Simi Valley’s Sage Ranch Park used to be a recreational gun club shooting range and was open from 1970 to 1980. This park is now very polluted by lead, skeet fragments, and clay pigeon debris which is causing the soil to be very toxic. This is very dangerous and unhealthy for the wildlife living on this land. The article states, “one lead pellet can poison or kill a bird; other animals may eat dead or dying birds and become poisoned or die” (DTSC). Therefore, the state of California is ordering for the toxic soil to be cleaned up. This cleanup will start in August 2022 and take around three months. 

This relates to environmental science because the toxic chemicals in this soil are causing major harm to the environment and the animals. It is very important to understand the effects of toxic contamination and how to restore and remove these chemicals. It is very crucial that the state continues to search for, find, and restore land like this that is harming our environment. 

On September 17th, 2023 International Coastal Cleanup Day returned and this is San Diego County’s largest environmental cleanup. On this day, they clean up beaches and other coastal sites, and many inland sites. This year there will be 70 different cleanup sites for the community to attend and participate in the restoration of San Diego County. Last year there were 2,470 volunteers in this area and they are hoping for even more this year. 

International Coastal Cleanup Day is a very important part of environmental science because restoring this land is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems, wildlife habitats, and natural resources. I think this is a very important and beneficial day because they gather the communities to work together to restore the land that they all love. 

The Environmental Protection Agency has created a plan to restore the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund site in Clearlake Oaks, California. Clear Lake is very contaminated with high levels of mercury, and the soil in and around the mine site is contaminated. Some of this land is the territory of the Elem Indian Colony Tribe and other native tribes. The EPA is working closely with these tribes and communities to ensure that everyone affected by this plan has approved it. They are holding a zoom meeting on Wednesday, January 25 to inform the community of updates and information on this clean up, and to open up a space for people to ask questions and make suggestions. 

This is a significant cause because this contamination is very unhealthy and concerning for the people living in Clearlake Oaks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing a great job creating this plan and consulting the Clearlake community, which is very important because this is their land. Areas like these are often overlooked, but it is crucial to restore this land for the health and well-being of its residents. 

The Salton Sea is a toxic lake that is contaminated by runoff from nearby farms and wastewater. This is causing it to contain arsenic, selenium, and DDT which are toxic chemicals. The lake is slowly shrinking due to droughts and climate change, which is causing these chemicals to blow off and pollute the surrounding air which is causing major health issues for the communities near the lake. In the Inflation Reduction Act, the US government is putting $250 million over 4 years to restore the Salton Sea. This will consist of creating ways to limit the amount of dust blowing into the air from the lake by creating wetlands and ponds, and funding projects to find ways to restore the sea and keep the wildlife and people safe. 

This is related to environmental science because it is restoring an ecosystem that has been majorly affected by climate change and pollution. I think this is very a important cause because this lake has been an issue for a long time and there has been little done to fix these issues. In the communities surrounding the lake, one in five children is hospitalized for asthma and there are some of the largest adult asthma rates. Therefore, it is great the government is putting money and energy toward restoring this Lake. 

Kummer, Frank. “EPA to Clean up South Jersey Superfund Site That Emits ‘Harmful Vapors’ into

Homes, Businesses.” Https://Www.inquirer.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 Aug. 2022,

https://www.inquirer.com/news/superfund-site-new-jersey-burlington-county-cinnaminson-20220802.html. 

A superfund site in South Jersey is contaminating the air and the land around it, and because of this the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency is going to clean up this land. The site is 400 acres and it is surrounded by neighborhoods and businesses. The article says that the contamination is spreading into the land and water surrounding the site. The remediation plan that has been put in place contains, “digging up soil and treating groundwater, some of which might be flowing into the nearby Delaware River.” Also, the “harmful vapors” that are being released by this site are very hazardous for the people living in the homes surrounding the site, and therefore it is completely necessary that this is monitored very closely and stopped. 

As the article states, the treatments the remediation plan calls for, “are necessary to protect human health or the environment from actual or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment.” Although this land has not already caused permanent damage to the environment, it is on track to if it is not restored. Catching on to hazardous areas like this early is very important because then you can monitor and stop anything more harmful to happen to its surroundings. The cleanup of this area will improve the living conditions for the nearby homes and the

Slat, Boyan. “First 100,000 Kg Removed from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch • UPDATES •

The Ocean Cleanup.” The Ocean Cleanup, 25 July 2022,

https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/first-100000-kg-removed-from-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch/. 

