Chance for PSU to repair reputation

I urge the “Powers That Be” at Penn State to cancel the sale of the Whitehall Road parcel to Toll Brothers.

I used to live in Ann Arbor, Mich. That city is now threatened by an underground plume of dioxane, which, every year, creeps closer to the city’s main water supply. The lesson we should learn is, once pollution finds its way underground, there is no way to remove it. That is, it becomes a problem that cannot be solved.

The dioxane plume started several decades ago, west of the city. The company that stored dioxane underground was purchased by another company, which has been trying to pump the dioxane out. So far, only about 10 percent has been removed. There is no way to remove all of it. Already, some wells have had to be shut down. A new concern is dioxane fumes seeping into people’s basements.

If you Google “dioxane Ann Arbor,” you’ll find plenty of articles about this.

We cannot let this happen here! I realize that there is no plan to store carcinogenic compounds underground at the Whitehall Road site. However, Ann Arbor’s increasingly dire problems should teach us that we must give the highest possible protection to our groundwater.

Penn State has had its reputation severely damaged. PSU now has a chance to repair its reputation by canceling this sale. I urge PSU to show our community that there is something they value above the almighty dollar.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Chance for PSU to repair reputation."