Casino increases pressure on Smokies environment, too
I appreciate Ed Hardin's report from the Smokies today. We need reminders of the pressures of pollution and other threats to the health of the great park. I would say, however, having been there just last month, that I'd much rather breathe the air up there than down here.
Ed notes that the Cherokees, whose reservation abuts the park, aren't optimistic the federal government will act to relieve these pressures quickly.
Excuse me, but isn't that Cherokee casino adding immensely to the traffic in those mountains? More than 3.5 million visitors annually, according to the Eastern Band's economic development Web site.
Comments (7)
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Gee now you are saying we don't want vistors?
Good less quit given money to your beloved civil rights museum. Is your favorite song Flip, Flop, and Fly? I not sure but I do not think the taxpayers money was used to build the casino. Now tell us where you man Skippy, got his money. Can you say taxpayer, and can you say I do not have a clue where went? Can you say, I do not care, as long as we make Skippy happy. Maybe you are just PO, because the poor indians are getting a little cash, that you think skippy and the gang needs. Now I know why newspapers are going south.Wasted a good trip to church today. Of course, liberals will do that.
Posted on July 15, 2007 7:58 PM
Doug:
Car emissions are far and away the largest source of pollution within the park and more narrowly within Cherokee County. However, the emissions from a few surrounding counties, especially Sullivan County in Tennessee, are substantially (orders of magnitude) higher.
For comparison purposes, consider Sullivan County ALONE vs. the total for Cherokee, Graham and Swain Counties in terms of tons of source emissions (2001 data).
Type Sullivan GCS comb.
Carban Monoxide 75,869 21,623
Nitrous Oxides 25,258 1,865
Particulates (10mm) 9,896 2,706
Sulfur Dioxide 33,136 354
Volatile Org. Comp. 23,913 3,944
Again, these are the figures for just one neighboring county.
Posted on July 16, 2007 3:08 AM
Dave, Cherokee is not actually in Cherokee County. And Sullivan County, Tenn., is not near the Great Smokies Park. Also, its population is several times larger than any of the Western North Carolina counties you named.
Posted on July 16, 2007 8:28 AM
Doug:
You're right, my mistake. The reservation and casino are in Swain Co., which was included in the figures.
I also goofed with the geography for Tennessee (I'm still orienting toward Virginia instead of North Carolina). An appropriate comparison would be Blount Co., which borders Swain and includes part of the park.
Type ................ Swain ... Blount
Carbon Monoxide .... 7,468 ... 70,118
Nitrous Oxides ........ 567 .... 5,282
Particulates (10mm) ... 833 .... 7,342
Sulfur Dioxide ........ 141 .... 2,998
Volatile Org. Comp. . 1,210 .... 8,250
The park also lies in Cocke & Sevier counties in Tenn. and extends into Haywood county in NC. If you add in these other counties, you still find several times as much air pollution being generated on the Tennessee side as on the NC side.
Pollution figures come from an EPA web-site.
Posted on July 16, 2007 10:14 AM
Dave, you're in Australia? Isn't there anything better to do down there?
Thanks for keeping up with us.
Tennessee obviously is trying to get back at Western North Carolina for sending all those dioxins downstream in the Pigeon River from the Champion plant in Canton for so many years.
Posted on July 16, 2007 10:26 AM
Is that really an elk Ed hears trumpeting in the second paragraph? A literary elk or a real elk?
The purple prose of that article reminds me of my high school literary magazine. Ed should stick to being a crotchety sportswriter.
Posted on July 16, 2007 2:27 PM
Doug:
Yes, G'day. And no, once the kids go to bed, there isn't much better to do :).
Posted on July 16, 2007 6:51 PM