Protection of the environment in Ukraine

Protection of the environment in Ukraine is paid much attention to. The worsening of the ecological situation has been closely linked to the Chernobyl explosion. On April 26, 1986, a fire burnt out of control and released radioactive materials. The disaster killed 31 persons immediately and caused the hospitalization of about 500 others. It has caused widespread illnesses and made the land in the area unusable. A radioactive cloud spread from the plant over most of Europe. Radiation even spread so far as to appear in Asia and in North America. Another issue of concern in Ukraine is the question of where to put nuclear waste. This waste is largely the spent fuel of reactors. It is radioactive, and some of its components remain so forever. The waste is held at temporary sites until a solution of the problem can be found. At present the most promising solution of the problem of waste storage is recycling. Another environmental problem is air pollution. One of its results is acid rain. It is caused by smoke from factories and transport. Nowadays the emission of smoke is strictly controlled by special governmental agencies. The activity of various environmental organizations helps to improve the situation. Among the leading environmental organizations in Ukraine are the Greenpeace and the Green Party. They are very popular with the youth in Ukraine.

Environmental protection

Responsibility for pollution control rests with local and central government Integrated pollution control restricts emissions to air, land and water from the most harmful processes.

Sea-river going ships often pollute seawater with various oil products, hi our era water pollution is becoming an international problem. At a rough esti­mate, no less than five million tons of oil are discharged into seas and oceans each year and one ton of oil can spread over about twelve square kilometers of the water surface as a fine film which prevents air-water-oxygen exchange. One liter of oil makes one million liters of fresh water unfit for drinking.

Total emission of smoke in the air have fallen by over 5 per cent since 1960. Sulphur dioxide emissions have fallen by about 40 per cent since 1970 Britain has adopted, for instance, a phased programmed of reductions in sulphur dioxide emissions from existing large combustion plants of up to 60 per cent by 2003.

To ensure that water resources remain unpolluted, it is forbidden to build new industrial enterprises around the water sources. Special laws for preventing pollution have been adopted. Now environmental protection has become a con­stitutional principle appearing in the new constitutions of many foreign comprise. To make the policy in environmental protection more effective, the international Committee for Hydrometeorology and Council of the Natural Environment was established. It is responsible for organization of control over sources of pollution. The well-known organization "Green Peace" also makes the great contribution in this matter.

Part III

HOME-READING

Text № 1

I. Words to be learnt:

aquifer – водоносный слой

to seep – просачиваться, проникать

septic tank – отстойник

cesspool – сточный колодец

oil well – нефтяная скважина

landfill – мусорная свалка

EPA – Environmental Protection Agency – Управление по охране окружающей среды

water sample – проба воды

to cleanse – очистить

to reclaim – очищать

to accelerate - ускорять

II. Read the text and

a)give your own definition to the term “groundwater pollution”.

b)give the examples to show that detecting groundwater pollution is expensive and time-consuming.

Groundwater pollution

Aquifers supply drinking water for people. That water, scientists are now reporting, is increasingly threatened by pollution. In fact, many pollutants are present at much higher concentrations in groundwater than they are in most contaminated surface supplies. Many contaminants are tasteless and odorless at concentrations thought to threaten human health.

About 4500 billion liters of con­taminated water seeps into the ground in the United States every day from septic tanks, cesspools, oil wells, land­fills, agriculture, and ponds holding hazardous wastes. Unfortunately, very little is known about the extent of groundwater contamination. Some experts believe that groundwater pollution is a minor problem. They estimate that 1% to 2% of US groundwater is polluted. However, an EPA study completed in 1981 showed groundwater contamination in 28% of 954 cities with populations over 10,000. By more recent estimates, at least 8000 private, public, and industrial wells are contaminated. In 1989, the EPA launched a program to assess the extent of groundwater contamination.

Thousands of chemicals, many of them potentially harmful to health, turn up in water samples from polluted wells. The most common chemical pollutants are chlo­rides, nitrates, heavy metals, and various toxic organics like pesticides and degreasing agents. The low-molecular-weight organic compounds are particularly worrisome, since many of them are carcinogenic. Concern among medical experts is great because some fear that there is no threshold level for these compounds—that is, there is no level free from risk of cancer or other problems. The most common problems include miscarriage, low birth weight, birth defects, and premature infant death. Adults and children suffer skin rashes, eye irritation, and a whole host of neurologic problems, including dizzi­ness, headaches, and seizures.

Many people think of groundwater as fast-flowing underground rivers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Groundwater typically moves from 5 centimeters to 64 centimeters a day. Since ground­water moves so slowly, it may take years for water polluted in one location to appear in another. Additionally, once an aquifer is contaminated, it may take several hundred years for it to cleanse itself.

