Los Angeles Times: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed state public health and environmental officials Friday to visit Kettleman City to conduct “a thorough investigation” into the causes of birth defects in the San Joaquin Valley farming community.

Schwarzenegger’s intercession comes more than a year after activists petitioned state agencies to investigate whether a large toxic dump near the community might be causing cleft palates and other defects among the mostly low-income Latino residents.

The dump, operated by Houston-based Waste Management, is the largest hazardous waste facility west of the Mississippi.

Earlier this week, Jared Blumenfeld, the regional administrator of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, launched a federal inquiry, calling the situation “a human tragedy at a scale . . . none of us would want to have to endure.”

“We will take our time and spend time on the ground,” he said, alluding to activists’ complaints that state officials had refused to visit the beleaguered enclave. “When I hear about people doing reports without going to the community, it makes my blood boil,” he said.

Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice , a San Francisco-based group that has organized the community, called Schwarzenegger’s action “long overdue” and urged him to order the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to suspend a permit application from Waste Management to expand the facility.

Schwarzenegger emphasized that the investigation would “include interviews with families,” as well as “a scientific review of soil samples and a full examination of medical records.” Officials would also review the overall birth defect rates over a 22-year period in the region.

Community members say that five babies out of 20 live births in a recent 14-month period had facial deformities. A review by the Kings County Public Health Department found that six of 63 babies born over the same period to mothers living in the town had various birth defects.

The community of 1,500 sits in a region heavily polluted by pesticides and fumes from diesel-powered trucks.

Waste Management said in a statement it is “pleased” that the state will investigate the birth defects in a “coordinated interagency approach.” It added, “We believe our Kettleman Hills facility is highly protective of human health and the environment.” More …

With over 500 subscribers to this blog we reasoned that some of you my have experience of landfill fires which you may be able and willing to send us.

The research is non-profit making, and your information on landfill fires just might make a difference someday, especially if it put you in danger and the message you send us about it may help others not to make the same mistake!

He’s doing an MSc (Sustainable Waste Management) at the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment at Southampton University.

This is the enquiry he has made:

“My dissertation is on the subject of the “Detection and Treatment of Landfill Fires”

The aim of my paper is to review current ‘good practice’ for avoiding and extinguishing landfill fires by talking to experts around the world and gathering together the best information as a guide for European landfill operators, local authorities and Fire and Rescue Services in the UK. I want to provide a balanced view of ‘what works’ and ‘ what doesn’t work’ for MSW, C&D. Industrial and tyre wastes. The Fire College have said that they would be interested in parts of the dissertation if these can be translated into Guidance Notes.

This is my Wish List of research information:

* Documented / anecdotal reports of landfill fires:
* How were they started – deliberate (in the Third World), arson, spontaneous combustion, lightning, etc
* How were they treated – successes and failures.
* Fugitive emissions information – water and air.
* Geotechnical information – formation of ‘sink holes’, collapse, effect on containment system
* Any academic papers on the subject
* Introduction to anyone who has suffered a fire.

Any help will be most gratefully received and fully acknowledged and I will be very happy to let you have a copy of my dissertation, once it is accepted.”

Can you help? Use the comments form below or email any private communications to info@wastersblog.com

Landfill aims to reduce bird strikes on planes

By Steve Bartlett, St. John’s Telegram, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Last Updated: 22nd January 2009

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The operators of a Newfoundland landfill are launching an assault on the area’s large seagull population to help reduce bird strikes by flights in and out of St. John’s International Airport.

The Robin Hood Bay landfill near St. John’s plans to use noisy pyrotechnics to scare off an estimated 25,000 birds that congregate there during peak seasons.

Jason Sinyard, manager of waste management for the city, said some birds will have to be shot.

“The thing with gulls is they get used to things in a hurry,” he said. “You may have your pyrotechnics … but if you don’t have some lethal means to back that up, the gulls very quickly get used to the scare tactics.”

There is a potential for tragedy when birds hit planes and the possibility, however slight, exists in St. John’s, where bird strikes appear to happen about once a month.

