ABSTRACT
The United States, along with almost every other country, is experiencing a continuing increase in the amount and type of materials being discarded, which places a significant burden on landfills and disposal sites, and increased costs for business owners and industry everywhere. Soil contamination is a major concern not only throughout the United States but worldwide. The impact on soil from industrial and agricultural practices, management of Superfund sites, exploration and production, and mining and nuclear industrial practices, among others, remains difficult to assess. Certainly petroleum-contaminated soil affects the largest number of sites and the largest total volume of impacted material. Indiana is just beginning to track petroleum contaminated soil. However, no such records are maintained by such states as New York, Michigan, and Washington. Potential primary sources of soil contamination include oil wells, sumps, pits and dumps, leakage from above-ground storage tanks and containers, reservoirs, and random spillage or leakage.
