=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #81
—June 13, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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MORE HAZARDOUS WASTE BURNERS ARE NOT NEEDED IN THE U.S., SAYS NEW STUDY
PREPARED FOR THE EPA.
The United States does not need any new commercial hazardous
waste incinerators, and will not need any well into the 1990s,
according to a new study by a private firm (ICF, Inc., of
Fairfax, VA), prepared under contract to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
For the study, ICF collected information from 14 hazardous waste
companies (listed below) which, together, operate 83 facilities
that handle at least 70% of the commercial waste processed each
year in the U.S. The 14 firms said there already exists, or by
1991 will exist, excess commercial incineration capacity.
The 14 companies said they had doubled their own incineration
capacity between 1985 and 1987 (from 349,800 wet tons per year to
694,100 wet tons). Even greater capacity increases (doubling or
tripling present capacity) is already on the drawing boards for
the period 1988 to 1991, the survey found.
In addition, the survey identified a trend: large generators of
hazardous wastes are changing to on-site incineration and to
on-site waste minimization techniques. More than 90% of
hazardous wastes have traditionally been dumped into lagoons and
ponds on-site, but new regulations that took effect this year
require that lagoons and ponds to be lined with impermeable
liners–often an expensive (or impossible) proposition. The
survey concluded that the future of ponds and lagoons is “bleak.”
On-site management of wastes is obviously preferable to sending
wastes offsite because the waste generator can control where the
wastes go (thus minimizing liability), and wastes managed on-site
are easier to protect from the prying eyes of the public and of
regulators. Waste sent off-site to commercial facilities must be
“manifested” (accompanied by a paper trail showing who sent how
much of what where).
The survey revealed many interesting facts about the hazardous
waste industry. For example, treatment and disposal facilities
operated by the 14 companies received 5.1 million wet tons of
wastes in 1987. Of this, 476,000 wet tons was incinerated in
1987 (up 36% from the previous year). The amount landfilled was
2.6 million wet tons, up 5% from 1986.
The 14 firms surveyed were: Chemical Waste Management, Inc. of
Oak Brook, IL; Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI)/CECOS
International, Inc. (Houston, TX); ChemClear, Inc. of Wayne, PA;
Envirite Corp. of Plymouth Meeting, PA; Environmental Services
Co. (ENSCO) of Little Rock, AR; Environmental Waste Services of
Waterbury, CT; Envirosafe Services of King of Prussia, PA); GSX
Corp. of Columbia, SC; Rollins Environmental Services of
Wilmington, DE; Ross Incineration Services of Grafton, OH;
Safety-Kleen Corp. of Elgin, IL; Systech Corp. of Xenia, OH; U.S.
Pollution Control, Inc. (USPCI), of Oklahoma City, OK; and W.J.
Lambert/Chemical Resources, Inc., of Tulsa, OK.
The report, titled 1986-1987 SURVEY OF SELECTED FIRMS IN THE
COMMERCIAL HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY is available for
$30 from Geoffrey Black, ICF, 9300 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA
22031-1207; phone (703)-934-3304.