Cascades Park: Superfund Site Analysis

The area of greatest concern and threat is Illinois Beach State Park which boarders the contamination site to the North. This is a concern as asbestos can cause cancer if the fibers are inhaled. Asbestos is less dangerous in water supplies although the site run-off at one point was 3 times the EPA’s limit. The EPA continues to monitor and improve the site. After the main site contamination were remediated, secondary excavation and capping projects have taken place over the years to continue to clean the site for future re-development as shown in the image below.

Throughout the operation and dismantling of the refinery, various types of wastes including cloth filters, fuller 's earth, oil sludge, contaminated soil, pesticides, heavy metals, and fly ash were generated and disposed of in two on-site landfills adjacent to the Genesee River over a 30-year period. The landfill area of the site consisted of a 9-acre Central Elevated Landfill Area, a 2-acre South Landfill Area, and a 1-acre sand and gravel area between the two landfills. The landfill area was located at the very southern end of

Coal Combustion Residuals, often referred to as coal ash, are currently considered exempt wastes under an amendment to RCRA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. They are residues from the combustion of coal in power plants and captured by pollution control technologies, like scrubbers. Potential environmental concerns from coal ash pertain to pollution from impoundment and landfills leaching into ground water and structural failures of impoundments, like that which occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plant in Kingston, Tennessee. The need for national management criteria was emphasized by the December 2008 spill of CCRs from a surface impoundment near

The most dangerous consequence of fracking is that hundreds of chemicals are blasted into the Earth’s crust, which creates cracks in the bedrock. Many times, these cracks lead to an aquifer, in which case, all of the water in the aquifer becomes contaminated with these chemicals (Jackson, 2014). Additionally, when the natural gas is being pumped out of the wells, methane is released into the atmosphere. A study conducted by NOAA found that approximately 4% of the methane is being released into the atmosphere. This same study found that methane pollution increases climate changes because it traps heat in the atmosphere 25 times more than carbon dioxide (Hoffman, 2016). Furthermore, fracking waste wells are the primary cause of the increase of earthquakes in the Central U.S. This is because these wells operate for a longer period of time, which means that they inject more “solid ‘cake’” into the Earth than the actual fracking process (USGS, n.d. and StateImpact, 2017). Finally, recent studies have found that people who live near a fracking site are at higher risk to develop respiratory problems, which is due to the increased levels of pollutants. These pollutants are not only affecting the people who live in close proximity to these sites, but to the workers, as well. The most common type of respiratory problem reported was lung

After Florida became a U.S. territory in 1822, both St. Augustine and Pensacola competed to become the state capital. Unable to come to an agreement, it was decided to locate the Capital at a point between the two cities, Tallahassee. In 1824, a log cabin in Tallahassee served as the first Capitol

The Tar Creek Superfund site is located in Ottawa Country, in northeastern Oklahoma. This superfund site covers five municipalities in its boundary, the site covers approximately 40 square miles. Two towns are situated in the middle of the superfund site, Picher and Cardin, both in hazardous areas. There is a population of 19,556 people who live in and around the superfund site (Vincent).

The purpose of the landfill was to bury the large amount of contaminated the soil with toxic Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), a class of chemicals so toxic that Congress banned production later. The whole story began in 1973 when Ward PCB Transformers Company dumped more than 30,000 gallons of PCB-contaminated oil on the side of state roads in 14 North Carolina counties. The trucker, who was responsible for taking the oil to a facility to be recycled, disposed of it discreetly and illegally. The person in charge of the company and the trucker was sent to jail for a short time for their negligence on the matter. Contaminants left in the truck and factory was detoxified. However, the area around the factory as well as the lakes and rivers close to the road had been polluted. As a result, more than 60,000 tons of oils were polluted with toxic PCB.

of drilling for natural gas. Again the process of waste disposal in fracking is also the cause of

The Tar Creek Superfund Site is part of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The Tar Creek area is where lead and zinc were mined from 1900’s to the 1960’s. When the mining came to a halt over 500 million pounds of toxic waste was left over. This waste, called chat, has caused elevated blood lead concentrations in as high as 43% in some children. When the mines were abandoned they soon flooded. This resulted in contaminated ground water, surface water, and soil. In 1983, the site was put on the National Priorities List Sites. The Tar Creek area has been on the National Priorities List for 20 years and has a rating of 58.15. Cleanup of the site has occurred since the 1980’s and is still in progress today as various organizations such as the DEQ and

What is coal ash, and how does it relate to North Carolina? Coal ash is a mixture of chemicals and metals that are a threat to the environment and the well- being of others. The dangers of coal ash increase as the ponds they are stored in are being located near power plants sitting beside our water sources. Sadly, we Americans use coal for a significant number of things. This may include electricity, steel, cement, etc. North Carolina has 30 additional sites of coal manufacturing located in 14 different locations. As a community, we continuously take resources that we need such as water for granted. We don’t realize how contamination of our water sources can affect our daily lives.

