Solid WasteThese include all the various kinds of rubbish we make at home, school, hospitals, market and work places. Things like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food and even used cars and broken electronic goods, broken furniture and hospital waste are all examples of solid waste. Some of these are biodegradable (meaning they easily rot or decay into organic matter). Examples include food droppings, paper products as well as vegetation (like grass and twigs). Others are not biodegradable, and they include plastics, metals and aluminum cans, broken computer and car parts.Because these do not easily decay, they pile up in landfills (a place where all the city’s rubbish are sent), where they stay for thousands of years. These bring great harm to the land and people around it

TYPES OF SOIL POLLUTION

Pesticides and FertilizersMany farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides for higher crop yield. This is good because we get more food, but can you think of what happens to the chemicals that end up on the crops and soils? Sometimes, insects and small animals are killed and bigger animals that eat tiny animals (as in food chains) are also harmed. Finally, the chemicals may be washed down as it rains and over time, they end up in the water table below 

ChemicalsChemical and nuclear power plants produce waste materials that have to be stored somewhere. Fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals manufacturers also produce lots of solid and liquid waste. In many cases they are stored in an environmentally safe way, but there are some that find their way into landfills and other less safe storage facilities. Sometimes they also find their way into leaking pipes and gutters. They end up polluting soils and making crops harmful to our health. 

DeforestationHumans depend on trees for many things including life. Trees absorb carbon dioxide (a green house gas) from the air and enrich the air with Oxygen, which is needed for life. Trees provide wood for humans and a habitat to many land animals, insects and birds. Trees also, help replenish soils and help retain nutrients being washed away. Unfortunately, we have cut down millions of acres of tree for wood, construction, farming and mining purposes, and never planted new trees back. This is a type of land pollution.

CAUSES of SOIL PollutionDeforestation and soil erosion: Deforestation carried out

to create dry lands is one of the major concerns. Land that is once converted into a dry or barren land, can never be made fertile again, whatever the magnitude of  measures to redeem it are. Unused available land over the years turns barren; this land then cannot be used. So in search of more land, potent land is hunted.

Agricultural activities: With growing human population, demand for food has increased considerably. Farmers often use highly toxic fertilizers and pesticides to get rid off insects, fungi and bacteria from their crops. However with the overuse of these chemicals, they result in contamination and poisoning of soil.

Mining activities: During extraction and mining activities, several land spaces are created beneath the surface. We constant hear about land caving in; this is nothing but nature’s way of filling the spaces left out after mining or extraction activity.

 

Overcrowded landfills: Each household produces tonnes of garbage each year. Garbage like aluminum, plastic, paper, cloth, wood is collected and sent to the local recycling unit. Items that can not be recycled become a part of the landfills that hampers the land cause land pollution.

Industrialization: Due to increase in demand

for food, shelter and house, more goods are produced. This resulted in creation of more waste that needs to be disposed of.  To meet the demand of the growing population, more industries were developed which led to deforestation. Modern fertilizers and chemicals that were highly toxic and led to soil contamination.

Construction activities: Due to urbanization,

large amount of construction activities are taking place which has resulted in large waste articles like wood, metal, bricks, plastic that can be seen by naked eyes outside any building or office which is under construction.

Nuclear waste: Nuclear plants can produce huge amount of energy through nuclear fission and fusion. The left over radioactive material contains harmful and toxic chemicals that can affect human health. They are dumped beneath the earth to avoid any casualty.

Sewage treatment: Large amount of solid waste is leftover once the sewage has been treated. The leftover material is sent to landfill site which end up in polluting the environment. 

Effects of Land Pollution

• 1. Soil pollution: It is another form of land pollution, where the upper layer of the soil is damaged. This is caused by the overuse of chemical fertilizers, soil erosion caused by running water and other pest control measures; this leads to loss of fertile land for agriculture, forest cover, fodder patches for grazing etc.

• 2. Change in climate patterns: The effects of land pollution are very hazardous and can lead to the loss of ecosystems. When land is polluted, it directly or indirectly affects the climate patterns.

• 3. Environmental Impact: When deforestation is committed, the tree cover is compromised on. This leads to a steep imbalance in the rain cycle which affects a lot of factors. To begin with, the green cover is reduced. Trees and plants help balance the atmosphere, without them we are subjected to various concerns like Global warming, the green house effect, irregular rainfall and flash floods among other imbalances.

• 4. Effect on human health: The land when contaminated with toxic chemicals and pesticides lead to problem of skin cancer and human respiratory system. The toxic chemicals can reach our body through foods and vegetables that we eat as they are grown in polluted soil.

• 5. Cause Air pollution: Landfills across the city keep on growing due to increase in waste and are later burned which leads to air pollution. They become home for rodents, mice etc which in turn transmit diseases.

• 6. Distraction for Tourist: The city looses its attraction as tourist destination as landfills do not look good when you move around the city. It leads to loss of revenue for the state government.

• 7. Effect on wildlife: The animal face a serious threat with regards to loss of habitat and natural environment. The constant human activity on land, is leaving it polluted; forcing these species to move further away and adapt to new regions or die trying to adjust. Several species are pushed to the verge of extinction, due to no homeland.

• Other issues that we face include increased temperature, unseasonal weather activity, acid rains etc.  The discharge of chemicals on land, makes it dangerous for the ecosystem too. These chemicals are consumed by the animals and plants and thereby make their way in the ecosystem. This process is called bio magnification and is a serious threat to the ecology.

What is soil contamination?

