HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Materials such as chemicals, industrial and residential by-products, biological waste, and other pollutants that pose an actual or suspected threat to human health, quality of life, and the environment.
POLLUTION
Artificially created environmental impurity.
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
Federal law requiring local public water suppliers to periodically test the quality of drinking water., 1974; Sets standards for drinking water quality and requires the EPA to regulate providers of drinking water.
GROUNDWATER
Surface runoff and underground water systems., Water found in the spaces between soil particles and cracks in rocks underground (located in the saturation zone). Groundwater is a natural resource that is used for drinking, recreation, industry, and growin
PRIVATE WELL WATER TESTING- WESTCHESTER COUNTY
November 19, 2007 Water testing for any new wells
Water testing requirements for leased property served by an existing well
Water testing requirements for any property for sale served by an existing well
LANDFILL
A site for the burial, layering, and permanent storage of waste material, consisting of alternating layers of waste and topsoil.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Hazardous by-product of uses of radioactive materials in energy production, medicine, and scientific research.
SEPTIC SYSTEM
Wastewater treatment and disposal system used by individual households.
PERCOLATION TEST
A test to see if a septic tank will work successfully in a specific location
TERMITES
Wood-boring insects whose presence causes structural damage.
ASBESTOS
Commonly used insulating mineral that becomes toxic when it is exposed and fibers and dust are released into the air.
ASBESTOSIS
Lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos.
FRIABLE
Crumbly, breaking off (as in some asbestos insulation).
LEAD POISONING
Illness, including the impairment of physical and mental development in children and aggravated blood pressure in adults, resulting from the ingestion of lead toxins, primarily in paint or plumbing.
RADON GAS
Odorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas that becomes hazardous when trapped and accumulated in unventilated areas of buildings. Long-term exposure to radon is suspected of causing lung cancer.
SICK BUILDING SYNDROME
Range of symptoms, such as asthma, coughing, and hoarseness, that are related to the individual's presence in the affected building, but that disappear when he or she is not exposed to the building's environment.
BUILDING RELATED ILLNESS
Symptoms such as hypersensitivity, asthma, and allergic reactions caused by toxic substances and pathogens in a building that remain with the affected individual even when he or she is away from the building.
MAJOR SOURCES OF INTERIOR AIR CONTAMINATION
volatile inorganic compounds (chemical emissions from products such as paints, adhesives, cleaners, pesticides, fixtures, and furnishings), microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mites), and particulates (dust and dander). Urea-formaldehyde
MOLD
Natural organism, a fungus, that grows in damp area; sometimes toxic.
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
Potentially hazardous chemical used in electrical equipment, principally transformers.
CHLORDANE
An insecticide banned in the 1980s.
UNDERWATER STORAGE TANKS
Buried containers used for storage or disposal of chemicals, fuel, and gas that pose an actual or potential environmental hazard in the event of a leak.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
Invisible energy fields created by the movement of electrical currents in high tension wires and electrical appliances. EMFs may be responsible for occurrences of cancer, hormonal changes, and behavioral disorders.
CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
Gases produced by propellants once used in aerosol sprays and the common coolant Freon. CFCs are linked to depletion of the earth's ozone layer.
FREON
Chemical substance, formerly used in refrigerators and spray cans, now prohibited because it contributes to air pollution.
CLEAN AIR ACT
The law prohibiting the use of Freon in refrigerators and spray cans.
NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT
New York State's Environmental Quality Review Act, requiring environmental impact statements before certain development projects.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Report detailing the effect of a proposed development on the existing environment, including possible alternative measures to remedy or repair environmental damage.
PHASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESMENT
A Phase I assessment consists of reviewing the previous ownership and uses of the property by examining all deeds, easements, leases, restrictions, and covenants for a period of 50 years; aerial photographs; any recorded environmental cleanup liens; feder
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Enacted in 1980 and reauthorized by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), this federal law imposes liability on lenders, occupants, operators, and owners for correcting environmental problems discovered on a property.
POTENTIALLY RESPONSIBLE PARTIES
Under Superfund, the landowners suspected of contaminating a property.
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)-1986
Federal law defining landowner responsibility for cleanup of environmental contamination resulting from past activities. Establishes innocent landowner defense against liability for contamination caused by prior owners.
INNOCENT LANDOWNER IMMUNTY
Recognized that in certain cases a landowner in the chain of ownership had been completely innocent of all wrongdoing and therefore should not be held liable.
Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST)-1984
Federal environmental protection program to protect the nation's groundwater by identifying underground tanks and preventing or correcting leakage of hazardous materials.