Our telegenic Gov. King may have been slightly intoxicated by his own sense of self-importance when he recently jumped into the Kennebec River to celebrate the joys of chlorine dioxide.

After having worked for the last several months in the bleach plant of a major kraft mill as it switched from chlorine to chlorine dioxide as its bleaching agent, I can attest to the nastiness and instability of the latter substance. Chorine is a foul but blatant chemical. You can sense its presence quickly. Chlorine dioxide is just as foul but it is much harder to detect. It can kill you with little warning. It is extremely volatile as can be attested to by the fact that it must be produced on site. It is too dangerous and unstable to be transported by road or rail.

Gov. King took a dive indeed, at the behest of the corporations that care little about the safety of the workers and citizens of Maine.

It could have been done right. The technology is there to produce bright paper without resorting to these toxic and noxious chemicals. It’s a matter of cost vs. safety and environmental concern. But as any good predatory capitalist knows, the health of the peons must take a back seat to the creation of wealth. David A. Calder Skowhegan