Soil contamination, degradation and pollution mean different things even though we often use these terms to mean one thing. Here is the difference:Soil pollution is when humans introduce harmful objects, chemicals or substances, directly or indirectly into the soil in a way that causes harm to other living things or destroys soil or water ecosystems.Soil contamination is when the concentration of chemicals, nutrients or elements in the soil becomes more than it normally or naturally is, as a result of human action. If this contamination goes on to harm living organisms, we can call it pollution.Soil degradation is when the soil looses its value (in terms of nutrients, chemical make-up etc) as a result of over-farming, over-grazing or erosion.

The effects of soils contamination

Soil contamination can result in soil and land pollution, and affect the health of plants that depend on them. It can also harm living organisms in the soils and humans that come into contact with them by touching, breathing or eating crops from contaminated soils. Contaminants in soils can also get infiltrated into ground water and pollute them.

Depending on the extent and volume of soil contamination, it can be remedied by1. Digging out the soils for treatment and disposal2. Containing it to prevent it from spreading, by placing large plastic materials over the affected area.3. Treating the soils with some safe chemicals to neutralize the contaminant. 

What causes contamination?

Pesticides and herbicides (and other farming chemicals) often end up contamination soils. Direct discharge of wastewater by industries can also cause that. Leakages in sewage systems, underground storage tanks and leaching of soluble substances from landfills can also result in contamination. Rainwater or floods from other polluted lands and water bodies spread contaminants to soils in other locations. 

Encourage organic farming. Proper garbage disposal. Recycle garbage. Reduce use of herbicides and pesticides. Avoid over packaged items. Efficient utilization of resources and

reducing wastage.

CONTROL AND SOLUTIONS

Reuse any items that you can. Items like clothing, bottles, wrapping paper and shopping bags can be used over and over again, rather than buying new things.

The greatest prevention to land pollution is in the three ‘R's’ … 

Reduce Waste, Re-use things and 

Recycle things. This is true even for governments. They can also use the three ‘R’ rule to minimize the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. After the three 'R's, remember to turn the rest of the garbge into compost.

Personal litter should be disposed properly. We can separate household waste at home for recycling.

Buy biodegradable products.

Store all liquid chemicals and waste in spill-proof containers.

Eat organic foods that are grown without pesticides. Look out for fertilizer or pesticide free products when you go to the market. 

Don’t use pesticides if you can.

SolutionsWhy does land pollution matter? Although Earth might seem a pretty big place, only about a third of its surface is covered in land, and there are now over seven billion people trying to survive here. Most of our energy around 85 percent in the United States still comes from fossil fuels buried under the ground and, since we haven't yet figured out how to mine in space, so do all our minerals. Much of our food is grown on the surface of the planet; the water we need comes from the planet's surface too or from rocks buried just underground. In short, our lives are as intimately tied to the surface of Earth as the plants that grow from the ground. Anything that degrades, damages, or destroys the land ultimately has an impact on human life and may threaten our very ability to survive. That's why we need solutions to the problem.

Six years after Coca-Cola’s bottling plant shut down in India’s southern state of Kerala, the company continues to face allegations claiming it caused the depletion of groundwater and polluted the water resources.“Before, the food we cooked used to stay for 7 days. But after this plant came, the water became so bad that the food would spoil in a few hours,” says Tangammai, a farm labourer in Kerala’s village of Plachimada where the plant operated.Crops were also affected, says local farmer Murugan. He grows coconuts just outside the plant’s perimeter and says the trees recovered only after the plant closed.“The sludge that came out of the plant used to contaminate the rainwater and flood this area,” recalls Murugan. “As a result, the crop yield was reduced and the coconuts used to fall off without ripening. This continued for two years after the plant closed. Things got better after that, and now, you can see, the trees are healthier.”A recent report by the government-appointed committee in Kerala confirmed that Coca-Cola had caused severe damage to the ecology of Plachimada by over-exploiting the water resources and causing severe water shortage in the area.Yet Coca-Cola maintains that these charges are false and that, in fact, the company is the one that has been victimized by the political “tug of war” with state elections expected next year.“There have been many committees, many experts, many reports – in fact – some sponsored by the Kerala government itself, which have come out and said that we have no connection with the local water issues,” says Kamlesh Kumar Sharma, Senior manager of Public Affairs at Coca-Cola in India.

CASE STUDY

“We found that the source areas are away from the plant site,” says Professor A.K. Ghosain, an expert at the Institute.“So the only possibility is that these sources can be in the form of some dump. There is no possibility of something coming from the plant site and moving in that direction.”“We will continue our agitation till our demands are met, beginning with the formal closing of the plant, plus compensating the victims and prosecuting the Coca-Cola company,” says Vilayodi Venugopal from the Anti-Coca-Cola Agitation Committee. “We also demand that laws are brought in to ensure that the local government has ultimate control over local resources.”THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala, India, February 28 (ENS) - In an unprecedented move, the state legislature of Kerala passed a law on Thursday allowing individuals affected by Coca-Cola's bottling operations in the village of Plachimada to seek financial compensation from the company for ecological damage, water pollution and water scarcity.The tribunal has been granted legal authority to summon individuals and documents, as well as seek and examine witnesses, and the bill legally binds Coca-Cola to follow the directives of the tribunal.Under the bill, the tribunal shall apply the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the "polluter pays" principle. Once compensation is awarded, the company shall deposit the entire award amount with the tribunal. All appeals against the tribunal's decisions would go to the High Court.The legislation is based on the report and recommendations of a High Power Committee whose report on March 22, 2010 holds Coca-Cola responsible for causing pollution and water depletion in Plachimada in the state of Kerala in south India.