Soil Pollution:

Soil contamination or soil pollution as part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotics (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals. Contamination is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensity of chemical substance. The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from health risks, from direct contact with the contaminated soil, vapor from the contaminants, or from secondary contamination of water supplies within and underlying the soil. Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the resulting cleanups are time-consuming and expensive tasks, requiring extensive amounts of geology, hydrology, chemistry, computer modeling skills, and GIS in Environmental Contamination, as well as an appreciation of the history of industrial chemistry.

Statistics:

• USA has lost 831 square miles of forest during the period 2001 – 2005.

• 500 years are need for the regeneration of 2.5 cm of topsoil. The US loses topsoil 17 times faster than its being formed again.

• Americans are only 5% of the world population but produce 30% of the waste globally.

• 200 000 tones of completely edible food is being thrown away each day only in US. Its discomposure significantly emits methane in the soil.

• According to US Fire Administration, in 2001 an estimate of 8100 fires happened, many of which due to natural ignition of landfills because of the heat generated from the emissions. That produces huge amount of gases that further cause air pollution.

• 22 barrels of toxic waste was disposed in the Love Canal, US in the late 1970s. Many of the families living nearby the place of disaster later suffered from Leukemia, high red blood cells count. It took about 30 years for the area to become inhabited again.

• Greenpoint oil spill is one of the biggest that has ever occurred in the US. An estimate of 17 and 30 million gallons of oil that was spilled later leaked in the soil causing one of the biggest land pollution disasters in the history of America.

• The Murphy Refinery spill happened because of malfunction of a storage tank due to a massive flood. Over 1700 homes were impacted by the massive spill of about 90 000 barrels of oil – approximately 4 million gallons.

• Brudhoe Bay Spill was observed in 2006 after a 5 days leak of more than 267, 000 US gallons of oil that was spilled across 1 900 acres of land. This is to be considered the largest spill in the area of Alaska’s north slope even until now. The company that was responsible for the disaster payed $25 000 000 civil penalty.

• The average american produces 4.5 (about 2kg) pounds of rubbish a day.

• About 40% of the lakes in the U.S. are so severely polluted that fishing and swimming in them is not allowed. The aquatic life doesn’t exist or is heavily damaged.

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