Transcript Document
Hazardous Wastes Hazardous Wastes Love Canal The awakening of America to the problem of hazardous wastes Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Begun in the 1890s by William T. Love as an excavated canal to allow barges to bypass Niagara Falls Hazardous Wastes Love Canal The excavated canal was never completed The excavated canal was largely refilled with dirt over the next few decades Love Canal 1927 photo of the unfilled section of the canal Hazardous Wastes Love Canal The short section that had remained unfilled was purchased in the 1940s by Hooker Chemical company Hazardous Wastes Love Canal For more than a decade, the company used the excavation as a disposal site for tons of toxic chemical wastes Hazardous Wastes Love Canal By the 1950s the old excavation was filled with chemical wastes The chemical waste site was covered with a clay cap Hazardous Wastes Love Canal The land was sold by Hooker for $1, with liability release prior use of the land was described in the contract, but not made widely known Love Canal On April 28, 1953, the Niagara Falls School Board acquired title to the Love Canal property from Hooker Chemical for the fee of $1. The deed contained this disclaimer: ". . . .Prior to the delivery (sale). . . the grantee herein (school board) has been advised by the grantor (Hooker) that the premises above described have been filled, in whole or in part, to the present grade level thereof with waste products resulting from the manufacturing of chemicals by the grantor at its plant in the City of Niagara Falls, New York, and that the grantee assumes all risk and liability incident to the use thereof . . . ." Hazardous Wastes Love Canal The land was developed into a middle class subdivision and elementary school during construction heavy machinery broke the clay cap 1927 photo 1978 photo Location of old canal in relation to homes and school Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood Were unaware of the prior use of the land Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood Became concerned about their new homes and school Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Concerns of the residents strong chemical odors chemicals oozing out of basement walls Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Concerns of the residents landscape vegetation died chemicals bubbling up out of the ground Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents believed that there were high incidence of miscarriages high incidence or respiratory and neurological ailments Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood complained to the local health department and city officials Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood eventually convinced the New York State Health Dept. to investigate Hazardous Wastes Love Canal State Health Dept. investigators discovered that the homes and school were built on top of tons of highly toxic chemical wastes ! Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood Were horrified Realized their homes were worthless Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Residents of the neighborhood Demanded assistance Were relocated by the State of New York Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Made national news headlines for weeks Led to tremendous national concern about hazardous wastes Hazardous Wastes Love Canal Public outrage resulted in Congress passing several landmark laws on hazardous wastes and toxic chemicals Hazardous Wastes What is the legacy of past improper disposal ? toxic chemical pollution of land and water Hazardous Wastes What is the legacy of past improper disposal ? toxic chemical contamination of wildlife Hazardous Wastes What is the legacy of past improper disposal ? toxic chemical contamination of humans Hazardous Wastes Public outrage over Love Canal resulted in Congress passing several landmark laws on hazardous wastes and toxic chemicals Landmark Laws Enacted in Response to Love Canal TSCA RCRA (subtitle C) CERCLA (later SARA) TSCA What does the acronym stand for ? Toxic Substances Control Act TSCA Purpose: To gain knowledge on the toxic hazards of chemicals before they are produced TSCA Provisions: All new chemicals produced and in the U.S. after 1975 must be tested for toxicity TSCA Provisions: Chemicals produced prior to 1975 were “grand fathered” TSCA Provisions: required testing for Carcinogenicity carcinogens produce cancer TSCA Provisions: required testing for Mutagenicity mutagens produce mutations in DNA TSCA Provisions: required testing for Teratogenicity teratogens produce birth defects TSCA Provisions: required testing for Neurological Effects produce changes in nervous system function and behavior TSCA Has substantially improved testing of new chemicals Does not assure human and environmental safety of new chemicals TSCA Has been relatively ineffective in banning dangerous “grand fathered” chemicals of commercial importance Landmark Laws Enacted in Response to Love Canal TSCA RCRA (subtitle C) CERCLA (later SARA) RCRA What does the acronym stand for ? (subtitle