A Large Coastal City in the UK - Case Study Example

Metropolis City Report Metropolis, a large coastal city in the UK, rapidly developed during the 19th century industrial revolution which resulted in the city becoming a centre for coal mining, steel structure and textile production. These were accompanied by further production of essential commodities and opportunities due to its thriving port. The 1980s and 1990s however saw the contraction and dwindling of this industry and was replaced by modern industries which have expanded to become the major employer for the 2.2 million residents of Metropolis. These industries are expected to provide 30,000 extra jobs within the next ten years. All these come with occupational health and safety challenges. This article will explore the occupational health and safety challenges faced by rapidly developing cities with similar to Metropolis’ and explain a hazard and risk assessment plan that would enable these cities prepare for the public health risks that come with the exposure to environmental chemicals. Environmental Risks from Metropolis’ Former Industries Land contamination involves a wide array of conditions defined in the Environmental Protection Act (Environment Agency, 2010). The UK has had a long and varied industrial history and some of the industries that have been active at one time or the other being viewed as potential land pollutants. Much of the UK’s industrial activity, especially in the heavy industry sectors of iron and steel manufacture, chemical production and coal extraction took place before the modern systems of environmental pollution controls had been put in place. It was not until 1990 that the UK enacted a law to control land contamination (Hester et al., 2001). Metropolis faced several hazards resulting from land pollution from its former textile, coal and steel industries. Most of the land pollution that arose from the textile industry was as a result of the numerous chemical processes that raw materials pass through before turning into fabric. The textile industry processes such as dyeing, bleaching, printing, mercerization, scouring, sizing and washing require large volumes of water and result in equally large amounts of waste water which when released into the environment can cause land pollution (Darby, 1973). The waste water can not only contaminate ground water but can also interfere with the surrounding aquatic ecosystem. The waste generated from textile industries can be broadly categorized into four groups namely the toxic or hazardous wastes, high volume wastes, dispersible wastes and the difficult to treat wastes. The difficult to treat wastes are those that resist treatment, are persistent or those that obstruct waste treatment facilities (Richardson, 1996). These wastes usually come from inorganic or non-biodegradable materials like metals colour, phosphates and surfactants. Once these wastes are released into land, it becomes very cumbersome to treat their effects and the best way to deal with them would be to prevent them from getting into the environment. This can be done by recycling, process optimization and control and chemical substitution. Toxic wastes are a subgroup of the difficult to treat wastes but because of their potential dangerous effect on the environment, they are classified differently. They include chlorinated solvents, non-biodegradable organic materials and metals. Due to their toxicity, they should be prevented from coming into contact with the surrounding environment (Sullivan & Hill, 1986). High volume wastes include the high water volumes and the dye wastes containing alkalis, acids and salts. High volume wastes can be controlled by employing recycling methods. Dispersible wastes include foams from coating operations, solvents from machine cleaning and print waste. During their operation, coal mining industries release a lot of substances that are dangerous to the environment and human health. Coal mining and usage has been linked to the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide production which in turn leads to global warming and the melting of glaciers. Coal mines also leave behind unproductive and unattractive landscapes that make it difficult for plant and animal life to thrive. Coal mining industries usually leave behind waste coals are have been termed by environmentalists as being dirtier than the coal (Stracher, 2007). After several years of operation, the coal industries accumulate small mountains of hills of waste coals which are not only and eyesore but also make the land that they are on dark and barren. These waste piles leach manganese, aluminium and iron which can pollute ground water and cause acid drainage (Graves, 1983). The waste coals can some time catch fires and release toxins into the environment when they burn. Most of the acidic drainage from coal mines also contains potentially toxic metal traces such as copper and nickel in elevated amounts and smaller amounts of manganese, arsenic, lead and aluminium which also pollute the land. The best way to deal with the effects of coal mines to the environment would be to seek alternative and cheaper sources of energy and abandon coal mining all together. This is because most of the substances left behind by coal mines are very difficult to deal with especially the acidic drainage from coal mines. Land reclamation can also be used to minimize these effects although it can be very expensive considering the mountains of waste that is accumulated before the mine is abandoned (Davies, 1990). The land reclamation processes may include lime neutralization, carbonate neutralization, constructed wetlands and metal sulphides precipitation. Lime neutralization. Steel production is done in three mains steps namely extraction of iron from iron ore, melting of the iron ore and finally processing the ore in coke to produce ore. The extraction process includes reduction reactions which are followed by a cooling of the extracted iron using water sprays. The cooling waters absorb many contaminating substances including cyanide and ammonia during the process which make it a threat to the