The soil contamination is the pollution of soil by hazardous substances (solids, liquids or gases). This is mostly due to the inappropriate disposal of waste industrial products, urban waste, agrochemicals and in some cases by mineral extraction.
The soil can be contaminated by very different methods: by leakage from waste deposits, by the spillage of substances during the manufacture or spreading of fertilizers, pesticides and other products, by landfills, by runoff, by rainfall, by erosion, by the opening of old dumps, by accidental spills.
In all these cases, the soil is contaminated by various chemical or organic substances (heavy metals, hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, gene-modified organisms, etc.) that can cause the death of plants, animals and microorganisms.
What Does Soil Contamination In California Look Like?
The soil contamination in California is a long-standing issue. There have been many reports of people purchasing a property only to find out that their new living space is contaminated.
This contamination can be due to any number of factors, including previous or ongoing industrial use, accidental spills and releases, or the disposal of various materials in ways that can lead to long-term contamination.
What Are The Sources Of Soil Pollution?
The biggest sources of soil pollution are factories and industrial plants, storage and disposal of waste, chemicals, mining, and agricultural/livestock operations – including overuse of pesticides and herbicides that wash into soil from rain and snow.
Soil pollution is a big problem in Long Beach and surrounding areas. The Long Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant (LWTP) was built in the 1960’s and outfitted with secondary treatment technology that extracts phosphorus from wastewater and discharges it as a new pollutant to the Pacific Ocean, among other things.
How Soil Pollution Affects Human Life.
With an increasing population, soil pollution has become a major problem in the world today. People become aware of the problems caused by soil pollution, they should find ways to prevent it.
Soil pollution may not be as widely known as water, air and noise pollution or even radioactive contamination and solid waste spills, but it results in the loss of many lives every year. Long Beach, California is one of the cities most affected by soil pollution. It is estimated that about 1,600 Long Beach city residents die and around 6,000 are hospitalized each year due to the effects of soil pollution.
People who suffer from soil pollution disease may experience difficulty in breathing, increased susceptibility to infections and chronic cough are some examples.
California Soil Contamination By Toxic Waste.
Residents of Long Beach, California were exposed to toxic waste in the 1990s. One of the most serious cases of this occurred at the West Basin Municipal Water District. Pacific Sanitation, a service provider, dumped toxic waste on the ground, contaminating hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and soil. This is illegal as per local, state, and federal laws. However, Pacific Sanitation continued to carry on their activities.
They were eventually caught by the authorities. Clean up operations began in the year 2000. The company was forced to pay the fine in the amount of $650,000. It was a huge loss for Pacific Sanitation. The West Basin Municipal Water District was also fined $26,500 for illegally dumping the toxic waste in the soil.