CHAPTER 2

Environmental .Dis asters

Environmental disasters occur because of natural or humanmade causes. The latter could be due to the release of pollutants into the environment, either accidentally or because of negligence or insufficient knowledge about the material. A flood that leads to human and material loss because of the building of a dam can also be considered a humanmade environmental dis- aster. Sometimes it may be difficult to connect a disaster to the cause, but humankind has slowly started realizing that the subsystems in our ecosys- tem are intricately interconnected and every action can lead to a disaster at a later point in time. Droughts, torrential floods, and other environmental dis- asters cost the world about $70 billion in 2002 (Reuters, 2002). In the United States, the number of incidents related to leakage or spills of chemicals and oil from pipelines, mobile units, storage tanks, railroads, and fixed manufac- turing units increased from 25,700 per year in 1991 to 32,200 per year in 2003 (National Response Center, U.S. Coast Guard; http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/ nrchp.html). The present generation, which has benefited from past progress, has also inherited past environmental mistakes. So it is the responsibility of the current generation to ensure that future generations inherit only the benefits of the progress, that they do not inherit any past environmental mistakes, and that the mistakes of the past generations be corrected.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs monitor environmen- tal occurrences (natural and humanmade) around the globe. Several of their reports on humanmade disasters are listed in Table 2-1. Pollution abatement expenditures in the European community vary from 0.5 % of GDP in Greece and Spain to 1.6% of GDP in Germany. The expenditure in the United Kingdom is about 1.2% of its GDP (1990 data, Ecotec Research and Con- sulting Co., 1993), whereas the cost of pollution control in Japan is on the order of 2% of its GDP.

Various Disasters

This chapter briefly describes the various disasters that have occurred in the past few years and the problems caused by them. The study of various

11

12 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents

TABLE 2-1 Humanmade Environmental Disasters [United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs]

2003

2002

2000

1999 1997

1996

Pakistan mOil spill in the Port of Karachi Morocco--Inland oil spill Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro--Phenol spill into a river system Republic of Djibouti m Toxic chemical spill Nigeria--Munitions dump explosion Venezuela~ Mudslides and chemical spill, floods, chemical spill and the

organic contamination in the coastal zone Romania, Hungary, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia~ Baia Mare cyanide

and heavy metal tailings spill Hungary and Romania--Baia Borsa mining waste spill Kenya--Aviation fuel spill Chile--Acute pollution of the Loa River Somalia~ Hazardous waste, alleged dumping of hazardous substances Philippines ~ Mine tailings spill

incidents should help us to develop manufacturing processes that do not pollute, evolve safe means of disposing of toxic effluents, and avoid the hazards involved in storing and transporting toxic materials.

Acid Rain

Acid rain is rain with a pH of less than 5.7, which results from high lev- els of atmospheric nitric and sulfuric acids that get washed down to earth. Oxidation of sulfur and nitrogen in coal or other fossil fuels leads to the generation of acidic pollutants in the atmosphere. Acid rain has caused con- siderable damage to forests in many developed countries. Use of low-sulfur coal and gasoline can prevent acid rain.

Ca rbon Diox ide

CO2 is not a pollutant in the conventional sense, since it is essential for plant growth. Combustion of fossil fuels, including coal-fired thermal power stations and forest fires, has increased the background levels of CO2 from 315 ppm in 1960 to 405 ppm in 2000, which leads to an atmospheric greenhouse effect, which in turn increases the average temperature.

O z o n e Layer Dep l e t i on and H u m a n H e a l t h

In 1993 the atmospheric ozone layer surrounding the earth thinned to the lowest levels ever recorded. With the loss of stratospheric ozone, the atmo- sphere became more transparent to radiation, resulting in an increase in the amount of ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation reaching the earth. It has been

Environmental Disasters 13

found that an increase in UV radiation can lead to an increase in human diseases, including skin cancers, eye damage, and reduction in the effective- ness of the body's immune system. White skin is more prone to burning than black or brown skin. The Arctic ozone holes within the next 10 to 20 years could affect inhabited areas of northern Europe, Canada, and Russia (New Scientist, Oct. 10, 2000).

