Waste Disposal Effects on Ground Water: A Comprehensive Survey of the Occurrence and Control of Ground-Water Contamination Resulting from Waste Disposal Practices

This book is a photographic reproduction of The Report to Congress, Waste Disposal Practices and Their Effects on Ground Water issued in January 1977 by the Office of Water Supply and the Office of Solid Waste Management Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Numerous authors contributed to chapters addressing the occurrence and control of ground-water contamination resulting from waste disposal practices. The book is written in a nontechnical style. A glossary in the Appendix defines technical terms which appear in the text. Beginning chapters describe the national distribution of the groundwater resources and their present utilization. The importance of geology to the quantity and natural quality of the ground-water resource is clearly described with numerous illustrations. One chapter is devoted to mechanisms of ground-water contamination. Good use is made of illustrations to depict the migration of contaminants in the ground-water flow system from a variety of waste sources. However, the discussion of chemical and physical processes that attenuate contaminants in the ground-water flow system is brief. In part, the brevity may be due to the fact that this book was prepared from a review of the literature up to 1975 and, therefore, does not include significant research of the last 5 years on attenuation of contaminants in ground-water flow systems. The important contribution of the book is an overview of waste disposal practices in the United States. Waste disposal practices described in separate sections include (i) surface impoundments of industrial wate water, (ii) land disposal of solid refuse and sindges (including hazardous wastes and low-level radioactive wastes), (iii) sewage waste discharged to septic tanks and cess pools, (iv) land spreading of municipal sewage, (v) land spreading of sludge, (vi) posal of petroleum related brines in wells or evaporation pits, (viii) solid and liquid wastes from mining operations, (viii) well disposal industrial, municipal, agricultural and domestic wastes, and (ix) disposal of animal feed-lot waste on land and in lagoons. The sections are uniformly, o~’ganized with an explanation of the practice, the potential contaminants, and the national scope of the ground-water contamination problems. The sections also include case histories, prevention techniques, and institutional controls available to state agencies for preventing contamination problems. A separate section is concerned with principal sources of groundwater contamination not related to waste disposal practices. The sources of contaminants discussed in this section include spills and leaks, mine drainage, surface infiltration, and highway deicing. Concluding chapters of the book discuss the existing Federal legislation and regulatory alternatives available to state and local agencies for protection of ground-water quality. This book is recommended to individuals or groups who are not trained in hydrogeology, but who desire an understanding of the effects of waste disposal practices on ground-water. The book would have good application in college level courses concerned with man’s interaction with the physical environment. For the practicing consultant or researcher the major value of the book is its national perspective on waste disposal practices. --R. H. GILKESON, State Geological Survey Division, Illinois Institute of Natural Resources, Urbana, IL 61801. Biological Monitoring for Environmental Effects