Spokane is superfund site central (university, health, science)

[happychic]

Wow! I am scared of Spokane now! My husband, our daughter and I are visiting next week to look at the area for relocation. I love the idea of tons of outdoor recreational opportunities that are well taken care of, but the idea of contaminated ground water and such is scary. Coming from central Louisiana I think anything would be an improvement though: my daughter's school is next to a superfund site that just finished getting cleaned up.

Can anyone tell me if there's a balance between the uber-religious, conservative types, and non-religious open minded individuals there in Spokane? Here in Louisiana it's about 96% (religious right wing) to 4% (non-religious). My husband is religious (though not overtly so), and I am an atheist. We just love the outdoors, love organics, growing our own food, etc.

[kena]

I wouldn't be too worried. Given the description of what you like I think Spokane would be a pretty good fit for you. Spokane and its surrounding areas have some of the nicest outdoor opportunities around. I think there is a good balance to Spokane in terms of conservative/liberal, religious/non-religious etc. There are certainly members of the fringe of each but there are quite a few moderate types as well. The northwest in general is a place where people are pretty willing to live and let live.

[happychic]

Thanks Kena!

[breathe&relax]

I was looking into and forward to a move to Spokane but have researched that it has a much higher than average amount of MS cases there. It strikes women more and being that I for one am a woman and that I have children that are girls I am seriously rethinking the city. My husband also has a friend of his family that is suffering terribly from this disease, that lives just over the Idaho side.

I think that the superfund sites should not be overlooked and upon much research into them across the country, see that they are scattered all over but with varying degrees of contamination, many of Spokane's are on the National Priorities List due to the seriousness of them. It is very possible that these sites and Hanford Nuclear Reservation (and MS) are linked but there are many health concerns regarding these sites. Just a word of caution on my part not random paranoia, which sometimes comes accross from some. I just think, do lots of homework before you commit on a new location.

[coffeepotbend]

The MS thing......I hadn't researched that...However, you reminded me of something I stumbled across recently concerning mesothelioma. It's caused by Asbestos. Apparently there are thousands of homes built before 1984 that have zolonite insulation that causes this lung cancer. It's up to the home owner to figure out if their house has it. The deadline to file a claim against the company that made this stuff is Oct. 31st. Which is days away. Spokane has these houses. The insulation was cheap, and mined out of Libby, MT. If you live, or are looking at a house built before 1984, it would pay to have it inspected for this insulation. Here's an article:

This article claims that 120,000 Washington houses are contaminated with it.

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=3&gl=us


mesothelioma incidence map:

http://reports.ewg.org/reports/asbestos/maps/government_data.php (broken link)




http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:ikfMtv2MwuUJ:www.spokesmanreview.co m/breaking/story.asp%3FID%3D17006+zonolite+spokane+report&hl= en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

Scary stuff. Do your homework before you buy a home!!!!!!!!


Holy cow, I had to edit this to show this article. They say it was being manufactored until 1994 in California, and used all over the country. This is a nationwide problem. It also says that there was a plant in Spokane, and 150,000 homes in Washington used this stuff!


http://reports.ewg.org/reports/asbestos/maps/government_data.php (broken link)

[jeffcrane]

I recently read somewhere during the olympics that nearly 70+% of california's pollution is actually created from China! Go figure. Point being here from native of Spokane...this is an over-exag thread. Cancer from the above? I'm not doctor but I'm sure no one will mentioned...I'm not even going to go there. People all over this country will continue to die of cancer and in my opinion mainly because of their EATING habit!
Housing Boom...look at the affordability of Spokane vs. other areas of this country. What do you think is going to happen to a boom and bust cycle when a monetary system is created out of nothing, inflates the money supply to banks which in turn lend more more which creates more buyers which creates more sales which leads to less inventory which means sellers market, which means rising costs and finally when the money supply is cut off from the reserve to bank to consumer...= pop. Honestly...I hope prices come down a little bit however statistics are showing our market to be very strong.
I love outdoor things such as skiing, mt biking, dirt biking, going to the lake etc and the superfund business above is harldy anything for me to be afraid of and actually the first I have heard of it.

