1. Chemical company dumped pesticide wastes in landfill

2. 6 years later, drinking water is found contaminated and city required to provide alternative water supply

1. Erosion of the retaining dam for Stringfellow Waste Pits threatens 8 million gallon torrent of waste material including DDT, nickel, lead, chloroform, and trichloroethylene.

2. Heavy rains force State to authorize controlled release of 800,000 gallons of waste water to prevent overflow

3. Children and animals play in discharge on streets

4. Kid's boots melted from chemicals

1. Sparks from a welder's torch ignite an accumulation of chemicals, including benzene, toluene, and PCBs, at a waste storage facility

2. Raging fire sends up torrent of thick black smoke resembling a tornado

3. 35 people are hospitalized

1. December 11, 1980: President Jimmy Carter signs the new Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

2. 1980 law authorized Trust Fund of $1.6 Billion

3. 1986 amendments to CERCLA increased this amount to $8.6 Billion

4. Framework established by Congress, but actual mechanisms for implementing CERCLA were responsibility of EPA

1. Creates a trust fund through tax on chemical and petroleum industries

2. Provides broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances

3. Establishes prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites

4. Provides for liability of persons responsible for the releases

5. Provides funding for cleanup when no responsible party can be found

6. Used as a threat to leverage parties to perform cleanup themselves

-If party is eventually found, they will be sued for triple the cleanup cost to

government

1. Short-term Removals

-Actions taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response

2. Long-term Remedial Response Actions

-Permanently and significantly reduce the dangers associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substance that are serious, but not immediately life threatening

1. National Contingency Plan (NCP)

2. Hazard Ranking System (HRS)

3. National Priorities List (NPL)

1. Primary regulation dictating CERCLA response actions

2. Sets forth detailed procedures to be followed by EPA, the States, and private parties in selecting and conducting emergency removals and long-term cleanup actions

1. Evaluates the environmental hazards of a site

2. Numerically-based screening system assessing the hazards a site poses to human health and the environment

1. HRS score is the primary method for eligibility placement on the National Priorities List (NPL)

2. In October 2000, there were 1,450 sites on the NPL, with 59 additional sites proposed for inclusion

3. Over the years, EPA has deleted 219 sites from the NPL

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act

(SARA)

1. October 17, 1986

2. Increased fund to $8.6 Billion

3. Established a preference for remedies that permanently reduce toxicity, mobility, or volume through treatment

-Remedies must meet the technical requirements of other laws

-Remedy Analysis is similar to an EIS

1. CERCLA responsible for the assessment of nearly 44,409 sites

2. To date, 33,106 sites (75%) have been removed from the list

1. Removal

2. Treatment

3. Recycling

4. Containment

5. Solidification

6. Stabilization

7. Bioremediation

8. Chemical Transformation

9. Natural Attenuation

10. Incineration

Removal

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Physically removing toxic contaminants from the site to a facility that can safely handle the waste

Treatment

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Treating the waste at the site to remove the toxic contaminants from the soil, sediment, or ground water

Recycling

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Containment

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Solidification

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Stabilization

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Bioremediation

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Chemical Transformation

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Natural Attenuation

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Using natural biotransformation processes such as dilution, dispersion, volatilization, biodegradation, adsorption, and chemical reactions to reduce contaminant concentrations to acceptable levels

Incineration

(Hazardous Materials Cleanup Technique)

Using extremely high temperatures (1600-2200°F) to render organic contaminants harmless

1. 1990,first family moved back into a home at Love Canal since 1978

2. By 1998, 232 homes had been renovated and sold

1."Valley of the Drums" discharging pollutants into a tributary of the Ohio River.

2.EPA inspects and discovers surrounding water, soils, were polluted with heavy metals, VOCs, and plastics.  Roughly 4,000 deteriorating and leaking waste drums were identified, resulting in $400,000 Superfund expenditure to cleanup site on behalf of about 100 residents at risk living within one-mile radius of the site.

