Eco-pros
Environmental Education on the Web

TOXINS

Years ago there were no regulations against dumping hazardous wastes, or releasing toxins into the atmosphere.  Consequently, over many years our rivers, soils, groundwater, oceans, and air became dangerously polluted in many areas.

We now are living with the harmful results of that ignorance and negligence; and ecosystems and species have been seriously impacted from those human activities.  Some scientists believe we may very well have caused some major changes in Earth's atmosphere and weather cycles.

Now there are laws making it illegal to contaminate the environment.  Not all countries have environmental protection laws, and even if they do it is hard to enforce them in some countries or even know where the contamination came from.  Toxic pollution is a global issue and many nations are working together to solve the pollution problems.

Superfund Sites

Cleaning up the years of dangerous contamination in certain areas has become such a massive undertaking and so tremendously expensive, some sites have been named Superfund sites.

EPA's Superfund Website
Read about the cleanups of hazardous waste sites, locate sites on map, learn about health and safety issues.

 There are about 1,300 of the most dangerously polluted sites listed on the U.S. Hazardous Waste Sites National Priorities List (NPL). These sites are being cleaned up so they will no longer be dangerous. Search by clicking the map or by state name, and read about the Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup efforts.

Superfund's 25th Anniversary:  Hundreds of Toxic Waste Sites Continue to Threaten Health and Water Supplies  Sierra Club Report, 2005

U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (USPIRG.org)
Click on Superfund.  Read about the Super Polluters and take action to protect the environment and lives.  See related links for more information on Superfund sites.  Then investigate the other links, such as Arsenic, Toxics, Clean Air, Clean Water, etc.  Take some action and help enforce and strengthen our environmental protection laws.
 

Coal-fired Power Plants

Coal is a much less expensive way to produce power than some other ways, but we haven't found a way to burn the coal without harming the environment. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined mercury from power plants a health problem that must be regulated.  Mercury is a toxic pollutant that can enter rivers, lakes, and the human food chain.  Coal-fired power plants are one of the largest human-generated sources of mercury emissions polluting the atmosphere and causing acid rain.

"Coal - A Fossil Fuel" (Energy Kid's Page from the U.S. Department of Energy)

We have to have energy.   Scientists are working very hard to find new, clean technology to provide us with electricity and fuel to run our vehicles and heat our homes, (i.e., fuel cells, wind, hydropower and solar power).