I was in shorts and could feel each little twig and blade scrape across my shins. I trekked through and dug up each lespedeza, making sure to take out the roots so that they cannot grow back.

    In the end, me along with around 20 others were able to pull out enough invasive plants to make a pile about 5 feet high. At the same time, we plowed a small circle and planted hundreds of native plants within it.

    This removal of invasive plants and planting of native plants is so important to the environment because an invasive species does not have any natural predators and can disease their new habitat and slowly overtake the native plant population. This was the first step to restoring this prairie.

    Native plants can also endanger their environment when they are abundant in a disproportionately large amount. In this prairie, there was so much broom sedge that the entire field looked brown except for the bushed of lespedezas that pushed their way through. By reducing the population of broom sedge and fully eradicating the invasive plant species, this prairie could be restored to a much healthier and sustainable condition. One of the reasons why it became like this is because the land was previously used for agricultural purposes.

  • New Tar Creek Data and Its Implications

    Last fall I went and did field sampling for water and soil samples from Tar Creek, OK. I collected water samples to test for microplastics and soil samples to test for heavy metal. With Tar Creek’s rich mining history, I expected high heavy metal concentrations, which is what we found. However, there was not much prior research on microplastic concentrations in the creek as there has not been much human activity until recent years.

    I chose my sampling sites in an area where I have seen lots of picnicking, swimming, and fishing. This increase in human activity would likely lead to increased inorganic pollutants, such as microplastics. In my results, I found a several microplastics at all 6 sampling sites, and heavy metal concentrations still far exceeding safe values.

    In a previous post, I discussed how microplastics are able to absorb and transport contaminants such as heavy metals. Since there are now microplastics being introduced into the creek, that means there is yet another pathway for heavy metal contamination to enter aquatic organisms and spread throughout the food chain.

    Additionally, because plastic is inorganic, it is not able to be digested. Thus, it will likely sit in the aquatic organism’s digestive track, allowing the heavy metals absorbed onto the plastic to seep into the aquatic organism’s internal organs. This will be very harmful to the organism, and likely spread throughout the food chain to birds or even humans if we happen to eat the contaminated food.

  • A Toxic Tour Through Picher

    A couple days ago I drove through Picher, Oklahoma as members of L.E.A.D. Agency gave a toxic tour. During this tour, we discussed the history of all the sites we had visited, their current states, and ways in which these sites are being remediated. There were quite a few sites that stood out to me during this tour.

    One of our first stops was by a large field of Tallgrass. I pulled off the side of the road into a small parking lot. I asked what we were stopping for. My first thought was that we were looking at the looming chat pile to our left. However, the actual focus was the field of grass, which once used to be a residential neighborhood. All of the homes had been destroyed. Much of the destruction can be attributed to the 2010 tornado which blew through Picher, tearing down homes and sandblasting the ones that remained standing with chat. One of the only remaining pieces of evidence that homes used to be there was the three space parking lot.

    Our next stop was by the Picher repository. From a distance, the repository looked like a gigantic, flat chat pile. However, it was actually made up of the chat and mining waste that could not be repurposed. The waste found here has extremely fine particle size and a darker color then most chat. When we stepped out of the truck, I noticed a trail of this waste running down the side of the hill. L.E.A.D. Agency informed me that this waste measures around 13,000 ppm of lead. This is far above the upper safe threshold of 400 ppm.

    The most shocking sight of the entire tour was the “Anti-Fountain of Youth”. After exiting the car a last time, I heard the noise of running water. At first, I thought it was the flowing noises from Tar Creek, but when I looked over the bridge, the water was relatively calm. After walking farther down the road, I saw the source of the noise. Slightly covered by the Tallgrass and cattail stems, there was an actual fountain spewing out orange-tinted water. This fountain was an old bore hole. The liquid being pumped out was acidic mine drainage (AMD), and it was flowing straight into Tar Creek. When I heard that the AMD was seeping out of the mines into the surrounding environment, I imagined a slow flow of water. The amount of pressure with which the AMD was being pumped out at, to the point at which it was going up in the air a couple feet was mind blowing.

    On a final note, I would like to say that we saw a beaver dam and a family of ducks in Tar Creek. This highlights how there is still life present in this creek, giving us even more reason why we must work our hardest to remediate it, and prevent events like this from occurring again in the future.

  • How can we Preserve Biodiversity?

    First, let’s answer the question: “What is biodiversity?”. Biodiversity is the term encompassing the variety of life, such as variety in species, in genes, and even ecosystems. This is a critical aspect of nature because it provides stability to an ecosystem, and greater resistance to disasters and disease.

