Peterson, Andrew Brian.

Protection of groundwater resources in southeastern Florida is essential because of increasing demands on water quality and supply. Because water is furnished to public and private water systems from production wells that tap the non-artesian surficial aquifer, contamination of groundwater from leaking petroleum storage tanks must be curtailed. In the study, a series of land use maps is developed based on aerial photographs (1970, 1984, and 1991) for a 40 square mile area in southeastern Palm Beach County, Florida. The locations of petroleum storage tank systems and contaminated sites are mapped. The point biserial correlation coefficient is used to examine the strength of the relationships between historical land use, storage tank system capacity, and the presence of petroleum. contamination. The results indicate no correlation between the intensity of urbanization (historical land use) and petroleum contamination and positive correlation between petroleum storage system capacity and petroleum contamination.

The instruction of Latin American topics in southeast Florida is crucial to the future of the region. Geographic education has traditionally suffered in the United States, and Florida is no exception. The demographics of southeast Florida are changing to reflect a greater proportion of Latin Americans. Social studies programs at the secondary level should reflect this change and treat Latin American groups fairly. Textbooks in use in the region are second best choices for Latin American topical coverage. Social studies educators in southeast Florida are aware of the growing importance of Latin America to the region, but in many cases are unable to enhance activities at their school. The coverage of Latin American instruction in southeast Florida is adequate for the moment, but must be enriched in the near future to augment cultural understanding between groups so that they may live agreeably together in an ethnically diverse environment.