Pollutants may cause primary damage, with direct identifiable impact on our environment, or secondary damage in the form of minor perturbations in the delicate balance of our biological food web that are only detectable over long period of time. Until recently in our history, where pollution has existed, it has been primarily a local problem. The indiscriminate discharge of untreated factory wastes into our waterways. The spewing of thousands of tons of particulates and airborne gases into the atmosphere, the use of newly developed chemicals without considering potential consequences have resulted in major environmental disasters.
To sum up, it became obvious that individual and public health depended of factors that were, in part, beyond governmental control. No one suggested that the economy should shut-down until every possible source of contamination had been remove or neutralized. But because the health fears were so real and so widespread, the environment becomes the focus of intense interest. Hazardous industrialized wastes although often in liquid form, are generally treated the same as solid wastes because they must be kept from receiving waters. Whether radioactive or chemically toxic, these wastes must be adequately disposed in special areas. Although the necessity for containment has often been ignored in the past, the government has proposed rules to counter environmental contamination by garbage dumps and is attempting to establish sites for hazardous waste disposal.
