Environmentalism

I'm currently doing the NEBOSH Diploma in Environmental Management, in a futile attempt to take charge of our (or at least make sure that we have
some) Environmental management.

To this end, a few facts:

• There are only seven landfill sites in the UK which can now take "hazardous" wastes. Prior to this year, there were hundreds. Some counties have no landfill sites at all, so rubbish has to be transported 50-60 miles to be disposed.



• Landfill tax, charged to everyone (except householders) who deposits material to landfill sites, was set in the late 1990s at £7 per tonne. This was raised by £1 each year until now - it stands at £15 per tonne. From now, it will be raised by £3 per tonne until it hits £35 per tonne.



• New land remediation legislation means that the owners of any property which is built on contaminated land may be required by the Environment Agency to clean up the underlying land. This is typically due to previous industrial usage, e.g., gasworks, mining, chemical works, tanning, old landfill sites, some agriculture. The Agency will first go after the company or person who introduced the contamination, but then it will go to the land owner. Although it was not specifically intended for householders, about half of the remediation notices (for up to £40,000 of work) have been for private dwellings on brownfield or tip developments. The legislation is interesting legally as it is retrospective. It is a particular problem in the UK as we have just about the longest industrial history in the world, and thus the most contaminated land, most of it dating from times when records and maps were not particularly accurate.



• Dioxins are some of the most poisonous chemicals known to man (outside snake venom). For some, there is no "safe" limit at all (this is not actually that uncommon) - they are generally toxic and vigorously carcinogenic materials and contribute to the poor air quality in some of our cities. They are mainly produced by the uncontrolled burning of organic matter, so all the incinerators in the UK are strictly controlled and regulated by the Environment Agency. Indeed, the annual dioxin output from all these incinerators is considerably less than from one single garden bonfire. The highest levels of dioxins in the air in the UK are found - on the 6th November!!! The most ever detected in the UK were - after the burning of cattle carcasses following the Foot and Mouth panic/mismanagement.



• Just one litre of chlorinated solvent (dichloromethane, chloroform) in a reservoir of drinking water (or a groundwater aquifer) will make the entire reservoir unfit for consumption.