Land Contamination Incidents

Stephen Welty

Buffalo Creek
On February 26, 1972 in Buffalo Creek, WV the impoundment dam on Buffalo Creek
broke flooding the entire area downstream from the dam. The water behind the dam was
used to clean the coal mined from the nearby mine. The mining method used at this site
was valley filling or mountaintop removal. This method of mining has been largely
criticized because of its profound impact on the landscape of removing mountaintops and
filling in the valleys. Often times these valleys have streams, which are disrupted
affecting the entire local ecosystem. Figure 1 shows a typical impoundment and the
surrounding landscape after mountaintop removal coal mining. The dam at Buffalo Creek
was mined with mine wastes but it has been found that mine wastes are inadequate for
this purpose because they are not strong enough.

The coal washing water that was held behind the dam
was acidic and contained heavy metals from the coal.
The lake was contained between two hills and when
the dam broke, releasing roughly one hundred thirty
million gallons of black water, the slurry rushed down
the valley like a tidal wave. The immediate effect on
human health was a death toll of 125. Not only were
lives lost, but thousands of people were left homeless
as their homes washed down the valley with the
slurry.

Heavy metals are natural in the environment but in

excessive concentrations can be harmful to humans.
For example, lead can cause brain and kidney damage
and chromium and cause lung cancer. Although the
slurry contained acid and heavy metals, the Army
Corp of engineers clean up did not involve much site
remediation. This is largely due to the speed with
Figure
which 1: Impoundment
these contaminants ran down the creek, not giving much time for these
contaminants to be absorbed into the environment in dangerous concentrations over the
length of the stream. Since the source of contamination is gone, there is no ongoing
leakage. The coal mine itself and the remnants of the impoundment were remediated by
a technique known as valley fill. This is effective in reducing acid mine drainage and
other longer-term environmental problems but is lacking in aesthetic and ecological
aspects since the ecosystem is altered forever.

As a result of the accident, the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was
passed. Additionally, stricter regulation was passed for tailings dams that held back
impoundments from any mining industry, not just coal mining.
Kirby Tire Inferno
Most inland oil spills are usually attributed to accidents during transportation or failure of
storage tanks. However, the Kirby Tire Inferno represents a non-traditional inland oil
spill since the oil was generated from burning tires at a tire recycling facility in
Sycamore, Ohio. Tire fires produce not only pyrolytic oil but other contaminants as well.
Some of the other contaminants are arsenic, lead, zinc, sulfuric acid, benzene,
benzo(a)pyrene, toluene and carbon monoxide. Arsenic and benzene are known
carcinogen and many of the other compounds are suspected carcinogens. Some of the
other contaminants are not carcinogens but have known adverse effects on human health
in large concentrations. Lead causes anemia, brain and kidney damage, and increased
blood pressure while zinc is a known toxic for freshwater animals. Carbon monoxide in
large concentrations can lead to death largely due to the displacement of oxygen in the
human lungs. Benzo(a)pyrene is noncarcinogenic but is biotransformed into a substance
which is a potent carcinogenic.

A massive fire broke out at Kirby Tire Recycling on August 21, 1999, which brought
state and local firefighters to the scene. Initially foam was used to try to extinguish fire
with no success. Since the foam wasn’t working they used soil and sand to build a
containment area for the water they used in trying to extinguish the fire. After some time
the Ohio EPA called in the US EPA for help in extinguishing the fire. The US EPA took
over the situation and halted the use of water while covering the fire with soil and
constructing a water treatment system and a collection basin for the runoff.

As the fire came under control, the Ohio EPA immediately began sampling the water in
the nearby creek, and the surrounding soil. They also held daily public briefings to keep
the public informed as to what was happening in their area. In order to completely
suffocate the fire, it was covered in soil and then capped with clay to slow water
infiltration.

