Hazardous Waste

Solid & Hazardous Waste

•Landfills •Incineration •Hazardous Waste •Hazardous Waste Management

What Happens to Mining Waste? • Slag- by product that is left when the mineral part is separated from unwanted material and can be used for concrete

Sanitary Landfills • Land fills in Saint Louis • Location – Far enough away from population centers but not too far (transportation cost) – Dependent on geology and climate(drainage, rainfall, flooding)

Sanitary Landfills: Design Landfill in Maryland Heights MO

Sanitary Landfills: Design •Liner- prevents leachate from entering groundwater •Collection Pipeschannel leachate for treatment •Clay cover- Seals solid waste in

Problems Associated with Landfills • Methane gas – Produced by microorganisms that break down waste – Flammable and explosive – can be used for energy

• Contamination of surface and groundwater – Seeping through unlined or cracks in the lining of landfills

Methane Gas Methane from a landfill collected and burning

Hazardous Waste • What is hazardous waste? – Dangerously reactive, corrosive, explosive, or toxic chemicals – Can be in all states of matter: solid, liquid, gas

• How much of solid waste is hazardous? – About 1%

Types of Hazardous Waste • Dioxins – By-products of combustion of chlorine compounds – Source include: waste incinerators, iron ore mills, coal combustion, – Why are they harmful • Accumulate in tissue • Cause cancer, reproductive, neurological, immune system affected

Times Beach, MO (Route 66 State Park) • Dioxin mixed with oil and sprayed on dirt roads to control dust • Region flooded • Dangerous levels of Dioxin found • Evacuated 1982 • Dioxin cleaned up and park opens 1999

Types of Hazardous Waste (ctd) • PCBs – Group of industrial chemicals used in electrical transformers, vacuum pumps, adhesives, etc. – Can damage multiple organs especially interfere with thyroid function – Why are they dangerous? • Resist break-down (chemical or biological) • Ocean life lives in PCB contaminated sediment and pass the PCBs up the food chain http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2009/0110-clam_cleanup.htm

Hazardous Management

Hazardous Waste Management • • • •

Long term storage in specialized landfills Reduce the amount produced Incineration Biologically – Microorganisms break down waste into harmless substance like water – Plants take the waste into their tissues and then are disposed of in hazardous waste landfills http://www.ecocycle.org/zerowastevideo/

Current Article • Find an article from a news source (newspaper, magazine, text from newscast) can be print or digital about solid waste, hazardous waste, waste management, or the environmental impact of waste • 1 paragraph summary • 1 paragraph your opinion (must include what you learned) • Copy of your article • Due 1/14 Friday