Hazardous Waste Dr. Glass CIEG 566 5:10-6:30 pm M & W
Instructor: Dr. Glass Office:LKD 3017 Telephone: 806-6715 E-mail: cglass@howard.edu Office Hours: M, T, W, 10:00 – 12:00 p.m. or by appointment Course objectives: To introduce the concepts and terminology related to hazardous waste management and treatment. Grading: Two Midterms: 40% HW and Quizzes: 30% Final Exam: 30% Syllabus
Syllabus • Homework will be collected at the beginning of class on the date due. • The quizzes on the reading assignments will be given and will be unannounced. • Text: Watts, Hazardous Wastes, John Wiley and Sons, 1997. • Midterm 1: Chap. 1,2, 3, 4 Feb. 16, 1999 • Midterm 2: Chap. 5, 6, 7, & 8 Mar. 15, 1999 • Final Exam: 50% Chap. 12, 13, 50% Cumulative Final given on May 5, 1999, 4 –6 pm
Policies/Philosophy • Reading the text is not optional in this course. • The only purpose of the unannounced quizzes is to ensure that the reading is being accomplished. • My goal in the lectures will be to clarify concepts in the reading, supplement the reading material, and stress concepts of particular importance.
Policies/Philosophy Questions on the grading of exams, homework assignments, or quizzes should be made within one week of their return. After that period there will be no discussion about the grade.
As long as the average on the individual exams is above 75 out of a possible 100 there will be no curving. If the average exam score is less than 75, the exam will be curved. The curve will assume a normal distribution, with letter grades determined by the average and the standard deviation, i.e.:
If the average is 70 with a standard deviation of 10; A>90, 89.9>B>80.0, 79.9>C>70.0, 69.9>D>60 If the average is 50 with a standard deviation of 7; A>64, 63.9>B>57,56.7>C>50, 49.9>D>43
“Excuses are tools of the incompetent which build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness, those who use them seldom amount to anything.” Author unknown
Notes from Medical doctors and statements of bereavement are the only reasons for being unprepared or not completing assignments. No excuses or explanations of late work are necessary because no late work will be accepted. Plan to start assignments early. If you have a pet don’t leave your work in a place where they can destroy it! Back up disks! If reviews of the material before the exam day are requested a study session can be arranged a few days before the midterms or final.
Questions??? Discussion??? By the way, my notes are on the web at www.imappl.org/~cglass
Lecture 1- Introduction • What is a Hazardous Waste? A waste that, due to its chemical Activity or flammable, explosive, toxic, or corrosive properites, is likely to result in danger to human health or the environment. • What Agency declares a given chemical or group of chemicals to be a Hazardous Waste? Environmental Protection Agency
History • Before the first federal mandate, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) , how was hazardous waste disposed? • The cheapest and most convenient way possible • Storage on-site (burial, shallow pit, containers) • Landfill with municipal solid waste
History • What was the result? • Soil and Groundwater contamination for many years after the original dumping • Health and Environmental effects that prompted the action of the government
History • Other Quick and Dirty Methods of Hazardous Waste Contamination • Soil Spreading • Pesticide Rinse and Formulation Areas • Underground Storage Tanks (approximately 5 million) • Pits/Ponds/Lagoons • Sanitary Landfills
History • Drum Storage Areas • Unlined Hazardous Waste Landfills • Midnight dumping • Uncontrolled Incineration
Case Histories • Love Canal • School and subdivision housing was built on top of an old Chemical waste dump • Stringfellow Acid Pits • Landfill built on top of a major water aquifer • Hardeman County, Tennessee • 300,000 drums of pesticides and solvents buried near homes where residents noticed foul odors in their water years later
The Problem • How many HW Sites are there? • There are an estimated 50,000 hazardous waste sites in the U.S. • With approximately 60 million tons of wastes • Over 1200 sites have been placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) • NPL is a system to rank the worst sites for clean up under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liabilities Act
The Problem • CERCLA – law established in 1980 to deal with sites that were contaminated with hazardous waste before 1979 when RCRA became law • The most sites are found in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan and New York
The Problem • The multiple reporting and regulatory systems at the federal, state and local levels make it hard to quantify the number of HW sites • However there are thousands of serious sites and smaller site are in the hundreds of thousands
The Problem • What are the hazards from improper disposal? • Primarily through subsurface contamination (37% through groundwater) • And an additional 23% through GW and surface water • Volatile organic compounds generally cause this contamination, especially trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene
The Problem • 48% of U.S. population uses groundwater for drinking water • 95% of the rural population uses groundwater • 4 million people live within 1 mile of a Superfund site, 40 million with 4 miles • Of the 4 million, 1.9 million are women of child-bearing age, young children and the elderly
Hazardous Waste Legislation