environment. Coke production from carbon fuel also requires cooling by water streams which are contaminated with naphthalene, benzene, cyanide, cresols and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Ebenhack, 1995). The conversion of the finished steel into usable products like rods and wires also involves the use of water as a coolant and lubricant. This process contaminates the water with particulate solids, tallow and hydraulic oils. The painting and galvanizing process involves utilization of sulphuric and hydrochloric acid which find their way into rinsing waters. The coke making process also produces a lot of coke dust from the electric arc furnaces. Coke dust, which may contain cadmium and lead, contaminates ground water. Of the whole process, coke making is the major potential polluter if not controlled. To take care of this problem, there have been efforts to replace it with coke-less iron making. Some of the processes are still being studied and in some place put into use. The Japanese DIOS process is among those being used and it replaces coke use completely (UESPA, 1995). The waste cooling water can cause a lot of pollution if released into land, especially since it is of high volume. It however can be reused after the solids in it, like coke breezes are filtered out. The other constituents of the resultant sludge can be prevented from polluting the environment by collecting all the sludge in holding tanks where it is to be treated before being released to the environment. Hazards from Metropolis’ Current Industries Metropolis’ current industries are the tourism, pulp/paper and computer products manufacturers. There is also the airport industry and all of them pose certain risks to the surrounding land, air and water. The paper industry uses trees as the main raw material and as such, uncontrolled logging by the industries can lead devastating environmental consequences. Chlorine and chlorine compounds are normally used for wood pulp bleaching purposed during paper production (Sconce, 1962). The utilization of chlorine results in production of dioxins which are persistent pollutants generally classified as among the highly toxic manmade pollutants. The pulping process utilizes large water volumes which absorbs numerous organic substances from the pulp mill including lignin. The effluent also contains transition metal compounds, chlorates chelating agents and some alcohols. The sulphite and Kraft pulp processes involve a lot of use of sulphur resulting in sulphur dioxide that is water soluble and can result in acidic effluent and acidic rain when the gas is released into the atmosphere (Swarup & Jauhari, 1992). The other chemicals contained in the effluents include ammonia, mercury, nitrates, benzene and chloroform. This mixture of chemicals is a potential environmental hazard. Most of the pollutants result from the pulp mills as opposed to paper mils which mostly release paper fibres suspension as the main effluent. There were some efforts around the 1990s to get rid of chlorine use in the paper industry but due to the economic advantages of chlorine, it is still the most widely utilized bleach in the paper industry. Enforcement of stringent governmental legislation can however help reduce the use of chlorine. The utilization of mechanical pulp mills instead of sulphide or Kraft processes can help in cutting down the amount of chemicals needed in paper production. A good proportion of lignin present in wood is retained when bleaching using mechanical pulps using hydrogen peroxide as the main bleaching agent (Ek, Gellerstedt & Henriksson, 2009). Hydrogen peroxide is less toxic than the chemicals used in the sulphide and Kraft processes. Computer component manufacturing results in multiple waste steams and spent process baths. The rinse water and the other solutions used for rinsing make up most of the effluent volume but are generally less toxic than the spent process baths (Meltzer, 1990). The other components of the effluent are treatment residues, alkaline and acids, copper sulphate crystals, re-oil low, suspended solids, chelating agents, cyanide phosphorous and fluorides. The manufacturing processes in addition release airborne particulates from the cutting, drilling bevelling slotting and sanding processes and acid fumes from the cleaning processes. For effective handling of the hazardous wastes, waste assessments are performed so as to find out the amounts and types of the generated wastes. Given the toxicity of the wastes, the best way of preventing hazards would be to minimize the volume of waste generated since cleaning the waste is costly. Contamination from the rinse effluents can be reduced by employing strategies that cut down drag-out process solutions. Reuse and treatment of the rinse effluent is in addition an effective way of cutting down the overall waste production. Airborne particulates can be collected and disposed of together with the other solid wastes and land fills. The spent chlorinated solvents are in many instances separated by gravity and either recovered for factory use of hauled away for reclamation. The alkaline and acid solutions can be either be sent of to disposal sites or neutralized and released into the sewer system. The other liquid wastes may be controlled by use of end-of-pipe waste treatment systems (Wang, Shammas & Hung, 2008). Most of the dissolved and suspended metal effluent treatment is done according to the PH of the waste. The mixture is neutralized into metal sulphates or hydroxides. Solid particles can be floated or filtered out as wet sludge and the remaining water released into the sewer system. The diluted sludge can be thickened before disposal into landfills. Recently, there have been a development of newer ways of dealing with electronic wastes including membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, ion exchange and complex rinsing techniques that are all geared towards increasing the recovery and re-use possibilities of the metallic and water recourses. Tourism is normally seen as a clean industry compared to the other industries related to economic development. This could be