CE 589 Industrial Materials and Waste
Course Information for Fall 2010
Professors: Dr. S. Morgan, P.E.
EB 2057
650-5014 smorgan@siue.edu
Office Hours: M 2:00 – 3:30, W 10:30 – 11:30, and by appointment
Website: http://www.ce.siue.edu/589/Default.html
1. Course Objectives: There are several overall or general goals for this course. I anticipate that the course
content and activities will provide the information and tools for you to:
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understand the management alternatives and issues related to industrial materials and waste
understand safety issues related to hazardous materials and waste
be familiar with laws, regulations, and standards relevant to industrial materials and waste
improve skills crucial to professional engineers: critical thinking, analysis, problem-solving, design,
research, and communication
To reach these general goals, I have developed specific objectives for each section of material. These
objectives are outlined below and describe the concepts that I consider most critical for you to take from the
course.
Topic 1: Hazards of Materials (Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4)
 Understand the chemical, physical, and biological properties of materials and how those relate to safety.
 Understand the importance of proper sampling and testing procedures.
Topic 2: U.S. Laws, Regulations, and Standards (Chapters 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, and 19)
 Understand what makes a material hazardous and a hazardous material a waste. Determine RCRA
codes.
 Explain the roles of the various federal and state regulatory bodies in hazardous material and waste
management. Understand when agencies have jurisdiction.
 Explain the differences between the key federal laws, in particular their focuses.
 Describe appropriate chemical labeling. Explain the differences between RCRA and DOT labeling
requirements.
 Describe typical permitting, training, inspection, storage, shipping, reporting, and record keeping
requirements.
 Be able to use the Hazardous Materials Table (49 CFR 172.101).
Topic 3: Safety Issues (Chapters 12 and 13)
 Be able to find and use safety information (e.g., from MSDSs).
 Perform calculations involving exposure limits.
 Explain typical workplace and personal monitoring methods and describe sampling considerations.
 Describe the factors influencing the need for PPE and choose appropriate PPE.
 Be able to choose the appropriate classes of fire extinguisher.
 Choose an appropriate ventilation method for a given scenario.
 Explain the difference between non-ionizing and ionizing radiation and choose appropriate protection for
the various types of radiation.
Topic 4: Environmental Management Systems (Chapter 32)
 Explain what an EMS is in general and why it may be useful.
 Understand the 5 general parts of an EMS as given for ISO 14001.
Topic 5: Facility Assessments/Environmental Audits (Chapter 33)
 Explain reasons to assess facilities.
 Describe typical components of an assessment.
 Describe information sources for an assessment.
 Describe typical assessment methods (e.g., checklists).
Topic 6: Environmental Impact Assessments
 Explain what an EIA is and how it differs from an EA.
 Explain why an EIA would be undertaken.
 Explain how an EIA should be done.
Topic 7: Pollution Prevention (Chapter 16)
 Explain the waste management hierarchy and its components.
 Describe the typical elements of a P2 program.
 Explain reasoning for selection of and propose P2 options.
 Perform economic analyses to justify P2 options.
 Use reactor and rinse design equations.
Topic 8: Emergency Planning and Response (Chapters 20 and 21)
 Explain the incident command system and zoning typically used.
 Explain the general response actions.
 Be able to use typical information sources available.
 Propose an appropriate basic control technique for a given scenario.
2. Attendance: You are responsible for obtaining materials and turning in assignments on time. Documented
proof may be required for missing an exam. If at all possible, notify me beforehand. In-class assignments
may be given throughout the term and may not be able to be made up.
3. Exams: Exams will be open book and open notes. Therefore, you are responsible for having all conversion
factors and equations necessary to complete the exams. A large portion of exams but not necessarily all of
the exams will be based on material explicitly covered in class. Some of this material comes from a variety of
sources and goes beyond the information covered in the text. Unless otherwise stated, you are responsible
for all material in the textbook chapters covered. Exams will typically consist of short essay questions and
calculations.
4. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense and will not be tolerated. Plagiarism will result in a 0 for the
assignment and can result in an F for the course.
Plagiarism is a specific form of academic misconduct. Deliberate plagiarism is regarded as a
serious act of academic misconduct. Whether inadvertent or deliberate, plagiarism includes the
following:
(a) word-for-word copying of sentences or whole paragraphs from or presenting of substantial
extracts from either paper-based or electronic sources (the work or data of others) that are
published or unpublished (including books, articles, theses, working papers, seminar and
conference papers, internal reports, and lecture notes or tapes) without clearly indicating
their origin
(b) using very close paraphrasing of sentences or whole paragraphs without due
acknowledgement in the form of reference to the original work
(c) submitting another student’s work in whole or in part
(d) use of another person’s ideas, work or research data without acknowledgement
(e) submitting work that has been written by someone else on the student’s behalf
(f) copying computer files, algorithms or computer code without clearly indicating their origin
(g) submitting work that has been derived, in whole or in part, from another student’s work by a
process of mechanical transformation (e.g., changing variable names in computer
programs).
