Issues of a Neighborhood Exposed to Hazardous Emissions - Essay Example

? Environmental Health Risk Assessment Environmental Health Risk Assessment Exposure to hazardous waste and toxic substances poses an immense danger to the health and lives of human beings. Dumping hazardous waste and toxic substances leads to the contamination of the environment, which also affects the health of human beings negatively. Exposure to hazardous waste can be directly through pollution and contamination of the environment or indirectly through the consumption of contaminated food and water. Waste management by using incinerations is a process that requires careful consideration due to the hazardous waste and toxic substances that the plant emits. To ensure that the community is not harmfully affected, proper assessment should be conducted to observe the environmental health risk of the incinerator (Rabl, Spadaro and Zoughaib, 2008). Potential impacts of the incinerator Incinerators have a number of negative effects towards the environment. Firstly, the waste contains metals and plastics that emit various pollutants after combustion. The pollutants include dioxins, heavy metals like lead and mercury, and furan. These pollutants can be released in the air, water or remain in the ash, which is as a byproduct of burning the waste. The combustion process produces two kinds of ash, bottom and fly ash, with the latter comprising of many constituents, which are hazardous. After the combustion of plastics such as polyvinyl chloride, toxic air and soil pollutants are emitted. Secondly, the thermal process produces toxic substances that are trapped in the residue ash, water filters, stack pipes and the chimneys. All the toxic substances have to be disposed. The residue ash is disposed in landfills but the toxic substances that are in the ash still find their way into the underground water system and finally into the food chain (Thompson, 2005). Incinerators contribute to a broad range of pollutants that are harmful to the health of human beings. Incinerators are unable to expel the toxic waste present in the municipal waste, adequately. As noted in the previous paragraph, incinerators produce a wide range of pollutants. One of the most lethal compounds produced is dioxin, which causes neurological damage, cancer, respiratory diseases, and disrupts thyroid systems, reproductive systems. Unfortunately, incinerators are the largest identified sources of dioxins (Rabl, Spadaro and Zoughaib, 2008). People living or working in the incinerators can be exposed to the pollutants emanating from the facility through various methods. The pollutants that are released in the air can harm the people after they inhale the polluted air. People can also be exposed to the pollutants through consumption of water and locally grown food that have been contaminated by air and soil pollutants emanating from the incinerator. Fish and wildlife that have been exposed to the various pollutants can also bring health problems to the people consuming them (Thompson, 2005). How the local community can control the facility through zoning and nuisance laws In order to ensure land is properly utilized without affecting the health of the residents, division of local land is done into different zones, which are reserved for different purposes. In this case, the incinerator should be located far away from the residential area in order to prevent the noise made by the trucks and the pollution that is affecting the local residents. The local government should not allow the new incinerator to be located close to the residential area. The residents can reject the construction of the incinerator citing its proximity to the residential area and its harmful effect to the health of the residents. The local government is supposed to use its police powers to stop the construction of the incinerator basing the move on the protection of public health. Noise pollution is another factor that should be considered. The garbage trucks are about to increase in number and their presence will increase noise pollution. The local government should ensure that noise pollution is minimal, thus relocate the incinerator. All individuals have rights to a clean environment and the local government should strive to ensure this by moving the incinerator to the appropriate location (Curtin and Zovod, 2003). Appropriateness of the State issuing permits without having zoning, State permits, nuisance Environmental health risk evaluation is required whenever the state wants to set up a facility that deals with hazardous waste. Assessment is carried out to determine if an area is suitable for the purpose of waste disposal and to ensure that the effects would not interfere with the normal lives of the people living nearby. It is not appropriate for the state to issue permits without proper environmental health risk assessment, as it is the case in this situation. Failing to conduct a thorough environmental health risk assessment, may leave the area residents vulnerable to the negative health impacts of the incinerator, therefore, leading to deteriorating health and other adverse effects. Hazardous waste management is controlled by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which ensures that rules are applied in handling of the hazardous waste. If the incinerator is built without the state considering the requirements called for by the Agency, violation of law and regulation will have been committed. The state permit is issued after zoning, noise assessment and thorough environmental health risk assessment is carried out to ensure that a site is suitable for construction of a waste management plant. In this case none of the requirements were met hence making the issuance of the state permit inappropriate (Curtin and Zovod, 2003). Conclusions based upon the areas of concern The incineration should not be constructed because of the negative effects that it will have on the area residents. First, the health problems that will be caused by the construction of the incinerator will be immense. The pollutants that emanate from the incinerator will cause health problems such as respiratory diseases, cancer, and neurological complications. Noise pollution from the garbage trucks will also affect the residents negatively. The environment will not be spared as the pollutants contaminate the air, soil and sip underground water to contaminate the water. Construction of the incineration will bring more problems to the area, therefore, moving it from that location should be considered. Application of the principles for risk management decision-making The principles for risk management insist on making open decisions regarding public health and safety. Efforts should be made to assess the direct and indirect consequences of the undertaking to ensure that they affect the society minimally. In this case, these principles for risk management were not applied. There were no assessment of consequences and the state wanted to issue a state permit without even consulting the local residents about the undertaking. The incinerator causes immense pollution when it should be designed to produce minimal emissions that can have negative to both the people and the environment (Nathwani and Narveson, 2010). References Curtin, D. J., & Zovod, S. J. (2003). Geologic Hazard Abatement Districts: California's Experience with Hazard Mitigation through Special Purpose Districts. Land Use Law & Zoning Digest, 55(6), 3-7. Nathwani, J. & Narveson, J. (2010). 3 Principles for Managing Risk in the Public Interest. Ontario: Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo. Rabl, A., Spadaro, J. V., & Zoughaib, A. (2008). Environmental Impacts And Costs Of Solid Waste: A Comparison Of Landfill And Incineration. Waste Management & Research, 26(2), 147-162. Thompson, J. (2005). The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators. Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine, 15(2-3), 115-156. Read More