Illegal dumps present a major environmental problem throughout the world. Each dump holds its own problems and pollutants. Some contain industrial material, some contain household trash, and some may even contain hazardous waste. In talking about illegal dumping Phil Prete, head of the field operations branch of the solid waste section based in Raleigh said, "There's no telling what is in these things, it could be anything" (Illegal Dumping on the Rise). Each illegal dump must go through certain steps to be cleaned up properly. The research will be primarily focused on the trash and pollutants that are found at the dump at N 39.8706510 W 76.6026880 and the proper techniques required to clean up an illegal dump.

In order to clean up an illegal dump permission from the landowner must be obtained before any work is done. First the situation must be evaluated to determine what further steps must be taken to safely clean the dump up. After deciding what steps to take, volunteers must be recruited if it is more than a one-person job. This requires extensive planning to accommodate all the people. This includes water, food, and rest breaks (PA Cleanways Cleanup Page).

Proper clothing is a must, because one never knows what maybe found. There are many dangerous items that are present in dumps. Proper dress varies depending on the situation. For most dump cleanups a long sleeve shirt, long pants, leather work gloves, and boots are necessary. If working near a road, a reflective orange vest is recommended for safety. If the dump is known to contain hazardous waste a totally encapsulating chemical protective suit and self-contained breathing apparatus may be deemed necessary (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response). There once was a case where the cleanup crew did wear the proper attire, but accidentally wore PVC suits, which allowed the toxic fumes to permeate through them, and made them feel dizzy and get headaches. After they reported feeling badly, it was found that they should have worn less permeable suits (Importance of Proper Protective Clothing During Cleanup of a Hazardous-Waste Site).

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) section 3010, hazardous waste is classified as anything that is corrosive, ignitable, reactive, and/or toxic. If a material is corrosive, it is possible for it to react with other materials and “eat” away at it. The ignitable characteristic means it can be ignited by either physical or chemical means. If something is reactive it means that it is basically unstable and may react with other materials. The toxic part is probably the most common. It may mean that the material that is found may contain chemicals that the EPA has regulated and limited to certain parts per million. The most dangerous and far reaching of these aspects is most definitely toxicity (Risks). Toxic materials can be leached into the ground, the ground water, creeks and lakes; and possibly even poisoning our own water supply.

A prime example of a common toxic found in many illegal dumps is lead. The EPA has set the safe amount of lead in our drinking water at 0.015 part per million. (Glover 636). This is an extremely small amount, so it doesn’t take much to pose a danger to our health. A large amount of lead in the body can disrupt the proper functioning of the brain neurotransmitters. Calcium is the primary messenger for brain transmissions, and when lead is present in the body in large amounts it takes the place of the calcium and does not allow correct signal transmissions. Lead effects children under the age of six more than any other people, because their brains are still developing (Lead Poisoning Dangers). Of all the lead a child consumes, approximately 30% to 75% of it is absorbed into the body (Dangers of Lead).

Another dangerous pollutant that is often found in dumps is oil. Most oil comes from old oil cans, oil containers and the dumping of used oil. In the worst cases, even barrels have been uncovered. Oil is most dangerous once it finds water. Due to oil’s density and water’s buoyancy force, oil usually floats on top of water. This presents the most danger to animals that come to the surface of water, ducks, otters, gulls, and many other animals. It can kill the animal by many routes; suffocation from oil in its mouth or nostrils, freezing because when oil coats its fur or feathers it loses its insulation property, poisoning if the animal ingests the oil, blindness from getting oil in the eyes, and even possibly liver damage from ingesting small amounts of oil. Oil in the water does not affect only water going animals. It affects us all. As oil festers in the water, it releases harmful toxins and many dangerous heavy metals (mercury, and lead) into the water. These toxins and heavy metals can get into our own water supplies and poison us, as well (World Oil Pollution: Causes, Prevention and Clean-Up).

It is clear to see that by letting these seemingly insignificant, and small dumps sit around and slowly poison our ecosystem is only making matters worst. The longer these dumps remain standing and are allowed to exist, the worse the pollution from them will likely get. There is no denying that cleaning them up takes a great amount of time, resources, and planning, but once it is all done and it is seen what kinds of terrible things lurk deep within our countries beautiful forests more people are sure to participate in doing their part. We all may not have put them there, but we should at least all do our part for our ancestors who unknowingly did.