    The main threats to biodiversity are habitat loss, invasive species, and overexploitation of resources. Humans play an important role in these three threats. For habitat loss, deforestation is a prime example of how humans cause biodiversity loss by destroying species’ habitats. Additionally, humans have been responsible for the introduction of many invasive species by means of transportation. Many of these invasive species were not intentionally introduced, but they would act as stowaways on ships or other vehicles, being transported to a foreign ecosystem where they could thrive and disrupt the balance and biodiversity. For the third threat, humans can over use the resources of the land by over fishing, hunting, or mining, which would destabilize biodiversity.

    So how can we prevent these issues from happening?

    As people living on this Earth, we should also care for it. While it would be unrealistic to address every single threat to biodiversity, we can at least reduce our own contributions to its decline. The best ways to do this are to reduce deforestation and set limits or taxes when fishing and hunting. There are many nations already implementing these changes, but for them to stick, the regulations must be even more strict than they are now. This strictness could come in forms of hard stops in terms of fishing and hunting activity after passing a specified amount, or increased taxes when it comes to deforestation.

    There are also many ways in which humans can address the invasive species problem. The first would be to minimize of completely get rid of human involvement in introducing invasive species to new ecosystem. This could be achieved by thoroughly checking vehicles for any stowaway species before departing. For the invasive species that have already been introduced to a new ecosystem, people can report them to local authorities. In some regions, the hunting of invasive species is allowed, and you may be rewarded for the amount of specimens you catch.

    While this blog has many proposed solutions to the broad threats to biodiversity, these solutions would be very difficult to achieve without substantial support and compliance from institutions. We must cooperate with each other and think about the good of this planet and its inhabitants (including us!) and build our world into a safer and healthier place for the future.

  • Where are Microplastics From? How can we Reduce Their Prevalence?

    Microplastics are found all over the world. In modern times, almost every single house will contain multiple sources of microplastics. Even the clothes you are wearing right now could be contributing microplastics to the environment. If you are wearing polyester, each time you move or brush something off your shirt, hundreds of microplastics would float off into the air. However, there are still plenty of clothes that are plastic-free; 100% organic fiber clothing, such as cotton, does not contribute any plastics.

    Clothing is one of the main sources of microplastics, with the other being tire wear. As you drive your car or ride a bike, the friction between the tires and the road will release microplastics into the air. While most believe bicycling is an environmentally-friendly activity, look into the tires you use because there is a chance they could be contributing to pollution. Transportation’s contribution to environmental damage is not just limited to energy sources and gas pollution. We must also look towards plastic pollution.

    But the question we should be asking is: “How can we reduce these microplastics?” The best way to start is inside your own home. Switching towels and clothing to 100% natural fibers will play a large role in eliminating your contribution of microplastics. When purchasing items from the grocery store, always be mindful of items with microbeads. While some countries have banned the usage of microplastics in rinse-off cosmetics as a direct effort to limit their introduction into water systems, they are still found in other items and countries.

    If you are interested in participating in a community-level activity, look for local environmental cleanups. These could be in creeks, on hikes, at local parks, or wherever else the environment needs help! By picking up plastic litter and abandoned pieces of clothings in these natural environments, you will be helping reduce microplastic pollution one step at a time.

  • Nuclear Energy and the Environmental Destruction that it Causes

    You have probably heard of nuclear energy before. Ask yourself, was it painted as an amazing new innovation in the field of energy, or as a source of extremely harmful environmental contaminants, or both? Well, if you haven’t heard of its dangers, I am here to tell you about them. If you have, then maybe there is something in this post that you haven’t heard about yet.

    To start, what is nuclear energy? It is a low-carbon energy source generated through nuclear fission. This fission is attained by splitting uranium atoms. During operation there are low greenhouse-gas emissions and a very high every density. However, the funding and energy needed to achieve this is extremely costly. Additionally, after being spent, nuclear fuel remains as a hazardous toxic waste for thousands of years.

    Now you may be thinking: low greenhouse-gas emissions is good for the environment right? If you did think this, you are correct. However, the dangers come in the form of toxic waste. Notice how the fission is achieved by splitting uranium atoms, which is a naturally radioactive substance. This is the first of the concerns. If there happens to be a scenario where the uranium mining is not properly contained, this radioactive substance can enter our waterways and contaminate the wildlife along with any human life sourcing from that waterway. After coming into contact with this toxic waste, it can bioaccumulate in organisms, damaging DNA and increasing the risk of cancer.

