“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not."
— Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax
I. Basics of Hazardous Waste
A. Hazardous waste is defined as:
1. Ignitable = substances that easily catch fire (natural gas, alcohol)
2. Corrosive = substances that corrode metals in storage tanks or equipment
3. Reactive = substances that are chemically unstable and readily react with other compounds, often explosively or by producing noxious fumes
4. Toxic = _________________________________________________________________________
B. Hazardous wastes have diverse sources:
1. Industry = produces the largest amount of hazardous waste
But waste generation and disposal is highly regulated
2. Mining
3. Households = now the largest producer of UNREGULATED hazardous wastes
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Agriculture
5. Utilities
6. Building demolition
C. The cornerstones of integrated waste management also apply to hazardous waste management as well:
1.
Produce less of it
2.
Convert as much as possible to less hazardous waste
3.
__________________________________________________________________
D. Organic compounds are particularly hazardous because their toxicity persists over time
E. Synthetic organic compounds = resist decomposition
1. Keep buildings from decaying, kill pests, and keep stored goods intact
2. Their resistance to decay causes them to be persistent pollutants (POP stands for Persistent Organic Pollutant)
3. _________________________________________________________________________________
4. They can act as mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors
F. Hazardous definitions
1.
Mutagens – substance that induces or increases the frequency of DNA mutation
2.
Carcinogens – ______________________________________________________________
3.
Teratogens – substance that interferes with fetal development, usually leading to birth defects
4.
Endocrine disruptors - defined as a substance that alters function(s) of the endocrine system, consequently harming an individual life form or its offspring
5.
Neurotoxin – Assault the nervous system
G. Heavy metals can be hazardous
1. Big 8: Lead, chromium, mercury, cadmium, tin, nickel, zinc, and copper
2. Used widely in industry for wiring, electronics, metal plating, pigments, and dyes
3. ______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Heavy metals that are fat soluble and break down slowly can bioaccumulate and biomagnify
II. Hazardous Waste Clean- Up
A. For many years, hazardous waste was discarded without special treatment
1. Public did not know it was harmful to human health
2. Assumed the substances would disappear or be diluted in the environment
3. Since the 1980s, cities designate sites or ___________________________________________________________________
B. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) – 1976, 1984 = states are required to manage hazardous waste
1. Large generators of hazardous waste must obtain permits and must be tracked “from cradle to grave”
2. _____________________________________________________________________________
3. Only about 5% of hazardous waste is regulated by RCRA

C. Contaminated sites are being slowly cleaned up
1. Globally, thousands of former military and industrial sites are contaminated with hazardous waste
-
For most nations, dealing with these messes is too difficult, time consuming and expensive
D. Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (1980) (Superfund)
1. Established a federal program to clean up U.S. sites polluted with hazardous waste
2. Experts identify polluted sites, ________________________________________________________________________
E. Superfund
1. Later laws charged the EPA with cleaning up brownfields = lands whose reuse or development are complicated by the presence of hazardous materials
2. Two events spurred creation of Superfund legislation
In Love Canal , Niagara Falls, New York, families were evacuated after buried toxic chemicals rose to the surface, contaminating homes and an elementary school
In Times Beach , Missouri, the entire town was evacuated after being
___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
F. Once a Superfund site is identified, EPA scientists evaluate:
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. Whether wastes are currently confined or likely to spread
3. Whether the site threatens drinking water supplies
G. Superfund Harmful sites are:
1. ________________________________________________________________
2. Ranked according to the level of risk to human health that they pose
3. Cleaned up on a site-by-site basis as funds are available
H. The EPA is required to hold public hearings and inform area residents of its findings and to receive feedback
I. CERCLA operates under the polluter pays principle = polluting parties were to be charged for cleanup
1. However, the responsible parties often can’t be found (or businesses go bankrupt)
2. A trust fund was established by a federal tax on petroleum and chemical industries
3. ____________________________________________________________________
4. Fewer cleanups are being completed
5. An average cleanup costs $25 million and takes 12 - 15 years
III. Disposal methods for hazardous waste
A. The first step to dealing with hazardous wastes is to collect them properly.
B. From there, four main things can happen – physical methods, chemical methods, biological methods, and storage.
C. Physical methods for detoxifying hazardous wastes include using charcoal or resins to filter out harmful solids and distilling liquid mixtures to filter out harmful chemicals.
1. Especially deadly wastes can be physically encapsulated in ________________________________________________
D. Chemical methods are used to convert hazardous chemicals to harmless or less harmful chemicals through chemical reactions.
E. Some scientists and engineers consider biological methods for treating hazardous wastes to be the wave of the future.
____________________________________________________________________________________
1.
Bioremediation – bacteria and enzymes help destroy toxic or hazardous substances or convert them to less harmful compounds.
2.
So far, more than 1,000 different types of bacteria and fungi have been used to detoxify hazardous wastes.
Bioremediation takes longer to work than most physical or chemical methods, but costs much less.
F. Phytoremediation – involves using natural or genetically engineered plants to absorb, filter, and remove
________________________________________________________________________________

Advantages
Trade-Offs for Phytoremediation
Disadvantages
G. Incineration can break down some hazardous wastes, and convert them to less toxic materials. Incineration of hazardous wastes has the same ________________________________________________________
H. A process similar to incineration is plasma arc torch, which is similar to a welding torch to create plasma
(ionized gas – mostly CO
2 and H
2
) of hazardous wastes.
Advantages
Plasma Arc Trade-Offs
Disadvantages
I. Surface impoundments = store liquid hazardous waste
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. Water containing waste evaporates, the residue of solid hazardous waste is then transported elsewhere
3. The underlying clay layer can crack and leak waste, and rainstorms cause overflow, contaminating nearby areas
Trade-Offs for Surface Impoundments
Disadvantages Advantages
J. Deep-well injection = a well is drilled deep beneath the water table and waste is injected into it
1. ____________________________________________________________________
2. The well is intended to be isolated from groundwater and human contact
3. However, the wells become corroded and leak waste into soil
Trade-offs For Deep Well Disposal
Advantages Disadvantages

Group 1: Love Canal
Group 2: Bhopal disaster/gas leak
Group 3: Tennessee Coal Ash Spill (Kingston Fossil Plant)
Group 4: Minimata Disaster/Disease
Notes About Disease Projects