Refer to professional publications and your text for proper referencing styles.
Within the profession of engineering, working in teams is the normal means of operating, and group projects
and assignments are partially designed to give you experience in this process. When undertaking a group
project, you are encouraged to work very closely with your team members and also to discuss issues with
other groups working on the project. However, each project submission (whether working with a group or
as an individual) must be the independent work of that group or individual. In the normal design process,
there are many decisions to be made that will be based on opinion and judgment. It is expected and
encouraged that you will discuss these decisions with each other. However, your final submission for a
project must be the outcome of your team’s decisions and judgments. Given the large number of
opportunities within a project for different decisions to be made, it is highly improbably for two design
projects to be exactly the same, even though the assigned problem is the same.
5. Grading: Assignments that cannot be read or are not presented in a professional engineering style will not
receive credit.
While the answer is important, the process you use to arrive at an answer is more important. In general,
each question on an assignment will be worth 1 point; however, more involved questions may be worth more
than one point. Note that some assignments will contain more questions than others; therefore, they will be
worth a higher percentage of the total grade. Therefore, you are encouraged to approach each assignment
appropriately.
All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date, which will be given in class. No late
papers will be accepted. Students with excused absences will be given a reasonable amount of time to
catch up on their work with no penalty. However, no assignments will be accepted after the assignments
have been returned or the solution has been posted, whichever occurs first.
Unless otherwise stated, you are allowed to work in groups on assignments. You may turn in a single
assignment with a list of the group. There may be assignments in which you must work in groups.
If you feel an error has been made in grading an assignment or exam, you may submit the work for regrading
by the end of the class period following the return of the work. After this time, your grade will not be
changed. Unless the error is straightforward (e.g., an addition error), include a written explanation clearly
identifying the error and explaining why your answer should be accepted. The work will be regraded in its
entirety and returned in class in a timely fashion. If you bring a classmate’s paper as evidence of “unfair”
grading, both papers will be regraded. If you still feel a problem remains, you may make an appointment
with me to discuss it. Do not take class time to discuss grading.
6. Course Grade: No extra work will be given to individual students to improve grades.
If you plan to withdraw late in the semester (resulting in a grade of WP or WE), talk to me first, or you will
receive a grade of WE (which is computed as an F in the GPA). All graded work will be used as a baseline for
assigning grades. Work will be weighted as follows:
Assignments
Mid-term Exam
Final exam
40%
30%
30%
At the end of the semester, I will determine final grades by comparing the class grades to an average of 75
and to each other. I will draw breaks based on my perception of the earned grade. I am willing to give all A’s
and all F’s, so your grades are not a competition.
7. General Course Outline: Chapters correspond to the text—Managing Hazardous Materials, edited by J. E.
Leonard and G. D. Robinson (Institute of Hazardous Materials Management, 2002). You will also need a
copy of the U.S. CDC’s NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards and the U.S. DOT’s North American
Emergency Response Guidebook. Note that you are required to have a copy of the textbook; you should not
obtain it through the library but should buy it. Not all material covered will be in the textbook. Unless
otherwise stated, you are responsible for all material contained in the indicated chapters.
Topic 1:
Topic 2:
Topic 3:
Topic 4:
Topic 5:
Topic 6:
Topic 7:
Topic 8:
Hazards of Materials (Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4)
U.S. Laws, Regulations, and Standards (Chapters 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, and 19)
Safety Issues (Chapters 12 and 13)
Environmental Management Systems (Chapter 32)
Facility Assessments/Environmental Audits (Chapter 33)
Environmental Impact Assessments
Pollution Prevention (Chapter 16)
Emergency Planning and Response (Chapters 20 and 21)
8. Important Dates:
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Aug. 23 First class
Sept. 6 Labor Day – no class
Sept. 20 Fact Sheet 1 topic
Sept. 27 Fact Sheet 1 draft & peer reviews, No class
Oct. 4 Fact Sheet 1
Oct. 11 Mid-term exam
Oct. 18 Fact Sheet 1 evaluations
Nov. 15 Fact Sheet 2 topic
Nov. 22 Thanksgiving break – no class
Nov. 29 Fact Sheet 2
Dec. 6 Fact Sheet 2 evaluations
Dec. 13 Final exam 6:30 – 8:10
Dec. 20 Course evaluation
9. At the beginning of the class period following a tour, turn in a summary of your observations about:
a) the site’s environmental, health, and safety process (e.g., organization and responsibility)
b) special concerns of the site
c) major regulations governing the site.