Georgia County Government - March 2008 - (Page 28)

Feature Hazardous Waste Management in Georgia This first of a two-part series reviews the brief history of hazardous waste management in the United States, Georgia’s early hazardous waste management controversies, and concludes with Georgia’s authorization by the U.S. EPA as the first state to issue or deny permits to hazardous waste disposal facilities. By James E. Kundell, Ph.D., and Margaret A. Myszewski ccording to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, of the 13 billion tons of industrial, agricultural, commercial and household wastes generated in this country every year, more than 279 million tons, or 2 percent, are hazardous.1 These wastes can cause fires and explosions, corrode metals or expose people to toxic chemicals. Many local government activities can generate hazardous waste. Vehicle maintenance shops often use solvents, corrosives and materials containing heavy metals such as chromium, cadmium and lead. Leftover paints, paint thinners and other chemical-containing wastes from maintenance, groundskeeping, and other local government activities may also qualify as hazardous waste. This is why it is important for local government officials to know how to identify, treat and dispose of hazardous waste. 2 The history of hazardous waste management in the United States is relatively short. Throughout most of our history, hazardous waste was treated as solid waste and simply discarded. Efforts to improve solid waste management s howe d h a z a rdou s w a s t e w a s a significant contributor to environmental and health problems associated with 28 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT A solid waste, and additional steps should be taken to manage hazardous waste. There are three basic objectives to be met to manage hazardous waste effectively. First, it is necessary to ensure that waste currently being generated is treated, stored, transported and disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner. Second, it is necessary to be able to clean up hazardous waste spills and abandoned hazardous waste sites that pose a threat to human health and the environment. Third, only because it was last in our evolving policies for managing waste, it is necessary to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated. If the waste is not generated in the first place, it does not need to be treated, transported, disposed of or cleaned up if it was not disposed of properly. This article will focus on evolving policies in these three areas. hazardous characteristic; or 2) have been specifically listed as hazardous. Wastes have a hazardous characteristic if they are ignitable (capable of creating fires under certain conditions or are spontaneously combustible, such as waste oils or used solvents), corrosive (acids or bases that are capable of corroding metal, such as battery acid), reactive (capable of causing explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when mixed with water such as lithiumsu lf ur batteries or explosives), or toxic (certain chemical waste or heavy metals). 3 In addition, several hundred chemicals, substances and specif ic process wastes have been listed as hazardous by USEPA. 4 Managing Hazardous Waste Currently Being Generated T he 1976 a mend ment s to t he Solid Waste Disposa l Act, k now n as the Resource Conser vation and Recover y Ac t (RCR A), prov ide a general definition of what constitutes hazardous waste. Under RCRA, there are two ways wastes are considered hazardous. They either: 1) have a Federal Hazardous Waste Management Efforts Subtitle C of RCRA a , provides the framework for USEPA’s hazardous waste management program. Under this section, owners or operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage a nd d i s p o s a l f a c i l it ie s ( T SDFs), including local governments, must obtain a permit in order to operate. The permit allows a specific facility to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste and outlines the steps that must be taken to manage the waste in a

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - March 2008

Georgia County Government - March 2008 Contents President's Message County Matters Guest Editorial: Our Future Depends On Statesmanship Bryan County in Step With State Coastal Plan Solid Waste Management in Georgia Hazardous Waste Management in Georgia Extension News: Georgians Growing Older, Fatter County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - March 2008

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