General Glossary

Eliminating or reducing at the
source the use, generation or
release of toxic pollutants,
hazardous substances and hazardous
wastes.

A class of chemicals typically
formed by burning and common in
the environment. PAHs are also
common to petroleum products and
oil. Although most of these
compounds are harmless or mildly
toxic, some are carcinogenic.

Residential waste reused in
industrial process, such as
recycled newspapers used to
manufacture more newsprint.

Parts per billion. Ten ppb means
ten parts of a contaminant to one
billion parts of water.

The area below the limnetic zone
where light does not penetrate.
This area roughly corresponds to
the hypolimnion layer of water and
is home to organisms that break
down or consume organic matter.

Unprocess natural substances, such
as wood and metals, used in the
manufacture of products.

Material that still has useful
physical or chemical properties
after serving its original purpose
and can, therefore, be reused or
remanufactured into additional
products. Plastic, paper, glass,
used oil, tin and aluminum cans
are examples of recyclable
materials.

The process of collecting
materials from the waste stream
and separating them by type,
remaking them into new products,
and marketing and reusing the
materials as new products.

Cleanup actions taken, such as at
Superfund sites. Also referred to
as RA.

The design of a cleanup system. It
may include developing engineering
plans and specifications, and
bidding documents for construction
of the system.