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"Not good for my children," she said.
"Oh how I wish we could move
to a place filled with trees and pretty flowers.
To smell the fresh air, instead of this junk.
Oh, to enjoy happy hours."
"There my nine little mice
could play on the grass,
But, we cannot. We are too poor, alas!*
-------
She was smiling and humming,
when all of a sudden
she heard someone coming.
She saw a strange sight.
"Oh my. What a fright!"
Two people wore white suits
with hoods on their heads.
and gloves on their hands.
"They're creatures from Mars!" she screamed.
"Quick. Get in the house.
Pull tight the laces.
Don't make a sound.
Stay in your places."
"But, we know them ... They're keen!"
the children cried out.
"They're the Superfund Team! ...
The SUPERFUND Team!"
The kids said with a shout.
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\
"Be quiet... be quiet.
Let me hear what they say."
She saw more people coming their way.
Mother Mouse put her ear
to a hole in the shoe
and listened intently to everything,
So scared she didn't know what to do.
"O.K., E.P.A. people,
let's get to work.
We have a long way to go
to clean this up."
"Yes, Sir... Mr. Superfund Man.
We will do all we can.
But first, tell us how this awful mess began.'
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"It is carelessness, my friends.
People don't RECYCLE their bottles and plastics and cans.
Factories dump drums of chemicals on these lands.
Even hospitals dump to get things off their hands."
"They dump and they dump
'til they fill up the place.
Some people don't care
that the land is made waste."
"Then it rains and rain,
the garbage breaks up.
It gets soft and it rots.
It DECOMPOSES.
Whew! It doesn't smell like roses."
-------
That Mother Mouse heard.
"My, my! That's a big word."
"It means it smells and gets rotten."
Tommy told Momma.
"We learned that in school," he boasted.
And the other mice said, "We had forgotten.'
:'Sh ... sh." Mother Mouse said.
'Listen and learn."
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"When the garbage decomposes,
it makes METHANE ...
a dangerous gas!"
The men and women hurried to tighten
their RESPIRATOR MASKS,
Superfund Man shook his head, and said,
"CONTAMINATION! AJas ... Alas!"
"Methane Gas!!"
The children screamed.
"Let's get out of here, Momma.
Let's get out fast!"
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"To work, everyone."
"The drums are the worst."
"We will TEST what's inside,
before we decide—
Do we take them away
or treat them right here?"
"Where would we take them?"
asked one of the workers.
"To a safe disposal site.
Burn them or treat them,
Whichever, we'll clean this place right!"
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"Hickory ... Dickory... Dock,"
The children sang
to calm their fears.
All of a sudden, Momma said again,
"Shush, children, I want to hear."
"Make no mistake/'
One worker was saying.
"That waste will PERCOLATE
through soil and water—everywhere!
"Oh, Momma, what is that word?'
"Oh, pooh, child, wait."
"When I make coffee,
and you hear it boil,
That's what it does,
it percolates!"
8)
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The Superfund Team was now feeling down
"Yes, and as it percolates it LEACHES
right into the earth, and into the wells
making the water bad."
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'Momma, our water," Sally cried out.
'What can we do?" they all said with a shout.
"Leaches means it leaks," yelled Tommy.
"like our roof when it rains."
"Tommy, you are so smart!" said Harry.
"Now I know why Freddy and Johnny have gone!"
"Their houses got sick, so they have flown!" said Sally.
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"We'll take samples of soil," said one.
"It will take a while, but we will
find what's here, and how far
contamination has gone."
"Our biggest worry is the GROUND WATER."
"Oh no!" said another.
"That's where the drinking water comes from!"
"Rain comes down,
runs through the ground.
To the water below it roams,
and up through the well and into the homes."
"Water is the most important thing in life.
Without it people can't survive!"
6ROUNDWATER
0 O
t t
O
O
O & '
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"Let me tell you the rest," Superftind Man said.
"It's lucky we found this HAZARDOUS WASTE
before people and animals were harmed."
We will check the water, too.
"The danger has been found. The waste has made people sad.
The drums will be removed. Some have said they don't know what to do!
We will now test the ground." but others were very mad."
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"We talked with the townspeople again and again.
We wanted their opinions before we began.
To keep them safe and whole
Is our goal!"
-------
"Decisions were made.
We outlined our plan.
The Plan took a long time,
and was carefully weighed."
"With it in hand,
the cleanup began.
And that, my friends,
Is why we are here today.
No more delays!"
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"What could we do? We'll think."
"We'll PUMP and TREAT THE GROUNDWATER.'
"Great!" someone said. "We'll make it safe to drink.
We can treat it with chemicals, bacteria or air
before it gets used in the sink."
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Superfund Man was thinking hard.
"SOLIDIFICATION could also do the trick.
"Of course," a team member said.
"That takes a lot of cement and other things
to cover it good and hard."
"Yeah, that's like putting on a heavy lid," someone else explained.
-------
"And then, there is bio .., bio ... bio—
"BIOREMEDIATION." Superfund Man helped him say.
"We would need a big tank to put the soil in,
and the chemicals to mix."
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"Hooray!" the mice cheered
"We are safe!
We can stay
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"Now, let's get going.
We have a lot of testing to do,
before the decision is made
on what will do the most good.
"To the work, everyone.
I have something special to do.5
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He dug up some seedlings
with tiny blue bells.
And bright green grass
He knew would grow well.
