Hazardous Waste, Love Canal, and Some Environmental Laws

1. Hazardous Waste, Love Canal, and Some Environmental Laws

2. Introduction • Waste materials are a part of high standard of living • Manufacture of products results in waste generation • Some are persistent, toxic, flammable, corrosive, or explosive

3. Introduction • Until 1800s, most materials used in homes and industries were natural products • 1900s, petroleum were in used • 1930s to 1950s halogenation found to improve properties, esp. nonflammability • Halogenated pesticides were very effective

4. Significant Points in HazardousWaste History • 1940s explosion in chemical production • 1962 Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” • 1967 Torrey Canyon oil spill in UK • 1968 National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) • 1969 Stringfellow, CA, acid ponds overflew into town of Glen Avon • 1970 US EPA created; EDF founded • 1972 DDT banned; FIFRA regulation • 1976 TSCA and RCRA

5. 1978 Love Canal • 1980 CERCLA (Superfund) • 1982 Times Beach, MO • 1984 Bhopal, India • 1984 HSWA (RCRA amendments) • 1986 EPCRA • 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster • 1986 SARA (Superfund amendments) • 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill • 1990 Oil Pollution Act

6. 1990s • Continued public awareness of problems related to hazardous waste and contaminated sites “Erin Brokovich” Radioactive waste problems: Hanford, Rocky Flats, WIPP, Shattuck • 2000s • Endocrine disruptors • Soil vapor intrusion emerging concern in US • Global hazardous waste concerns E-waste; mining; etc. • Life cycle and sustainability concerns

7. Landmark Episodes- Love Canal • William T. Love built an industrial park and a residential development in late 1800s • The 8-mile canal drawn off Niagara river never completed • Energy intensive industries were drawn • Hooker Chemical Co. (subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum) purchased the canal and dug more • It was used for disposal of hazardous wastes in 1930s • Waste disposal ceased in 1953

8. The United States of America

9. The history of Love Canal began in 1892 when William T. Love proposed connecting the upper and lower Niagara River by digging a canal six to seven miles long. By doing this, Love hoped to harness the water of the upper Niagara River into a navigable channel, which would create a man-made waterfall with a 280-foot drop into the lower Niagara River, providing cheap power.

10. 1927

11. Hooker was pressured into selling the contaminated land to local school board Children were burnt on playground in 1958 In 1970s, chain of horrific environmental disasters started Chemicals permeated into basements of school and residents Studies showed cases of low-birth weight infants, learning problems, seizures, etc. It resulted in the passage of Superfund Act

12. Effect from Love canal Birth Defects

13. Effect from Love canal Nervous Breakdowns

14. DDT – became sinister agents in public eyes since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962. DDT can be found in deep-sea squid, Antarctic penguins, humans and land animals (fatty tissue). • Mercury – has dramatically different toxicological properties depending one its chemical state. As a liquid state, it was used to cure constipation. Mercury salts, on the other hand, caused neurological disorders. Organic forms, such as methyl mercury, are most toxic, having caused paralysis and sensory loss (Minamata Bay, Japan). Inorganic mercury from industries was methylated in sediments and bioaccumulated in shellfish.

15. PCBs – had multiple uses such as transformer coolant and plasticizer. They are carcinogenic, but they can be toxic in higher concentrations. • Bhopal, India 1984 – Union carbide plant leaked methyl isocyanate (MIC) causing 3,800 deaths and 3,000 disabilities. UCIL paid $470 M in full settlement. This incident brought about the enactment of Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.

16. Site Remediation • The investigation, cleanup, and containment of contaminants and/or hazardous wastes from the environment. • Remediation vs. Emergency response?

17. Hazardous Waste Site? • A site where hazardous waste had entered the environment and contaminated any of these media: • Soil • Surface water • Groundwater • Air • Sediments • Buildings • People, flora, and fauna can be exposed • Discharge may have occurred through mismanagement or illegal activities

18. Examples of hazardous waste definitions: USA • UNDER US EPA REGULATIONS (RCRA): • 1 The waste is listed in EPA regulations • 2 The waste is tested and meets one of the four characteristics established by EPA: • Ignitable • Corrosive • Reactive • Toxic • 3 The waste is declared hazardous by the generator

19. Examples of hazardous waste definitions: European Waste Catalogue • A core list of 850 types of waste • Of these, around 420 are classified as hazardous wastes • These are divided into 19 main categories

20. The objective of definitions • Why define wastes? • To decide whether or not that waste should be controlled - this is important for the generator as well as the regulator • Why create a list? • Clear and simple • No need for testing

21. Hazardous characteristics: Toxicity Toxic wastes are harmful or fatal when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin • Examples: • Spent cyanide solutions • Waste pesticides

