POINTS AND ISSUES PRESENTATIONSHOULD THE GOVERNMENT HAVE MANDATORY REFORMS FOR POLLUTING INDUSTRIES?

BY: SARAH MASSEY

HISTORY OF LAWS REGULATING POLLUTING INDUSTRIES:

• EVEN IN THE PAST THERE HAS BEEN MAJOR CONCERN FOR THE SAFETY OF

HUMANS FROM POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT.

• GARBAGE HAS BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE BEFORE 10,000 B.C.. ONCE HUMANS

BEGAN MOVING AWAY FROM NOMADIC LIVING TO PRIMITIVE LIVING

• PEOPLE REALIZED A LONG TIME AGO THE EFFECTS THAT DUMPING CERTAIN

ITEMS WOULD MAKE.

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON WASTE MANAGEMENT

• IN THE 1800S, AS LATE AS THE CIVIL WAR, PIGS, GOATS, AND STRAY DOGS WERE FREE TO ROAM THE STREETS AS

"BIOLOGICAL VACUUM CLEANERS." IN FACT, THE NEED TO HAVE ANIMALS AVAILABLE TO EAT THE GARBAGE WAS SUCH A

CONCERN THAT CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA ENACTED AN ORDINANCE IN 1834 TO PROHIBIT VULTURE HUNTING

BECAUSE THEY ATE THE CITY'S GARBAGE!

• 1956- ONLY 37% OF NATIONAL LANDFILLS WERE TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• 1965- CONGRESS PASSED A THE SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT (SWDA) WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO ASSIST STATE AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITH THE TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPING AND MANAGING WASTE

DISPOSAL PROGRAMS AND TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR WASTE COLLECTION,

TRANSPORTATION, RECOVERY, AND DISPOSAL.

• 1970- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WAS BORN

• 1976- 1976, CONGRESS EXPANDED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLL IN WASTE MANAGEMENT BY PASSING THE

RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT (RCRA). THE GOAL OF THE RCRA. TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT,

CONSERVE RESOURCES, AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WASTE BEING GENERATED.

• 1980- CONGRESS PASSED THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT

(CERCLA). ITS PURPOSE WAS TO IMPLEMENT A NATIONAL RESPONSE FOR PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM PAST

HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, TO IMPOSE LIABILITY ON THOSE ENTITIES CREATING THE PROBLEM, AND

TO REMEDIATE CONTAMINATED SOILS AND GROUNDWATER CAUSED BY THOSE PRACTICES

OKLAHOMA’S PERSPECTIVE• 1890 – 1906: WHEN STATUTES IDENTIFIED SPECIFIC, PROHIBITED DISPOSAL PRACTICES, THEY TYPICALLY WERE

DIRECTED TOWARD PREVENTION OF WATER POLLUTION OR THE SPREAD OF DISEASE TO ANIMALS OR HUMANS,

RATHER THAN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL. FOR EXAMPLE, IN

OKLAHOMA TERRITORY IT WAS UNLAWFUL TO:

• "[THROW] GAS TAR, OR REFUSE OF ANY GAS HOUSE OR FACTORY INTO ANY PUBLIC WATERS, RIVER, OR

STREAM, OR INTO ANY SEWER OR STREAM EMPTYING INTO ANY SUCH PUBLIC WATER, RIVER, OR STREAM;"45

• "[DISPOSE] OF ANY ARTICLE OF FOOD, DRINK, DRUG, OR MEDICINE [KNOWN TO BE] TAINTED, DECAYED,

SPOILED, OR OTHERWISE UNWHOLESOME OR UNFIT TO BE EATEN OR DRANK WITH INTENT [THAT THE MATERIAL

BE CONSUMED] BY ANY PERSON OR ANIMAL;"46

• "PUT ANY DEAD ANIMAL, CARCASS, OR PART THEREOF, INTO ANY WELL, SPRING, BROOK, OR BRANCH OF

RUNNING WATER [USED FOR] DOMESTIC PURPOSES...[OR] INTO ANY RIVER, CREEK, OR POND;" 47OR

• "PUT ANY DEAD ANIMAL OR ANY PART OF A CARCASS OF A DEAD ANIMAL IN ANY ROAD, STREET, ALLEY, LANE,

LOT, FIELD MEADOW, COMMON OR SCHOOL SECTION, WITHOUT BURYING [AT LEAST TWO FEET DEEP]."

OKLAHOMA’S PERSPECTIVE (CONT.)

• 1970: THE OKLAHOMA SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT

• 1976: THE OKLAHOMA HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT

• 1980: OKLAHOMA'S SUPERFUND PROGRAM

• 1989: THE OKLAHOMA WASTE TIRE RECYCLING ACT

• 1993: THE OKLAHOMA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT

• 1994: THE OKLAHOMA UNIFORM ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING ACT

• 1996: THE OKLAHOMA BROWNFIELDS VOLUNTARY REDEVELOPMENT ACT

SO HOW MANY DISPOSAL SITES ARE THERE JUST IN OKLAHOMA?