C) Resource Conservation & R ecovery Act RCRA (subtitle C) Note of Explanation Subtitle C of this law deals with hazardous wastes Subtitle D of this law deals with solid wastes RCRA (subtitle C) Purpose: To prevent future improper disposal of hazardous chemical wastes RCRA (subtitle C) Provisions: Requires a “cradle-to-grave” paper trail for hazardous chemicals RCRA (subtitle C) Provisions: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) charged with oversight RCRA (subtitle C) “cradle-to-grave” Cradle – initial production of the hazardous chemical Grave – final disposal or destruction of the hazardous chemical RCRA (subtitle C) paper trail reporting forms that must be carefully completed at creation, sale, transfer, shipment, disposal, destruction of the chemical RCRA (subtitle C) Provisions: Requires a “cradle-to-grave” paper trail for hazardous chemicals RCRA (subtitle C) has been effective at tracking hazardous chemicals and preventing improper disposal BUT RCRA (subtitle C) has created mountains of paper work for companies and USEPA RCRA compliance is a burden on affected companies RCRA (subtitle C) to reduce the burden on business, RCRA exempts “de minimis” generators and users of hazardous chemicals RCRA (subtitle C) “de minimis” Latin legal term meaning “of small quantity” RCRA (subtitle C) “de minimis” generators and users of hazardous chemicals are exempt from compliance with federal RCRA requirements RCRA (subtitle C) States may establish more strict “de minimis” values than the federal RCRA levels Landmark Laws Enacted in Response to Love Canal TSCA RCRA (subtitle C) CERCLA (later SARA) CERCLA C omprhensive What does E nvironmental the Response, acronym Compensation & stand for ? L iability A ct CERCLA This law is more commonly known as “Superfund” CERCLA The law was revised in 1990 as SARA S uperfund A mendment & Reauthorization Act CERCLA/SARA Purpose: To clean up toxic chemical sites that resulted from past improper disposal of hazardous chemical wastes CERCLA/SARA Provisions: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) charged with oversight CERCLA/SARA Provisions: the “polluter pays” concept the party responsible for the pollution pays for the costs of clean up CERCLA/SARA In the terminology of Superfund the polluter is the PRP Potentially Responsible Party CERCLA/SARA The PRP can be legally required to bear the costs of clean up of the toxic chemical site However CERCLA/SARA The PRP may be unknown The PRP may be deceased or defunct The PRP may be bankrupt CERCLA/SARA If the PRP can not be made to pay, then the federal government pays for the costs of clean up states share the cost of clean up CERCLA/SARA Provisions: Old chemical waste sites are evaluated using a standard set of criteria CERCLA/SARA Provisions: Chemical waste sites in need of clean up are declared Superfund sites – that is, placed on the NPL CERCLA/SARA What does the acronym stand for ? National Priority L ist CERCLA/SARA Provisions: the NPL is a prioritized list sites highest on the NPL will be cleaned up first CERCLA/SARA How are sites evaluated for the NPL ? Complex list of factors taken into consideration, including CERCLA/SARA site evaluation for NPL types of chemicals present quantities of chemicals present threat of water contamination CERCLA/SARA site evaluation for NPL numerous other factors, but one of the most important is immediacy of threat to human health CERCLA/SARA Chemical waste sites that are an immediate threat to human health will be placed high on the NPL for rapid clean up CERCLA/SARA In the 1980s Superfund was highly criticized for being ineffective CERCLA/SARA In the 1980s, many millions of dollars were spent, but only a handful of toxic waste sites were cleaned up CERCLA/SARA Critics of Superfund in the 1980s noted that much of the money was spent on lawyer fees in protracted court battles CERCLA/SARA In the 1990s, under SARA, Superfund became much more effective More toxic waste sites were cleaned up faster CERCLA/SARA SARA allows USEPA to clean up the most dangerous sites before the court battles are over CERCLA/SARA The Superfund law does not provide for liability and compensation for personal injury or damage CERCLA/SARA In 20 years of existence, Superfund has cleaned up several hundred toxic chemical waste sites BUT CERCLA/SARA most of the clean up of old toxic chemical waste sites remains to be done ! CERCLA/SARA USEPA estimates that there may be 20,000 sites in need of clean up The Government Accounting Office (GAO) suggests that the number may be 100,000 CERCLA/SARA The clean up of old toxic chemical waste sites will continue for decades and will cost billions of dollars Hazardous Wastes In a highly industrialized society, we can not entirely eliminate hazardous wastes Hazardous Wastes How do we reduce or better manage the problem of hazardous chemical wastes? Hazardous Wastes Industry has developed methods for reduction and management of hazardous chemical wastes Hazardous Wastes Improved industrial management has been motivated by economics -- hazardous wastes have become very expensive Hazardous