It occurs to me . . .
There is a frightening environmental trend underway that isn't being talked about nearly as much as issues surrounding global warming, but in the long run will be far more important, having to do with the vast, rapidly increasing burden of exotic chemicals in our environment, our water, and our air that never even existed prior to the 20th century
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As for landfills, well-built ones shouldn't have that problem. Unfortunately, not all of them are well-built, and for that reason, half the Superfund sites are old landfills. As for the Superfund program, I understand that efforts are often blocked by lawyers for the companies that own the properties. That could be fixed by offering 1) matching funds to clean up the mess if they agree; or 2) the companies have to pay for all of it if they sue and lose.
The problem is significantly worse in some other countries. We should make efforts to encourage them to implement environmental controls.
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Burning at great heat will do it, as far as solid waste goes. As for traces in water supplies, I suppose blasting it with far ultraviolet radiation, and dissolving as much ozone as possible into it, would do it, oxidizing everything into basic ionic species that would then be harmless. That costs money, however, and the techology to do it hasn't been developed. Which it means it won't be for a long, long time, if ever.
As for landfills, well-built ones shouldn't have that problem. Unfortunately, not all of them are well-built, and for that reason, half the Superfund sites are old landfills. As for the Superfund program, I understand that efforts are often blocked by lawyers for the companies that own the properties. That could be fixed by offering 1) matching funds to clean up the mess if they agree; or 2) the companies have to pay for all of it if they sue and lose.There are ( ... )
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