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In the good old days, getting rid of trash meant a quick walk through the house to the kitchen and the large, metal pail next to the sink, which stood ever ready to gobble up old newspapers, plastic lunch wrap, old flashlight batteries and half-empty cans of varnish. It all went into that one receptacle that was lined with a paper bag from the grocery store. Once filled, the brown paper bag journeyed to the large metal trash can at the curb, which was emptied by the town sanitation crew once a week.
The final destination for the contents of that can was the town dump where, of any Saturday morning, some of the men in town who believed themselves to be "handy," met with other similarly minded men to rescue "still-usables." This was an early form of recycling. That high-mindedness nowadays carries no weight except, maybe, the penance of a heavy EPA fine.
BIG BROTHER
The official hazardous materials table by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is 216 pages. The EPA designated procedures for collection and disposal of hazardous materials requires mandatory, strict adherence.
All of this is to meet the goal of the EPA to protect the environment and its people.
The creation of the EPA has spawned (1) new ways of thinking about, and disposing of, both household and industrial trash and byproducts, (2) the creation of new disposal industries, and (3) increased costs to communities and its residents for the safe removal and disposal of items deemed hazardous.
The EPA was created in 1970, through an executive reorganization plan that resulted in the creation of an independent regulatory agency. This agency, the Department of Environmental Protection, bears the responsibility of implementing all federal laws, which seek to protect the environment.
Over the past 37 years, efforts to increase recognition of the dangers of Hazmat--hazardous materials-has resulted in an increased concern for the environment, and by extension, an increased concern for the people exposed to hazardous materials, particularly those exposed to hazardous materials on a regular basis.
The mission of the EPA is designed "to establish and enforce standards consistent with national environmental goals," that is, according to the DEP Web site, "the conduct of research on the adverse effects of pollution, and on methods and equipment for controlling it, the gathering of information on pollution, and the use of this information in strengthening environmental protection programs and recommending policy changes."
The new definition of what hazmat is has meant a different way of thinking about the everyday products used by individuals and communities. This widens the EPA role by extending its purview to assist entities through grants, technical assistance, and other means, in halting pollution of the environment, as well as in developing and recommending to the president, new policies for the protection of the environment.
With cooperation from hospitals, public works departments, municipalities and businesses, there has been a growing willingness on the part of citizens to participate in, and pay for, hazmat disposal procedures even when that means an increase in cost.
In Region 10, the Pacific Northwest, the Alaska Environmental Protection Agency's Waste and Toxic program, according to the EPA, "works with federal, state, tribal and local governments of the state, as well as with industry and the public." The mandate in each case is to "protect, preserve, and improve the environment and the health of not only humans, but also of all species in the state." This goal of reducing environmental risks is facilitated by the proper management of hazardous wastes and chemicals, the idea being to prevent wastes "before they are generated."
Valdez is a good example of a city attempting, and succeeding, in collecting and disposing of commercial and residential waste. A city described by Richard Davis, Baler supervisor, as the "end of the road." Valdez has a population of 4,500.
In order to service the city's residents and businesses, the Baler division has a total budget of between $825,000 to $850,000 with hazmat disposal representing some 15 per cent of that budget.
A variety of hazmat items are collected, including latex-based paints that are solidified on site, food products, used motor oil, old TVs, pesticides and other discarded things found on the tipping room floor where all the trash ends up being sorted.
"We have oil-based paint that we put into 12 55-gallon drums," explained Davis. "We recycle newspaper, white paper, copper pipes. Whatever can be recycled is recycled. We specialize in hazardous waste by consolidating it and arranging for appropriate shipping."
With a permanent staff of five fulltime and some part-timers, the Baler division works six days a week collecting and baling the wide variety of items discarded by residents.
Ken Christofferson has worked for the City of Valdez for 13 years. As assistant Baler operator, his job is to turn a mound of waste products on the tipping floor into two feet high, three feet wide, and five feet long secured "bales."
