@Steve: Thanks for the caution.
I like to have a good understanding of things, even technical stuff (I'm a bit of an info junkie, and I haven't lost my childhood curiosity)... and there still can be some 'magic' in how they work. Don't worry, I'm not going to jump into designing cathodic protection systems just because I have a better understanding of them.
With this particular thread, 3 anodes in 12 km would have run up a flag since spacing that I've encountered is approx 200m and I would have had someone look into it or at least raised the question... had it been 500m, I may or may not have asked the question... but 4000m is a lot greater than anything I've ever encountered. The disturbing issue was the distance and not the mass.
Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?
-Dik