A Poem

The air is fragile like dried leaves
the oxygen scatters
broken by the dust
lead
arsenic
hazmat
poisons
They don't tell us the poisons
innumerable
dioxins
PCBS
actinides
Stirred
falling settling gently into place
on our mountains
for the next rain
flowing with the water
faster pouring raging down the arroyos
the roads
the rooftops
into our river
A glass poised beneath the faucet
thirst
is a great water filter
ignorance
denial
is the grasshopper singing in the wind
while ants
gather the hazmat
and carry it into our bones
the survivors
left to fight over the few hundred jobs
the money
the power
a poisoned people provide

do you live in the Paso del Norte
or
do you live
in denial?

estimates of how much NORM waste will be produced the next 20 years...

"Radionuclides are known to be associated with organic materials in nature; therefore, oil, gas, and oil field brines frequently contain radioactive materials. These materials accumulate in piping used to remove and process petroleum and natural gas. The EPA estimates that about 8 million metric tons of NORM waste will be produced by the gas and oil industry over the next 20 years.
 
NORM have been found in geothermal wells. According to EPA estimates, the geothermal industry may generate up to 1.4 million metric tons over the next 20 years. ..... The EPA estimates that over 6 million metric tons of drinking water purification materials containing NORM will be generated over the next 20 years."
http://www.hps1.org/glossary/norm.htm

NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive materials - generally concentrated in mechanical processes)  could include:  isotopes of uranium, thorium, carbon, potassium, polonium, lead, radon