Text:Everybody’s Problem—Hazardous Waste

每个人的问题——危险废物

Every year ,billions of tons of solid wastes are discarded in the United Stastes. 美国每年丢去10亿吨的固体废物。These wastes range in nature from common household trash to complex

materials in industrial wastes ,sewage sludge ,agricultural resideus ,mining refuse and pathological wastes from institutions such as hospital and laboratories.

这些废物的变化范围在平常家庭产生的垃圾到工业废物的复合材料、污水、农业废渣、矿渣和像医院、实验室这种大型机构产生的病理废物。

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) estimated in 1980 that at least 57 million metric tons of the nation s total waste load can be classified as hazardous. 1980年EPA估计一个国家负载的全部废物的至少5700 0000公吨会被列为危险废物。Unfortunately,many dangerous materials that society has “throw away” over recent decades have endured in the

environment-making household words of “Love Canal”and”Valley of the Drums.” 不幸的是在最近几十年中社会持续扔掉了许多危险物，从而产生了“爱河”和“桶谷”的家用词。These two incidents are not unique.The EPA has on file hundreds of documented cases of damage to life and environment resulting from the indiscriminate or improper management of hazardous wastes. 这两起事件并不是唯一的，EPA有数百起对生命和环境造成损害的案例，他们都是由于不加区别地或不适当地处理有害废物所造成的。The vast majority of case involve pollution of ground water——the source of drinking water for about half of the U.S. population—from improperly sited or operated landfills and surface impoundments (pits,ponds and lagoons). 大量的例子中包括了地面水的污染——大约半个美国人口的饮用水资源——从不合适的选址或正在运转的垃圾堆和地面上的蓄水（水坑、池塘和咸水湖）。In addition to polluting ground water, the improper handling or disposal of hazardons waste can cause several other kinds of environmental damage, as illustrated by these case histories (often involving more than one form of damage) from EPA records. 除了地面水的污染之外，还有像EPA所记录的资料里的这些案例所阐述的对危险废物的不正确处理或处置可能会引起许多其他种类的环境危害。

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危险废物能够污染地下水

The water supplies of Toone and Teague, Tennessee, were contaminated in 1978 with organic

compounds when water leached from a nearby landfill . 1978年当Tooe,Teague和Tennessee附近的垃圾场溶出废液时，这三个地方的供水就被有机化合物污染了。When the landfill closed, about six years earlier ,the site held some 350,000 drums,many of them leaking

pesticide wastes. 大约6年前，这个垃圾场关了闭以后，这个地方仍有350000桶，而且许多会泄露出有毒的废物。Because the towns no longer have access to uncontaminated ground water, they must pump water in from othrer locations. 因为这个城镇已经没有机会用无污染的地下水，他们必须从其他地方抽水用。

Ground water in a 30-square-mile area near Denver was contaminated from disposal of

pesticide waste in unlined disposal ponds. 在Denver附近的一个30平方英里范围的地下水受到了污染，这个污染来自没有围起来的处理池塘的有毒废物的处理。The waste, from manufacturing activities of the U.S. Army and a chemical company, dates back to the

1943~1957 period. 从美国军队和一个化学公司生产过程产生的废水追溯到1943年—1957年这个时期。Decontamination, if possible, could take several years and cost as much as $80 million. 如果有可能的话，要花几年时间和花费500万美元才能达到净化。

Hazardous Waste Can Contaminate River, Lakes, and Other Surface Water