CURRENTLY THERE ARE:

• 46 SOLID WASTE TRANSFER

STATIONS

• 37 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

LANDFILLS

• 11 PRIVATELY-OWNED, NON-

HAZARDOUS INDUSTRIAL WASTE

LANDFILLS

• 8 CONSTRUCTION/DEMOLITION

LANDFILLS

• 7 MEDICAL WASTE PROCESSING

FACILITIES

• 3 YARD WASTE COMPOSTING

FACILITIES

• 9 PRIVATELY-OWNED, NON-

HAZARDOUS WASTE INJECTION

WELLS

• 1 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

INCINERATOR

• 1 COMMERCIAL HAZARDOUS WASTE

LANDFILL

• 1 COMMERCIAL, NON-HAZARDOUS

WASTE INJECTION WELL

THERE ARE MANY WAYS SOMEONE MAY GET RID OF WASTE:

• LANDFILL

• DUMPING AT SEA OR LOCAL

RIVERS/LAKES

• BURNIING

• ETC.

• EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MANY WAYS THAT

HUMANS DISPOSE OF WASTE, THERE WAS ONE

THAT REALLY CAPTURED MY ATTENTION; THE

DISPOSING OF WASTE IN OUR WATERS. EVEN

THOUGH IT IS REGULATED AT A CONSIDERABLY

SAFE AMOUNT FOR HUMANS, THERE IS

SOMETHING THAT IS STILL IMPORTANT TO

REALIZE.

SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN “SAFE AMOUNTS” OF WASTE IS DUMPED INTO OUR WATER?

• WHEN WASTE LIKE MERCURY OR LEAD IS DUMPED INTO OUR

WATERS, IT IS DUMPED AT A SAFE AMOUNT FOR HUMANS. THE

ONLY ISSUE IS WHEN THEY DUMP THE CHEMICAL INTO THE WATER

IT CAN BE EATEN BY A SMALL ORGANISM, LIKE A PLANKTON THEN

THE PLANKTON MAY GET EATEN BY A CRAWFISH, WHICH IS THEN

EATEN BY A FISH, WHICH IS EATEN BY HUMANS. THE REASON THIS

IS AN ISSUE IS BECAUSE WHEN LEAD ENTERS A BODY IT GETS

STORED IN THE FAT TISSUE AND CANNOT ESCAPE UNLESS

THROUGH A MOTHER’S BREAST MILK TO HER BABY. SO, THE LEAD

JUST BUILDS UP UNTIL IT GETS EXCRETED OR MAY EVEN CAUSE

AN ILLNESS.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES ON HOW IT GETS PASSED UP THE FOOD CHAIN:

• JULIE HOOD EXPLAINS THAT BIOAMPLIFICATION (OR BIOMAGNIFICATION, AS THE

NEXT PICTURE SHOWS) REFERS TO AN INCREASE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF A

SUBSTANCE AS YOU MOVE UP THE FOOD CHAIN. THIS OFTEN OCCURS BECAUSE

THE POLLUTANT IS PERSISTENT, MEANING THAT IT CANNOT BE, OR IS VERY

SLOWLY, BROKEN DOWN BY NATURAL PROCESSES. THESE PERSISTENT

POLLUTANTS ARE TRANSFERRED UP THE FOOD CHAIN FASTER THAN THEY ARE

BROKEN DOWN OR EXCRETED.

• SHE ALSO STATES THAT, “BIOACCUMULATION OCCURS WITHIN AN ORGANISM,

WHERE A CONCENTRATION OF A SUBSTANCE BUILDS UP IN THE TISSUES AND IS

ABSORBED FASTER THAN IT IS REMOVED. BIOACCUMULATION OFTEN OCCURS IN

TWO WAYS, SIMULTANEOUSLY: BY EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD, AND BY

ABSORPTION DIRECTLY FROM WATER. THIS SECOND CASE IS SPECIFICALLY

REFERRED TO AS BIOCONCENTRATION.”

SO SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT HAVE MANDATORY REFORMS FOR POLLUTING

INDUSTRIES?

• EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE ALREADY REGULATIONS TO CONTROL HOW MUCH

WASTE IS DISPOSED IN OUR LAND AND WATER. I BELIEVE THERE IS STILL

MANY WAYS THAT THE GOVERNMENT COULD BE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN

CHANGING SOME OF THE REGULATIONS.

• I ALSO BELIEVE IT ISN’T JUST THE GOVERNMENT THAT COULD MAKE A

DIFFERENCE. EVERYONE HERE COULD BE MAKING SMALL CHANGES TO HELP

OUT OUR ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE IF OUR ENVIRONMENT ENDS UP BEING

CONTAMINATED THAN SO DO WE AND OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

• I ALSO BELIEVE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO EDUCATE AS MANY PEOPLE AS

POSSIBLE ABOUT TAKING CARE OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.

RESOURCES:

• FOLLOWING THE MERCURY TRAIL. STEPHEN PALUMBI: N.D. ONLINE VIDEO.

HTTP://MARINEBIO.ORG/OCEANS/OCEAN-DUMPING.ASP

• HOOP, VAN DER JULIE. “BIOAMPLIFICATIO, BIOACCUMULATION, AND BIOCONCENTRATION.”

MERCURY POLICY. HTTP://MERCURYPOLICY.SCRIPTS.MIT.EDU/BLOG/?P=499

• HOOP, VAN DER JULIE. BIOAMPLIFICATION, BIOACCUMULATION AND BIOCONCENTRATION.

17 JAN 2013. IMAGE

• ROBERTS, JON. “A BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND

OKLAHOMA.” OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.

WWW.DEQ.STATE.OK.US. 2011

• WWW.SCIENCEGEEK.NET. IMAGE#2