Once of the most common sources of soil contamination is the incorrect storage of products and/or waste in industrial activities. Usual examples of this kind of problem include leaks in storage tanks or accidental disposal on unprepared areas.

Aside from the visual impact, uncontrolled waste disposal may contaminate the soil and ground and surface waters through the leaching of certain waste. All abandonment of waste must therefore be avoided by using controlled facilities for its disposal.

With the abandonment of former industrial activities, building waste may be generated. This building waste is often contaminated by the previous industrial processes and may cause extra contamination to the environment and involve a risk for people who might be in contact with it. Industrial construction and demolition waste must be managed with suitable control. The dismantling of the remains will involve different types of activities: emptying and cleaning pipes, tanks and deposits, the management of possible waste stored there, the identification and controlled withdrawal of structures or installations that contain toxic or hazardous materials, the demolition and suitable management of the rubble, etc.

The illegal burial of drums with waste and their deterioration in time may cause soil and ground water contamination by transferral of the waste they contain into these media.

Associated with the abandonment of former industrial activities, there may be certain products and waste under poor storage conditions, with the consequent risk of land and soil contamination and the evaporation of volatile compounds.

Spillage may accidentally be caused in transporting hazardous goods, which must be identified and resolved fast and effectively in order to avoid soil and water, which would be difficult to resolve.

Small leaks from underground tanks, if caused over time, may cause the loss of a large amount of product with the risk of contamination of the subsoil and ground waters. In order to avoid such leaks and losses, the storage tanks must be regularly maintained and checked.

Soil and ground and surface waters may be contaminated as a result of the uncontrolled disposal of untreated waste waters from industries, municipalities and livestock installations, which may contain contaminating chemical substances. Wastewater treatment plants must be used and the water must be disposed of in a controlled manner.

The continuous abusive use of pesticides and manures can cause direct soil contamination or indirect surface water contamination from surface running or ground waters through their migration through the unsaturated area.

In old sewers in a poor state, leaks may be caused that can cause contamination of the subsoil and ground waters. The deterioration of the sewers may be accelerated, for instance, by the continuous disposal of corrosive substances.

Former illegal waste burial in certain cases caused soil and ground water contamination by the entry of certain compounds in the media. An example of this are some examples of sand extraction that were refilled with waste of different kinds and which with time and as a result of changes in the water level, caused contamination of ground waters.

Uncontrolled emissions from an industry can mean the entry in the atmosphere of certain compounds that, when deposited, might accumulate in the soil. There is diffuse contamination that often affects extensive areas and is difficult to resolve.