[breathe&relax]

Originally Posted by jeffcrane

I recently read somewhere during the olympics that nearly 70+% of california's pollution is actually created from China! Go figure. Point being here from native of Spokane...this is an over-exag thread. Cancer from the above? I'm not doctor but I'm sure no one will mentioned...I'm not even going to go there. People all over this country will continue to die of cancer and in my opinion mainly because of their EATING habit!
Housing Boom...look at the affordability of Spokane vs. other areas of this country. What do you think is going to happen to a boom and bust cycle when a monetary system is created out of nothing, inflates the money supply to banks which in turn lend more more which creates more buyers which creates more sales which leads to less inventory which means sellers market, which means rising costs and finally when the money supply is cut off from the reserve to bank to consumer...= pop. Honestly...I hope prices come down a little bit however statistics are showing our market to be very strong.
I love outdoor things such as skiing, mt biking, dirt biking, going to the lake etc and the superfund business above is harldy anything for me to be afraid of and actually the first I have heard of it.

This isn't surprising coming from someone that makes their living off of the area. Also, your post doesn't make a lot of sense IMHO.

[jeffcrane]

It would take me 30 minutes of typing to explain the above more thoroughly in regards...2 final points since this is a negative thread. 1...I do make a living off of the area. 2. I could make the point from a native and not wanting it to grow and keep it as a diamond in the ruff and completely agree with what was mentioned in above posts! The reason it doesn't make any sense is because you are not understanding where I am coming from or have knowledge with how things work with the monetary system....it probably would have been worthwhile to have written it a little more clearly and explanatory....The rocket fuels or tcp, etc I think are getting more headlines and giving Spokane a damaging name more from this thread than in actuality of living here (I've never even heard of it). The aquifer is very clean and plentiful and should not be anything to worry about. If there were concerns; installing a water filtration with uv (reverse osmosis) might be a way to ease someone's mind but I do not think it is necessary. There is very good information from other members mainly on the first 2 pages of this thread that speak honestly of the home values and what the market has to offer so what I wrote should not be surprising. The china comment was a reference that pollution can be created thousands of miles away and still affect other areas of the world or geographic locations. It's a problem that cannot be focused on at a local site. My final sentence is that someone can have a lot of fun here, live a long healthy life and doesn't need to be scared of what someone writes and afraid of the area....SPOKANE IS A GEM...and it would not have grown at the rate it has since 2002 had the secrete of Coeur D'Alene and Spokane getting out. Had that not happend....Spokane's home values would certainly be more affordable for a wider range of buyers and despite the statistical data showing that prices are holding within 2-3%; I do feel that values will continue to come down a bit. Hope this makes more sense...it's late Honestly...it is very frustrating hearing comments like some of these posts when Spokane is a such a great place...one can only defend it if they believe in it. I think I'll be refraining from future topics like this in the future as it is more debative than actual productive, helpful and insightfully informative for people looking to move to Spokane.

[breathe&relax]

Thanks for taking the time to clarify. I was honestly looking into moving there but upon much research am now doubting that direction. Look up Superfund sites or MS prevalence in Spokane and you will see what we are talking about. I now personally know two woman who have been diagnosed with MS from the area. One is bedridden and is in her early 30's. The other is also in her early 30's and is an old family friend but I don't know how far she has deteriorated at this time. I think Eastern WA is absolutely beautiful but it wouldn't be responsible for me to go on that alone. Everyone has to make decisions on what is best for them and if I learn something I think is important, I feel I need to share it. Believe me, I hate the negative Nellies too that just rant about everything. That is not my intention. Cheers!

[vette-dude]

Originally Posted by happychic

Wow! I am scared of Spokane now! My husband, our daughter and I are visiting next week to look at the area for relocation. I love the idea of tons of outdoor recreational opportunities that are well taken care of, but the idea of contaminated ground water and such is scary. Coming from central Louisiana I think anything would be an improvement though: my daughter's school is next to a superfund site that just finished getting cleaned up.

Can anyone tell me if there's a balance between the uber-religious, conservative types, and non-religious open minded individuals there in Spokane? Here in Louisiana it's about 96% (religious right wing) to 4% (non-religious). My husband is religious (though not overtly so), and I am an atheist. We just love the outdoors, love organics, growing our own food, etc.

Check out this link:

http://www.srhd.org/downloads/info_pubs/factsheets/MS_Factsheet.pdf (broken link)