Toxic Waste

Toxic waste is chemical waste material capable of causing illness or death by way of environmental pollution. It is encountered in several forms throughout the wasteland following the Great War.

Background
Before the war, hazardous materials were created as byproducts of research and industry. Companies chose to dispose of such waste in a variety of ways, from storage in containment barrels, burying, concealing within caves, or dumping into waterways.

Due to the substantial impact such disposal methods could cause to the environment, regulatory measures were put in place and simultaneously circumvented by the companies under scrutiny, such as with the Red Rocket truck stop, who dumped toxic waste under their facility while winning an award for waste reduction. Another example being situated at the Mass Fusion containment shed, where a hazardous material inspector arrived unannounced to check the operation, where toxic waste was being secretly dumped into Lake Quannapowitt despite Mass Fusion's motto being "the leader in the safe handling and disposal of radioactive waste."

The need for secure waste storage was a significant one, with the Department of Energy's 10,000 Years Initiative mitigation program, with the aim of providing secure locations to dispose of waste products while also conveying to future inhabitants the dangers the waste posed to life. The Emmett Mountain disposal site mentions struggles with how much toxic waste was incoming, lacking space, staff issues, and lack of resources to safely and adequately handle the waste. Waste was dumped in other parts of the country as well, such as in the deserts of Nevada and in Massachusetts.

Characteristics
Some instances of waste exist in the environment, collecting in pools or bodies of water, while others are unearthed having been previously buried, or stored within barrels that have decayed to the point of spilling into the surrounding area. Some variations of toxic waste are green or yellow in color, with wisps of similarly colored particulate floating in the air.

Effects on creatures
Toxic waste can be highly irradiated, dangerous to living creatures and plant life. Such waste can cause harmful or even fatal genetic modifications. Protective equipment and clothing can be used to avoid damage caused by exposure, such as advanced radiation suits, rubber boots and hazmat suits. However, some individuals such as Mr. RADical who attempted to mitigate the effects of toxic waste are unsuccessful by normal means, such as by wearing radiation suits.

Some animals, already mutated, further mutate due to exposure to toxic waste. The golden geckos near Klamath are known to consume the toxic waste leaking from the barrels in the toxic caves.

Locations

 * Scout Leader Pompy at Kiddie Corner Cabins requests help in finding, cleaning up and storing several toxic mutagenic waste spills around Appalachia. Possible spills are located in Grafton, at Hemlock Holes, in the toxic dried lakebed and within the Willard Corporate Housing complex. Other locations are seen around the old nuclear test site, toxic dump site and within Federal Disposal Field HZ-21.
 * Toxic waste can be found freely flowing in the ruins of Los Angeles, acting as an impassable moat for the Gun Runners fortress. Toxic caves, containing leaking barrels of waste, northwest of Klamath Falls, Oregon. There are instances of toxic waste at the toxic waste dump, at Powder Ganger camp west, around the toxic pond and wreckage, within Vault 34 and in Swan's Pond. Several pools of toxic waste are found throughout the exterior areas of Big MT.
 * Significant evidence of toxic waste dumping can be seen throughout Black Mountain, the Devil's Throat and Dunwich Borers. Several NW Disposal Systems trucks with such waste were on the way to San Onofre when they were diverted to Cottonwood overlook and Searchlight fire station. Those same waste barrels were utilized by Caesar's Legion to destroy the New California Republic camp at Searchlight in 2281.

Appearances
Toxic waste appears throughout the Fallout series.