Today is Veteran’s Day, a holiday created to honor and celebrate the men and women of our country who served in the military. It’s a day to remember those we lost, and to pay homage to their courage and love of country. Our country recently chose a President-Elect that has mocked prisoners of war, those who sacrificed their lives, avoided the draft himself, and has threatened to use the Military against the American People. So I am struggling today to see the way forward.
Some of you may disagree with me, and you have that right. Part of the pleasure of this column is learning from others, researching what they have to say, connecting folks with new authors and books, meeting people from all walks of life. We live in a gloriously chaotic and confusing world and learning from each other is our greatest strength and gift.
We often think there is little we can do to change things around us, but the small actions we take can pile up and cause change. Getting Veteran’s Day or Juneteenth recognized as national holidays was the result of people advocating and educating for many years.
Small actions adding up is the underlying theme of the book, Constant Chaos: the Daily Battle to Protect the Environment by Ron Holcomb. I was astonished to hear that Washington State averages over 120 environmental cleanup calls a month. Most of those are small, but some have been disastrous in recent years.
Ron Holcomb worked as a spill responder for the Washington State Department of Ecology for 40 years, primarily as the Spill Team Lead for Ecology’s Southwest Region. He personally handled more than 6,000 oil and hazardous material spill incidents. These incidents ranged from derelict and leaking boats, illegal dumping, meth labs, chemical suicides to the Amtrak derailment and the Pacific pipeline explosion in Bellingham and the Oso Landslide.
Holcomb’s book is dense, packed with information, statistics and detailed timelines of events. The amount of people, time, paperwork, and ongoing damage to our environment that happens when a train derails or a boat sinks in the Puget Sound – is detailed carefully and completely. If you are interested in a particular event, it’s easy to find. We’ve introduced thousands of chemicals into the world, and how we use them can cause significant damage.
The book is a tad intimidating at over 400 pages and sometimes reads like a government report. It’s not a recreational read, but if you want to delve into the history of spill first responders in the Western Washington area in the past 20 years, this is the book for you.
This week, while thinking about the possible chaos our nation is headed into, it was a reliable, thoughtful book to delve into. I needed to hear that a change in how we think about and handle our environmental disasters has started and that there are good folks out there getting up in the middle of the night to drive out to do this hard work. That’s been a change that has happened in my lifetime. We all have a part to play in this. I’ll be significantly more careful with the chemicals in my house from now on. Carry on the good fight, my book friends.
Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.
4 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
ViaLocal
Love how this article connects this new book to current events. Thank you for sharing.
Tuesday, November 12 Report this
TomBoucher
This 30-year Ecology retiree hasn't read the book, but worked alongside many first responders, among whom after-hours responders are an all-volunteer well-respected clan.
Amy got me thinking too about how much is done by Ecology and how little it is known! A friend sent a link to an article about problematic chemicals in raingear, thinking that it might be unknown to me. I was glad to send them a link representing ten-plus years of hard work on the issue, some of it personally mine as part of a stellar team. Check it out here and be reassured that everywhere in government there are thoughtful hard workers that only occasionally get noticed.
https://ecology.wa.gov/waste-toxics/reducing-toxic-chemicals/addressing-priority-toxic-chemicals/pfas
Tuesday, November 12 Report this
MamaBear
Amy Lewis, you need to proofread your writing, or do you not know how to use the apostrophe? Do you think there is only one veteran in this country? When in doubt leave the apostrophe out! Better yet. Learn how to use it.
Tuesday, November 12 Report this
Boatyarddog
Hey Mamabear
With all that's goin on the the country your being really picky, and not intresting to read.
Wednesday, November 13 Report this