While letter-to-the-editor writers to the Telegraph whine about the pink house, train smoke and dogs run amuck, dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO), a powerful industrial solvent is seeping into our air, being pumped beneath our land and filtering into our reservoirs. Deaths are certain to occur.

Unlike the gradual poisoning caused by exposure to radon's ionizing radiation, or train smoke, overexposure to DHMO can bring sudden and completely fatal death. Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most deaths result from unintentional inhalation.

Companies like Amoco and Red Willow re-inject thousands of gallons of DHMO into the ground following the extraction of oil and gas. It leaches into the soil everywhere. Worst of all these corporations aren't breaking any federal laws!

Young people increasingly are using DHMO for recreational purposes. DHMO helps absorb and dissolve illegal chemicals in the bloodstream. A crystalline version of DHMO referred to by recreational users as "snow" is, according to law enforcement, one of the most problematic substances in La Plata County. Drivers on DHMO and its derivatives frequently lose control of their vehicles and injure themselves and others. A feeling of invulnerability and overconfidence often precedes such accidents.

Dihydrogen monoxide is also known as hydric acid, and is the leading major component of acid rain. Heated, it can cause third-degree burns to skin. DHMO accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals and has been found in excised tumors of over 99 percent of cancer patients.

Unknown to most Durangoans, the "Big Money" behind the Animas La-Plata Project (ALP) is 100 percent funded by DHMO producers and consumers. If A-LP is ever built, citizens venturing anywhere near the suitably named "terminal reservoir" without SCUBA gear or a suitable PFD will be exposed to concentrations of DHMO exceeding 999,994 parts per million. Instead of bumper stickers saying "A-LP Sucks" we should be printing ones which say "Hell No, No More DHMO!"

Despite the widely-known dangers, dihydrogen monoxide continues to be widely used. It is used not only in oil and gas extraction, but in nuclear power plants, in the production of Styrofoam, and as an additive in most junk-foods. Unbelievably, it can even be found inlocal health food stores labeled as an overpriced "purified supplement," despite its danger and utter lack of any nutritional or caloric value.

Most communities have refused to ban the production, distribution or use of this ubiquitous substance claiming its "Importance to the economic climate." But Durango can be different. As a small, isolated mountain town, we could regulate the import and sale, and severely restrict the usage of DHMO. We can, by taking courageous action, stop the insanity. Petitions to ban DHMO are being circulated. Sign one today, and keep your children safe.

Wade H. Nelson

The following was sent to the General Manager at Keesee Motor Company in Cortez

Dear Sir:

I recently watched a TV ad for Keesee Motor Company on CNN that featured a person in a Ford pickup truck barreling off a plowed road and through a snowbank, complete with someone "whooping" on the soundtrack. This kind of advertising is extremely irresponsible in that it glamorizes driving vehicles "off road" anywhere and anytime the driver feels like it. Operating motorized vehicles of all kinds off of designated routes is becoming a serious national problem that is exacerbated by irresponsible advertising like this.

The ultimate result will be more and more restrictions and route closures as local governments and land management agencies seek to control the resource damage and user conflicts caused by unbridled mechanized cross country travel. Perhaps you should consider altering your advertisements to reflect responsible driving habits, instead of promoting "outlaw" driver behavior, as glamorous as it seems.

Sincerely,

Veronica Egan, Executive Director Great Old Broads for Wilderness