Industries That Cause Land Pollution

Soil pollution and contamination can cause food to be unhealthy to eat, and in some cases it may make soil incapable of supporting plants or animals at all. In other cases people living or working on the land may become ill just from living there. Tracing all the sources of soil pollution can be tricky as soil, air and water pollution are all interrelated.

Oil and Gas

• In Canada's provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and recently Utah, the demand for oil has led companies to begin digging in land where oil content in the soil is high. In order to get the oil they must separate it from the soil. In Canada the process of separation is responsible for 80 million tons of CO2 emissions, and the destruction of thousands of acres of forest, according to the University of Alberta's Parkland Institute. By the time the oil is completely removed more than 40 million acres will have been destroyed. The process also produces more than a quarter of a million tons of toxic waste daily, which is dumped back into the soil.

Agriculture

• The use of pesticides and herbicides and even commercial fertilizers in agriculture can lead to the buildup of dangerous, toxic chemicals in the soil that can then leach into the ground water. Some of this is caused by home gardening but far more of it is caused by large scale agriculture. Additionally, built up slurry from animal manure can cause high concentrations of nitrates in the soil along with dangerous parasites. In developed countries, farming regulations control agricultural pollution to an extent, but in poor, developing countries few controls are in place.

Waste Disposal

• Landfills and toxic waste disposal sites from industrial and household sources are another major source of soil pollution. Although efforts are made to control such sites, particularly in developed countries, materials from these sites can continue to break down, corrode and leach into the soil for decades and even hundreds of years after materials are thrown away. This is especially true of metals and plastics, which take a long time to break down.

Mining

• Mining and quarrying waste can contain a wide variety of poisonous and toxic substances. When it rains, these substances can leach into the soil and damage local plant life. This is especially true of coal, which, among other substances, contains high levels of methane. Both the mining of coal and the cleaning process for coal releases coal and sulfides into the soil and groundwater.

Other

• A number of other industries can damage soil. Forestry, for example, doesn't necessarily cause soil pollution, but if it is not done carefully the loss of trees can cause soil erosion. Without trees to block the wind and roots to tie down the soil, top soil is washed away with the rain, taking valuable nutrients with it. It is also worth remembering that air, soil and water pollution are all related to one another. Some amount of pollution from the air falls onto the soil, especially when it rains. The rain washes through the soil and deposits material from the soil into the water. Water is used for crops and anything in the water is deposited in the soil.