Word: toxicants
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...problem become clear at the 4 1/2-acre O Field at Aberdeen Proving Ground. At first glance, it looks like any other fenced-in, treeless site on this picturesque peninsula that juts into Chesapeake Bay. Yet for decades, O Field served as a dumping ground for vast amounts of toxic chemicals. Soil tests show concentrations of benzene and trichloroethylene (TCE) that are hundreds of times higher than the acceptable EPA limits; the vinyl chloride level is 1,500 times greater than allowed...
...base has its share of problems. Maintenance crews at McClellan used powerful solvents to strip paint from F-15 aircraft and remove grease from F- 111 engine parts. A major electroplating operation dumped chrome, lead and other metals into the ground. Altogether, the Air Force has discovered 177 toxic sites on McClellan's 3,500 acres. Local water wells have been shut down because of contamination. At one site, the TCE level was 4,500 times the EPA limit. Merely locating the polluted sites has cost $72 million...
NAVY. The Navy's oldest pollution problem has been the waste generated by ships, some of which -- like aircraft carriers with crews of 5,000 -- are small floating cities. For generations, Navy vessels just threw their garbage and industrial wastes overboard. Now sea dumping of toxic materials is unnecessary, thanks to onboard compactors and a vigorous program of reducing the amount of packaging taken aboard...
What little real cleanup has already taken place has proved astronomically expensive. Moving 10.5 million gal. of toxic liquids and 500,000 cu. yds. of contaminated soil from one site at the Army's Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado cost $32 million; cleaning up the whole base is likely to top $1.5 billion. Digging out a single landfill the size of a tennis court at Norfolk cost $18 million, and there are 21 other identified sites. Removing 600 drums of buried toxic wastes at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire cost $22 million. "We are only on the threshold...
...best way to keep down future costs is to avoid creating so many problems in the first place. Pollution can be reduced by such technological advances as new non-toxic solvents for washing aircraft engines, and plastic granules to replace grit for blasting paint off aircraft fuselage parts. Baking soda is being tested as a nonlethal paint remover, and scientists are also investigating the potential for lasers to do the job. Noting that bacteria can strip paint from buried tin cans, scientists are examining the feasibility of getting microorganisms to do the same job for aircraft fuselages...