wastes Flashcards
why are waste disposal problems increasing in urban areas?
- urban = more people = more/quicker waste
what are the detrimental byproducts of waste incineration?
- air pollution
- health issues
- toxic ash
- cost to incinerate
what are leachates?
- noxious liquid material that carries bacteria
- produced when surface/groundwater comes into contact with solid waste
why do leachates matter?
dangerous
- contaminates environment
- affects ecosystem
- harms wildlife
- adverse health effects
- corrode pipes
- smell bad
important considerations for site selection in sanitary landfills?
- can’t be located in floodplains, wetlands, unstable land, earthquake faults, near airports
- arid climate = best
what environmental problem happened at love canal and what caused it?
- residential area built on chemical dumpsite
- rainfall released the chemicals
- benzene, dioxin, dichloroethylene, and chloroform found
- high miscarriage rates, blood & liver abnormalities, birth defects, chromosome damage
what is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and what does it mandate?
- an act to manage hazardous waste
- aims to identify hazardous wastes and their life cycle, recording and reporting that waste is not presenting health issue
how can waste be identified?
- highly toxic to people & other living things
- may explode/ignite when exposed to air
- extremely corrosive
- otherwise unstable
what are the pros of deep well disposal of hazardous wastes?
- doesn’t impact surface or groundwater
- permanently removal from biosphere
- little risk of waste mitigation to drinking water
- cost effective
what are the cons of deep well disposal of hazardous wastes?
- “out of sight, out of mind” isn’t true
- long-lasting geologic effects
- can fail + cause damage
potentially valuable resource from sanitary landfills?
methane gas
concept of industrial ecology?
design of industrial systems to be similar to ecosystems where waste from one part of the system is a resource for another
how do real estate purchasers limit their liability for previous contamination?
- superfund amendement and reauthorization act (SARA)
- protects RE purchasers from liability if environmental audit is completed
