Lab 6 - Suitablitiy Analysis

The suitability analysis lab was a very thought provoking one, in that it showed the student the very power and important role GIS has in decision making for different potentially dangerous but necessary sites, such as landfills and toxic waste dumps. Comparing the lab that we completed this week with the Kettleman city dump situation and controversy, one can see that the decisions of the city or state in determining locations for dumps can have real life effects.

In Kettleman city, the toxic waste dump is built and allowed to exist by the state, but it is controlled by the federal government. The federal government uses this dump to dispose of toxic chemical or substances such as PCB’s. This dump, although filled with dangerous chemicals, is necessary to have in the state, so that toxic waste does not get disposed of in less suitable dumps located near larger population centers. As well as the importance of having the dump, the dump provides employment opportunity to people living in Kettleman city, a town located in the California central valley, where the unemployment levels are one of the highest in the nation.

The problem and controversy surrounding the dump is the elevated birth defects in the nearby town of Kettleman city. The leading chemical elevation in the town’s people’s blood is arsenic, which is naturally occurring in California soil, and though Kettleman city is a farming community where one might expect to find elevated arsenic levels, their levels are higher than that one would find naturally causing.

Using GIS, and data similar to that in what we used for Gallitan County, we could look at the location of rivers soil types and drainage, and slope of the land, and could help determine if the land in which the toxic waste dump is located is suitable for such activities. The importance of testing and mapping these factors are important because one, they can determine if the toxic waste dump is the source of the birth defects, and two, if it is practical and safe to expand the toxic waste dump in its current location, or if it should be moved to a different location all together.

By testing soil drainage, we can see if it is easy or hard for the toxic waste to seep into the soil, and then into nearby streams or rivers, or even into the local water supply. By mapping the soil drainage, we will be able to see where the waste dump is located in relation to soil types, as well as see the location of the dump in relation to the slope of the land and location of rivers. Maybe something more daunting about the Kettleman city dump is its location to the California aqueduct, which runs near Kettleman city. This aqueduct bring water from northern to southern California, giving water to millions, and if the site is expanded, one important question may be is it possible for waste to taint the water travelling in the California aqueduct. But in the end, it is necessary to have a toxic waste dump, and GIS is an important tool in determining the desirability of the land on which the dump is located, and if the site needs to be moved because of the detrimental side effects it has upon the nearby population.