22. Hazardous characteristics: Corrosivity Acids or alkalis that are capable of dissolving human flesh and corroding metal such as storage tanks and drums • Examples: • acids from metals cleaning processes e.g. ferric chloride from printed circuit board manufacture • liquor from steel manufacture

23. Hazardous characteristics: Ignitability Ignitable wastes: • can create fires under certain conditions • or are spontaneously combustible • Examples: • Waste oils • Used solvents • Organic cleaning materials • Paint wastes

24. Hazardous characteristics: Reactivity Reactive wastes are unstable under ‘normal conditions’ They can cause: • explosions • toxic fumes • gases or vapours • Examples: • Peroxide solutions • Hypochlorite solutions or solids

25. Hazardous characteristics: Eco-toxicity Eco-toxic wastes are harmful or fatal to other species or to the ecological integrity of their habitats • Examples: • Heavy metals • Detergents • Oils • Soluble salts

26. Classification Systems DOT Classifications NFPA Storage Labeling Waste Codes

27. UN Hazard Code or US DOT Hazardous Materials Transportation Classification • Wastes are categorized in terms of their hazardous characteristics into 9 classes • Class 1 Explosives • Class 2 Gasses • Class 3 Flammable liquids • Class 4 Flammable solids • Class 5 Oxidizers and peroxides • Class 6 Toxic and infectious • Class 7 Radioactive • Class 8 Corrosives • Class 9 Other hazardous substances

29. Regulations • Hazardous wastes are those wastes that could be harmful to the health of human, other organisms, or the environment • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 1976 • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) 1980 • Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) 1986

30. Environmental Laws • Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) • Title 40 (40CFR) Protection of the Environment • Chapter I (Parts 1-799) Environmental Protection Agency • Hazardous waste is a subcategory of solid waste

31. A New Direction for Corporations Compliance Prevention End-of-pipe Life cycle EH&S Isolation Multi-function integration

32. RCRA • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 was passed in response to widespread environmental contamination • It was an amendment to the SWDA (1965) • “Cradle to Grave” control policy • Focuses on large companies • 95% HW activities with large firms • Due to trained manpower • Easier to adapt to new regulation

33. RCRA • Applies to all industries generating HW except for specific exclusions (controversial) • Individual state programs can be more restrictive in controlling smaller quantities and more diverse waste types • Nuclear materials are not solid waste, thus exempted • Small generators: 100-999 kg/mo. • Large generators: >1000 kg/mo.

34. RCRA - Objectives • For any waste problem, it is essential to use a management approach that • Complies with regulatory guidelines • Is cost effective • Is environmentally compatible • Elimination or reduction of HW at its source is more desirable than treatment on- or off-site • Management of HW implies a hierarchy of approaches from most desirable to least

35. Solid Waste Exemptions • Nine categories are exempt from regulatory control under RCRA: • Household wastes • Agricultural waste returned to the ground • Mining overburden returned to the site • Utility waste from coal combustion • Oil and gas exploration drilling waste • Waste from the extraction and processing of ores and minerals • Cement kiln wastes • Arsenic-treated wood wastes • Certain chromium-bearing wastes

36. CERCLA - Goals • Bring innovative technologies (sense of market certainty) • Implement and aggressive programs of community involvement • Communicate progress to the public • Set up National Priority List (NPL) of sites for priority cleanup

37. HSWA • Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 is considered a law by itself • Goal to promote alternative technologies in HW management • Land disposal restrictions • Unlined, leaking surface impoundments taken out of service • Increase incineration, reuse/recycle due to land disposal ban

38. HSWA • Technology development • Underground Storage Tank (UST) management • Added toxicity characterization procedures for HW identification • 99.99% DRE for most HW organics • 99.9999% DRE for P-list wastes (acutely hazardous) e.g. dioxins

39. SARA • Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act of 1986 was created to meet CERCLA deficiencies • Added $8.5 billion • Focus on health of the public • Requires health and safety program and training e.g. a CIH at Superfund site and OSHA trainings • Permanent remedies rather than capping • Collect data to determine most effective methods

40. Brownfields??! • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined brownfields sites as “abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.” • EPA established its Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic revitalization to work together to accomplish the redevelopment of such sites.

41. Problems and Questions • Lack of quantitative data • The speculative number is 450,000 sites in the U.S. • These include former industrial sites, abandoned gas stations, dry cleaners, and commercial operations. • No one knows how many in each state. • How much brownfields make local economies suffer? • How much their redevelopment would boost those economies?

42. Barriers to BF Reuse • Environmental liability • Many environmental regulations – by many agencies • Costly constructions • Treatment and containment • Employees’ safety • Costly construction delays • Public perception

43. Achievements of EPA BFI • Jobs for residents of disadvantaged communities • Of thousands properties, several hundreds required no cleanup • For every brownfield acre redeveloped, 21.4 acres of green space are protected • Provided billions of dollars in grants from private and public sectors