Review:

Environmental Geology of Urban Areas
Edited by Nicholas Eyles
Geological Association of Canada
GeoText3, 1997, 590 p.

As the impact of humans on the natural environment increases, there is a growing demand to understand and manage the interaction between society and the environment. Some of the most significant environmental impact occurs in urban areas with high concentrations of population and industry. With more than 70% of the world's population living in urban areas, the impact of human habitation is considerable. As a result, the field of environmental geology is growing rapidly (now larger than the mining industry in Ontario), with a major focus being urban environmental geology.

Due to the relatively recent emergence of this area of study, there is relatively little environmental geology reference material available, and much of it can only be found in the "grey literature" of government and private-sector reports. The purpose of "Environmental Geology of Urban Areas" is to provide a review of environmental geological case studies from across Canada, which it does admirably.

Topics ranging from geophysical data collection to environmental law are covered in this 590 page volume. Because this is a collection of research and review papers, the entire spectrum of urban environmental geology topics is not uniformly addressed, rather, specific topics and case studies are covered in greater detail. There are case studies from Halifax to Vancouver, however the emphasis is the most heavily urbanized portion of Canada, southern Ontario. The volume includes 39 papers that are roughly divided into ten themes: an introduction to environmental geology of urban areas, urban ground waters: sources of contamination, urban ground waters: resource evaluation and protection, surface-water contamination in urban areas, urban waterfronts, urban waste management, contaminated substrates in urban areas, urban geological hazards, site investigation, remediation and data management, and finally, environmental assessment legislation.

Environmental problems associated with water supply and quality are a major emphasis of this book. This reflects the focus of an industry primarily driven by the tremendous need for clean water in modern cities. The pollution of surface and ground water are given good treatment as are lake and harbor pollution. Several types of ground water contamination are covered in detail. Urban waste management and mine waste are also addressed in detail.

The section on geologic hazards contains two papers on earth quake hazards and one on radon hazards. Landslide hazards (eg. catastrophic sensitive clay flows that are endemic to several areas of Canada) are not covered.

This book provides a very nice introduction to many important environmental issues across Canada, the geologic processes associated with them, and the strategies currently being used to investigate and resolve them. Both professionals and academics interested in the environmental earth sciences will find this book very useful. Despite the cost, this book would make a wonderful resource for senior undergraduate or graduate courses.