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Land Contamination Incidents

Stephen Welty

Buffalo CreekOn February 26, 1972 in Buffalo Creek, WV the impoundment dam on Buffalo Creekbroke flooding the entire area downstream from the dam. The water behind the dam wasused to clean the coal mined from the nearby mine. The mining method used at this sitewas valley filling or mountaintop removal. This method of mining has been largelycriticized because of its profound impact on the landscape of removing mountaintops andfilling in the valleys. Often times these valleys have streams, which are disruptedaffecting the entire local ecosystem. Figure 1 shows a typical impoundment and thesurrounding landscape after mountaintop removal coal mining. The dam at Buffalo Creekwas mined with mine wastes but it has been found that mine wastes are inadequate forthis purpose because they are not strong enough.

The coal washing water that was held behind the damwas acidic and contained heavy metals from the coal.The lake was contained between two hills and whenthe dam broke, releasing roughly one hundred thirtymillion gallons of black water, the slurry rushed downthe valley like a tidal wave. The immediate effect onhuman health was a death toll of 125. Not only werelives lost, but thousands of people were left homelessas their homes washed down the valley with theslurry.

Heavy metals are natural in the environment but inexcessive concentrations can be harmful to humans.For example, lead can cause brain and kidney damageand chromium and cause lung cancer. Although theslurry contained acid and heavy metals, the ArmyCorp of engineers clean up did not involve much siteremediation. This is largely due to the speed with

which these contaminants ran down the creek, not giving much time for thesecontaminants to be absorbed into the environment in dangerous concentrations over thelength of the stream. Since the source of contamination is gone, there is no ongoing

leakage. The coal mine itself and the remnants of the impoundment were remediated bya technique known as valley fill. This is effective in reducing acid mine drainage andother longer-term environmental problems but is lacking in aesthetic and ecologicalaspects since the ecosystem is altered forever.

As a result of the accident, the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act waspassed. Additionally, stricter regulation was passed for tailings dams that held backimpoundments from any mining industry, not just coal mining.

Fi ure 1: Im oundment

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Kirby Tire Inferno

Most inland oil spills are usually attributed to accidents during transportation or failure ofstorage tanks. However, the Kirby Tire Inferno represents a non-traditional inland oil

spill since the oil was generated from burning tires at a tire recycling facility inSycamore, Ohio. Tire fires produce not only pyrolytic oil but other contaminants as well.Some of the other contaminants are arsenic, lead, zinc, sulfuric acid, benzene,benzo(a)pyrene, toluene and carbon monoxide. Arsenic and benzene are knowncarcinogen and many of the other compounds are suspected carcinogens. Some of theother contaminants are not carcinogens but have known adverse effects on human healthin large concentrations. Lead causes anemia, brain and kidney damage, and increasedblood pressure while zinc is a known toxic for freshwater animals. Carbon monoxide inlarge concentrations can lead to death largely due to the displacement of oxygen in thehuman lungs. Benzo(a)pyrene is noncarcinogenic but is biotransformed into a substancewhich is a potent carcinogenic.

A massive fire broke out at Kirby Tire Recycling on August 21, 1999, which broughtstate and local firefighters to the scene. Initially foam was used to try to extinguish firewith no success. Since the foam wasnt working they used soil and sand to build acontainment area for the water they used in trying to extinguish the fire. After some timethe Ohio EPA called in the US EPA for help in extinguishing the fire. The US EPA tookover the situation and halted the use of water while covering the fire with soil andconstructing a water treatment system and a collection basin for the runoff.

As the fire came under control, the Ohio EPA immediately began sampling the water inthe nearby creek, and the surrounding soil. They also held daily public briefings to keep

the public informed as to what was happening in their area. In order to completelysuffocate the fire, it was covered in soil and then capped with clay to slow waterinfiltration.

Once the fire was controlled and the source of oil controlled, the oil that had escaped intothe surroundings and into the river had to be controlled. During the fire, there were tworeleases of oil and other contaminants into the nearby Sycamore Creek, which flows intothe Sandusky River. The Sandusky River is a water source for the town of Tiffin and thecontamination had to be controlled before it reached the Sandusky River. Fish kills in theSycamore Creek were observed immediately. Siphon dams were installed downstream,aeration systems were installed upstream to increase the dissolved oxygen content in the

creek and secondary water treatment systems were installed. This remediation techniquewas effective in controlling the spill before it contaminated the Sandusky River but about7 miles of the Sycamore Creek were contaminated. About 93,000 cubic yard of soil andclay were used for capping and about 517,000 gallons of water were treated. About56,000 gallons of oil were recovered and disposed of.The lessons learned from this incident were how to deal with a tire fire and how effectiveincident management can reduce exposure in the surrounding population. No legislationwas passed as a result of this fire.

