What is Hazardous Material Management?

Review

Human activities have been increasing over time, especially in the era of industrialization. The industries have been releasing many pollutants to the environment forcing the people to carry out cleanup exercises to remove the contaminants from the environment. Mercury Recovery Facility is one of the industries that were removing mercury from various materials using an oven and in the process, causing a lot of pollution to the soil and water in the region. The cleaning process involves removing the contaminated soil and dumping it off-site and by using the technology to treat and prevent water and soil having mercury from mixing with underground water and those in rivers. Nuclear Waste Cleanup is another case study that focuses on removing toxic radioactive vapors that leak from the nuclear storage tanks in the United States. The responsible bodies manage to device a method of cleaning the escaping fumes using different catalytic reactions that convert the toxic radioactive vapors to less toxic. The process leads to prevention of the toxic nuclear gases from escaping into the atmosphere, it is essential to prevent pollution, and if it happens, the responsible industry or individual should meet the cost of cleaning the pollutants from the environment.

Hazardous Material Management

Mercury Recovery Facility

The environment has been undergoing a lot of pollution because of human activities. Carrying out a cleanup activity is essential in restoring the state of the environment to ensure a livable climate for both the animals and plants. Mercury Refining Superfund industry is one of the case studies where the environmental protection agencies are trying to carry out a cleanup exercise on the site where there is a lot of mercury pollution. Mercury Refining industry was using an industrial oven to remove mercury from the materials like batteries, dental amalgam, pressure regulators, and even thermometers. In the process of recovering mercury from various materials, the industry managed to pollute the soil on site as well as the stormwater drainages that channel polluted water into the rivers (Duruibe, Ogwuegbu, & Egwurugwu, 2007).

Due to massive mercury pollution, conducting a cleanup exercise was paramount not only in saving lives of people living around but also those residing far way because flowing water in rivers could carry the mercury pollutants deep into the oceans and lakes. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was a responsible body overseeing the cleanup program that involves excavation of the contaminated soils and disposing of them off-site. The contaminated soil on the first phase requires excavation and dumping them into the disposal facility and the area filled with clean soil to enable planting of new vegetation. It was also essential to protect the surrounding community by minimizing the traffic to the site as well as observing health and safety procedures that include monitoring the air in the work zone and the perimeter of the site.

The second phase of the cleaning process was treating the contaminated water and the soil using technology that plays a significant role in preventing the contaminated water from moving into the surrounding soil as well as groundwater (Kosson, van der Sloot, Sanchez, & Garrabrants, 2002). The owner of the industry 26 Railroad Ave was responsible for restricting the site to ensure that there is no disturbance of treated water and soil and no one installs well that supply water for human consumptions. The parties responsible for the contamination meet the cost of carrying out the cleanup program observing the principle of polluter pay principle. The polluting industries should incur the cost of cleaning up the mess because no other person should come in and help them and in this way, the companies will try their level best to minimize the number of pollutants in the environment. It is therefore vital to prevent pollution from occurring, and if it happens, it is essential to ensure that the individual responsible carry out a cleanup exercise to clean the pollutants from the environment. Through this, the environment will be a better place to live in not only for animals but also for plants as well.

Nuclear Waste Cleanup

Another cleanup program is on nuclear waste where the Gulf Coast Environmental System is responsible for looking for the long lasting solution for the leaking nuclear waste storage tanks. The site was producing plutonium for the United States atomic weapons, , and there is a lot of nuclear waste storage tanks buried underground, but they are leaking, thus cause nuclear pollution (Sawhill, 2000). The storage tanks leaked an estimated 300 gallons of radioactive waste into the environment every year, and therefore there was a need to prevent these leaks once and for all because radioactive pollution is among the most dangerous pollutants both on land water and atmosphere.

The Gulf Coast Environmental Systems manage to get a design with the support of an engineering firm that will handle the radioactive leaks that were leaking from the storage tanks. The solution to the escaping toxic fumes according to the Gulf Coast Environmental Systems was the use of catalytic oxidizer that will help convert the contaminated waste into a less toxic product that is friendlier to the environment. The team conducting the cleanup program manages to study the components of the escaping waste enabling them to arrive at the convoluted solution that could remove up to 99% of the toxic wastes from the leaking contaminants. The most effective method adopted by the team to clean the escaping nuclear waste vapors uses the catalytic oxidizers that contain (Volatile Organic Compound) VOC catalyst, preheat exchanger and NOx (Nitrogen Oxide) catalyst that all run using electricity. The catalyst in the cleanup process plays a significant role in accelerating the chemical reaction process ensuring practical conversion of the toxic waste into less toxic products that can find a way to the environment causing no damage.

The projected time for the cleanup program in this case study was 50 years, and the process was essential because it ensures that the leaking nuclear waste vapors undergo conversion to less toxic compound that the environment can receive without causing damage. The ingenious way of handling atomic waste played a significant role in preventing further nuclear pollution in the region by converting the escaping toxic gases from the storage tanks into less toxic and environmentally friendly products. The approach that the Gulf Coast Environmental Systems adopted in the cleanup of the toxic nuclear waste was one of the best because it met all the specific requirements of the facility. It also plays a crucial role to other facilities that use nuclear energy, for instance, nuclear power stations in explaining how the industries should handle their nuclear wastes because they are so dangerous and can affect vast areas with radioactive pollutants (Noyes, 2013). It is therefore essential to ensure that the environment is free from all kinds of pollutant because it affects both the current generation and future generation as well.

References 

Duruibe, J. O., Ogwuegbu, M. O., & & Egwurugwu, J. N. (2007). Heavy metal pollution and human biotoxic effects. International Journal of physical sciences, 2(5) , 112-118.

Kosson, D. S., van der Sloot, H. A., Sanchez, F., & & Garrabrants, A. C. (2002). An integrated framework for evaluating leaching in waste management and utilization of secondary materials. Environmental Engineering Science, 19(3) , 159-204.

Noyes, R. (2013). Nuclear waste cleanup technologies and opportunities. Cambridge University Press.

Sawhill, S. G. (2000). Cleaning-up the Arctic's cold war legacy: nuclear waste and Arctic military environmental cooperation. Cooperation and Conflict, 35(1) , 5-36.