Transport Canada statistics show 17 bird strikes at St. John’s airport in 2007, for a strike rate of 4.28 per 10,000 aircraft movements. That rate ranks the city airport second worst of the top 20 airports in the country, behind only Edmonton.

The airport fulfilled federal requirements and implemented a plan to manage the gulls on its property in December 2006.

An assessment of the surrounding area the following year confirmed the obvious — that the large flock of gulls at Robin Hood Bay is adding to the risk.

The landfill, which is run by the City of St. John’s, serves the greater Avalon and is undergoing a $38.5-million upgrade. The work includes numerous site changes, such as reducing surface garbage, covering waste at day’s end and diverting food from the landfill.

Randy Mahon, operations manager with the St. John’s International Airport Authority, is satisfied with the city’s plan.

He expects it will help lower the frequency of gull strikes.

“We can be effective within our own property, but we need the help of the city and the surrounding municipalities to be really effective,” he said.

Implementation of the Robin Hood Bay strategy is in the early stages. It’s hoped most measures will be in place by the end of the next construction season. More here…

During the development of this training package EU Skills and ESA consulted widely with organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other relevant stakeholders.

The CD includes exercises based around a typical “day in the life” of a collection operative. Read more here.

To receive a free copy of the CD please contact Energy & Utility Skills on, 0845 077 99 22.

The call comes as the Environment Agency publishes the latest figures on what happens to our waste in England and Wales.

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said: “The good news is we are recycling more and have sent nine per cent less waste to landfill in England and Wales since 2001. However, the report also highlights that we need to improve our reuse and recycling of waste and ideally, not produce it in the first place.

“Landfill should be the last resort for waste that we can’t recover or recycle, as it is not sustainable to keep sending it to landfill. The data give a clear indication of which regions have the greatest challenges. For example if we continue to landfill at current rates, existing landfill capacity in Wales, East Anglia and London could be full by the end of the decade. The space available to fill with waste has fallen by more than 30% in some areas since 1998/9.

‘These figures are projections and do not necessarily mean that we will physically run out of landfill space, because new sites may open. This report will be helpful to local authorities who are responsible for handling and managing municipal waste.’

‘There are examples of where both businesses and consumers can reduce, reuse and recycle more.’

‘Take Christmas as an example – on average this Christmas we will have used an extra 750 million bottles and glass containers, and 500 million drinks cans, yet we don’t end up recycling more of them.’

‘This is an example where both business and consumers need to look to reduce, reuse and recycle more. By making small changes, we can work towards reducing our dependence on landfills as we are still burying too much of our rubbish.’

The data for the year 2004/5 shows:

• We are recycling at an increasing rate – 23.5% for municipal waste (rising in England to 27.1% in 2005/6 according to Defra) and 44% for industrial waste;
• We are recovering and re-using more waste – waste inputs at material recovery and composting sites have tripled since 2001 to 5.3m tonnes;
• There are fewer hazardous waste disposal sites – only twelve commercial land fill sites and 50 private sites are licensed, concentrated in a central belt between Lancashire and Northamptonshire.
• No sites exist in Wales and only one in the South West of England;
• Overall production of hazardous waste has been falling gradually since 2001. This trend was interrupted by an increase of 50% in hazardous construction and demolition waste to landfill in 2004 (up by more than half a million tonnes), as contaminated land clearance schemes were brought forward to beat restrictions imposed by the Landfill Directive;
• 200,000 premises registered as producers of hazardous waste and 1,000 companies were involved in its transport, treatment of disposal;
• Out of 1,000 licensed landfill sites operational last year, only 350 were accepting municipal waste.
• The report also highlights that landfilling is set to become more expensive as we move our waste greater distances which in turn means more harmful emissions into the air. By reducing waste sent to landfill, we can reduce the impact waste management has on our environment.

