Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Environment Programme, developed countries pro-
duce 80-90% of these wastes. Figure 17-13 (p. 402) lists
some the harmful chemicals found in many homes.
In the United States, about 5% of all hazardous
waste is regulated under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA, pronounced “RICK-ra”)
and is often referred to as
RCRA.
The EPA sets stan-
dards for management of several types of hazardous
waste and issues firms permits to produce and dis-
pose of a certain amount of wastes in acceptable
ways. Permit holders must use a
cradle-to-grave
sys-
tem to keep track of waste they transfer from a point
of generation (cradle) to an approved off-site disposal
facility (grave) and submit proof of this disposal to
the EPA.
RCRA is a good start, but it and other laws do not
regulate about 95% of these wastes. In most other
countries, especially developing countries, even less
hazardous waste is regulated.
In 1980, the U.S. Congress passed the
Comprehen-
sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act,
commonly known as the
CERCLA
or
Superfund
program. Its goals are to identify hazardous waste
sites and clean them up on a priority basis. The worst
sites that represent an immediate and severe threat to
human health are put on a
National Priorities List (NPL)
and scheduled for total cleanup using the most cost-
effective method. Currently, about 1,250 sites are on
this list and cleanup has essentially been completed on
about 72% of the sites at an average cost of $20 million
per site. The Waste Management Research Institute
estimates that the Superfund list could eventually in-
clude at least 10,000 priority sites, with cleanup costs
of as much as $1 trillion, not counting legal fees.
The Superfund law was designed to have pol-
luters pay for cleaning up abandoned hazardous
waste sites. However, facing pressure from polluters,
Congress did away with this
polluter-pays principle
in
1995 and converted it to a
taxpayers-pay
program. As
aresult, the amount of funds appropriated for cleanup
has dropped sharply and the pace of cleanup has
slowed.
T rade-Offs
Sanitary Landfills
Advantages
Disadvantages
No open burning
Noise and traffic
Dust
Little odor
Air pollution from
toxic gases and
volatile organic
compounds
Low
groundwater
pollution if sited
properly
Releases
greenhouse gases
(methane and CO
2
)
unless they are
collected
Can be built
quickly
Low operating
costs
Groundwater
contamination
Can handle
large amounts
of waste
Slow decomposition
of wastes
Filled land can
be used for
other
purposes
Discourages
recycling and waste
reduction
Eventually leaks and
can contaminate
groundwater
No shortage of
landfill space in
many areas
Figure 17-12
Trade-offs:
advantages and disadvantages
of using sanitary landfills to dispose of solid waste.
Critical
thinking: pick the single advantage and disadvantage that you
think are the most important.
Figure 17-12 lists the advantages and disadvan-
tages of using sanitary landfills to dispose of solid
waste. According to the EPA, all landfills eventually
leak.
x
H
OW
W
OULD
Y
OU
V
OTE
?
Do the advantages of burying
solid waste in sanitary landfills outweigh the disadvantages?
Cast your vote online at http://biology.brookscole.com/miller11.
x
H
OW
W
OULD
Y
OU
V
OTE
?
Should the U.S. Congress rein-
state the polluter-pays principle by using taxes from chemical,
oil, mining, and smelting companies to reestablish a fund for
cleaning up existing and new Superfund sites? Register your
vote online at http://biology.brookscole.com/miller11.
17-7
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Science and Politics: Hazardous Waste
Developed countries produce 80-90% of the world's
solid and liquid wastes that can harm people, and
most such wastes are not regulated.
Hazardous waste
is any discarded solid or liquid ma-
terial that is
toxic, ignitable, corrosive,
or
reactive
enough
to explode or release toxic fumes. According to the UN
Both the U.S. Congress and several state legis-
latures have also passed laws that encourage the
cleanup of
brownfields
—abandoned industrial and
commercial sites that are often contaminated with haz-
ardous wastes. Examples include factories, junkyards,
older landfills, and gas stations.