The ozone layer is affected because of emissions from earth and deposi- tion in the stratosphere of compounds such as bromofluorocarbons (halons), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), CO9., nitro- gen oxides (NOx), chlorinated carbons, methyl bromide (CHgBr), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20). CFCs are among the most important ozone- depleting substances; they are used in aerosol propellants, coolant agents in refrigerators, cleaning agents, and plastic foam-blowing agents. An interna- tional agreement was reached (the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, signed by 148 countries) that banned the production of most CFCs by the year 2000, and the Copenhagen amendment to the Montreal Protocol called for the cessation of HCFC (an alternate to CFCs) production by 2030.

Global W a r m i n g ~ Petrol versus Diesel

Based on some theoretical studies, it is believed that CO2 produced by petrol engines could be less harmful to the planet than the soot and dust produced by diesel engines. A climate model showed that the soot produced by diesel engines will warm the climate more over the next century than the extra CO9. emitted by petrol-powered vehicles. In addition, the soot particles would alter the humidity of air by allowing water droplets to condense around them, causing pollutants to accumulate in the air and change weather patterns. Hence 1 g of black carbon is 360,000 to 840,000 times as powerful a global warming agent as 1 g of CO9..

Pol lu t ion Reducing Sunshine

Airborne pollutants have led to a steady decline in sunshine in vast polluted regions of eastern China. The amount of sunshine has fallen by between 2 and 3 % a decade, and the maximum summer temperatures have also fallen by around 0.6~ a decade. In Zambia and the Brazilian Amazon, pollution blots out around a fifth of the sun's radiation at certain times of year (Freeman, 1990; New Scientist, 2002e).

Polychlor inated Biphenyls in the Env i ronment

About 80 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are produced annually, and they find applications in capacitors, transformer oils, and heat transfer fluids. Half the amount is used as plasticizers, hydraulic fluid, and adhesives, as well as in carbon paper. About 10 million pounds escape

14 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents

annually and become environmental contaminants. These are very stable compounds, do not degrade, and accumulate in animal tissues. PCBs have been found in polar bears in the Arctic and penguins in Antarctica, creat- ing havoc. Killer whales in the Gulf of Alaska are among the most heavily PCB-laden marine mammals in the world, and their numbers are in rapid decline.

Methy l Ter t iary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

MTBE is an "oxygenate" that makes gasoline burn cleaner and more effi- ciently, but it is also identified as a probable carcinogen that spreads rapidly when gasoline escapes from leaky underground storage tanks, contaminat- ing sources of groundwater and drinking water from New York to California in the United States. At least 16 states already have passed measures to ban or significantly limit the use of MTBE in gasoline.

Exxon Va ldez Spill

The grounding of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez on Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989, released almost 11 million U.S. gallons of North Slope crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska. A major storm a few days later spread the oil into the shorelines of the numerous islands in the western part of the Sound and out into the Gulf of Alaska. Bioremediation was carried out by the application of an oleophilic liquid fertilizer, a micro emulsion of a sat- urated solution of urea in oleic acid containing tri(laureth-4)-phosphate and butoxy-ethanol to stimulate the activity of the oil-degrading bacteria. Two weeks after application of the fertilizer, the cobbles on the treated section of the shoreline were substantially clean. But most seabird populations hit by the oil spill have not shown signs of recovery even a decade after the disaster (New Scientist, May 2001).

Pipeline spills reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation aver- age 12 million gallons of petroleum products a year. The U.S. General Accounting Office says an average of 16,000 small oil spills seep into water- ways each year, half of them during loading or unloading operations, and the real number could be three to four times that.

Cyanide Spill a t Baia Mare, March 2000

On January 30, 2000, following a breach in the tailing dam of the Aurul SA Baia Mare Company, a major spill of cyanide-rich tailings waste from the extraction of precious metals was released into the river system near Baia Mare in northwest Romania. The contaminant traveled via tributaries into the Somes, Tisza, and finally the Danube rivers before reaching the Black Sea (UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, 2000).

Environmental Disasters 15

Corals Affected by H u m a n Waste

Human wastewater containing undegraded drugs and antibiotics is having a bad effect on the aquatic environment, especially on the corals off the coast of Florida, which form the world's third largest barrier reef (New Scientist, 2002b). It has been found that half of the live coral off the Florida coast has disappeared in the past 5 years. The fish that feed on these corals have developed deformities and died in much higher numbers than usual.

