Chapter 13

Industrial Pollution and Environmental Policy

This chapter:

Discusses the nature of industrial pollutants and the practices and social philosophies that allowed them to darken the skies, poison waters, and despoil land.

Discusses how massive regulatory programs developed to control industrial pollution.

Explains the current operation of these programs, how they affect corporations, and how well they work.

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The Indian Health Service Solves a Mystery Opening Case

Five cases of malignant mesothelioma, virtually always caused by exposure to asbestos, in a pueblo of 2,000 Indians puzzled health officials.

It was discovered that workers from a nearby plant discarded old asbestos insulation which was found by members of the tribe and brought back to the pueblo and put to many uses.

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The story of what happened to the Indians is analogous to what has happened to large populations in industrial societies. In both cases, it was only after substantial exposures had occurred and sickness began to appear that government agencies mobilized to protect public health.

Pollution

Pollution refers to the release of substances into the environment that inconvenience or endanger humans. Much of it comes from natural sources. Human activity adds more contaminants.

Industrial activity both harms human health and disturbs natural ecology.

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Human Health

Percent of DALYs

Environmental Health Risk Less Developed Countries

Developed Countries

Water supply and sanitation

7% 1%

Indoor air pollution 4 0

Urban air pollution 2 1

Agricultural chemicals and industrial waste

1 2.5

All pollution-related causes

18 4.5

Health Risks Posed by Major Sources of Environmental Pollution

The Biosphere

Ecosystems services are the productivity of natural ecosystems in creating food and fiber and in regulating climate, water, soil, nutrients, and other forms of natural capital.

Broad ecosystems are now degraded and under pressure as advances in human well-being have been achieved by exploiting ecosystem services.

The causes of ecosystem strain are multiple and complex, but they center on accelerating economic activity.

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Industrial Activity, Pollution, and the Environment

Today there are nations on every continent with ambitious development plans that put industry before environmental protection.

Much interest today is focused on the notion of sustainable development.

There is evidence that environmental quality in growing economies does not follow a path of long-term deterioration as in the old industrial revolution model. Environmental Kuznets curve

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Ideas Shape Attitudes Toward the Environment

Dualism Progress Capitalism Utilitarianism

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New Ideas Challenge the Old

Naturalist Aldo Leopold – inspired others to rethink traditional ideas about the man-nature relationship

Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess – deep ecology Inspired anti-corporate government

groups Philosopher Peter Singer –

speciesismMcGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Environmental Regulation in the United States

The dominant approach to industrial pollution control in the United States has been to pass laws that strictly regulate: Emissions Effluents Waste

In the 1970s, Congress passed a remarkable string of new laws, creating a broad statutory base for regulating industry.

The Environmental Protection Agency

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Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air

The Clean Air Act National air quality – criteria

pollutants Carbon monoxide (CO) Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

Sulfur dioxide (SO2)

Ozone (O3)

Particulate matter Lead (Pb)

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Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air (continued)

Hazardous air pollutants (a/k/a air toxics) examples: Arsenic Benzene Chromium Radionuclides Methyl chloride

The clean air act requires the EPA to set emission standards for 187 air toxics at levels that prevent disease and requires industry to use the maximum achievable control technology to comply.

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Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Air (continued)

Acid rain is caused primarily by releases of two criteria pollutants: Sulfur dioxide Nitrogen oxides

Indoor air pollution Ozone-destroying

chemicals Chlorofluorocarbons

Greenhouse gasesMcGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Greenhouse gases

Atmospheric gases that absorb energy radiated from the earth, preventing it from being released into space.

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Water

Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, usually called the Clean Water Act

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requires each industrial facility to get a permit specifying the volume of one or more substances it can pour into a water body.

Runoff is largely uncontrolled. Agricultural Urban

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Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Land

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Firms must label, handle, store, treat, and

discard hazardous waste under strict guidelines, keeping meticulous records.

Difficult to administer Difficult to comply

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RCRA Landfill Groundwater Monitoring Requirements

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Re-label as Figure 13.5

Principal Areas of Environmental Policy: Land (continued)

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 Better known as Superfund so-named after the

large trust fund it set up to pay for cleanups Created to clean up abandoned toxic waste

sites The number of sites is higher than predicted and

the cleaning process more difficult and expensive than envisioned.

Cleanup work started at 1,030 sites, however, only 325 have been fully restored and deleted from the list.

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Typical Rotary Kiln Incinerator at a Superfund Site

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Re-label as Figure 13.6

Concluding Observations

Industrial processes damage the environment and cause serious local and global deterioration.

The response has been to adopt a series of fairly rigid and expensive regulatory programs.

In the U.S. it is now the largest and most expensive area of regulation.

Uneven progress has been made in the attack on air, water, and land pollution.

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