He planted these shoots
around Mother Mouse's shoe
pp-^.-- •'••••'•••••///(I'//
.•••: -VV •>':.•.'•'•'. :-'• -••///.•
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"Come out, Mother Mouse."
"Look at the flowers and grass
that will grow around your house."
"It will now be safe for your children to play."
"Enjoy it, little mother."
"For your house is like no other."
-------
Now Mother Mouse and her nine little mice
can run through the grass without alarm.
And soon, the Superfund Site will be spic and span
and do no more harm.
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SUPERFUND CONTAMINATION BIOREMEDIATION
LANDFILL GROUNDWATER SOLIDIFICATION
U.S.E.P.A.
RECYCLE
DECOMPOSE
METHANE GAS
RESPIRATORY MASK
PERCOLATE
LEACHING
HAZARDOUS WASTE
WORK PLAN
V 82 S'VoVd H O 3
S Y D 3 H V H l\a\H
oTaann.iv I s 3 I v « a K ~n oVa\j
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This is a Glossary. A Glossary is a brief and simple explanation of difficult or unusual words which
appear in this story. Understanding these words will help you to understand the story, and to better
understand what the United States Environmental Protection Agency is and how it works to protect
our health, our well-being and our surroundings. The words in this glossary are listed in the same
order in which they appear in the story.
o
LANDFILL: An area of open land where trash and garbage is
thrown. There are many landfills all over the United
States.
SUPERFUND: A law passed by United States Congress in 1980
authorizing the United States Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) to investigate and clean up aban-
doned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites or to
force private parties who may have operated the site,
carried waste to the site, or generated the waste to
study and clean up these sites.
See the "Superfand Process"page for additional infor-
mation on howSuperfund works.
E. P. A.: The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
This agency was formed in 1970 to help fight pollution.
It works with other federal agencies, state and local
governments and citizens on environmental prob-
lems. EPA acts under laws of the U.S. Congress.
RECYCLE: To break down and make again into another material
which can be used. Recycling is important today. We
recycle newspapers, magazines, cartons, etc. to save
our trees and forests. We recycle plastics, glass bottles
and cans to make other useful things.
DECOMPOSE: To fall apart and rot. The garbage from your kitchen
softens and starts to rot (decompose) very fast, espe-
cially if it is covered.
METHANE GAS: A substance or material that has no color, does not
smell and cannot be seen. It is dangerous because it
can catch on fire. It is made by the decomposing
materials which rot in the landfill.
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GROUNDWATER:
LEACHATE:
HAZARDOUS WASTE:
PUMP AND TREAT:
SOLIDIFICATION:
BIOREMEDIATION:
WORK PLAN:
CONTAMINATE:
ENVIRONMENT:
POLLUTE:
WASTE MATERIALS:
A mask worn by people over the mouth and nose to protect
them from breathing in a dangerous gas.
The movement of water downward through a sieve or
strainer to collect the liquid that strains through. When a
coffee percolator starts to boil the heat pushes the water up
from the bottom, up through the coffee grounds to the
strainer, then back down. The coffee you drink collects in
the bottom of the pot.
The supply of fresh water found under the Earth's surface
which is often used for supplying wells and springs. Because
ground water is the major source of drinking water, it must
be protected from pollutants leaching into it.
A harmful liquid that results from water collecting bacteria
as it percolates through waste. It then goes through the
ground into the wells that store drinking water.
Any dangerous materials left over from an industrial pro-
cess. They can be harmful to people or the environment in
many different ways.
A system of extraction wells to draw out contaminated water
for treatment by chemicals, bacteria, carbon filters or other
means to remove contamination. Treated water can then be
returned to groundwater or discharged to a stream.
A process in which hazardous substances and soil are bound
together with cement and other substances to make it so
hard that nothing can leak out through it.
A process in which bacteria and fungi change harmful
compounds into harmless substances. Contaminated soil
can be treated with oxygen and bacteria. After treatment,
the soil can be put back into the ground.
A plan is a list of things to do or that have to be done, and
when they will be done.
To pollute something, or to make it dirty.
Everything, including living things, that surround a person,
animal, or plant.
To make the land, water or air dirty and unhealthy.
Unwanted materials left over from a manufacturing process.
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SUPERFUND PROCESS
Years ago when people did not understand how some
certain wastes might be bad for people's health and
the environment, wastes were dumped on the ground,
in rivers or left open to the air. Now these sites are
brought to EPA's attention by private citizens, and by
local and state agencies.
IDENTIFICATION
The first investigation of the site is done by EPA or a ASSESSMENT
state agency. A study is made to see if any hazardous
chemicals and other substances are there that could
harm people's health or the environment.
If EPA finds that a site is bad, or that it could be NPL PLACEMENT
dangerous to the people, it will place the site on the
National Priorities List. There are over 1,200 sites
nationwide on that list. Some sites can be remedied by
a short term removal action.
INVESTIGATION
EPA does a two-part investigation of all NPL sites.
The first part is called a remedial investigation. This
identifies the contamination and what the threats to
the environment and the people can be.
In the feasibility study, EPA identifies possible rem-
edies. From these options, EPA presents its preferred
remedy to the public, state and local officials and asks
what they think of it.
EPA then designs and applies the chosen remedy.
EPA talks to the people responsible for the contami-
nation to see if they will pay for the plans and the work
that has to be done to clean up the site. If they do not
agree, or do not want to pay, EPA does the work,
anyway. Later on EPA will take them to court to try to
get back the money it spent on the cleanup.
PREFERRED REMEDY
FINAL REMEDY
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