"If Mt. Rainier was a factory, would it be legal?" Jim Miller wonders (2nd post down, in link).

It dumps rocks, sand, and silt directly into rivers and streams, which is forbidden almost everywhere. Later in the summer, the streams coming from the glaciers will often turn white from all the silt they carry. As the summer gets warmer, the emissions of volatile organic hydrocarbons, such as terpenes, from the evergreen forests on the mountain's lower slopes will be higher than permitted from factories.

And the mountain creates dangerous piles of rubble and mud that might go downstream and destroy homes in its path. In most areas, factories and mines are not allowed to create such hazards.

...if Rainier were a factory, it would be completely illegal. Environmental organizations would condemn it as an ecological disaster.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at June 17, 2004 10:34 AM

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