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<br /> i-.i)S1i OP~O~'tUTI{fy
<br /> x:[5.1 had its chance to regulate hydt•oben sulfide
<br /> Z3y Jt~l ~?1OIti21
<br /> Cop}rip,tst 199'; ~,r;~ 1997, Houston Chrcroicle
<br /> 15, 19')0, was ;tr. agreeable da~~ at the ~'hitc f fouse, a reprieve for George Bush, who had been
<br /> .upied with the Iraqi irtvasion of Kuwait
<br /> a cro~R~ded Fast Room ceremony, Bush signed thr Clean Air Act of 1990, an unwieldy piece of
<br /> 4tron t?tat, among other things, provided for a methodical and far-reaching assault on to~,ic air
<br /> t.~.c:; yn~tc;i,~an expects and dcsen-es to breatht~ clean air," the president said as congressional and
<br /> t:nt ironroenta, . . t~:rs looked on approvingly
<br /> `;oleo ~~ear latci, the t~deral govermnenYs cntsade against air toxics is more or Icss on schedule- New
<br /> c~ntrt~l5 ate in piare, ur soon will he, for 188 of the most fearsome substances released in this country
<br /> Ona virulent and pervasive chemical, however, fell through the cracks, over the objections ofgovei~~rntent
<br /> •cienti,t. and public-interes± groups- It was a casualty of an inconspicuous deal struck between Congress
<br /> a_.J an oi? nuiustr1 facing potentially expensive regulations.
<br /> f~kte ~hcmical is hvd~ "rn sulfide (H'_'S), a ford, explosive gas that smells like rotten ems and attack, the
<br /> central ner.ous sys! sometimes to lethal effect.
<br /> An 1 I-mouth f louston Chrouiele imestiga(ion su~ests that iLs deletion in 1990 from a federal
<br /> I lam ardour Air Pollutant list was a seriorts error although hardly an oversight --whose fill
<br /> co~,serlt:ences have }rt t:; be realized
<br /> Already the gas has disrupted tens of thousands of lives in places as diverse as Lvs Angeles and Contra
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<br /> Costa Count', Calif ,Corpus Christi, t3eaumont, Pasadena and C)chiltree County, Texas, Tulsa and
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<br /> Guymon, Okla , Detutit and'~3anistee, Mich , L)akota City, Neb , Artesia, N ht ,Pleasant Hill, Ark .
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<br /> Codivville, Kan ,and the Puna Di,tnct of 1 lawaii
<br /> A reiem rvann:!c On Sept i8, a hydio;en sulGdc leak from the Quaker Chemical Co plan; in f?etroit
<br /> sent 4~ people of~them students at an elementary school a mite away to hospitals with natascu.
<br /> he.adache~ and vomitin~~ A Quaker of~iciat described the release, which also sickened ai least si.x plant
<br /> ,.,;F.~i>, as "minur
<br /> r of many indus(risl and agricuhura! processes --oil and natural gas exuaciion and refining.
<br /> °~~rin~ .human and .minial ~sa~tc ucatn~cnf h}'dr.,gen sulfide can kil! in a few second. if
<br /> - : _~:,i concentrations-
<br /> !r,•~ .r - .:~<<_ hrada.hes, fatieue n;cmor,~ 1055. ins~,mnia. depres:;io~:. nau>ea, dpi<~n;as
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