Service Learning Project on Tallassee Landfill
Environmental Science 404
11/26/16
By: Sydney Lockett
The Stone’s Throw landfill in Tallassee is causing environmental problems in the community. The landfill has a very unpleasant smell over the whole community. A landfill is a carefully designed structure that isolates trash from the surrounding environment. The Stone’s Throw does not follow the protocol which involves the bottom liner, cells, storm water drainage, a cover and groundwater monitoring stations to establish a well-established landfill. Instead the landfill company looks like they have created a dump where trash is buried and animals often swarm. Dumps provided no environmental protection and are not well established. The community is furious about this issue and have issued complaints to the Environmental Protection Agency. I made trips every weekend to see the landfill and I had to wear a mask every time. I also took samples of water and I observed the community. Unfortunately, this problem has not been solved and still exists.
The environmental problem that is damaging environment in Tallassee is air pollution from the landfill which can cause health and environmental problems. Air pollution can harm us when it gathers in the air in great concentrations like in landfill areas. People are then exposed to high levels of air pollutants and they may experience: wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, breathing difficulties, worsening of existing lung and heart
A neighborhood group called NICE is utilizing the principles of common law-private and public nuisance and trespass- to bring attention to the problem of air, ground, and water pollution which is occurring on adjoining land to the Northfield Dairy Farm. This farmland is very expansive and requires much manure to ensure the land is kept moist and ready for the crop growth and development. The plaintiff or complainant is a man named Sam Anxious who is tired of having a horrible aroma, as he calls it, floating over his land and
Pezzullo investigates in this article the strategies of environmental justice advocates in Warren County, North Carolina. The rhetorical efforts shown by these advocates vigorously urged the state of North Carolina to clean up a local toxic landfill caused by a truck illegally dumping oil contaminated with PCBs in the middle of the night.
The complex issues surrounding the Agriculture Street Landfill are part of a much larger story about environmental justice and public housing that, while an entrenched part of the city’s history, came to the forefront post-Katrina. According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., “a powerfully discriminatory tendency in planning is for environmentally vulnerable low-income neighborhoods to be deemed disposable, whereas equally vulnerable high-income neighborhoods are deemed indispensable because they are more valuable (Morse 2008).” Nowhere has this been more evident than in these poor, black New Orleans neighborhoods, historically dominated by public housing.
The pollution use to even cause black lung and other breathing disorders also to make things worse there were no trees around they have been cut down to make houses and factories. Human feces sat in the streets out in the open no sewer and when it rained it ran off into the nearby river or lake. Environmental problems we’re taking a big role in health 5% of 7,000 sickening people died from pollution. Health is a big part in life without modern medicines and technology people couldn’t recover from these problems the often died after their
This is problematic and should undeniably be changed, as landfills are huge pollution hazards and should unquestionably have routinely environmental assessments. Landfill proponents followed the letter of the law/regulations however they did not follow the spirit of public participation where they actively consult residents and give them the opportunity to say ‘no’. Residents did express nuance account of the siting process where the proponents used jargon to further sustain the racial and socio-economic divide of the proponents and the resident’s, proponents of the landfill were mostly white and the residents were mostly black, contributing to this divide. As mentioned by the residents the problems concerning public participation are; the
Cleanliness is something that can often be taken for granted and given the abundance of trash that the population produces on any day there must be a more cautious effort in disposal. While a majority of people know the impact, dangers, and disgustingness of not disposing of waste properly, there are still a number of people who are not diligent about waste discarding; hence the need for a park clean up. We understood that the entire population would not be drastically changed because of these little park clean-ups but we are adamant that it will have a local effect which has the ability to spread further and further. In this report I will discuss our process from idea initiation to the completion of the project covering the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling aspects of the project. Then give an assessment of the entire project and action detailing if we believed that we were
The next Superfund that has greatly influenced the environment of Butler County is the Skinner Landfill. The Landfill is on 85 acres in West Chester (2). The facility was privately owned and was never actually licensed, so it closed in the 1970's (5). The landfill contains about 100 drums of chlorinated organics, and heavy metals. Along with the presence of the drums is the fact that a nearby lagoon was once used as a disposal for these contaminants, and that the site had problems with unauthorized dumping (5). Fortunately, no contaminants have been discovered leaving the site (5). The presence of these
A copious amount of health problems can occur directly and indirectly due to pollution that could chronically impact a person, further