M o v e m e n t of Pol lu tants into Coastal Aquifers

Wells located near coasts could be more polluted than the ones located inland because the pollutants dumped into the sea diffuse faster through the soil bar- rier (they are less soluble in salty water because of the "salting out effect") (New Scientist, 2003b). This phenomenon can be observed in the move- ment of pollutants from sea to the coastal aquifers mnatural reservoirs of freshwater held in porous rock and also toward coastal agricultural land.

Chernobyl Accident

The Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine in 1986 was the result of a flawed nuclear reactor design. The reactor was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety, leading to a steam explosion and fire that released -~5 % of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind of the plant. Some 31 people were killed, and there have since been around 10 deaths from thyroid cancer attributed to the accident.

Bhopal Disas ter

On December 2, 1981, more than 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanine (MIC) and other lethal gases, including hydrogen cyanide, leaked from a pesticide factory at the northern end of the Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, India. More than 8,000 people were killed, and more than 500,000 people suffered multisystemic injuries. Toxic gas exposure was found to have had a detrimental effect on the immune system (Lepkowski, 1985).

Bashkiria T ra in -Gas Pipeline Disaster

The Bashkir train-gas pipeline disaster occurred in June 1989. At least 400 people were killed when a pipeline transporting a methane-propane mixture exploded as two trains were passing, causing 400 immediate deaths and more than 800 casualties, mostly with burns (Kulyapin et al., 1990).

Seveso Dioxin Accident

Dioxins and furans are halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons that are com- monly produced by combustion of fossil fuels and incineration of municipal

16 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents

waste, as a byproduct of pulp and paper bleaching, and in the production of other chemicals. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin is the most toxic member of this family. It is an endocrine disrupter as well as a potent animal carcinogen and teratogen that persists in both the environment and biologi- cal tissues. On July 10, 1976, a valve broke at the Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa Azionaria chemical plant in Meda, Italy, releasing about 3,000 kg of dioxin-containing chemicals into the atmosphere. Approximately 4% of local farm animals died, and roughly 80,000 animals were killed to prevent the contamination from moving up the food chain. It is believed that this exposure affected the sex ratio in future progeny.

Czech Plant Leaked Hundreds of Kilos of Deadly Gas

Several hundred kilograms of highly poisonous chlorine gas leaked into the air in an accident at a flooded chemical plant in the Czech Republic on August 23, 2002. The accident happened when workers at Spolana, a unit of the chemicals group Unipetrol, pumped fluid chlorine gas out of a storage unit that had been damaged in the flood. There were no casualties in the accident.

Superfund

The Superfund Program in the United States was initiated in 1980, when the Environmental Protection Agency started identifying contaminated sites where hazardous waste was dumped on the land or in the rivers, or buried as landfill by industries, polluting the environment and caus- ing harm to animals and humans (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC). There are over 1,400 Superfund sites across the United States that were contaminated by chemicals such as acetone, benzene, 2-butanone, carbon tetrachloride, chlordane, chloroform, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, methylene chloride, naphthalene, pentachlorophe- nol, PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), tetrachloroethylene, toluene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and xylene; metals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc; and pesticides such as DDT, DDE, and DDD.

Conclusions

Several approaches could be adapted to mitigate environmental disasters such as:

�9 Use biodiesel as fuel, and use nonpolluting means of transportation. �9 Manage waste properly, and install waste treatment plants in every

industry.

E n v i r o n m e n t a l Disasters 17

�9 Develop processes that generate little or no waste. �9 Avoid storage of toxic and hazardous chemicals. �9 Determine the toxic nature of all chemicals and materials that are being

used by humankind. �9 Develop better analytical techniques for monitoring pollution. �9 Use environmental resources judiciously. �9 Manage hazardous wastes properly. �9 Bring about public awareness.

Society should be willing to bear the extra cost involved in efforts to reduce or eliminate pollution at its source. Otherwise we end up paying for cleaning the polluted ecosystem and/or for our medical bills. In many cases the long-term impact of pollution on the ecosystem and human health is not fully understood, and it is too late by the time extra knowledge is gained. Estimating the cost of pollution is not easy and straightforward. There are several direct and hidden costs: the decrease in the market value of the resource caused by pollution, the cost of pollution prevention or environ- mental remediation, the cost of the impact of environmental pollution on ecosystems and human health, and the cost of environmental protection. Another important factor is society's "willingness to pay" for the reduction of environmental pollution.

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�9 2002e. Pollution is plunging us into darkness. Dec. 14. 2003b. Seawater pumps pollutants into the coastal aquifers. June 17.

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