Development of a local land site often necessitates local environmental site assessment. Municipalities enforce environmental regulations including the responsibility to perform a local environmental site assessment and if necessary, site remediation. This is the result of the purchase of undeveloped property that has exposure to industrial pollution or various forms of chemical or petrochemical spills. A local environmental site assessment mandate insures environmental health by inhabitants and to protect environmentally sensitive streams as well as flora and fauna. In order to properly assess the environmental health of specific properties, testing of soil, water and air is performed to determine specific pollutants. Local environmental management groups are charged with the duties of monitoring, testing and overseeing performance of environmental testing. Environmental management groups are generally broken down into categories that handle specific duties. For instance, a main department of environmental management specifically maintains environmental health for water. Within this group, there may be subdivisions with focus on storm water, wastewater and wastewater treatment. This is also true of air and soil groups. Hazardous waste defines as disposable waste with a potential to cause widespread damage to human and animal health as well as destroying air, water and soil. As an example, hazardous waste may occur after a toxic cleanup, such as asbestos, has been performed at an industrial site. Depending on the degree of hazard, removal and remediation of the site will require all of the waste from the cleanup be sent to a certified landfill. Hazardous waste may also occur when there has been an oil spill near shipping lanes. With regard to hazardous waste from industrial processes, this may be generated from process equipment that releases toxic emissions into the air. Most industrial processes are required to install air pollution controls to trap pollutants before they become airborne. These controls are known as dust collectors, precipitators and scrubbers. In each case, the filtration of polluted air must be properly disposed of at a certified landfill.