Had I had the strength to do something, I would have tremored every part of my body as I witnessed the atrocity committed by the “midnight dumpers". As burns and the Ward Transformer Company laid waste to me and my body, I saw how the people that reside on me were harmed by the contamination of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Though Burns and his business men were arrested soon after, they still had managed to get the last laugh. Since the late 1970s I became a toxic landfill full of contaminated byproducts where legislation and government failed to manage my wellbeing as well as protect the health of nearby residents. State officials were slow to react and I had to succumb to this contamination until finally, someone spoke up for me. With the unjust actions that happened against me, came a strong and empowering movement that would force government to stop
Assessments began to take place in the mid 1980’s, shortly after the site made the National Priorities list in 1983. Relevant standards and guidance levels were used to measure the effect of the Helen Kramer Landfill. The initiation of the EPA’s remedial investigation and feasibility study deemed the nature of the Helen Kramer landfill as an extreme risk to the environment, characterizing the site “by randomly placed, uncompacted, and uncovered refuse, with numerous settlement cracks which vented methane and water vapor” (2). According to the EPA, several million gallons of chemical wastes and over two million cubic yards of solid waste were estimated to have been disposed of at the landfill (2). Studies were performed by the EPA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, federal natural resource trustees in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate the onsite and nearby environmental effects due to the landfill. During these studies, contaminants were detected in air, sediments, and aquifers, including high levels of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the air and sediments. VOCS and heavy metals expose humans to carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and reproductive toxicants. The assessments also detected numerous contaminants such as (but not limited to),
The Warren County protests provided reason for a U.S. General Accounting Office (1983) study, Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation With Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities. That study revealed that three out of four of the off-site commercial hazardous waste landfills in Region 4 ( 8 states in the south ) that happen to be predominantly African American communities, even though they only make up 20% of the region’s population. The protesters put “ environmental racism” on the map. 15 years later, the state of North Carolina is spending over $25 million to clean up and detoxify the Warren County PCB
It is estimated that e-waste constitutes five percent of municipal solid waste and is expected to continuously rise. E-waste does not breakdown and stockpiling in landfill runs the great risk of toxic leaching into surrounding soils and in the case of an unlined landfill, possibly also into ground water. A steady build up of toxics has potential to cause significant environmental harm. However, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology, despite Australia being one of the most highly regulated areas of environmental control in Australia, there is no actual formal analysis on the activities of waste disposal and illegal polluting (Bricknell 2010). The lack of available statistics regarding illegal dumping can be explained by the tendency to regard the problem as non criminal.
The problem between physical fitness and high school is very clear. Learning how to better incorporate physical fitness in high school will set the tone and aid one for overall health in the future. Physical fitness is mandatory because the balance between health and high school will equal each other. “Regular physical activity is an essential component of personal and public health programs and is associated with reduced risk for specific health problems and lower all-cause mortality.” (Health 1). Physical fitness should be mandatory at the high school level because physical fitness eliminates a variety of health problems, improves academic performance, and decreases depression levels
In my opinion, I believe that Rachel spends her work day very ineffectively for many reasons. From the moment she gets to the office she instantly starts to socialize with her coworker. Although, having good relations with those you work with is important, it is unnecessary to waste time chatting when there is always an option to say “So great to have you back! We should catch up later.” Especially if she knows she was supposed to receive emails that are of high importance and hasn’t checked her email since 3:30pm the day before. I believe that this is an ineffective way to spend her first moments at work when she could have better prepared herself for the day. Also, waiting to check her emails till hours later is a poor choice when she
There are some reasons for the problem. The first reason is that the effects of the thrown rubbish are very dangerous and extremely harmful. According to Miller (1987), global industrial organizations produce over 80,000 different chemicals (para. 5). Basically, garbage is old, dirty and wet, so that it is a perfect place for bacteria and other viruses to stay in. Rubbish growth in cities has been a problem all over the world for centuries. Landfills have always been regarded as sources of illnesses and unpleasant smells. The harmful wastes from the garbage spread through the ground from paint, chemicals, petrol, batteries, and other toxic materials that have been thrown away into the garbage. The toxic chemicals get into the water pipes and spread through the people’s drinking water. Another reason of that problem is that people have created all these disasters, which are connected with environmental pollution. The more modern technologies are created, the more unbelievable become wastes and remains of what is produced. From this, man is responsible for what he or she created and for the following consequences. Anxieties about the environment have made people more aware of their environmental footprints or the kind of waste they leave behind during their existence. The difficulty is that an average person leaves an incredible amount of wastes in his or her lifetime. According to Lovejoy (1912), all biodegradable substances, contained in