Wastes Improved industrial management has been motivated by legal requirements -- in order to comply with federal and state laws Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes process manipulation Alteration in an industrial process to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals Green Chemistry Hazardous Wastes process manipulation chemical engineers study industrial process to determine if Use or generation of the hazardous chemical can be eliminated Hazardous Wastes process manipulation chemical engineers study industrial process to determine if Quantity of use or generation of the hazardous chemical can be reduced Hazardous Wastes process manipulation chemical engineers study industrial process to determine if A safer, less hazardous chemical can be used or generated Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes in-plant reuse may take different approaches – the ultimate goal is to reduce hazardous chemical wastes Hazardous Wastes in-plant reuse Can the chemical waste product of one industrial process be used elsewhere in the company ? Hazardous Wastes in-plant reuse Can the used chemical be refined, distilled or repurified for reuse within the company ? Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes re-sale and swaps “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” the “garage sale” approach to hazardous waste management Hazardous Wastes re-sale and swaps the chemical wastes of one company may be a valuable raw material to another company Hazardous Wastes re-sale and swaps companies sell or swap chemicals reduces cost of chemical acquisition reduces cost of chemical disposal Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes biodegradation the use of organisms to degrade, or break down, hazardous chemicals to less toxic compounds Hazardous Wastes biodegradation organisms metabolize the hazardous chemical to less hazardous compounds Hazardous Wastes biodegradation a new and rapidly growing area often applies advances in cellular & molecular biology to the problem of hazardous wastes Hazardous Wastes biodegradation most of research in this area utilizes bacteria additional research in this area utilizes fungi and plants Hazardous Wastes biodegradation specialized bacterial strains are easily cultured bacterial genetic engineering is well developed Hazardous Wastes biodegradation an exciting new technology with great promise for improved management of hazardous chemical wastes Hazardous Wastes biodegradation potential application to degradation of a large number of hazardous, toxic organic chemicals Hazardous Wastes biodegradation potential application to in situ degradation of a hazardous organic chemicals in soils and ground water Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes incineration destruction of chemical wastes by burning useful for toxic organic chemicals not useful for inorganic chemicals Hazardous Wastes incineration some types of flammable organic chemicals, such as waste oils and solvents, are burned as fuel in cement kilns Hazardous Wastes incineration highly toxic organic chemicals, such as pesticides, must be burned in special toxic waste incinerators Hazardous Wastes incineration these special toxic waste incinerators are highly controversial Hazardous Wastes incineration there is concern about air pollution release from the special toxic waste incinerators Hazardous Wastes incineration toxic waste incinerators are also heavily criticized on the basis of “environmental justice” Environmental Justice concern that poor and minority populations are bearing a disproportionate burden from society’s environmental problems related terms: eco-justice, eco-racism Hazardous Wastes incineration toxic waste incinerators are heavily criticized on the basis of “environmental justice” Hazardous Wastes incineration essentially all of the toxic waste incinerators in the U.S. are located in areas with high poor and minority populations Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes deep well injection utilizes old abandoned oil wells toxic chemicals are pumped deep underground, below the level of the water table Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes vitrification toxic chemical wastes are mixed with molten glass the glass is allowed to harden into glass bricks Hazardous Wastes vitrification glass is stable and the chemicals are not leached out by water the glass bricks are buried in toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes Methods of reduction and management include process manipulation resale and swaps in-plant reuse biodegradation incineration deep well injection vitrification toxic waste landfills Hazardous Wastes toxic waste landfills considered the least desirable, “last resort” method for disposal of toxic chemical wastes Hazardous Wastes toxic waste landfills specially designed and built, subtitle C, landfills not to be confused with standard, subtitle D, solid waste landfills Hazardous Wastes toxic waste landfills despite our best efforts, it is likely that all landfills will eventually leak and cause environmental problems