Georgia County Government - March 2008 - (Page 30)

HAZARDOUS WASTE continued from page 29 Protection Division (EPD) appointed a special task force to review the situation. The task force investigation found that the company was preparing to place waste in a portion of the site where previously unidentified sand seams existed. As a result of this and other task force findings, the site permit was amended to suspend the site operation on Sept.12, 1978.10 The second controversy over a hazardous waste disposa l faci lit y in the state occurred in 1980 when Earth Management, Inc. proposed siting a hazardous waste landfill in Heard County. The controversy over this landf ill fostered intense local opposition. A study conducted by the Center for Environmental Safety at Georgia Tech found that Earth M a n a ge me nt ’s prop o s e d f a c i l it y prov ided inadequate sta f f a nd laboratory ability to analyze the wastes it intended to dump and concluded that, based on prior experience, surface a nd g rou nd water conta minat ion and uncontrolled chemical reactions between incompatible wastes would occur with the resultant possibility of toxic fumes, fires and explosions.11 Earth Management withdrew its permit application for the facility and on June 14, 1984, signed an agreement with the Heard County Commission. The county paid the company $350,000 for the 276 acre parcel of land and received a guarantee that the company would never try to site another facility in Heard County nor within two miles of its borders.12 The third hazardous waste facility controversy in Georgia involved the Southeastern Waste Treatment, Inc. incinerator in Dalton. Although this incinerator was ordered closed by EPD in 1983, the company operated a storage facility until 1985, at which time operations were terminated by order of EPD. Between 1981 and 1983, however, a series of incidents involving illegal dumping and storage of hazardous wastes occurred. As a result, the firm paid $98,000 to EPD in civil penalties, and the former corporate executives of the firm were sentenced to prison terms and fined for their actions in federal court. The longest jail sentences for illegal environmental actions imposed nationally, as of that time, were issued in this case.13 With these controversies emerging around the state, it was imperative that Georgia put in place an effective hazardous waste management program. Passage of the Georgia Hazardous Waste Ma nagement Ac t c i n 1979 brought the state into compliance with RCRA and allowed Georgia to implement the federal program. The state requirements mirror the federal program for generation, treatment and storage facilities and other requirements discussed above. I mplement at ion aut hor it y wa s assigned to EPD, which wasted little time in developing and implementing its hazardous waste management program. In fact, in 1986, Georgia became the first state fully authorized by USEPA to implement its own hazardous waste management program, and in 1989, Georgia became the first state to issue or deny permits to all existing hazardous waste facilities.14 ■ a b c 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Aviation Services Design-Build-Operate Drinking Water Facilities and Geotechnical Engineering Information Management Program Management Wastewater Water Resources 8 9 10 5 A www.cdm.com Atlanta, Georgia 404 720-1400 ® 11 12 ® 13 4 30 GEORGIA 350548_Camp.indd 1 COUNTY GOVERNMENT 11/3/07 10:01:03 AM Valdosta, Georgia 229 259-9501 14 42 U.S.C. §§6921-6934 (2003). 40 C.F.R. §268 (2004). O.C.G.A. §12-8-60, et seq. (2005). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 1997. RCRA: Reducing risk from waste. EPA 530-K-97004. Washington, D.C. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 1997. RCRA: Reducing risk from waste. EPA 530-K-97004. Washington, D.C. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 1997. RCRA: Reducing risk from waste. EPA 530-K-97004. Washington, D.C. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Offices of Solid Waste a nd Emergenc y Response & E n forc e me nt a nd C ompl i a nc e A s s u r a nc e . 2001. Land disposal restrictions: Summary of requirements. EPA 530-R-01-007. Washington, D.C. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. 1997. RCRA: Reducing risk from waste. EPA 530-K-97004. Washington, D.C. Breman, Vicki. 1984. Hazardous Waste in Georgia. Southern Changes. 6(4): 7-12. Local Government Environmental Assistance Network. 2003. Hazardous waste disposal. Accessed 23 August, 2004. Kundell, James, E. and Ellen R. Jordan. 1987. Hazardous Waste Management Facility Siting in Georgia. Athens, Georgia: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources. 2002. Georgia’s environment: Decades of change. Accessed 12 October, 2002. http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.cdm.com http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.lgean.org/html/fedregsguide/va.cfm http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/environ http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/environ

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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