re: human error

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

21. Account must also be taken of the pollution produced by residue, including dangerous waste present in different areas. Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish. Industrial waste and chemical products utilized in cities and agricultural areas can lead to bioaccumulation in the organisms of the local population, even when levels of toxins in those places are low. Frequently no measures are taken until after people's health has been irreversibly affected.

Seven years after EU regulators first took issue with 102 the country's landfills, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that Italy has failed to bring nearly half into compliance.

After many years of warnings, the Commission launched its case against Germany in 2016. In June last year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) agreed with the Commission: Germany infringed the EU's Nitrates Directive and should have adopted stronger measures a long time ago to protect its waters. It is possible that a fine will need to be paid. A similar judgment was made against France in 2014.
[...]
Although the agricultural sector has attempted to reduce fertilisation in the past years, the new Fertilisation Regulation is unlikely to lead to any improvements.  This is according to a study drafted by one of the BUND's water researchers that was published in February.

The German Energy and Water Association found that the new regulation [2017] in its current form "does not lead to any considerable reduction of the over-fertilisation of nitrate."

This is also due to the fact that groundwater only regenerates at a very slow pace. "Nitrate pollution will continue to be a problem for many generations," according to von Vitorelli.