Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA or Environmental Protection Agency is included in
the executive branch of the United States government. The EPA’s purpose is to
enforce and oversee environmental laws and policies. Its main responsibility is
to protect the environmental quality. The EPA was established in 1970 and it
has over 18,000 employees.
The federal Superfund program plays an important part in
environmental clean up. The Superfund program is emergency funds that are
designated for areas needed immediate attention due to hazardous waste.
The Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site
The Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site or
IKMHSSS needed immediate attention due to the hazard or the potential for
phytostabilization or the mobility of heavy metals found in the topsoil. The
idea was to create vegetation on top of the mine tailings to reduce wind and
water erosion that would carry the heavy metals into the surrounding
environment and course pollution.
In the case of the IKMHSSS superfund project specific plants
were chosen to reduce the mobility of the heavy metals found in the topsoil.
The plants were tested in a controlled environment to see what the least amount
of compost would be effect for the plants to grow.
The compost was important in offering different pH levels.
When compost was added to the IKMHSSS mine tailing the pH increased from 2.5 up
to 5.8. The pH helped the plants grow and sustain life.
As seen in the following graph, Buffalo grass, mequite,
quailbush, and catclaw acacia all grew well in the tailing with at least 10%
compost. No plants survived without the compost.
O'Sullivan FS study.pdf • Accessed 5/6/12
The bacterial communities provide information about the
stress within a site. Neutrophilic heterotrophic bacterial tells us that portions
of the site requires normal carbon and nutrient cycling in the soil. After 60
days of plant growth in the 15% compost the average bacterial count for these
treated plants was 6.4 x 107.
Cleaning up southern California
With so many toxic area’s in the United States the EPA has a
National Priorities List. The map below shows all the areas in southern
California that are on the NPL.
(Map http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/sfund-map.html
• Accessed 5/6/12)
The main contaminate that is needs to be reduced is in the
air. The EPA has been working to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas and is
installing solar panels. The Clean Up Clean Air Program is a big player in
lowering diesel emissions. (http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/)
Camp Pendleton is one of the cleanup crews. They use clean
diesel and biofuels and use train transportation to keep trucks off the
freeways. This saves energy and reduces emissions. (http://www.epa.gov/cleanup-clean-air/pendleton.html)
Operating Industries, Inc. is a company that is using
landfill gas to generate energy and is assisting in the cleanup of southern
California. (http://www.epa.gov/cleanup-clean-air/operating-industries.html)
Del Amo
Del Amo was the site for large amounts of industrial
activities from 1943 until 1972. The waste from synthetic rubber production was
placed in six pits that were unlined and were covered with soil. The 280-acre
land has been developed into an industrial park. Contaminates were discovered
in the waste pit in the upper levels of a ground water site. The water has a
potential to contaminate drinking water that supplies 34,000 people.
Some of the contaminates that were found in the groundwater
and soil were volatile organic compounds, benzene, toluene, polycyclic aromatic
hyrocargons, and other simi-volatile organic compounds.
The superfund has thus far created a hydraulic extraction
pilot project that extracts 20 gallons of pure contaminated groundwater. A cap
was built in 1999 at the waste pit area. There has been 23,035 pounds of
benxene removed. There is also designs for the remediation system for the
groundwater that are currently underway.
(Drill Image) http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/ • Accessed 5/6/12
Halaco Engineering Company
In Oxnard there is a superfund site at the Halaco
Engineering Company that operated a metal smelter from 1965 until 2004. They
recovered aluminum, magnesium, and zinc. The smelter was estimated at 700,000
cubic yards of smelter wastes. This reason that this site is on the list is due
to the fact that it is adjacent to the Ormond Beach wetlands. This is one of
the few remaining wetlands in the area. It is also home to many endangered
species.
In 2006 the EPA stabilized a waste pile and many drums and
chemicals were removed from the site. The owner of the land also improved the security
of the site to help with further containment.
http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/
• Accessed 5/6/12
http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/ • Accessed 5/6/12
http://www.epa.gov/socal/superfund/ • Accessed 5/6/12
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