Environmental Laws and Agencies that Oversee Them

1. Environmental Laws and Agencies that Oversee Them PA Environment and Ecology Book Ch. 9

2. CASE STUDIES • SO …. What happened to Timmy and the FISH? • REVIEW CASE STUDIES / WORKSHEETS

3. Bell work Q: • Before the 1980’s much of the gasoline sold in the US contained the additive tetraethyl lead. Gasoline producers starting adding it in the 20’s - what do you think was the reason ? • Why do we all use unleaded gasoline now? • VIDEO 1 • VIDEO

4. Why was lead added to gasoline and why is lead-free gasoline used in new cars?...www.epa.gov • Tetraethyl lead (a colorless, oily, poisonous liquid), commonly called "lead," was used as a gasoline additive for automobiles made between the mid-1940s and the end of the 1970s. • First, lead improved the way that gasoline burned. • Second, it reduced or eliminated the "knocking" sound caused by premature ignition in high-performance large engines and in smaller, high-compression engines. • Lead also provided lubrication, which prevented the close-fitting parts of the engine from chafing against one another.

5. Effects of lead poisoning • Adults: elevated blood pressure levels, heart disease and stroke. • Children and 4-5X’s as susceptible: increased hyperactivity, reduced attention span, interference w/ growth and neural transmission. THEY ABSORB IT under the age of 7.

6. When people used leaded gasoline… • 7 million tons of lead dust was emitted into the environment and INTO PEOPLE’S BODIES. • In the 20’s several workers who tested the additive suddenly died…yet lead was not removed until the 1960’s. • WHY did it take so long?

7. SciSHow • History

8. Human Health and Hazardous Waste • In this section we will be exploring human health, and hazardous waste. First we will refresh your mind of some historical information so that you are educated. • Next we will explore toxicology (?) and industrial vs. residential wastes. • We will have many small lessons and a final project / assessment as the first set of grades for the new quarter. • Pay attention, take notes and ASK QUESTIONS.

9. Environmental Movement PRE 1970 - Early Europeans Early European settlers to the United States brought from Europe the concept of the commons – people realized the earth natural resources were connected and valuable to everyone. • For example the damming of rivers for mills cut off upriver towns from fisheries. • Logging and clearing of forest in watersheds harmed local fisheries downstream.

10. Quiz Time! • What concept did European settler bring to the United States? • A. Syphilis • B. Commons • C. Capitalism • D. Environmental Science

11. Conservation movement • Progressive era's conservation movement (1890s - 1920s) favored larger enterprises and control began to shift from local governments to the states and the federal government. • Conservation groups focus primarily on an issue that’s origins are routed in general expansion • Supported by sportsmen the conservation movement is concerned with efficiency of resources and land development.

12. Conservation in the Progressive Era • Theodore Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist, putting the issue high on the national agenda. • Roosevelt was deeply committed to conserving natural resources, and considered to be the nation's first conservation President. • American naturalists John Muir, created the Sierra Club • Chief of Forestry Gifford Pinchot

13. Quick Quiz! • Which president of the day (1890’s) was a prominent conservationist and put the issue high on the national agenda? • The famous American naturalist __________ created helped establish the Parks Service and later created the Sierra Club. • The chief of forestry was _________________.

14. JOHNSTOWN FLOOD • Video • Dam Disasters

15. Answer this! • What did the Progressive era’s conservation groups focus on? • A. Efficiency of resources and land development • B. Eliminating general expansion • C. Sports like fishing and hunting • D. None of the above

16. Theodore Roosevelt’s Conservationist Accomplishments • Newland’s reclamation Act • Natural Parks • Nature Preserves • United States Forest Service • National Parks • 1906 Antiquities Act • First 51 Bird Reserves • 4 Game Preserves • 150 National Forests • An approximate total of 230,000,000 acres of land into preservation

17. New Deal • Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933–45), like his cousin Theodore Roosevelt. • Used programs to end wasteful land-use, mitigate the effects of the Dust Bowl, and efficiently develop natural resources in the West. • Civilian Conservation Corps

19. Post 1945 • After World War II increasing encroachment on wilderness land evoked the continued resistance of conservationists who succeeded in blocking a number of projects in the 1950s and 1960s. • In 1948 - The Inter-American Conference on the Conservation of Renewable Natural Resources met in 1948 as a collection of nearly 200 scientists from all over the Americans forming the trusteeship principle that: "No generation can exclusively own the renewable resources by which it lives. We hold the commonwealth in trust for prosperity, and to lessen or destroy it is to commit treason against the future"

20. Beginning of the modern movement • During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, several events occurred which raised the public awareness of harm to the environment caused by man. • (1948) Donora Smog • 1954 Lucky Dragon • 1969 catastrophic oil spill • protest against nuclear testing • Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring • Paul R. Ehrlich's book The Population Bomb

21. Pictures of Earth from space emphasized that the earth was small and fragile. • That public support for environmental concerns was widespread became clear in the Earth Day demonstrations of 1970

22. Modern Movement New awareness and concern about: • air pollution • water pollution • solid waste disposal • dwindling energy resources • radiation • pesticide poisoning • noise pollution • Earth Day demonstrations of 1970.

23. Wake up! What did this photo represent ? • Earth as a closed system • Earth is large and dominant • Earth is not significant • Earth is small and fragile

24. Background - 1970’s • Explosion of environmental concern and laws addressing pollution. • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established to create and enforce environmental regulations that protect citizens and the natural environment.

