Groundwater Contamination Report

Groundwater contamination is a huge problem in the United States that needs to be cleaned up. The causes are storage tanks that leak out their materials into the ground causing contamination and the effects are all the human efforts to stop these leaks. Enormous amounts of work have been put into finding a way to stop the contamination from harming the environment anymore and to prevent future leaks. 

Leaking tanks, most commonly gasoline tanks, are the biggest source of groundwater contamination (Cope).5 The tanks are man made storage facilities typically kept underground. Through wear and tear or faulty manufacturing these tanks spring leaks that get into the ground and contaminate it. Once the contaminates are in the ground they can get into the groundwater which affects the environment around it and that in turn affects the animals and human populace near it; most people get their drinking water from groundwater. If the leak is bad enough the fumes can harm burrowing animals in the ground (Day). The contamination also disrupts the hydraulic cycle which further harms the environment by coming down in the rain and getting into every surface it lands on (Groundwater Foundation). Since it is a leak of liquid, it can spread itself over a wide area in a short amount of time, making clean up very difficult if caught too late.