JoAnn Burkholder, director of the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology at North Carolina State University, discussed the environmental and political consequences of water toxins during the Voices of Discovery science lecture Wednesday, Feb. 19 in Whitley Auditorium...
Burkholder is co-discoverer of Pfiesteria, a toxic marine alga which has been linked to major fish kills in estuaries in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland since 1991. Despite evidence that Pfiesteria adversely affects humans as well, Burkholder said many scientists and politicians refuse to accept the findings.
“Our state and environmental officals at first resisted evidence that Pfiesteria even existed,” said Burkholder, citing pressure from business and tourism interests to downplay the toxin and its affects on humans. Pfiesteria can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, resulting in dizziness, headaches, skin lesions and short-term memory loss.
In 2002, dissenting scientists challenged Burkholder’s findings, contending Pfiesteria is not toxic and dangerous to marine life and humans. Although Burkholder and her colleagues have been able to refute those claims with further research, she says the charges point to a larger scandal in the scientific community.
“Scientific misconduct is not being addressed, and this compromises environmental science’s integrity,” Burkholder said. She cited several books which have revealed systematic cover-ups in the scientific community, aimed at protecting business interests.
Earlier in the day, Burkholder spoke to several Elon science classes. She discussed the negative impact the hog and poultry industry has had on water resources in eastern North Carolina.
“In the eastern third of our state, there are enough hogs to produce waste equivalent to all the humans in New York and California in a year,” Burkholder said. These wastes are dumped into lagoons that are no more than three feet above the underlying water table, Burkholder said, allowing harmful toxins to pollute local wells and area waterways. Because of state regulations, hog farms are not required to treat this sewage.
“We’re not Bangladesh, and yet we’re not even treating our own sewage,” Burkholder said. “These farms should be required to have their own treatment plants, and the industry should be made to pay for it. To get that done, if it ever happens, will be a major, major political fight.”
She encouraged students to help bring attention to the problem of water pollution. “I think the state of this country’s water resources is really sad. Water pollution tends to be what you spend money on if you have money left over. It tells you some compelling things about our nation, when you look at how we’ve let water resources decline in this country.”
Burkholder is a member of several policy-making organizations, including the North Carolina Coastal Futures Committee and the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission.
The Voices of Discovery series, sponsored by the departments of Science and Mathematics, invites noted scholars in science and mathematics to Elon to share their knowledge and experience with students.