Barbara Young added: “Defra’s Waste Strategy is currently under review and we hope it will reinforce the need to produce less waste and recover, glass, paper and other raw materials in greater quantities as we apply new methods to deal with our waste. This will present new business opportunities as new markets develop for the raw materials previously disposed of as waste.” More …

The Waster’s comment: Barbara, I do suspect that most of the nation are harbouring tons of bottles which they have not yet recycled due to confusion over collection dates – or will have given up trying to work out when to put them out - some time last week! To work out when the fortnightly recycling days for the various recyclables would fall certainly defeated the Waster. Besides he hardly rose early enough during the aftermath of the festivites, to even put his mixed waste wheely out on the drive before the collection.

The next problem is how to lift the recycled box full of bottles, and another for newspapers, now that they are so full, without incurring a major back injury. Do our collection authorities really risk assess this aspect?

The Waster is trying to prompt some controversy here. Just visit the blog and post us your comments!

As the availability of landfill space becomes limited, reopening sites to recover recyclable products could become an attractive option. Jackie Evans, ADAS’ director for the East Midlands explained: ‘This region, and in particular, areas of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, have a rich coal mining heritage.

It is entirely feasible that over the next 35 years, we could see mining return to our region but this time for recoverable waste. More here…

The Waster agrees that in theory the principle is OK. But, the reality will be less so.

What about all those odours and the EA regulatory requirements regarding licensing and IPPC permitting which arise? Just think of the liabilities that any waste mining organisation would be taking on with the inevitable PPC permit required if any waste at all was returned to the site.

The Wasters understanding is that the full range of CURRENT Environmental regulations would be applied to a mined landfill. On top of those barriers to landfill mining we now have the DSEA Regulations, and apart from hazards arising from the landfill gas present durng excavation, the EA would I suspect hold concerns about the venting to atmosphere of the methane which would be lost to atmosphere during the mining operations.

Tags: Waste Mining DSEA Regulations 

The plan sets out the environmental and wider impacts of the waste management sector and identifies ten objectives for the industry and the Environment Agency for the next five years. It explains how that sector is performing environmentally and pinpoints main areas for improvement. Some of the objectives outlined are voluntary and others are part of existing regulations. They will be reviewed annually to chart the progress being made.

The ten objectives are:

1. lessen the impacts of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions
2. reduce the consumption of raw materials by promoting the use of waste as a resource
3. improve and protect the environment by working to reduce number of pollution incidents
4. take steps to tackle waste crime and illegal operators
   improve data on waste production and management
   enhance natural habitats around waste management sites
5. work to risk based regulatory and environmental management systems
6. improve relationships between the Environment Agency, industry and the wider community
7. ensure there is a sustainable and competent waste management industry and regulator
8. improve health and safety by reducing accidents and injuries

 More here…

This list has been produced after consultation.

Humour – The Waster says: “If only he could return to the old days. A deck chair at the landfill site entrance, and a hole in the ground was all you needed! Oh, and of course it was necessary to take the money, which required standing up and adding bank notes to the roll in your pocket.”

Environmental Center for Arab Towns Under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and the Chairman of Dubai Municipality
The Environmental Center for Arab Towns is pleased to announce it’s first international environmental symposium taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the 14th & 15th of Nov. 2006.

Theme: Threats and Challenges to the Environment Lessons from past to shape the future.

P.S. Travel ticket and accommodations will be covered for the speakers.

The audience will include ministers and government officials, participants from local and international Environment agencies, NGOs, and Universities; in addition to any other parties interested in Environmental issues.

For more information downlaod the handout in .pdf form by clicking the link below:-

1st International Environmental Symposium, Dubai – Handout

Leading waste management company, Veolia Environmental Services, is celebrating after being awarded the prestigious PEEL People’s Cup for its Highmoor Landfill Site near Oldham.

Run by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), the annual PEEL People’s Cup is awarded to the landfill site operating team adjudged to be the best in each year.

The criteria for judging is based on how the site is supervised; operational features; the way the operating team works; staff welfare; safety; information techniques; local acceptability; environmental impact and aesthetics; plant maintenance and general impression. More…