Inorganic chemical manufacturing operations with

Top U.S. companies with inorganic chemical manufacturing operations are listed in Table 22.5. 

Top U.S. Companies With Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing Operations... 

Because there are few major natural sources of mercury and since most inorganic compounds of this element are relatively insoluble, it was assumed for some time that mercury was not a serious water pollutant. However, in 1970, alarming mercury levels were discovered in fish in Lake Saint Clair located between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. A subsequent survey by the U.S. Federal Water Quality Administration revealed a number of other waters contaminated with mercury. It was found that several chemical plants, particularly caustic chemical manufacturing operations for the production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, were each releasing up to 14 or more kilograms of mercury in wastewaters each day. 

A large chemical company quartered on the East Coast spends about 400 million annually to remediate contaminated aquifiers and sites associated with past manufacturing operations. Much of this is spent on sites contaminated with lead from the manufacture of tetraethyl lead, lead-based paints, and lead cartridges. For example, the soil of a 25-acre site within a large plant located in New Jersey contains as much as 2,000 ppm of lead as inorganic salts to a depth of 2 feet. The distribution is as follows at the surface, 2,000 ppm 6 , 1,000 ppm 12 , 500 ppm 24 , 0 ppm. 

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