Contaminated lead processing factory

A lead processing factory in the Harz mountains, Germany, intends to enhance its productivity and build an extension to existing halls on their property (Fig. 7.1). Soil investigations reveal a moderate to high contamination of As, Ba, Cu, Pb, Sb, and Zn (see Tables 7.1 and 7.3). The site is situated on a river bank (lower and middle terrace) and protected from flooding. Percolation water drains the site in the direction of the adjacent stream. 

Many heavy metals (e.g. Pb, Tl, Zn, Hg) which are known poisons are present in industrial wastes. The effluents from most factories, after some degree of pretreatment, are discharged into rivers. Atmospheric contaminants from smelting works or combustion processes eventually enter the natural drainage, system as Tall out , and are carried into the rivers. It is probable that the deposition of sediments and the higher pH of marine water, which leads to precipitation, results in a build-up of the heavy metal pollutants in the river estuary. An assessment of this build-up is essentially an analytical problem. 

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