This article is about how now there has officially been over 100,000 kg extracted from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The machine they are using to pick up the trash is called System 002, and it was first put in the water in August 2021, and in only 45 removals it has removed 101,353 kg from the GPGP (Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Due to the 7,173 kg of already removed trash from an earlier machine, there has now been 108,526 kg removed from the GPGP. Now, they are moving on to a new prototype, System 03, and this is predicted to remove trash around ten times faster than the previous machine.

This article is related to environmental science because it is very important news about the cleanup of the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1.6 million square kilometers of trash in the middle of the pacific ocean. This pollution in the ocean is a large issue for our environment because it is harming the ecosystem. I think that this is very important and that they are doing a very good job beginning to clear it up. There is definitely still a long way to go, but this is a big improvement. 

Lipp, Kenneth. “County Moving Forward with King Salvage Cleanup.” Newport News Times, 19

Aug. 2022,

https://www.newportnewstimes.com/news/county-moving-forward-with-king-salvage-cleanup/article_8022e162-1f42-11ed-a8b7-73d9e15a3958.html. 

In Lincoln County, Oregon there is a salvage yard called King Savage, and it was added to the “Confirmed Release” list in 2001. This is because of the hazardous amount of oil being released from the old automobiles. There was lots of waste at this salvage yard and it was in need of being cleaned up. In 2008 it was confirmed that there was “the presence of arsenic, chromium, lead, iron and petroleum hydrocarbons exceeding “risk-based concentration levels.”. In 2010, DEQ gained ownership of the land and began working with the county to clean it up. Now, in order to fully remedy the land, Lincoln County approved a request for more money to go toward this land. 

This is a very important cause because of the environmental harm being caused by areas like these. Without the restoration of this land, these chemicals and oils would continue to spread and contaminate this area, and now this land can return to being a healthy area. Areas like these can often get overlooked and this is a large issue because most of the time once these areas are inspected they find many hazardous and harmful things that need to be fixed. 

“State AG Orders Full Cleanup of South Buffalo’s Battaglia Demolition.” State AG Orders Full

Cleanup of Battaglia Demolition, 25 Aug. 2022,

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2022/08/25/state-ag-orders-full-cleanup-of-south-buffalo-s-battaglia-demolition. 

Battaglia Demolition in Buffalo, New York has been ordered by the state to have complete cleanup. The site was very harmful to the environment and its surroundings. Attorney General Letitia James said, “For years, dust, noise, odor, and other environmental assaults caused by the Battaglia facility plagued communities in South Buffalo, threatening residents’ health, wellbeing, and quality of life”. The site was polluting the air surrounding it and it was becoming very miserable for the people living near it. Although the site was closed down in 2018, its hazardous effects stayed behind, and therefore it is very important that the facility gets cleaned up. 

The cleanup of facilities polluting our air and noise is very important. There are many sites like this that are harming our environment and it is necessary that we continue making sure they become restored. In the article, Letitia James states, “New Yorkers deserve clean, safe, and healthy environments to call home, and my office will always work to uphold those standards statewide.” This is a largely necessary part of cleaning up the environment because it is damaging the current living conditions of many people and it is contributing to issues in the environment like climate change.

Conn, Jennifer. “Cuyahoga Valley National Park Earns Award for $50M Krejci 

Remediation.” Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Krejci Dump Remediation, 28 Aug.

2022,

https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/dayton/news/2022/08/26/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-earns-award-for-krejci-dump-remediation-. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio bought new land in the 1980s in order to expand the National Park, and soon after they realized it was a very polluted old dump site. The family who had owned this land before had used this land to dump waste and therefore it became very toxic. The land was not safe for visitors to use because it was making people very ill. The National Park then closed the area and began to restore it. It took many years, but eventually they were able to remove all of the toxic soil and waste from the site. Then, they started to fix the land and let it have nature again. By 2015 there were plants and trees growing on the site and now it has ponds, wildlife, and beautiful flowers and plants. 

This is a very important part of environmental restoration because due to the loose laws they used to have on dump sites, many parts of nature have become completely destroyed. This land can now be used and it can hold a thriving ecosystem, rather than before when people could not even go on this land without getting sick and getting rashes.