The American Experience with Hazardous Waste Management

The United States created a fund in 1980 to clean up hazardous wastes contaminating the environment and to seek out and clean up abandoned dumping sites that harbour hazardous materials. Many of these locations are not known at this time, and others are as much as one hundred years old. The amount o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asia-Pacific journal of public health 1987, Vol.1 (4), p.41-45
Main Author: LaDou, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Costs and Cost Analysis
Environmental Health
Hazardous Waste
Humans
Industrial Waste
Original Contributions
Refuse Disposal - economics
Refuse Disposal - methods
United States
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The United States created a fund in 1980 to clean up hazardous wastes contaminating the environment and to seek out and clean up abandoned dumping sites that harbour hazardous materials. Many of these locations are not known at this time, and others are as much as one hundred years old. The amount of money actually needed to accomplish the goals of legislation is merely speculation. The Office of Technology Assessment estimates that dealing with the most critical 10,000 sites will cost US$100 billion. The impact of hazardous wastes on the public health of surrounding communities is interpreted with caution. Of the 900 hazardous waste dump sites receiving priority attention by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), only 20 have been studied for effects on human health. No prospective study has been initiated among affected populations yet. Federal laws and most state laws do not provide a mechanism for compensating individuals who have developed illnesses from environmental exposures to hazardous waste sites.
ISSN:1010-5395
1941-2479
DOI:10.1177/101053958700100411