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Twenty-second Biennial Report . 41 Studies on Impounded Waters Since the year 1904, attention has been focused upon the impounding of water for commercial purposes to an unprecedented degree. The electrical developments which have made practical the broadspread utilization of water power even to remote locations have created for the country assets which can be. estimated only in hundreds of millions of dollars. North Carolina has had a large share in this harnessing and utilizing of a wasting natural resource. It now holds fourth place among the states in developed waterpower and second in developed horsepower as compared to population. In this State alone, fortunes have been spent in hydroelectric developments and upon the completion of developments projected or now under construction, the expenditures will have mounted fifty million more and the developed horsepower will be practically sixty per cent of that available in the State. While there is a limit to this resource to which the economic situation sooner or later will push development, it is far in the future and in the meantime there are due many changes in application, utilization, and demand which put the vista almost beyond conjecture. However, not only the tremendous asset of power from water impounding has presented itself, for as the ever-present thorn there is also a derogatory side which has claimed no small share of attention, which continues to loom as a tremendous liability and persists in engendering grave concern. The early impounders apparently were unaware of any health hazards contingent upon their projects. Available pond sites were dammed and filled, capacity for power being the interest. No concern was felt about the condition of the basins. Whole forests were flooded or partly inundated without a guess of evil days to come. Powerhouse wheels then spun busily on while malaria mosquitoes availed themselves of these newly-prepared and excellent breeding grounds. Thus, in connection with impounding for hydro-electric development, the malaria problem grew, and in the form of a lawsuit—Chattanooga & Tennessee River Power Company vs. Lawson— in the Tennessee courts, 1915, announced itself as a momentous issue. To the present, lawsuits tried and pending in the South have involved millions of dollars in addition to fees and costs. One power company at one time had six hundred suits pending against it, each for $3,000.00, a total of $1,800,000.00. Together with the costs of war, North Carolina has been the battleground for sums commensurate with her position in the power field. The liability in health hazards and the uneasiness injected into the progress of a key industry cannot be estimated. There are sections of the State for which progress awaits only until health conditions are brought up to standard. Also, there are instances in which industries have been turned away from the State because of the unavailability of suitable power. Another view of the situation is presented in our courts. Juries are called upon to settle claims for malaria damage. Malaria has existed before the present era of impounding, oftimes in the community in which the impounding is done. Defendants are not responsible for this. Plain-tives contend that impounders have created or intensified these conditions. Conclusive facts often have been wanting. The dilemma of a jury left to settle the issue upon evidence which is largely a matter of greatly-diff'ering opinion is obvious. Neither the jeopardizing of health through impre-
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-02: Biennial Report of the North Carolina State Board of Health [1909-1972] |
Document Title | Biennial Report of the North Carolina State Board of Health [1909-1972] |
Subject Name | North Carolina. State Board of Health -- Statistics -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Statistics -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina. |
Description | Publication began with the 13th (1909/1910); ceased with the 44th (1970/1972) |
Creator | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh : The Board, 1911- |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1926-1928 |
Identifier | NCHH-02-022 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 22 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-02/nchh-02-022.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-a; nchh-02 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-02-022 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-02 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb2375275 |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 41 |
Document Title | Biennial Report of the North Carolina State Board of Health [1909-1972] |
Subject Name | North Carolina. State Board of Health -- Statistics -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Statistics -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina. |
Description | Publication began with the 13th (1909/1910); ceased with the 44th (1970/1972) |
Creator | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh : The Board, 1911- |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1926-1928 |
Identifier | NCHH-02-022-0045 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; report/review |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | biennialreportof22nort_0045.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 22 |
Page Number | 41 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Full Text | Twenty-second Biennial Report . 41 Studies on Impounded Waters Since the year 1904, attention has been focused upon the impounding of water for commercial purposes to an unprecedented degree. The electrical developments which have made practical the broadspread utilization of water power even to remote locations have created for the country assets which can be. estimated only in hundreds of millions of dollars. North Carolina has had a large share in this harnessing and utilizing of a wasting natural resource. It now holds fourth place among the states in developed waterpower and second in developed horsepower as compared to population. In this State alone, fortunes have been spent in hydroelectric developments and upon the completion of developments projected or now under construction, the expenditures will have mounted fifty million more and the developed horsepower will be practically sixty per cent of that available in the State. While there is a limit to this resource to which the economic situation sooner or later will push development, it is far in the future and in the meantime there are due many changes in application, utilization, and demand which put the vista almost beyond conjecture. However, not only the tremendous asset of power from water impounding has presented itself, for as the ever-present thorn there is also a derogatory side which has claimed no small share of attention, which continues to loom as a tremendous liability and persists in engendering grave concern. The early impounders apparently were unaware of any health hazards contingent upon their projects. Available pond sites were dammed and filled, capacity for power being the interest. No concern was felt about the condition of the basins. Whole forests were flooded or partly inundated without a guess of evil days to come. Powerhouse wheels then spun busily on while malaria mosquitoes availed themselves of these newly-prepared and excellent breeding grounds. Thus, in connection with impounding for hydro-electric development, the malaria problem grew, and in the form of a lawsuit—Chattanooga & Tennessee River Power Company vs. Lawson— in the Tennessee courts, 1915, announced itself as a momentous issue. To the present, lawsuits tried and pending in the South have involved millions of dollars in addition to fees and costs. One power company at one time had six hundred suits pending against it, each for $3,000.00, a total of $1,800,000.00. Together with the costs of war, North Carolina has been the battleground for sums commensurate with her position in the power field. The liability in health hazards and the uneasiness injected into the progress of a key industry cannot be estimated. There are sections of the State for which progress awaits only until health conditions are brought up to standard. Also, there are instances in which industries have been turned away from the State because of the unavailability of suitable power. Another view of the situation is presented in our courts. Juries are called upon to settle claims for malaria damage. Malaria has existed before the present era of impounding, oftimes in the community in which the impounding is done. Defendants are not responsible for this. Plain-tives contend that impounders have created or intensified these conditions. Conclusive facts often have been wanting. The dilemma of a jury left to settle the issue upon evidence which is largely a matter of greatly-diff'ering opinion is obvious. Neither the jeopardizing of health through impre- |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-02/nchh-02-022.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-a; nchh-02 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-02-022 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-02 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb2375275 |
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