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Koko Incident

International toxic waste trade has been an issue for a number of decades. The problemcame to international attention in 1988 with the Koko incident. Koko is a small port

town in Nigeria where roughly 3,800 tons of hazardous waste was dumped. The Italianwaste companies, Ecomar and Jelly Wax, signed an agreement with Sunday Nana todispose of 18,000 drums of hazardous waste from Italy on his property for about $100 permonth. When the waste was imported it was termed as relating to the building trade andas residual and allied chemicals.

The contaminants of concern were PCBs, asbestos, and possible dioxin. All three ofthese contaminants are known carcinogens. When the contaminants were found to beleaking from the drums into the soil of the surrounding residential area, a scandal brokeout drawing attention to the case. Over 100 workers from the Nigerian port were hired toremove these wastes and ship them back to Italy but they were not given adequate

protection and their symptoms included nausea, chemical burns and paralysis. Officialsat the Koko hospital reported, seven premature births that occurred within a one two-week period in July were due to the high toxicity of the dumpsite.

The wastes were removed from the site and 60 cm of topsoil was also removed and sentback to Italy with the shipment. International consultants assured the Nigeriangovernment that these measures were sufficient to decrease exposure to a safe level andthat relocation of the inhabitants was not necessary. But the populations of the ports inItaly where the wastes were to arrive protested against receiving the shipment. Finally,the wastes were put in better containers and stored in Italy.

This incident drew a great deal of international attention and created a political fall outbetween Nigeria and Italy. As a result of the incident the Nigerian government createdthe FEPA (Federal Environmental Protection Agency) and the OAU (Organization ofAfrican Unity) made agreements to not allow hazardous wastes to be imported to thecontinent.

Mercury Contamination at Kodaikanal

On March 7, 2001, Greenpeace accused Unilever of negligence in allowing its Indiansubsidiary, Hindustan Lever, to contaminate the tourist town of Kodaikanal, India and thesurrounding nature preserve, Pambar Shola, with mercury from its thermometer plant.

The mercury had been recklessly discarded onto a dump site in the center of Kodaikanalin open or torn sacks. Most of the thermometers are exported to the USA, Germany, UK,Spain, Australia and Canada.

The only major hazardous waste at the sites was mercury. The main health impactassociated with mercury is neurological damage as was the case at Minamata Bay.Mercury has a tendency to bio-accumulate in the food chain and can reach highconcentrations after time. The World Health Organization suggests a threshold for

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Mercury at 50 ppm but there has been some debate as to whether this is low enough ornot. Mercury in the presence of water forms methyl mercury which is a deadly poison.

There is an estimated 5.3 tonnes of mercury contaminated glass waste at the scrapyard inKodaikanal. Greenpeace officials recently discovered another waste dump outside the

city, with roughly 15 tonnes of mercury contaminated waste. There is growing concernthat over the 17 years of operation of this plant, a great deal of mercury waste has beendispersed over the area which will begin to appear in human ailments over time.Additionally, workers were exposed to the mercury in poor hazardous materialmanagement practices. It was reported that the contamination in some parts of thefactory was 600 times the permissible level. In a recent survey of 30 ex-employees,health officials found many people with "gum and skin allergy related problems, which

appeared to be due to exposure to mercury." Many workers complain of stomach and

nervous disorders that could be related to mercury exposure.

Shortly after the criticism from Greenpeace, Unilever shut down the plant for further

inspections. Hindustan Lever has hired international consultants, Dames & Moore, toadvise on assessing and remediating the dump sites. The consultants estimated that 300kg of mercury had been released into the watershed not including 70 kg or airborneemissions. However, Unilever is renown for its lack of transparencies and inaccuraciesin reporting so Greenpeace officials are skeptical of these numbers. Greenpeacemaintains that between 20 and 40 tonnes of mercury have been released into theenvironment since the plant started in 1984.

As a result of this incident, the local people are becoming aware of the effects of mercuryand its hazard and more skeptical of multinational corporations. In 2001 the Ministry ofEnvironment in India still classified mercury as a low-level hazard.