One of the major drawbacks with fracking is due to the cause of widespread hazardous pollution within waterways surrounding the sites. The steel casings cannot guarantee prevention of chemical leakage dispersing into the adjacent soil holding tons of ground water. This is the same water that makes its way into our wells, and finally into our mouths. Furthermore, more than half of the wastewater used in the fracking process is flowed directly into a ready-made reservoir pits that sit in wait for evaporation. This wastewater gradually sinks into the ground, for the evaporation takes quite some time. The health risks posed by this dangerously hazardous output of pollution into our drinking water and nearby waterways is widely felt. Water quickly turns to metallic mush, goes black, and even becomes flammable in other cases. Fracking is upsetting the way of life for so many out there and yet they still refuse to answer for these wrongdoings. Mike Markham is forced to venture into town to buy his water supply due to his well water being deemed unfit for consumption (“GasLand”). Jeff and Wranda Locker’s washer was flooded with black water not soon after a fracking site began drilling. They placed faith in the energy company when they supplied them with a reverse osmosis water treatment system that was supposed to filter out the chemicals. However, later they found out that the system didn’t remove glycol ethers which damages brain cells and may well be the cause of Wranda’s fading

This site was used as a manufacturing and packaging facility. From the 1970s to the present day, the property has been used to package and make chemical products such as cosmetics. The City of Newark now owns many parts of the property. Investigations of an oily spill in the Passaic river revealed that the waste was not properly disposed and that it contained VOCs and semi-volatile organic compounds, as well as metals and polychlorinated biphenyls. They still have not determined the statistics of how many people might be affected as well as what can be done to clean up this site to prevent further discharge into the river. The last superfund site that I looked into was the Diamond Alkali CO. This superfund site is contaminated by the byproduct of DDT or “Agent Orange” which was dioxin. Dioxin is an extremely toxic chemical. This company was manufacturing agricultural chemicals. This chemical through runoff ended up in Lower Passaic River. Because of that New Jersey prohibits the consumption of any fish or other organisms from that area. Now they are all trying to clean all the superfund

The main issue discussed at the meeting was increasing the funds in the city’s budget for the purpose of restoring and paving roads in St. Augustine. Of the nine people who spoke, all shared the common sentiment that in previous years, the money allocated by the city’s budget for road repair had been incredibly insufficient. The deterioration of roads has had a negative impact on tourism, business, and everyday life for St. Augustine residents. There were tales of visitors scoffing at “pathetic” road repairs, as told by a resident and business owner, David Holliday, which were affirmed by Bernard DeRaal, owner of a popular tourist restaurant, Cap’s on the Water, who advocated improving roads for the benefit of tourists. Resident Delta Long, shared her story of losing her car to a flood while taking her son to school to demonstrate that the poorly maintained roads are prone to flooding and pose a safety threat. Ed Salvin of the Clean up the City of St. Augustine Initiative, brought up another example to express the frustration of citizens, in which he spoke about the time a pickup truck got stuck in a sinkhole. All of the commenters advocated an increase in city funds for road repair and a reduction in unnecessary expenditures. Susan Rathbone, a citizen of St. Augustine and President of the Davis Shores Neighborhood Association, pleaded with the commissioners to stop wasting money on luxury items for city hall such as iron gates and expensive draperies. She and several

McGraw describes several of the numerous incidents of air and water pollution that occurred directly from the fracking. Methane, a colorless and odorless greenhouse gas that is known to trap radiation, leaked several times in Susquehanna. Not only were water supplies contaminated by chemicals, but fracking can often lead to droughts as the oil companies draw water for the hydraulic fracturing. Some people have found so much gas in their water that it could be set on fire. Methane can have harmful long-term effects from

Yosemite National Park is a spectacular natural wonder. Outdoor enthusiasts of all ages flock to this area of California every year. Since the parks establishment, it has been a worldwide tourist attraction. Upon entering the park, travelers are greeted by marvelous, majestic views. Once in Yosemite, serenity can be found. Yosemite is decidedly one of the nation’s vast beauties.