Basics of Environmental Science

94 / Basics of Environmental Science

principal source of pollution was the German Ruhr? Fortunately, such transnational issues can now

be resolved within the European Union, where mechanisms exist to ensure that the costs of

antipollution measures are shared equitably.

Regulations are necessary, but accidents cannot be prevented by legislation and they can cause serious

harm. On 1 November 1986, there was a fire at a warehouse near Basel owned by the chemical

company Sandoz. Water used to fight the fire washed an estimated 30 tonnes of chemicals into the

Rhine, including mercury and organophosphorus compounds and a red dye, rhodamine, that allowed

the progress of the pollutants to be observed. The accident was exacerbated by a smaller spillage of

herbicide on the preceding day from a Ciba-Geigy plant, also at Basel. By 12 November pollution

was severe between Basel and Mainz, the river being declared ‘biologically dead’ for 300 km

downstream from Basel, and by the time the affected water reached the Netherlands its mercury

content, of 0.22 μg litre-1, was three times the usual level. Drinking water had to be brought by road

to supply several cities. Despite the severity of the incident, however, the river had almost recovered

one year later (MASON, 1991, pp. 2–3). Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but its government

accepted responsibility for the 1986 pollution incident and promised to consider bringing its

antipollution regulations into line with those of the EU (ALLABY, 1987).

Water is a so-called ‘renewable’ resource. After it has been used it returns to the hydrologic cycle

and in time it will be used again. It is also abundant globally and the oceans are so vast that their

capacity for absorbing, diluting, and detoxifying pollutants is immense. Despite this, the provision

of wholesome fresh water and the hygienic disposal of liquid wastes in the impoverished semi-arid

regions of the world is woefully inadequate. It is there that fetching water for ordinary domestic use

Figure 3.3 The Rhine basin, draining land in six countries