toxic site
- noun
- /ˈtɒksɪk saɪt/
- Specialized
- The Cannons were unable to procure a remedy, however, because Congress wanted to make sure that the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") was not slowed down in its cleanup efforts of toxic sites.
- toxic site cleanup
Examples
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Citizens who engage in popular epidemiology, like those in Woburn and at other toxic sites, usually act in stages: 4
Academic text (1993) -
CERCLA "established a two-level response mechanism" for toxic-site cleanups consisting of "removal" actions and "remedial" actions.
Academic text (2017) -
"It smells like chemicals, not even like mold," she said, pointing out that Newtown Creek, which is adjacent to 99 Commercial Street, is a well-known toxic site.
Blog text (19) -
Farther north along the waterfront, plans are moving ahead to install a museum in a later PG&E power plant—atop an encapsulated toxic site.
Blog text (13) -
R Street was just as replete with industrial corridors and by-products, and right now there are crews cleaning up a toxic site at 19th and Q (formerly a Western Pacific wye and a few industrial sites), the future site of a city park that I still hope will be named Bobby Burns Park.
Blog text (13) -
The city allocated funds to clean up the toxic site that had been contaminating the groundwater.
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After years of neglect, the toxic site finally received the attention it needed for remediation and cleanup.
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Residents near the toxic site were relieved to learn that cleanup efforts were finally underway to remove the hazardous waste.
Synonyms
A place where people leave dangerous chemicals, often illegally
A place in the United States where people dumped dangerous waste and the government must clean it up
A place where dangerous chemical waste is stored or dumped
A place where people dump poisonous materials that must be cleaned because they can harm people or nature
A place where people dump poisonous waste, often illegally or unsafely
Antonyms
How Contaminated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a location that is poisonous or contaminated' is directly and predictably built from 'toxic' (harmful because of poison) modifying 'site' (location). This simple adjective + noun composition follows normal English semantics and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase toxic site comes from the image of places where factories or dumps left barrels of poisonous chemicals that leaked into the soil and water. The word toxic means harmful and site means place, so it now refers to a place polluted and needing 'cleanup'.