Once the fire was controlled and the source of oil controlled, the oil that had escaped into
the surroundings and into the river had to be controlled. During the fire, there were two
releases of oil and other contaminants into the nearby Sycamore Creek, which flows into
the Sandusky River. The Sandusky River is a water source for the town of Tiffin and the
contamination had to be controlled before it reached the Sandusky River. Fish kills in the
Sycamore Creek were observed immediately. Siphon dams were installed downstream,
aeration systems were installed upstream to increase the dissolved oxygen content in the
creek and secondary water treatment systems were installed. This remediation technique
was effective in controlling the spill before it contaminated the Sandusky River but about
7 miles of the Sycamore Creek were contaminated. About 93,000 cubic yard of soil and
clay were used for capping and about 517,000 gallons of water were treated. About
56,000 gallons of oil were recovered and disposed of.
The lessons learned from this incident were how to deal with a tire fire and how effective
incident management can reduce exposure in the surrounding population. No legislation
was passed as a result of this fire.
Koko Incident
International toxic waste trade has been an issue for a number of decades. The problem
came to international attention in 1988 with the Koko incident. Koko is a small port
town in Nigeria where roughly 3,800 tons of hazardous waste was dumped. The Italian
waste companies, Ecomar and Jelly Wax, signed an agreement with Sunday Nana to
dispose of 18,000 drums of hazardous waste from Italy on his property for about $100 per
month. When the waste was imported it was termed as “relating to the building trade and
as residual and allied chemicals”.

The contaminants of concern were PCB’s, asbestos, and possible dioxin. All three of
these contaminants are known carcinogens. When the contaminants were found to be
leaking from the drums into the soil of the surrounding residential area, a scandal broke
out drawing attention to the case. Over 100 workers from the Nigerian port were hired to
remove these wastes and ship them back to Italy but they were not given adequate
protection and their symptoms included nausea, chemical burns and paralysis. Officials
at the Koko hospital reported, “seven premature births that occurred within a one two-
week period in July were due to the high toxicity of the dumpsite.”

The wastes were removed from the site and 60 cm of topsoil was also removed and sent
back to Italy with the shipment. International consultants assured the Nigerian
government that these measures were sufficient to decrease exposure to a safe level and
that relocation of the inhabitants was not necessary. But the populations of the ports in
Italy where the wastes were to arrive protested against receiving the shipment. Finally,
the wastes were put in better containers and stored in Italy.

This incident drew a great deal of international attention and created a political fall out
between Nigeria and Italy. As a result of the incident the Nigerian government created
the FEPA (Federal Environmental Protection Agency) and the OAU (Organization of
African Unity) made agreements to not allow hazardous wastes to be imported to the
continent.

Mercury Contamination at Kodaikanal

On March 7, 2001, Greenpeace accused Unilever of negligence in allowing its Indian
subsidiary, Hindustan Lever, to contaminate the tourist town of Kodaikanal, India and the
surrounding nature preserve, Pambar Shola, with mercury from its thermometer plant.
The mercury had been recklessly discarded onto a dump site in the center of Kodaikanal
in open or torn sacks. Most of the thermometers are exported to the USA, Germany, UK,
Spain, Australia and Canada.

The only major hazardous waste at the sites was mercury. The main health impact
associated with mercury is neurological damage as was the case at Minamata Bay.
Mercury has a tendency to bio-accumulate in the food chain and can reach high
concentrations after time. The World Health Organization suggests a threshold for
Mercury at 50 ppm but there has been some debate as to whether this is low enough or
not. Mercury in the presence of water forms methyl mercury which is a deadly poison.

There is an estimated 5.3 tonnes of mercury contaminated glass waste at the scrapyard in
Kodaikanal. Greenpeace officials recently discovered another waste dump outside the
city, with roughly 15 tonnes of mercury contaminated waste. There is growing concern
that over the 17 years of operation of this plant, a great deal of mercury waste has been
dispersed over the area which will begin to appear in human ailments over time.
Additionally, workers were exposed to the mercury in poor hazardous material
management practices. It was reported that the contamination in some parts of the
factory was 600 times the permissible level. In a recent survey of 30 ex-employees,
health officials found many people with "gum and skin allergy related problems, which
appeared to be due to exposure to mercury." Many workers complain of stomach and
nervous disorders that could be related to mercury exposure.

Shortly after the criticism from Greenpeace, Unilever shut down the plant for further
inspections. Hindustan Lever has hired international consultants, Dames & Moore, to
advise on assessing and remediating the dump sites. The consultants estimated that 300
kg of mercury had been released into the watershed not including 70 kg or airborne
emissions. However, Unilever is renown for its lack of transparencies and inaccuracies
in reporting so Greenpeace officials are skeptical of these numbers. Greenpeace
maintains that between 20 and 40 tonnes of mercury have been released into the
environment since the plant started in 1984.

As a result of this incident, the local people are becoming aware of the effects of mercury
and its hazard and more skeptical of multinational corporations. In 2001 the Ministry of
Environment in India still classified mercury as a low-level hazard.