For many years the ground has always been a convenient place to dump our unwanted waste, but today it is becoming more hazardous as we produce and dispose of larger quantities of wastes such as heavy metals, toxic pesticides, and oil wastes. And, as we rely on groundwater for drinking water, what we put on and into the ground surface will eventually find its way into our drinking water.
Health, safety and environmental threats include:
While illegal dumping has wide ranging effects, we have chosen to focus on the impact on drinking water, via ground and surface water, as well as considering some of the economic and legal implications of illegal dumping. Contamination of water from non-point sources, unlike pollution from point sources such as industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse locations. Non-point pollution is caused when precipitation runoff moving over and through the ground picks up and carries pollutants into streams and ground water.
Health, safety and environmental threats include:
- Fire and explosion
- Injury to children playing in and around the dump site from direct exposure to sharp objects
- Disease carried by mosquitoes, flies and rodents
- Contamination of streams, rivers and lakes
- Contamination of soil and groundwater
- Contamination of wells
- Drinking water issues from non-point source pollution
- Flooding caused by debris clogging ditches and waterways
- Inhaling pollutants from open burning
- Exposure to chemicals and hazardous waste
- Damage to plant and wildlife habitats
- Continued dumping in illegal dumping areas as trash begets trash
- Decrease in the quality of life to the community and residents
- Concurrent illegal activities
While illegal dumping has wide ranging effects, we have chosen to focus on the impact on drinking water, via ground and surface water, as well as considering some of the economic and legal implications of illegal dumping. Contamination of water from non-point sources, unlike pollution from point sources such as industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse locations. Non-point pollution is caused when precipitation runoff moving over and through the ground picks up and carries pollutants into streams and ground water.