How to Clean Up Toxic Waste Sites

The mass consumption that drives modern civilization has an end product, and toxic waste is a large part of that product. What Americans consume and use to meet their needs has by-products that are sometimes detrimental to not only a person's health but also the environment. It is imperative that viable solutions are found to clean up toxic waste or the environment will be irrevocably damaged, causing large-scale public health concerns.

Instructions

Tips

• 1

  Notify the Environmental Protection Agency of a toxic waste problem. The EPA has a comprehensive toxic waste management program that uses a number of protocols and procedures to evaluate and develop solutions to cleaning up toxic waste. This is called the Superfund cleanup process. The EPA has offices in every region across the United States, so for most people it is relatively easy to get to an EPA office.

• 2

  Determine the extent of contamination. This will include taking water samples and putting them in test tubes as well as taking soil samples and pH samples, and measuring the physical amount of toxic waste per square foot. Always wear protective clothing like haz-mat suits and gas masks if you have them. Often, state agencies and EPA regional offices will survey the amount of toxic waste, but community members can do so as well by contacting the EPA and state agencies about what they see. When EPA members come to the toxic waste site, they will perform a remedial investigation/feasibility study to determine what type of waste it is, assess health risks, and develop cost-analysis studies to ascertain how much it will cost to clean up the toxic waste.

• 3

  Involve your community with the EPA to participate in the Superfund Community Involvement Program. This program hinges on the thoughts, observations, and questions that community members have. The EPA offers communities resources in the form of technical assistance grants that provide money and technical assistance services such as professional crews who have the means and ability to deal with harmful toxic wastes.

• 4

  Establish a local, state, or national coalition to hold toxic polluters accountable for their actions. The EPA and other government organizations often work closely with environmental action groups because they provide extra manpower and more sets of eyes. Also, environmental action groups can help with the physical cleanup of toxic sites as long as they receive proper training and instruction from government agencies like the EPA.