| Out of the Potomac no less. Anyone who thinks the mid 1970s laws that forced the clean up of rivers didn't work should read this. In 1972 I attended Explosive Ordnance Disposal school at Indian Head, MD on the banks of the Potomac. The Navy EOD trainees had to dive in the Potomac. Before doing so they had to have their tetanus shots updated, and they had to take long showers with lots of soap after they dove and have blood work done to check for problems on a weekly basis. Part of their training included working with plywood cut outs in their masks so they could not see. But, they said the river was so filthy it really was not much different than normal. One of the jokes at the time was that if George Washington was around, he wouldn't have to throw a silver dollar across the river, he could roll it because it had so much solid waste in it. |