    Long-term containment for this toxic waste is facing many obstacles. Metals and concrete break down over time, and some compounds of toxic waste could last more than 10,000 years. If the container were to be compromised, then the waste can leak into the surrounding environment, leading to the same worries we have about uranium mining mishaps.

    These are the two main worries that we have about nuclear energy production and use. I hope this post has encouraged you to look into any nuclear energy plants in your area, and if they are operating safely.

  • How Mining Contaminants Enter our Food Chain

    Growing up in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD), I was taught to not play in the dirt or creeks. This was a common rule among families because the soil and water were all potential sources of heavy metal poisoning. Of course, as a child we didn’t know this was the reason. We just thought that the dirt had bugs or germs that weren’t good for us.

    However, the dangers go far beyond these worries. There are toxic heavy metals present in the soil and flowing through the creeks. While these may not be present in deadly concentrations, long-term exposure to elevated concentrations of these metals will likely have adverse health effects. In the TSMD, there was a mining legacy of lead and zinc, with much of these metals used in the World Wars coming from this mining district. This supply of metals brought great wealth to many mining companies, but the people living here were not so fortunate.

    Chat, a name for toxic mining waste, started accumulating near mining sites. This chat contains all sorts of toxicants, and is extremely toxic to humans and the environment alike. In fact, before the dangers were known, families would use chat in their children’s sandboxes. During these years, there were many cases of lead poisoning in children. Even today, chat is found in the backyards of homes, with the owners clueless to the dangers of the gravel-like substance.

    In places with current or prior mining activity, it is likely that there are chat piles close by. Even a small amount of chat incorporated into the soil of one’s lawn could pose a threat. If kids were playing in that contaminated soil, they are exposing themselves to possibly heavy metal poisoning. If a pet or the bottoms of shoes track in chat-laced-mud into the house, a toddler or baby crawling on the floor then putting their hands in their mouths are also extremely susceptible to heavy metal poisoning.

    While the number of victims to this danger can be reduced by increasing societal awareness of this problem, the root cause will still be present. Instead, we must take steps to remediate contaminated soil, clean up the chat piles, reduce unnecessary mining activity, and educate children on the dangers of playing in the soil. These improvements will take time, they will take effort, but they are not impossible.

    With this, I leave you with a task. Go and make a difference for others. If you know a family with kids, send them an article on the dangers of heavy metal contamination. It could very well even be this blog post. But no matter what, it is us the people who can make the difference.

  • My Experience at The 27th Annual Tar Creek Conference

    It’s my first time at a conference. I feel nervous, not sure what to expect. I get there and I realize I am going to present my research in less than 30 minutes. The nerves start to kick in and I wonder if people are going to like it.

    The time comes, I walk in the room, I set up my poster. 20 people swarm around me and stare. Suddenly I feel the nerves fade away. I realize something: this is my research; I know my research better than anyone else in this room. I own it, and I have to make that clear. I start talking and all eyes are on me. I spoke slow and steady, and when I looked at the crowd, I saw people who care, people who want to know more. What do I do? I give it to them.

    The point of scientific research is to give your results back to the community. The final goal is to fill a gap in understanding, but in doing that, ten more gaps are created. That’s the beauty of research: the job is never done.

    I finish presenting, I am greeted with a round of applause. A couple of researchers stay to inquire about my experience. A news reporter takes me aside to interview me. The whole ordeal feels otherworldly. If you told me five years ago that I would be presenting my first research project at a national conference, and gaining the attention of other established researchers in the field, I would have said that you’re crazy. But no, thats not craziness. Rather, it is passion.

    Passion. It’s something that connects all humans. Every person has a passion of some kind. Mine is for environmental science. Yours could be for music. The point is that we are all passionate about something, and that’s what makes us people. At the Tar Creek Conference, I saw a whole crowd of people with the same passion as me. They are my people. Each presenter that went up onto the podium took a moment to connect with us, to connect with the community. There was one gentleman who took photographs of birds and insects. Each photo was different and marvelous in its own way. Whether it be the softness of the species, or its facial expression, or the way light reflected off the wings, each one was special. For each photo he showed, the crowd reacted a little more. Up until the point where we were laughing and cheering for the last few birds. We were united.

    I hope that in my attempt to convey the poetic nature and atmosphere of the conference, that I did not take away from it. For no words could do justice to what I experienced today.

    Actually, there is one word that comes close. A simple word, but one with meaning.

    Magical.