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The Negative Effects of Land Pollution

Land pollution is the contamination of the earth's surface by human refuse or activities. In the U.S. alone, according to the Web site Recycling Revolution, each person produces 1,609 pounds of trash each year. That trash ends up in landfills, where it poses serious long-term hazards to the environment. Toxic chemicals leach into aquifers, fouling the land and the water supply. Construction, mining, farming and other activities further degrade the land.

  1. Landfills

    • Landfills are literally dumping grounds---holes dug and filled with trash---some of it toxic, some of it recyclable, some of it highly reactive as it decomposes. When active, landfills are high-traffic trucking sites, attract flies and vermin, release airborne chemicals, smell, decrease property values and endanger health. Toxins from the landfill may seep into groundwater. Decomposing bacteria creates greenhouse gases, one of which, methane, is potentially explosive. Landfills must be monitored for long-term pollution hazards, even after they are filled, closed and covered over. The cost in lost recyclable materials, contamination of air, water and land, hazards to human health and global climate degradation is extremely high.

    Construction Waste

    • Construction waste can be as simple as excavated soil and other material dumped in or near a waterway or in a wetlands or other fragile environment. Or it can be as complex as toxic chemicals in building supplies like paints, finishes, insulation, shingles and other materials. Those chemicals can spill or seep into the land and the water table. Some construction waste, particularly from tear-downs, may wind up in landfills.

    Mining

    • Mining releases gases that may be harmful to downwind residents and to nearby wildlife. There is acid run-off from mines that can pollute the land and the water supply, enter rivers and streams and migrate, destroying aquatic life and terrestrial life on riverbanks and in wetlands. The mining itself can produce airborne contaminants that can affect farms and ranches and enter the food supply. And the ultimate effect for coal mining is even denser pollution and destruction of the ozone when the fuel is burned.

    Human Sewage and Seepage

    • Raw sewage is still dumped untreated into bodies of water in some parts of the world, and waste treatment plants have some leaks and spills. The sewage is a breeding medium for devastating diseases like cholera and typhoid and acute dysentery, to name just a few. The land along these rivers, lakes and oceans---and the habitats of all species that live there---is damaged by the pollution. Any animal, including humans, that drinks from or bathes in the water can spread disease. And the way many cultures dispose of their dead is also a cause of land pollution. Digging in areas like cemeteries causes soil erosion, and the decomposition of bodies releases gasses and fluids that pollute the surrounding land.

    Agribusiness By-products

    • Run-off from pesticides, herbicides and insecticides from large farm operations can permanently upset the balance of nature in an environment, cause deadly algae blooms that kill lakes, contaminate the surrounding land, threaten the health of people living nearby, work their way into groundwater, leave residue in and on food, and lead to resistant strains of pests and disease. All these chemicals are poisons that are applied directly to the land and last for generations.

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