1. Environmental Science 5.1

2. * After many years we have learned that we can’t bury or dump unwanted chemicals * Toxic chemicals will contaminate water supplies * Tens of thousands of abandoned sites are contaminated w/ toxic chemicals * >1,300 are on the Superfund’s National Priorities List

3. * In the 1890s, William Love dug a canal for a hydroelectric project in Niagara Falls, NY, but the project was never completed * 1942-1953, Hooker Chemical Corp., City of Niagara Falls, and U.S. Army dumped toxic chemicals into the abandoned canal * Canal was filled and sold for $1 to the school board, which built an elementary school and playground directly over the canal * Remaining land was sold to a developer who built homes along the filled canal

4. * 1976 – heavy rains caused chemicals to leak from the rusting drums and seep into basements * Increased number of miscarriages and birth defects * 1978-1980, president declared federal emergencies * School was closed * 950 families were evacuated * School and 200 homes were torn down and buried

5. * Hooker Chemical (purchased by OxyChem) agreed to reimburse the EPA Superfund more than $129 million; Army paid $8 million * Noticeable differences in baby’s sex (more girls), birth defects, birth weight, and premature births

6. * Woburn, Massachusetts, is a site of a leukemia cluster * 1982 – 8 families, who had lost children to leukemia, filed a lawsuit against 3 companies * Claimed they contaminated 2 groundwater wells * Jury found W.R. Grace guilty of causing the pollution of wells G & H * EPA investigation demonstrated that the chemicals in wells G & H came from 5 properties

7. * Contaminated wells provided 30% of the city’s drinking water * 21 cases of childhood leukemia by 1986 * Risk declined after contaminated wells were no longer used * 1982 – wells G & H were placed on the National Priority List of Superfund Sites

8. * Atmospheric deposition is primary route by which most toxic substances, including mercury, enter the Great Lakes and Everglades * Some species of fish have high levels of toxic chemicals stored in their bodies * >3,000 advisories nationwide warning it is not safe to eat certain species of fish caught in some lakes and rivers * Carcinogens affect fish livers in the same way that they affect human livers, so scientists now look at fish as an indicator

9. * Sheepshead minnows are good biological monitors * In 14 weeks, scientists can indentify developing tumors in minnows exposed to carcinogens

10. * 200-mile stretch of the Hudson River has been declared a Superfund site b/c of PCB contamination * EPA found 66 chemicals in New Orleans’ drinking water * Chloroform – formed by water being treated w/ chlorine * New Orleans switched to chloramines, which is safer but more expensive

11. * Santa Clara Valley in northern CA is known as Silicon Valley b/c many companies there make electronic parts * Industrial pollution has contaminated the soil and water * Chemicals were stored in underground storage tanks (USTs), and some tanks leaked * 23 Superfund sites * Contaminated soil must be removed and water treated to remove toxins

12. * >650,000 active USTs in the U.S. which contain petroleum or hazardous substances * >330,000 confirmed releases of chemicals * ½ have reached groundwater * Law now requires USTs to have spill, overfill, and corrosion protection * Gasoline contain some toxic chemicals that are somewhat soluble in water * Benzene – chemical know to cause cancer in humans * Removal is expensive

13. * Large amounts of water and nitrogen fertilizer must be added to grown crops in sandy soils * Rainwater leaches the nitrogen compounds from the soil and transports it into aquifers * Pesticides are in 50% of shallow groundwater wells beneath agricultural and urban areas * New pesticides must be tested to determine how readily they leach

14. * Much of CA’s farmland was once the sea floor and the soil has high concentrations of mineral salts * Salinization – build up of salts and toxic elements in the soil of irrigated cropland * Reduces crop yield * Drainage systems are used to prevent the clay from trapping irrigation water * Canal was to carry wastewater into the San Francisco Bay, but canal ended at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge

15. * Deformities found in 42% of newly hatched birds (normal is 1%) * Caused by selenium, a toxic element that had leached from the soil

16. * Fall of Roman Empire was caused by lead * Romans used lead acetated as a sweetener and preservative in wines and cider * Lead is especially dangerous to fetuses and young children * Causes anemia, kidney disease, stroke, and cancer * Major source of contamination of drinking water is corrosion of plumbing by acidic water

17. * Louisville, KY – a recycling company dumped pesticides in the city’s sewers * Sewage treatment plant had to shut down for several months b/c chemicals irritated eyes, skin, and respiratory systems of workers * Philadelphia – a waste disposal company rented a warehouse near the Delaware River, * Storm sewer inside warehouse was used to dump toxic wastes * Got into drinking water of Philadelphia