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DSST Env.Sci. Chp 12
vocab. for DSST Env.Sci. from Environmental Science by Karen Arms
Question | Answer |
---|---|
biodegradable material | a material that can be broken down by living things into simpler chemicals |
compost | mixture of decomposing vegetable refuse, manure, and plants that is used as fertilizer and soil conditioner |
deep-well injection | method of hazardous-waste disposal in which wastes are pumped deep into the ground, below the level of the groundwater |
hazardous wastes | wastes that are toxic or highly corrosive or that explode easily |
heavy metals | dense metals, such as lead and mercury, that can be toxic to organisms |
high-level radioactive waste | extremely hazardous radioactive waste from nuclear plants |
incinerator | plant used for burning solid waste material |
landfill | waste-disposal facility where wastes are put in the ground and covered each day with a layer of dirt, plastic, or both |
leachate | water that contains toxic chemicals dissolved from wastes in a landfill |
Love Canal | location of burial of tons of hazardous chemicals from industrial waste |
methane | colorless, odorless, flammable gas present in natural gas and formed by the decomposition of plant matter |
municipal solid waste | trash produced by households and businesses |
photodegradable plastic | plastic that will decompose into smaller pieces under certain kinds of radiant energy, especially ultraviolet light |
recycling | reusing discarded material |
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) | act of U.S. Congress that requires new landfills to be built with safeguards to reduce pollution problems |
solid waste | any discarded material that is not a liquid or gas |
Superfund Act | act passed by the U.S. Congress to discourage illegal dumping of hazardous wastes and to pay for the cleanup of abandoned waste sites |
surface impoundment | a pond with a sealed bottom that serves as a disposal facility in which wastes settle to the bottom |