Detecting groundwater pollution is expensive and time-consuming. Numerous test wells must be drilled to sample water and determine the rate and direction of flow. Despite intensive drilling health officials can easily miss a tiny stream of pollutants that flows through one portion of a large aquifer. For example, liquids that do not readily mix with water may travel along the top or bottom of the aquifer in thin layers and are often difficult to detect.

Preventing groundwater pollution is generally the cheapest way to protect this vital resource. Cutting down the production of hazardous wastes would be an important first step. Improvements in the ways we dispose of wastes would also help.

To reclaim polluted aquifers it may be necessary to pump contaminated water to the surface, purify it, and then return it to the aquifer. New techniques are also being developed to use naturally occurring bac­teria found in soil and groundwater to clean up some contamination. For instance, hydrocarbons (such as crude oil, gasoline, and creosote) that have leaked from storage tanks or are spilled from vehicles have polluted more groundwater used for drinking than any other class of chemicals in the United States. Microbiologists have known since the late 1970s that some bacteria can digest or break down hydrocarbons in the soil and groundwater, converting them into carbon dioxide and methane gases.

Bacteria in the soil, however, as a rule can only degrade about 1%of the hydrocarbon pollution flowing past them. Why? Quite simply, they lack key chemical nutrients needed for metabolism. By supplying these nutrients researchers may be able to accelerate the bacterial decomposition of hydrocarbons.

Discussion questions:

1. Why is the problem of groundwater pollution so important nowadays?

2. If you were going to survey your state for ground water pollution, how would you go about locating sources and taking samples of groundwater?

3. What are the major sources of groundwater pollution? What factors determine whether a toxic waste disposal site or some other source will pollute groundwater?

4. Why is concern among medical experts great?

5. How can groundwater pollution be reduced or eliminated? What can you do?

Exercises to the text:

I. Translate the words combinations from English into Russian:

Drinking water,contaminated surface, hazardous wastes, the extent of groundwater contamination, harmful to health, skin rashes, vital resource, decomposition of hydrocarbons, to digest or break down hydrocarbons, to sample water.

II. Choose the Russian equivalents to the English word combinations:

1. tasteless	1. степень
2. odourless	2. оценивать
3. extent	3. беспокойный
4. to launch	4. головокружение
5. to assess	5. пресный
6. worrisome	6. выкидыш
7. miscarriage	7. приступ
8. dizziness	8. обнаруживать
9. seizure	9. непахнущий
10. to detect	10. начинать

III. Fill in the blanks with the words given below:

1. Some experts believe that groundwater pollution is a … problem.

2. Adults and children suffer eye irritation and a whole host of … problems, including dizzi­ness and headaches.

3. Cutting down the production of … wastes would be an important first step.

4. Improvements in the ways we … of wastes would also help.

5. New techniques are also being developed to use naturally occurring bac­teria found in soil and … to clean up some contamination.

Dispose, minor, groundwater, neurologic, hazardous.

IV. Choose the right English equivalent to the words in brackets:

1. Aquifers supply (питьевая вода) for people.

a) fresh water

b) drinking water

c) poisonous water

2. About 4500 billion liters of con­taminated water seeps into the ground in the United States every day from (отстойников).

a) oil tanks

b) slop tanks

c) septic tanks

3. Numerous test (колодцы) must be drilled to sample water and determine the rate and direction of flow.

a) well

b) shaft

c) landfill

4. Liquids that do not readily mix with water may travel along the top or (дно) of the aquifer in thin layers and are often difficult to detect.

a) floor

b) underworld

c) bottom

5. Bacteria in the soil, however, as a rule can only (ухудшать) about 1%of the hydrocarbon pollution flowing past them.

a) to become worse

b) to degrade

c) worsen

V. Translate from Russian into English:

1. Большинство загрязняющих веществ безвкусны и не имеют запаха.

2. Загрязненная вода проникает в землю с отстойников, сточных колодцев и мусорных свалок.

3. Необходимо снизить производство опасных отходов.

4. Некоторые бактерии разрушают углеводороды в почве и грунтовых водах.

5. Могут пройти десятки лет пока водоносный слой очистится.

Text № 2

I. Words to be learnt:

seal – тюлень

fetus – плод

scourge – бич, беда

bubonic plague – бубонная чума

distemper – собачья чума

waste-treatment – переработка отходов

precipitation – осадки

to chin in – вмешиваться

to recycle – повторно использовать

to bear on – опираться на

II. Read the text and

a)write down a summarizing sentence for each paragraph;

b)prepare an oral summary of the text on the basis of the above task.