Cleaning Up the Environment (Electronic book text)

The industrial might of the United States grew in the 1930s and flourished during the two world wars. As businesses large and small supplied the needs of the country, they discarded their wastes in landfills, pits, and waterways. It was an easy and inexpensive way to get rid of wastes before more were made. Waste dumping had not yet been linked with illnesses so few people worried about it, especially if the materials were hidden under the ground or in the ocean. Within 20 years of the end of WWII, those wastes began to cause serious health problems. Featuring full-color photographs and line illustrations, Cleaning Up the Environment explores current and emerging methods in pollution cleanup. Hazardous wastes are removed from contaminated places by physical, chemical, or biological methods, and these methods are described here as well as their advantages and disadvantages. This new book takes readers through the entire step-by-step process of finding, testing, and cleaning up hazardous waste sites, beginning with contamination assessment and ending with a cleaned and restored body of land or water. Chapters of this book include: Measuring Contamination; Excavation of Contaminated Sites; Microbes and Plants for Toxic Cleanup; Oxidation Technology; Brownfield Sites; Remediating the Water Supply; and, Superfund Sites.