Hazardous Waste Sites

The book "How little we know about the sources and volumes of hazardous wastes generated in the U.S., and how little attention has been paid to the selection of disposal sites, their human and ecological impacts, and the development of alternatives to landfills" is written by two leading authorities in the field of hazardous waste management. The book provides comprehensive perspectives on hazardous waste sites in the United States, and the sources of hazardous waste are described along with the scientific and legal climates that allowed wastes to be discarded with little attention to impacts. Evidence is weighed for and against public health, as well as environmental, economic, and social damages at abandoned sites. Political processes and analytical techniques are suggested and illustrated for those who are involved in the siting of new facilities. A strategy for hazardous waste management is offered, together with approaches to substantially reduce the difficulties faced by local planners and site managers who face a hostile public.

Mutual distrust defines the relationship between those who are the sources of hazardous wastes and those who oversee their activities. A lack of credibility, argue the authors, is a formidable, if not the biggest, obstacle to properly managing hazardous waste in the United States. Nowhere is the credibility gap wider than where there are hazardous waste management facilities or where sites have been proposed. The purpose of this book is to provide comprehensive perspectives on hazardous waste sites in the United States. The sources of hazardous waste are described along with the scientific and legal climates that allowed wastes to be discarded with little attention to impacts. Evidence is weighed for and against public health, as well as environmental, economic, and social damages at abandoned sites. Political processes and analytical techniques are suggested and illustrated for those who are involved in the siting of new facilities. A strategy for hazardous waste management is offered, together with approaches to substantially reduce the difficulties faced by local planners and site managers who face a hostile public. A historical legacy of mismanagement, fueled by exaggeration of impacts and by a lack of information, characterizes hazardous waste management in the United States. This book will be important to planners, environmental scientists, and public health officials. In order to assure accessibility for the casual reader, the authors keep the explanation of mathematical methods and technologies in this area to a minimum. Review: How little we know about the sources and volumes of hazardous wastes generated in the U.S., and how little attention has been paid to the selection of disposal sites, their human and ecological impacts, and the development of alternatives to landfills. What we do know, however, is presented clearly and concisely in this book by two leading authorities in the field... One of the strengths of this volume is its emphasis on solutions rather than just problems. It illustrates the ways in which a geographical approach to problem solving can yield useful and intuitively appealing solutions... The book includes specific recommendations for government and private industry, and a local scenario to improve the siting process, all of which are referenced to the academic and technical literature... [T]his would make an ideal book for an environmental geography of hazards course. It should also be required reading for state and local officials who are struggling with the problems of hazardous waste disposal. --Donald J. Zeigler, The Professional Geographer [The book] remains a thorough and relatively inexpensive compendium on existent research about the most enigmatic environmental problem of our time. As such, the book is an important reference for the practitioner. --Michael K. Heiman, Geographical Review