Ground Water Pollution wysiwyg://6/http://www.cepis.ops-oms.orglmuwww/fulltext/repind46/groundlground.html
Figure 121. Ground-Water Pollution by Wastes from a Gasworks
Plant Near London Has Even Created a Fire Hazard.
40f45
From 1905 to 1967 wastes from a gasworks plant were deposited in abandoned gravel pits along the Lee River near
Waltham Cross, a few miles northwest of London, England.39 Figure 121 shows that the tar acids, oils, and sulfate
sludge infiltrated to contaminate the ground water over a wide area. Apparently the pollution was first detected in
1935, some 30 years after disposal began. At that time oil, floating on the ground water, emerged at land surface.
Continual but slow accumulation of oil on and near the land surface led to hazardous conditions and, in 1943, the oil
was ignited. Contaminated ground water was also encountered in new excavations where it appeared as high
concentrations of sulfate in 1958 and as oily waters im 1961. In 1965, oily liquids also seeped into Pymmes Brook
and the Lee River Navigation Channel following a substantial rise in the water table after heavy rains. Additional
surface-water degradation occured in 1966 because of the discharge of oil from streamside seepage zones.
Ground water in the surficial sand and gravel deposit was contaminated over a wide area. Fortunately, most water
supplies in this region are pumped from an underlying chalk, which generally is separated from the gravel by the
London Clay. It is evident from this example that waste disposal, which began 80 years ago, continues to be
troublesome and that ground-water contamination can indeed become a fire hazard
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