=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #90
—August 15, 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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WHAT WE MUST DO–PART 3: BFI: ‘WE’VE GOT THE UPPER HAND.’
Five reporters with the Ft. Lauderdale (Fla) SUN SENTINEL
investigated the nation’s trash haulers in 22 states in 1987 (see
HWN #88 and #89), and reported last December
that the waste
industry is so aggressive and has grown so large that it often
outstrips the ability of government to control it.
The SUN SENTINEL team wrote, “Officials concede they often are
outflanked by the technical expertise the firms can muster, as
well as the complexity of affixing blame for causing
contamination.”
“‘These companies often understand the regulations better than
the regulators,’ said Steven W. Sisk, an EPA [U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency] investigator.
John Baker, manager of environmental programs for Waste
Management, the largest U.S. waste hauler, says, “In EPA, every
two years I’m dealing with new people. The agencies are a little
behind in the technical expertise,” he said. Mr. Baker blamed
low salaries for the turnover.
Richard Oakley, a vice president of Browning-Ferris Industries
[BFI], the nation’s second-largest hauler, says, “A lot of times
when we go for meetings with them, technically we’ve got the
upper hand.”
Waste Management and BFI routinely claim that test results
showing they’ve contaminated groundwater are simply “lab error,”
not evidence of pollution. “Regulators usually accept these
claims without independent verification,” the SUN SENTINEL
reports.
[We’ll mail you all 25 stories from the SUN SENTINEL for $12.00.]
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: investigations; fl; haulers; msw; regulations;
wmi; epa; john baker; revolving door; bfi; groundwater; water;
water pollution; studies; findings;