25. QUIZ Time! • Let’s see if you zoned out yet…. • Why was the EPA established? • To watch out for the welfare of big industries. • To protect the natural urban environment. • To enforce environmental regulations. • To monitor watersheds for pollution.

26. Background - 1970’s • Explosion of environmental concern and laws addressing pollution. • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established to create and enforce environmental regulations that protect citizens and the natural environment.

27. EPA • On July 9, 1970, citing rising concerns over environmental protection and conservation, President Richard Nixon by executive order to Congress, created the EPA. www.wikipedia.com • The EPA’s mission is simple: • “The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.” www.epa.gov

28. Environmental Pollutants Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms Prior to the establishment of the EPA, the federal government was not structured to comprehensively regulate environmental pollutants. • Agricultural Chemicals • Air Pollutants • Biological Contamination • Carcinogens • Chemicals • Microorganisms • Multimedia Pollutants • Ozone • Radiation • Soil Contamination • Toxic Substances

29. Summary (the point of all of this) • Environmental awareness was around before 1970 (remember Donora 1948) . • The EPA was created to regulate and oversee environmental protection and regulation. • Do fill in the blank worksheet to review your notes. YOU WILL NEED YOUR SKELETON OUTLINE – it contains the answers. • Video

31. Part II • Now that we’ve examined the history of the environmental movement we are prepared to examine some real cases of environmental hazard. • Take notes • Review notes

32. Chemicals • Which statement is the most correct? A. Chemicals manufactured by humans are more dangerous to human health than naturally occurring chemicals. B. Both natural and human-made chemicals are potentially toxic to humans. C. Naturally occurring chemicals are more poisonous to humans than synthetic chemicals.

33. ANSWER B • Both natural and human-made chemicals have the potential to harm humans. • Toxic chemicals can occur naturally. For example, rattlesnake poison and botulin are both naturally occurring chemicals that harm humans. Botulin is the toxin which causes food poisoning and is produced by bacteria. • Toxic chemicals can also be created by humans, for example, lead-based paints or pesticides such as DDT.

35. DO NOW! • Define hazardous waste. • Video

36. SO What IS hazardous Waste? • Any discarded material containing substances known to be toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic to humans or other life-forms; ignitable, corrosive, explosive, or highly reactive alone or with other materials.

37. Break it down… • Toxic – poisonous • Mutagenic – capable of causing a change or mutation • Carcinogenic – capable of causing cancer • Teratogenic - agents that can interfere with normal embryonic development

38. Further • Ignitable – can ignite or burn • Corrosive – able to corrode - destroying or eating away by chemical action • Explosive – can explode • Highly reactive – great chance of reaction or ready susceptibility to chemical change

39. LOCAL CASE STUDY • READ the local story on Canonsburg. • Do the 10% paper

40. The Standard Chemical Company

41. Brief History • Standard Chemical Company (SCC) was the first successful large-scale commercial producer of radium. • Established in 1911 by Joseph M. Flannery and his brother, James J., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania businessmen

42. Standard Chemical Company • In 1909, a sister became ill with cancer. In a trip to Europe, Joseph Flannery learned that radium could treat the cancer but the supply was limited. • Joseph Flannery set out to develop a company to produce radium.

43. Suitable ore, carnotite, was found and extracted from mines mainly in southwestern Colorado. • It traveled to three locations in Colorado before being loaded on a train and brought to Canonsburg. • In Canonsburg the reductions mill prepared the mixture for refining that took place in the • Vanadium Building on Forbes Avenue in the Oakland

44. Making Radium • To make a gram of radium required up to 500 tons of milling ore, 500 tons of chemicals, 10,000 tons of purified and distilled water and 100 tons of coal. • SCC’s price for radium was set at $120,000 per gram • Between 1913 and 1921 SCC produced about 75 to 80 grams.

45. Marie Curie • Marie Curie was invited to visit the United States in 1921 to receive a gift of 1 gram of radium from the Women of America presented by President Harding • On May 26 and 27, 1921, she was an honored guest at the Oakland and Canonsburg plants.

46. Canonsburg, the “Radium City”?.. • Higher grade ore had been discovered in the Congo resulting in much lower production costs for the competing Belgian company using the ore, Union Miniere du Haut Katanga. • SCC ceased production of radium from its own ores (1922) then becoming an a sales agent for Union Miniere until 1927.

47. Vitro Corporation of America • Later, Vitro acquired the mill and processed ore to extract radium and uranium salts. • From 1942 – 1957, Vitro was under contract to the federal government to recover uranium from ore and scrap. • The site was then used as storage for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission until 1966. • In 1967 it was leased for light industrial use.

48. Vanadium Building, Oakland PA • SCC’s Canonsburg and Oakland sites were, of course, contaminated. • The Vanadium Building, later renamed the Flannery Building and today known as the Parkvale Building was the subject of several decontamination efforts. • In 2002, decontamination was successfully completed and the building released by the state for unrestricted use.

49. Canonsburg Site • Google Maps • The Canonsburg mill site was designated in the 1978 Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act as eligible for federal funds for clean up, the only uranium mill east of the Mississippi River so listed. • Under a $48 million cleanup, the mill site and 163 nearby properties in Canonsburg were remediated.

50. Canonsburg Site • The nearby properties were contaminated as a result of mill tailings from the SCC operation having been used as road and yard fill in Canonsburg. • Residual radioactivity was consolidated into a covered, clay-lined cell at the Canonsburg mill site that is fenced and posted and periodically monitored by the department of Energy and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.