Soil pollution

“ Anyone who discharges sewage and sludge containing heavy metals or other toxic and hazardous substances in excess of standards and dredged sediment, tailings, slag, and the like that may cause pollution to forest lands, shall be punished in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Soil Pollution Prevention and Control. ”

“ In populous districts, in villages, towns, but also near habitations, the soil from which water is obtained must, of necessity, be impregnated with organic waste matter. If, in such a surface well, the level of the water is lowered by pumping, the zone of pollution is extended laterally in all directions. Ordinary shallow well water should always be considered "suspicious water." ”

“ Pollution by Surface Refuse and Sewage.—This occurs where a large number of people congregate, as in cities, towns, etc., and very seriously contaminates the ground by the surcharge of the surface soil with sewage matter, saturating the ground with it, polluting the ground water from which the drinking water is derived, and increasing the putrefactive changes taking place in the soil. Here the pathogenic bacteria abound, and, by multiplying, exert a very marked influence upon the health by the possible spread of infectious diseases. ”

“ For example, deforestation, by increasing run off, accelerates soil erosion and siltation of rivers and lakes. Air pollution and acidification play their part in killing forests and lakes. Such links mean that several different problems must be tackled simultaneously. And success in one area, such as forest protection, can improve chances of success in another area, such as soil conservation.
42. Second, environmental stresses and patterns of economic development are linked one to another. Thus agricultural policies may lie at the root of land, water, and forest degradation. ”

“ Shallow wells must never be considered a satisfactory source of water supply where there are conditions existing which would result in such pollution of the ground that the water percolating through can not be more or less filtered. Sewage polluted soil never is satisfactory for shallow wells. ”

“ Any liability to disease that may come from faulty construction of habitations is likely to spring from a polluted subsoil. Such pollution vitiates the air drawn from that soil and is a source of danger on account of the resulting impurity of the whole atmosphere within the house. ”

“ Environment - current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff ”

“ Pollution - the contamination of a healthy environment by man-made waste. Potable water - water that is drinkable, safe to be consumed. Salination - the process through which fresh (drinkable) water becomes salt (undrinkable) water; hence, desalination is the reverse process; also involves the accumulation of salts in topsoil caused by evaporation of excessive irrigation water, a process that can eventually render soil incapable of supporting crops. Siltation - occurs when water channels and reservoirs become clotted with silt and mud, a side effect of deforestation and soil erosion. ”

“ Irrigated land: 42,810 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards: NA Environment - current issues: shrinkage of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination ”

“ Better than either a pond or stream, unless you can carry out a rather careful exploration of their surroundings, is ground water from a well or spring; though that again is not necessarily safe. If the well is in good, sandy soil, with no cracks or fissures, even water that has been polluted may be well purified and safe to drink. In a clayey or rocky region, on the other hand, contaminating material may travel for a considerable distance under the ground. Even if the well is protected below, a very important point to look after is the pollution from the surface. ”

“ Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc
Land use: arable land: 3% permanent crops: 2% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 95%
Irrigated land: 25,850 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: agricultural land being lost to urbanization and
windblown sands; increasing soil salinization below Aswan High Dam;
desertification; oil pollution threatening coral reefs, beaches, and
marine habitats; other water pollution from agricultural pesticides,
raw sewage, and industrial effluents ”

“ Where any unutilized land or reclaimed land is to be cultivated into arable land, the departments of agriculture and rural affairs under the local people's governments shall, together with the competent departments of ecology and environment and natural resources, investigate the soil contamination status and manage such land based on its category according to law. ”

“ Where waste sources are too diffuse to be channeled into collection systems—as along many agricultural streams heavily polluted through land runoff and drainage, and also in some urban situation—present tools are extremely limited. Soil conservation practices aimed at cutting down erosion—to be discussed within a few pages—tend to keep not only silt but nutrients and other substances on the land to some extent. ”

“ More microbes accelerate the breakdown of humus and even more plant nutrients are released as organic matter decays. And that is why holistic farmers and gardeners mistakenly criticize chemical fertilizers as being directly destructive of soil microbes. Actually, all fertilizers, chemical or organic, indirectly harm soil life, first increasing their populations to unsustainable levels that drop off markedly once enough organic matter has been eaten. Unless, of course, the organic matter is replaced.
Chicken manure compost is another matter. ”

“ The pressures on agricultural land from crop and livestock production can be partly relieved by increasing productivity. But short-sighted. short-term improvements in productivity can create different forms of ecological stress, such as the loss of genetic diversity in standing crops, salinization and alkaliration of irrigated lands, nitrate pollution of ground-water, and pesticide residues in food. Ecologically more benign alternatives are available. ”

“ In these days of generalized eco-awareness, it is easy to forget that a few short years ago, home gardeners were among the worst environmental offenders, cheerfully poisoning anything that annoyed them with whatever dreadful chemical that came to hand, unconscious of the long-term effects on fauna and flora, water and soil. Now, thank goodness, many gardeners know that their mandate is to heal the bit of earth in their charge. ”

