Exam 6 (Chps 21, 22, 11th Hour video)

Question 1

Municipal Solid Waste

Answer 1

materials thrown away from homes and small commercial establishments

Question 2

landfill

Answer 2

dump covered in 6 inches of earth every day

Question 3

siting

Answer 3

finding a place to build

Question 4

LULU

Answer 4

Locally Unwanted Land Use

Question 5

BANANA

Answer 5

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone

Question 6

NIMTOO

Answer 6

Not In My Term Of Office

Question 7

primary recycling

Answer 7

original waste material made back into the same material

Question 8

secondary recycling

Answer 8

waste materials made into different products that may or may not be recyclable

Question 9

materials recovery facility

Answer 9

a processing plant in which regionalized recycling is carried out. Recyclable MSW, usually presorted, is prepared in bulk for the recycling market.

Question 10

Resource Recovery Act

Answer 10

• 1970
• gave jurisdiction over waste management to EPA
• encouraged state programs

Question 11

Solid Waste Disposal Act

Answer 11

• 1965
• gave jurisdiction over SW to Bureau of Solid Waste Management
• financial and technical vs. regulatory

Question 12

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Answer 12

• 1976
• used regulatory (command-and-control) approach
• EPA could close dumps, regulate landfills and combustion facilities
• required states to make SWM programs

Question 13

Superfund Act

Answer 13

• 1980
• addressed abandoned hazardous waste sites

Question 14

Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments

Answer 14

• 1984
• gave EPA more responsibility for setting criteria
• EPA must monitor landfills and combustion criteria

Question 15

WasteWise

Answer 15

• EPA sponsored
• voluntary partnership that allows partners to desing their own SW reduction programs

Question 16

Landfill Problem

Answer 16

• leachate and groundwater contamination
• methane explosions
• incomplete decomposition
• settling

Question 17

Combustion Problems

Answer 17

• air pollution
• expensive
• siting problems (smell, pollution)
• ash toxic
• needs a continuous supply of MSW to justify the cost
• wastes energy and materials unless augmented with recycling

Question 18

source reduction

Answer 18

• reduce weight, amount, toxicity
• reduce paperwork
• reuse
• design to last

Question 19

qualities of the most successful recycling programs

Answer 19

• PAYT trash
• mandatory
• curbside
• single stream
• bulk trash day, or site
• goals ambitious, clear, feasible

Question 20

policy goals that would improve sustainability of MSW management

Answer 20

• extended producer responsibility, or product stewardship
• incentives at government level
• working internationally

Question 21

hazardous substance

Answer 21

• flammable
• corrosive
• reactive
• toxic

Question 22

factors that increase a substance’s ability to harm

Answer 22

• persistence
• bio-accumulation
• ease of absorption

Question 23

risk characterization

Answer 23

the process of determining the level of a risk and its accompanying uncertainties after hazard assessment, dose response assessment and exposure assessment have been accomplished

Question 24

threshold level

Answer 24

the level below which no ill effects are observed

Question 25

Toxics Release Inventory

Answer 25

* EPA's annual report * required by EPCRA * annual releases of toxic chemicals to the environment and locations and quatities of toxic chemicals stored at US sites

Question 26

Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act

Answer 26

* EPCRA - SARA (Title III) * 1986 * a section of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act that addresses hazardous waste accidents and promulgates community right to know requirements

Question 27

halogenated hydrocarbons

Answer 27

a synthetic organic compound containing one or more atoms of the halogen group, which includes chlorine, fluorine, and bromine

Question 28

Pollution Prevention Act of 1990

Answer 28

mandates collection of data on all chemicals used

Question 29

Persistant Organic Pollutants

Answer 29

* POPs * any members of a class of organic pollutants that are resistant to biodegradation and that are often toxic * DDT, PCBs, dioxin, etc.

Question 30

chlorinated hydrocarbons

Answer 30

* synthetic organic molecules in which one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by chlorine atoms * hazardous when nonbiodegradable and bioaccumulate * many carcinogenic

Question 31

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

Answer 31

* CERCLA * Superfund * 1980 * provides trust fund (through taxing chemicals) for the ID of abandoned chemical waste sites, protection of groundwater near the sites, remediation, and cleanup

Question 32

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act

Answer 32

* 1986 * SARA * greatly expands Superfund program

Question 33

Stockholm Convention on Persistant Organic Pollutants

Answer 33

* 2004 * outlaws 9 pollutants * limits DDT use for malaria * limits accidental production of pollutants by breakdown of other products

Question 34

National Priorities List

Answer 34

the most immediate and severe threats of the Superfund sites

Question 35

bioremediation

Answer 35

* oxygen injected into contaminated zones * organisms feed on the pollutants, then die

Question 36

phytoremediation

Answer 36

* uses plants for cleanup steps * stabilizes soil to prevent movement of contaminents by erosion * extracts contaminants by direct uptake * sunflowers -\> uranium, poplars -\> dry-cleaning solvents and mercury, ferns -\> arsenic

Question 37

brownfields

Answer 37

abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by contamination

Question 38

Brownfield Act

Answer 38

* 2002 * provides grants for site assessment and remediation work * limits liability for owners and prospective purchasers * 100,000 jobs

Question 39

discharge permit

Answer 39

* under Clean Water Act * any firm discharging more than a certain amount must have a permit * required to report on what is discharged

Question 40

Department of Transportation Regulations

Answer 40

specify kinds of containers and methods of packing to be used in the transport of various hazardous materials

Question 41

the two most toxic chemical groups

Answer 41

heavy metals synthetic organic compounds

Question 42

why most dangerous chemicals cause damage

Answer 42

* soluable in water, * easily absorbed, * nonbiodegradable, * mess with enzymes, * mutagenic, * carcinogenic, * teratogenic

Question 43

Superfund priorities

Answer 43

* pressure facilities to clean up their messes * immediately clean up immenant threat * worst sites put on NPL

Question 44

Leaking Underground Storage Sites

Answer 44

* strict monitoring * remediating to begin w/in 72 hours of leak detected * upgraded with interior lining and cathodic protection or fiberglass * states required to have storage-tank programs * 0.1 cent tax for clean-up trust fund

Question 45

Toxic Substances Control Act

Answer 45

* 1976 * manufacturers must submit a notice to EPA with health impacts of new chemicals * huge loophole - companies allowed to keep "trade secrets"

Question 46

Environmental Justice

Answer 46

* 1994 Environmental Justice Program * Brownfield program * Aarhus, Basel, Stockholm, Rotterdam

Question 47

pollution prevention

Answer 47

* minimization (floating roofs) * subsitution (green chem) * reuse (military chems)

Question 48

4 ways to address hazardous chemical pollution

Answer 48

1. prevention 2. recycling 3. treatment 4. safe disposal