true but the tourism industry also possesses significant pollution problems majority of which are due to traffic superstructures and the infrastructures put up to accommodate the tourists and the tourists’ general activities (Hamele, 1988). The movements of tourists results in air pollution which has been associated with global warming making. Most of the air pollution is experienced in areas seen as tourism hot spots and experience large volumes of tourist traffic. Tourism may be responsible for only a tiny portion of the air pollution but there is still need to reduce this pollution given the recent changes inn global temperatures (Wheatcroft, 1991). Water resources are usually deemed as major tourist attraction spots and as such suffer most from the effects of tourism. Some of the waste generated by tourists and the facilities put up to accommodate the tourists find their way into the natural environment including marine streams and the nearby streams. The pollutants are mostly composed of lawn fertilizers, septic tank seepage and engine oil leakages. When these extra nutrients get into water bodies, they trigger an imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem by fastening the growth of weeds and algae, which, when combined with human activities in the water body can have devastating effects (Gartner, 1987). The flow of untreated sewage into the water bodies causes a health hazard to anyone depending on the water body. The Mediterranean, which is known for its huge tourist numbers, is among the areas that has suffered major pollution of its water bodies (Mathieson & Wail, 1982). The soil erosion results in sedimentation which also related to the tourists’ movements, destruction of forests and plants to allow for the construction of infrastructure to accommodate tourists. Not only does sedimentation result in water pollution but it also reduces water clarity and affects aquatic life, especially if it accumulates over time (Goldman, 1989). The tourism industry can cause a strain in the available water, either the water body or ground water, due to the large volumes of water that it utilizes for swimming pools, washing, watering lawns and other industry requirements. The other tourist activities like trapping and hunting and poaching can cause a disruption in animal activities and other animal behaviours. Tourism is an important part of most economies and as such cannot be gotten rid of. The negative environmental effects that accompany tourism can however be controlled before they get out of hand. The tourist infrastructure should be constructed in numbers that can be comfortably supported by the environment to prevent over-exploitation of the natural resources. The tourist movements and behaviours should be controlled to avoid the interference with wild. The effluents into the natural water bodies should also be treated before being released to the environment. Precautions against Accidents in Manufacturing Industries Manufacturing industries mostly involve the use of elevated temperatures and chemicals, some of which may be toxic or highly inflammable. Fires and chemical leakages are among the common causes of accidents in manufacturing industries which if not controlled in time can cause serious fatalities. Predicting accidents is next to impossible. The best way of controlling these accidents would be by taking precautions that would reduce the chances of accidents occurring. The probability of controlling industrial fires can be increased by placing fire extinguishers at strategic points within an organization and providing emergency exit points should the fires become uncontrollable. The sections that involve the use of elevated temperatures and inflammables should be located in a section that experiences less human traffic to reduce the chances of many people getting hurt should there be a fire. Carrying out of regular drills goes a long way in preparing an organization’s staff for occurrences of fires and chemical leaks. The organization could also place a few strategic notices to educate those in the organization on what to do in cases of fire breakouts. These notices should also contain all the necessary emergency numbers like the police, ambulances and fire brigade. Conclusion Industries, either big or small are part of the economic activities that counties around the world depend on. Unfortunately a good number of these industries result in major environmental pollutions which if left unchecked, can contaminate everything around them including the air and water bodies. This article has covered but a few of the industries and showed their potential threats to the environment but the world is full of many other industries which pose even bigger environmental threats. Recovering from environmental damage can be very difficult and at times impossible, a good example being global warming, making prevention the best way to deal with these environmental effects. Governments should place more stringent laws on industries to discourage them from deliberately releasing waste into the environment without first making them environment friendly. It is also important to put in place measures that can help control industrial accidents should they occur. Some industries, for instance, the coal mining industry pose greater risks to life than others and therefore call for better precautionary and accident control measures. All industries should have enough measures to deal with any accidents that are likely to occur in them and operate under the set work exposure limits (HSE, 2005). References Darby, H.C. (1973), A new historical geography of England. CUP Archive: Cambridge. Davies, M.C. (1990), Land reclamation: an end to dereliction? Taylor and Francis: London. Ebenhack, B.W. (1995), Nontechnical guide to energy resources: availability, use and impact. PennWell Books, Michigan. Ek, M., Gellerstedt, G. and Henriksson, G (2009), Pulp and Paper Chemistry and Technology: Pulping Chemistry and Technology. Walter de Gruyter: Berlin. Environment Agency (2010), Land Contamination. Viewed on 23rd April, 2010. 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