“ If the area over {76}which they are thrown is large enough, and particularly if the soil is porous and well covered with vegetation, nature's filter-bed—the soil, the bacteria, and the roots of the grass and other plants combined—will purify a surprising amount of waste; but there is always the danger, particularly in the wet weather of spring and of late fall, that the soil will become charged with more of these waste matters than the bacteria can destroy, and that these waste poisons will be washed down in the rain water right into the pit, or trap, which has been dug for it—the well. ”

“ In this way is to be explained the decolorising effect and the retention of dissolved polluting substances such as are contained in sewage. In the same way soil has the power of destroying such poisons as strychnine, nicotine, coniine, etc., and the experiments of Falk and others go to show that ptomaines and toxines are likewise retained and rendered harmless by it. This absorbing power of soil is of the utmost importance in agriculture, and without it soil could not possess purifying powers for polluting liquids. ”

“ These will quickly take up the products of the night-soil which might, in rare cases, tend to contaminate the soil-water. If but little of the night-soil be deposited in one place, the earth and plants—two most efficient disinfectants—may be trusted to preserve good sanitary conditions. However, pains should be taken to discover if, by any possible means, the sewage may find its way into the well. An intelligent inspection of the soil, the stratification of it and the rocks, will reveal the direction which the soil-water takes ”

“ This Law is enacted for the purpose of protecting and improving the ecological environment, preventing and controlling soil contamination, safeguarding public health, promoting sustainable use of soil resources, advancing the ecological civilization, and promoting sustainable economic and social development. ”

“ The organic impurities and bacteria found in the soil are especially abundant in large cities, and are a cause of the evil influence of soil upon health. The impurities are allowed to drain into the ground, to pollute the ground water and the source of water supply, and to poison the ground air, loading it with bacteria and products of putrefaction, thus contaminating the air and water so necessary to life. ”

“ Organically polluted soil retains more water than clean soil. This will explain why a polluted subsoil containing a large amount of organic substances will retain more water than the same soil in a clean condition.
The retentive power of a soil is due to its surface attractions. The retentive power of a soil is due to the surface attraction of its particles, and when the space between them is small, or when, in other words, the pores are small, this attractive power will be all the greater. ”

“ Suffice it to say, that thousands of loads of sand and gravel have been taken away since the Act passed which permitted the sale of this natural soil, and vegetable and animal matters of all kinds, and in all stages of putrefaction, have been emptied into hollow places. Besides the effect produced by the poisonous gases which must arise from such factitious soil, other bad effects frequently follow the removal of the natural earth and the substitution of made ground. ”

“ Farm*A*Syst is unique because it comprehensively addresses potential groundwater contamination from 10 significant potential sources near the farmstead drinking water well. Farmers and rural residents use Farm*A*Syst to assess current structures and practices such as pesticide and fertilizer mixing, loading practices, and maintaining petroleum product storage tanks. Site conditions that affect pollution vulnerability are assessed to help farmers prioritize actions to reduce or prevent pollution. ”

“ To the surface of the earth we owe thus a purifying influence whose activity furnishes us vegetation and food on the one hand and preservation from disease on the other. This purifying power is not possessed by the deeper layers, and therefore the percolation of organic refuse into them from deep cesspools is wasteful to agriculture and dangerous to our storehouse of drinking water.
Even the surface of the soil when overloaded with sewage loses partially its power of purifying the organic matter. ”

“ With the decline of organic matter, new problems with plant and animal health gradually developed while insect predation worsened and profits dropped because soils declining in humus need ever larger amounts of fertilizer to maintain yields. These changes developed gradually and erratically, and there was a long lag between the first dependence on chemicals, the resulting soil addiction, and steady increases in farm problems. ”

“ The ground water determines the spread of certain forms of disease. The rainwater, in the act of passing through the upper strata of earth, carries with it a mass of organic matter as well as a host of bacteria and disease germs, of which it is robbed as it sinks to the deepest soil. If well-water be augmented by ground water which leaches in at high level it will be contaminated and polluted. Healthy soils are the granites, metamorphic rocks, clay slate, limestone, sandstone, chalk, gravel, and sand; unhealthy are clay, sand and gravel with clay subsoil, alluvial soil, and marsh-lands. ”

“ I may here mention that the system of sewage is far superior to any yet devised on Earth. No particle of waste is allowed to pollute the waters. The whole is deodorised by an exceedingly simple process, and, whether in town or country, carried away daily and applied to its natural use in fertilising the soil. ”

“ Where an unobjectionable natural outflow cannot be provided, the irrigation of agricultural lands affords the best relief. The action of vegetation, the oxidation which takes in the upper and well-aërated layers of soil, and the well-known but not yet fully explained disinfecting qualities of common earth, are effective in removing the dangerous and offensive impurities, and in converting them into a more or less important source of fertility. ”

“ Tile lines laid with improper slope allow the effluent to collect in a limited area and saturate the soil, causing odors. Bacteria cannot work in such areas, where the soil becomes sour, or "sewage-sick." These lines must be relaid on the correct slope. Odors or a water-logged soil may also indicate that the disposal field is too small. ”