The world of American TV series: Starting with the L.A. Patrol.

Chapter 1193 The Polluted Town

Nitrobenzene is a common chemical raw material. It is flammable and explosive in itself. It is also a precursor material for many explosives. For example, the famous TNT is scientifically called "trinitrotoluene."

Sodium chlorate is a herbicide that is also flammable and explosive. It will be more effective if added with phosphorus, sulfur, etc.

"Wyatt works at the farm supply store. He must have gotten the sodium chlorate as herbicide. You can go there and ask around.

As for the coal power company, what kind of person is Griffin? "

Jubal felt a little headache. The combination of thermal power plant and explosives was almost equivalent to a terrorist attack.

Alice looked at the information she had just sorted out and read, "Larry Griffin, but he sold his shares in the coal power company two years ago and now lives in Pelham, a suburb of Birmingham."

"Should we notify the power plant to step up security?" Aubrey asked.

"Notify the state police to increase patrols and check for suspicious vehicles on the road leading to the power plant." Although Jack said so, he didn't think the Hammond brothers were going for the power plant.

Greg Hammond, in particular, doesn't look like a brainless country redneck at all. The two previous murders were more like revenge with a clear target.

But this case right now makes him a little unmotivated.

Before he traveled through time, Seris was making great efforts to carry out environmental protection work. Although there were inevitably problems such as taking advantage of the issue, bureaucratic inaction and even local protectionism, it is undeniable that it did have a great effect, including for state-owned thermal power plants in various places.

Unlike the environmental protection requirements of European and American countries that remain at the level of PPTs and slogans, Seris' thermal power plants implement the most stringent emission standards in the world.

The tall chimneys no longer emit billowing black smoke, but light water vapor that is almost invisible to the naked eye. Wastewater and solid waste are also 100% recycled and reused.

The fly ash mentioned by Greg's wife refers to the fine particles obtained after the flue gas produced by coal-fired power plants that grind coal into coal powder less than 100 microns and burn it is captured by the dust collection device.

Every ton of standard coal burned will produce approximately 0.138 tons of fly ash, which itself contains a large amount of pollutants, such as heavy metals such as mercury and lead, as well as harmful substances such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

If it is discharged directly into the atmosphere, detection is relatively easy. However, if it is collected and then piled up and buried, it may seem environmentally friendly, but it will cause serious salinization of the land and heavy metal pollution.

The usual treatment method is to recycle and reuse fly ash. After extracting valuable heavy metals and rare earth elements, the remaining part is made into building materials such as cement and gray bricks.

Therefore, for Seris, who is busy repairing the earth every day, fly ash is a very good building material, which can be used in building roads, bridges and dams.

For private thermal power plants in the United States, the lowest-cost way to deal with the waste is to bury it somewhere where no one is around.

There will be no apparent problems with this approach in the short term. As long as it is buried deep enough, it won’t even be noticed.

But after ten or twenty years, when rain corrodes the iron barrels and heavy metals in the fly ash gradually seep into the groundwater, the pollution will continue to take effect for hundreds of years.

"This is really disgusting behavior," Clay said after checking the information.

Jack sneered, "Now you know why fish and crabs in the Hudson River and the bays around New York can't be eaten, right?"

From 1947 to 1977, General Electric dumped an untold amount of industrial waste into the Hudson River, including insulating fluids from transformers that contained large amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium.

The effect is similar to that of landfilling fly ash. Large amounts of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metal elements still remain in the riverbed sediments of the Hudson River and its tributaries. The seemingly clear river water actually lies beneath the silt containing various carcinogens.

They are now located in the town of Blue Springs, less than 10 miles from Cleo, and soon the Hammond brothers will place more than 200 stolen tablets in front of the town's elementary school.

This place is also dilapidated, but compared to other towns the FBI has seen along the way, it is slightly more popular. At least there are still a few shops in the town.

The two found the agricultural supplies store where Wyatt worked. The owner was a brown-haired white lady in her early forties. She looked very sick, but she was still busy carrying fertilizers in front of the store.

After explaining his purpose, Jack asked directly, "Ms. Barron, can Wyatt get access to the two chemicals I mentioned through your procurement channels?"

"Of course, he's the only helper I can afford now, and luckily there's not much work."

The female owner's tone was a little unfriendly. Jack knew that the business here was not very good just by looking at the old store.

"Do you really think he can make a bomb? Wyatt and his brother Greg are the most honest men I've ever met in the area. They don't smoke weeds, they don't drink, and they don't beat their wives."

Angry honest people are the most terrifying, Jack complained silently in his heart.

"The evidence so far suggests this is possible. We know that there is a lot of anger around here because of the Griffin Coal and Electricity incident. Do you think it is possible that Wyatt has talked to others about his desire for revenge?"

"I haven't said that, but it's not surprising." The female shop owner blurted out, put down the fertilizer bag in her hand, leaned against the pillar next to her, and breathed slightly.

Seeing the two FBI agents staring at her, she continued to explain, "I mean, I know he lost his niece and his parents, and it's normal for him to be angry, but who isn't like that here? Everyone in this town is angry."

"How serious is the fly ash pollution here?" Clay asked. All they saw along the way were beautiful scenery of green mountains and clear waters, which made him a little confused.

The female shop owner surnamed Barron obviously saw this, "Not only did they secretly bury fly ash on the land near the water source, but they also regularly shut down the filter device in the name of maintenance and discharged it into the air.

This situation lasted for nearly twenty years, and if the power plant had not gone bankrupt, you would still be able to smell the stench of hell right now."

As she spoke, she waved to the two to follow her, and then walked to the side of the store. There was a large wooden board nailed to the wall, on which hung various old hats and stuffed toys.

The female shop owner picked up one of the baseball caps with a bull head logo and the words "Hackett Barron Farm" sewn on it, her eyes filled with nostalgia.

"My father used to have a farm nearby, but the cows died, so he hung his hat here and died of illness six months later."