Identifying a water polluter is a snap when you spot a single pipeline spewing wastes. It's not so simple when you consider that the line-up includes nearly everything we do on land. It can lead to beach and shellfish-bed closings, and spoiled habitats for fish and other aquatic life.
Automobiles Leaking oil and motor fluids run off roadways and into waterways.
Land Clearing Construction, clearing land, and logging often lead to soil erosion, putting more sediment in rivers and coastal waters. Filling in wetlands takes away vast natural water filters that can break down many common pollutants before they reach other water bodies. Industrial Waste Industrial runoff brings heavy metals and other compounds into marine waters, from industrial-waste landfills, from mining, and from storm water draining off of industrial sites. As the overpopulated plants and algae die off, bacteria can deplete oxygen from the water as they decompose the dead plants. Using fewer pesticides and fertilizers, and other good farming practices such as crop rotation and contour planting, has lowered nitrate levels in Big Spring Basin ground water.