"A single bale," explains Christoffersen, "can weigh as much as 8,000 pounds. We get all kinds of trash including poisons used by miners to separate out the gold."
TRAVELIN' TRASH
Some trash is transported to Anchorage, some is destined for the landfill, and the rest is dealt with according to EPA directives.
Concern about hazardous materials has spawned new businesses created to deal with its removal and disposal. One of those businesses is Waste Management of Alaska.
It provides solid waste collection service to a wide range of customers, and maintains an office in Anchorage.
"We are the largest waste disposal provider in North America," said Mike Holzschuh, senior project manager for WMA. "We have more than 300 landfills."
Two of those landfills, in Arlington, Ore., serve Region 10. Along with 282 other sites around the nation, WMA processes more than 125 millions tons of waste each year.
"Hazardous waste," explained Holzchuh, "is a term defined by the EPA. The guidelines we follow are from the EPA. For us, contaminated soil is our largest, single waste stream when measured by volume (tons). We deal in thousands of tons each year."
For more than 26 years, Hulzchuh's work has been in environmental contamination cleanup.
"Out of high school I worked in oil-spill cleanup in Puget Sound. Most of my training has been hands-on."
Paul Nielsen is project manager at WMA. For much of the past 17 years, he's worked in the environmental industry primarily as hazardous waste coordinator.
"Particularly the transportation and disposal part of it," he explained. "Most of my company's work has been for the military. We've been in Okinawa, Guam and Wake Island. One of our hallmarks is managing logistics. The more logistics involved, the more planning that is necessary. I like being logistically challenged," he joked. "The more challenged, the better we like it."
Public works departments of large cities, such as Juneau have adapted to the EPA criteria by providing regular opportunities for residents to safely dispose of hazardous waste generated by both residents and companies.
"Seven times a year," explained Judith Harvey, public works administrative officer in charge of waste management in Juneau, "we hold a household hazardous waste cleanup event. At the event we accept poisons, used oil, herbicides, solvents, creosote, fluorescent bulbs, acids and 13 other items at each of our collection sites."
MOUNDS OF POUNDS
The capital city collected 483,741 pounds for the fiscal year July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007.
All households in the city are eligible to participate. The event is covered through fees collected from property owners and those fees go directly to the recycling program.
A commercial and small business event is held on a separate day. There is a charge to the businesses and they must pre-register. Both events, according to Harvey, are very well attended.
"We've been doing this event since August 1998. Alaska is very environmentally conscious," said Harvey.
Alaska Clean Seas (ACS), out of Prudhoe Bay, is a nonprofit, incorporated, oil spill response cooperative. This unique entity is another way that hazmat is being monitored and controlled.
ACS's current members include oil and pipeline companies that engage, or plan to engage, in oil and gas exploration, development, pipeline transport and/or production on the North Slope. Originally formed in 1979 as ABSORB, it was restructured 17 years ago into a full-response organization. Its mission is to provide the personnel, equipment, material and training in preparing for and cleaning up an oil spill.
In 2006 ACS provided 2,747 instruction hours, 31,227 spill-response training manhours, and 568 classes. Nearly 7,000 students attended various spill-response activities.
"ACS's primary goal," explained Lee Majors, ACS planning and development manager, "is to provide oil spill preparedness and response training, and the maintenance of the necessary equipment. We're looking at nine fields from Alpine to Badami, maybe 70 miles."
ACS currently operates on the North Slope as well as some areas of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf. Members of ACS include Shell Offshore Inc., ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., ExxonMobil Production Co., Brooks Range Petroleum Co., and other recognizable names in oil production.
ACS has nearly 70 full-time staff. About 30 of these employees are located within the fields and have daily spill-response and environmental duties.
It would seem that as hazmat needs evolve, appropriate responses from the Alaska government, business and the public can be expected to adapt to meet those challenges.
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