66: Waste Solutions

Question 1

What is bioremediation?

Answer 1

the use of microbes to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater

Question 2

What is phytoremediation?

Answer 2

the use of plants to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater

Question 3

What do bioremediation and phytoremediation require?

Answer 3

1. the right microbe or plant
2. the right climate
3. oxygen (sometimes)
4. time

Question 4

What is white-rot fungus?

Answer 4

can break down complex organic molecules
ex: wood, lignin

Question 5

Could white-rot fungus decompose plastics?

Answer 5

maybe we can use this fungus to break down for example, tires

Question 6

What is RCRA (1976)?

Answer 6

resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA) passed in 1976 to regulate solid and non-hazardous waste that is being produced NOW
- EPA controls hazardous waste from the “cradle-to-grave” (moment is it generated to disposed)
- classifies different types of waste and regulates them

Question 7

What is the Superfund Act also known as?

Answer 7

Comprehensive environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Question 8

What is the Superfund act?

Answer 8

(1980) provides a federal Superfund to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment

Question 9

How many Superfund sites are there?

Answer 9

about 40,000 listed Superfund sites

Question 10

What is a national priorities list?

Answer 10

law established 1300 sites in this list (most in NJ, NY, Penn, Cal)

Question 11

Are Superfund sites vulnerable?

Answer 11

many sites are vulnerable to climate change because they are in areas that are going to be submerged under the sea if it rises (Florida, Gulf of Mexico)

Question 12

Where are the Superfund sites in MN?

Answer 12

St Louis River site, West of Duluth, MN

Question 13

What are the 2 Superfund sites?

Answer 13

U.S Steel operated at steel mill (Duluth Works)
Other was operated by Duluth Tar

Question 14

What does the state do with superfund sites?

Answer 14

oversaw work by companies responsible for the contamination
- companies removed hazardous tar and transported it to be burned offsite for energy recovery, treated shallow contamination soil on site, and left deeper contaminated soil covered with clean soil
- cleanup is ongoing

Question 15

What is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (2021)?

Answer 15

law gave money to EPA to start rolling out billions to clean up Superfund Sites

Question 16

What is the Basel Convention (1989)?

Answer 16

international treaty that regulates the transboundary (movement of waste across countries)
- adopted in response to Africa and other parts of the developing world were discovered to have deposits of toxic wastes imported from abroad
- restricts the transboundary movement of waste (no complete ban)
- the US has signed it but Congress has not ratified it

Question 17

What is environmental justice?

Answer 17

every citizen is entitled to adequate protection from environmental hazards

Question 18

What happens to minority communities?

Answer 18

poor minority neighborhoods are more likely to have hazardous waste facilities, sanitary landfills, sewage treatment plants, and incinerators

Question 19

What is a NIMBY?

Answer 19

not in my back yard; a person who objects to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or hazardous in the area where they live, especially while raising no such objections to similar developments elsewhere
- We are all NIMBY

Question 20

Can we avoid the waste problem?

Answer 20

there’s no away for the waste we produce
- a clever person solves a problem, a wise person avoids it