Dear All:

Several scientists and environmentally concerned people requested me to respond
to Prof. Feroz Ahmed's article that was published on June 15, 2001 in "The New
Nation", Dhaka, Bangladesh. I replied that the groundwater arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh is a geological problem and Prof. Ahmed knows it very well. I do not
know why Prof. Ahmed is writing such a misleading article. Prof. Ahmed should
not make misleading statements on the source and the cause of the arsenic
poisoning in Bangladesh, because the source and the cause of the arsenic
disaster in Bangladesh are geological problems. There is no doubt that the
readers of "The New Nation" have been mislead and misguided by Prof.Ahmed's
following statement:

"The oxidation hypothesis in Bangladesh is not getting support in the absence of
widespread arsenopyrite in Bangladesh. The intensity of arsenic problem has not
been found to have any relationship with groundwater fluctuations. Similarly,
the hot spots in Bangladesh are not located in areas of high withdrawal of
groundwater for irrigation. At the same time, very low concentration of sulfate
in groundwater is also contrary to pyrite oxidation hypothesis. The traces of
arsenopyrite or arsenic sulfides found in sediments might have possibly been
formed under enhanced reduced conditions. Hence, the hypothesis of arsenic
release by oxidation of top layer of soil is not being considered as main
mechanism of groundwater contamination in Bangladesh."

We know that Prof. Ahmed's above statement is wrong and based on misconceptions
as well as a lack of professional experience in dealing with soil and
groundwater contamination projects. Bhattacharya et.al. first proposed the
Reduction theory and rejected the Oxidation theory. We requested them several
times to explain and answer the following questions but they could not come up
with any answer(s)/explanation(s) as of yet. We as professional geologists
certainly know that they do not have any reliable data to answer these
questions. In other words, their work is based on false data. Prof. Ahmed
should know that Bhattacharya et.al. are geologists. If Prof. Feroz Ahmed feels
that he is capable of justifying/verifying the source and the cause of the
groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, and feels that his statements are
correct we are respectfully requesting him to answer and explain the following
questions:

"Please explain:

1. Why the "Oxyhydroxide Rerduction Theory" should not be considered a wrong
and misleading theory for the mobilization of arsenic into the groundwater of
Bangladesh and West Bengal of India?

2. Why the concept of "low sulfate concentration in the groundwater of the
Bengal Basin" that you and Bhattacharya et.al. considered as a main criterion
for the rejection of the oxidation theory, should not be considered unscientific
and an improper judgement?


Please answer:

1. If the Oxyhydroxide Reduction hypothesis is correct and if arsenic was
present in an adsorbed form on iron hydroxide for thousands of years and existed
in a solution for thousands of years in the aquifer groundwater of the Bengal
Basin without being flushed out to sea, how did the people of Bangladesh and
West Bengal of India avoid the arsenic poisoning when thousands of people drank
water from dugwells for thousands of years and from thousands of tubewells for
60 to 70 years, prior to the 1970s?

2. Also please explain how millions of people in Bangladesh who had been
drinking water from millions of tubewells during the interval between the 1960's
and prior to 1975, before the construction of dams/barrages and diversion of
surface water by India from the Ganges, Tista, and 28 other common rivers of
Bangladesh and India, lack signs of arsenic poisoning?"

We as geological professionals, having experience in the investigation,
remediation and monitoring of soil and groundwater contamination projects, would
like to inform Prof. Feroz Ahmed and others who have rejected the oxidation
theory and have accepted the Reduction theory, that the answer of the above
mentioned questions will provide scientists, journalists, environmentally
concerned people, and the policy-makers of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India
with a clear picture regarding the source and the real mechanism responsible for
the mobilization of arsenic into the groundwater, and a permanent solution to
the arsenic disaster of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

We are urging engineers, chemists, and other scientists who do not have sound
education/training on the geology, hydrology, hydrogeology and geochemistry and
experience in investigation, remediation and monitoring of soil and groundwater
contamination projects, to not write and/or publish misleading article(s)
regarding the source and the cause of the groundwater arsenic poisoning in
Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

Respectfully,

Meer Husain, P.G.
Environmental Geologist