Landfill Discussion
Many things cannot be thrown into a landfill because of their toxicity.
Batteries should not be sent to a landfill because they can cause a health risk
through the lead that may be leached into groundwater. Along with batteries,
motor oil should not be sent to a landfill. Motor oil is a hazardous material
and can burn and corrode metal. Electronic waste is another public health risk.
This causes the same effect as batteries, because lead can be harmful to public
health and can be leached into groundwater.
To limit this people can recycle electronic waste and batteries thus
causing less amounts of it to go to landfills, along with having the beneficial
uses of recycling. Also changing the publics mind of letting their hazardous
materials into a landfill can help a lot because people think that they are
only putting a small amount in landfills, but when everyone puts in a small
amount it becomes a large amount.
Recycling Discussion
Paper, Aluminum, and
plastics all have economic and environmental costs and benefits when it comes
to recycling. Environmentally recycling paper allows less tress to be cut down,
but requires a lot of energy in order to do so. Economically it provides jobs
to people, but not many people buy from the paper industry. Environmentally
recycling aluminum allows no extra mining to occur, but like paper requires a
lot of energy to recycle. Economically aluminum is used in many different
objects thus recycling increases production, but this causes faults in the
metal. Environmentally recycling plastics prevents them from breaking down, but
it is possible to release bad chemicals. Economically much is not spent to
convert into other items, but it takes time to recycle.
Aluminum would be the
best to set up for recycling because it doesn’t need extra effort. Also
aluminum can be used to make many other products. It is a very easy process. I
would spread awareness about recycling and aluminum to show how easy it is to
help move towards a better environment.
Superfund/Brownfields
Discussion
Superfund areas are contaminated land
that is harmful to the public, and Brownfileds are areas that are contaminated
but by the government are not said to be unsafe. Cherokee county in Kansas is a
site that has become a superfund area through smelting and mining. And a site
that was a brownfield but is now rehabilitated is the LTV Steel Mill in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Removing soil from a contaminated area has the
problem of relocating it, because the area it is placed in will also be contaminated.
With the vegetation, rehabilitation takes time and time is a valuable resource.
Societal argument is with the safety of the public. With the land being
contaminated people decide not to live on the land and can cause lawsuits and
such. Environmentally the contaminated land affects the wildlife and the plants
around that area.
BIG
Picture Discussion
Human Impact
Waste management affects humans
greatly. If waste is not properly disposed of it can have large harmful impacts
on humans. Landfills provide for an area to dispose of the waste, but cause
risks because of leaching of chemicals into land and water. To eliminate some
threat, recycling is necessary. Recycling reduces the amount of waste that is
put into landfills, thus causing less of an impact on the land and the water
that humans drink. The water can give toxic chemicals to humans through the
leaching process.
Environmental Impact
Waste also affects the environment in a
great way. The landfill reduces the space that could be used for ecosystems and
contaminates land that harms biodiversity. The leaking from landfills can enter
groundwater, thus harming aquatic ecosystems. Also buildup in the landfill or
other techniques such as incineration can cause pollutants to grow and harm the
environment.
Economic Impact
Disposing of waste costs a large amount
of money, but brings in jobs to the industry. Recycling causes a great deal of
use of energy, and to get the energy to recycle the resources cost money.
Landfills are pricey and other techniques like incineration are even more
expensive.
Government legislation
CERCLA is an act that helps clean up
land that is contaminated (i.e. superfund areas).
Along with CERCLA the RCRA is an act
that sets guidelines for waste management. Inside of this act, there is the
hazardous waste act that provides for a system to proper waste disposal. The
EPA enforces these laws strictly.
