The treatment of hazardous wastes in most industrialized countries is now controlled through regulations, policies, incentive programs, and voluntary efforts. However, until the 1980s, society knew little of the harmful effects of inadequate management of hazardous wastes, which resulted in many contaminated sites and polluted natural resources. Even in the 1970s, when environmental legislation required disposal of hazardous wastes to landfills and other systems, contamination of soils and groundwater continued, because these systems were often not leak proof. To meet the environmental and public health standards of the twenty-first century, these contaminated sites must continue to be rehabilitated, or remediated, so they no longer pose a threat to the public or the ecosystem. However, the price will be high; total costs for cleaning up the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear weapons sites alone will cost $147 billion from 1997 to 2070. Cleaning America's contaminated groundwater will cost even more...