3. Took 15 years to cleanup because they had to test each individual leaking barrel for specific contaminants within

1. 1983, EPA adds Valley of the Drums to National Priorities List (NPL)

2. 1987, EPA begins long-term cleanup

3. Cleanup operations turned over to Kentucky Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

4. 1996, EPA removes site from priority list

1. Bowers Landfill

2. Bangor, Maine: Gas works operated as coal gasification plant

3. Christina River, DE: DuPont contaminated river with harmful chemicals

4. Liminous, GA: Radioactive contamination site

1. EPA assisted NASA and FEMA, providing response operations to conduct environmental monitoring and assistance in the clean up of hazardous materials

2. The Airborne Spectral-Imagery of Environmental Contaminants Technology (ASPECT) system is mounted un an airplane which flies over the suspected chemical plume and detects any chemicals present.  Provides immediate information that the first responders need to make informed decisions

3. EPA Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) houses a self-contained mobile laboratory and can collect outdoor air quality samples while moving along roads and measure many chemicals in the air at extremely low concentrations

Any garbage, refuse, sludge, from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, along with other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations.  Also pertains to any waste resulting from community activities.

1. Eventually fill-up

2. Leaching

1. Animals: 40%

2. Mineral Extraction: 38%

3. Crops: 14%

4. Municipalities: 5%

5. Industry: 3%

Industry Solid Waste Components

(From Most to Least)

1. Chemicals: About 28%

2. Paper: About 22%

3. Food Processing: About 15%

4. Stone, Clay, Glass: About 10%

5. Lumber, Petroleum, Coal, Transportation,Fabricated Metal, Machinery, and Electronics account for about 25% collectively

Municipal Solid Waste Components

(From Most to Least)

1. Paper: 50%

2. Other (Construction, Tires, etc.): 20%

3. Wood, Yard, Food: 13%

4. Plastic: 10%

5. Metal: 6%

6. Glass: 1%

1965: Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA)

1970: SWDA, certain sections amended as National Materials Policy Act

1976: SWDA, certain sections amended as RCRA

1984: SWDA amended entirely as RCRA, Subtitle D

1. Moved society from Open Dump to Sanitary Landfill

2. SWDA contains provisions for solid and industrial non-hazardous and hazardous wastes

3. Includes regulations for state/regional solid waste plans, research programs, underground storage tanks, and medical waste

4. Federal policies promote methods of treatment, storage, and disposal

5. Addresses recycling and re-use as ways to reduce the need for land disposal

6. Many waste programs are delegated to state and local governments

7. Delegate programs help in determining local needs versus federal goals

8. Promotes recycling and re-use of solid waste

9. Waste Management is the planning, recycling, and reuse of wastes and the innovate technologies for processing wastes

Federal Regulations do not Comprehensively Address...

(As related to SWDA)

1. Household wastes

2. Agricultural wastes used as fertilizer

3. Mining spoils returned to mines

4. Utility wastes from coal combustion

5. Oil and gas exploration drilling waste

6. Cement kiln dust

1. Vermicomposting: Using worms

2. Backyard composting: Using yard trimmings

3. Centralized composting: Collects from all people to central location.

4. Wood chipping and mulching

1. Protect us from the hazards of waste disposal

2. Conserve energy and natural resources by recycling and recovery

3. Reduce or eliminate waste

4. Clean up waste which may have spilled, leaked, or been improperly disposed of

1. Provides protective framework for managing household and industrial solid and liquid wastes, hazardous wastes, medical wastes, and leaking sites

2. RCRA amendments stress the handling of hazardous wastes

3. Identifies hazardous wastes by lists

-General Sources

-Specific Sources

-commercial chemicals (residue/containers)

4. Attempts to provide regulations to control at the sources, promoting high tech treatments, and designate safe ways to store waste

5. Imposes "cradle-to-grave" for EPA and states to work together to identify hazardous waste constituents, hazardous waste sites and facilities, and notify generators of waste and waste transporters that they must comply with federal regulations (i.e. permits & compliance)