Risk Management And Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste Risk Assessment provides a concise yet comprehensive examination of concepts and techniques in risk assessment that can be applied to hazardous waste problems. The book emphasizes the use of health risk assessment to support management decisions on hazardous waste disposal and site remediation programs. Methods discussed include those for developing strategies for health and environmental assessment and site restoration tasks, evaluating corrective action programs, determining the effects of risk assessment results on risk management decisions in hazardous waste programs and general risk management and prevention programs, and performing safety evaluations of hazardous waste facilities. Step-by-step numerical case evaluations are used to help present the book in an easy-to-follow, realistic manner. Features

A challenge facing society today is how to develop a meaningful strategy for integrated hazardous waste management. Meeting this challenge was the principal motivation for the conference on "Risk Assessment and Risk Management Strategies for Hazardous Waste Storage and Disposal Prob lems," held at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on May 18-19, 1988. The conference brought together representatives from the major interested parties - environmentalists, government, insurance, law, manufacturing, and the university community - who have been con cerned with the waste management process. The conference was the third cosponsored by the Wharton Center for Risk and Decision Processes addressing the knotty problem of hazardous waste. The first, held at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in 1985, examined the transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials. It suggested steps that industry, insurers, and gov ernment agencies could take to improve the safety and efficiency with which hazardous materials are produced and controlled in industrialized societies. Specifically, it focused on the risk-management tools of insurance, com pensation, and regulation. xv xvi PREFACE The second conference, held at the Wharton School, University of Penn sylvania in 1986, concentrated on the role of insurance and compensation in environmental pollution problems. It characterized a set of problems related to the environmental pollution liability insurance crisis as presented by key interested parties and proposed a set of research needs for providing a sound basis for constructing socially appropriate measures to deal with the problem.

This volume of proceedings reviews the status of risks entailed in the manufacture, handling, use and disposal of the chemicals on which we all depend and suggests further action for the protection of both the workplace and the natural environment.

This book analyses the treatment of uncertainties within risk management and regulation for hazardous wastes, in five national case-studies. It is shown that, although institutional uncertainties vary between national political cultures, regulatory bureaucracies everywhere understate these more fundamental uncertainties (which are often structural conflicts, of different rationalities) and define them instead as marginal technical uncertainties or imprecision in risk-definitions. Close comparative analysis shows that technical regulatory standards depend upon their local institutional setting in systematic ways, so that conventional regulatory emphasis on technical precision or standardisation should be replaced by greater social negotiation, and educated public involvement and control. Readers will find the book valuable for its novel analytical approach especially in relation to public acceptance issues, and the argument for fresh practical approaches derived from this; in addition there is new information and analysis from the descriptive materials in case studies. Its main aim is to stimulate fresh thinking and approaches to an urgent problem.

Hazardous waste in the environment is one of the most difficult challenges facing our society. The purpose of this book is to provide a background of the many aspects of hazardous waste, from its sources to its consequences, focusing on the risks posed to human health and the environment. It explains the legislation and regulations surrounding hazardous waste; however, the scope of the book is much broader, discussing agents that are released into the environment that might not be classified as hazardous waste under the regulatory system, but nonetheless pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. It provides a background of some of the major generators of hazardous wastes, explains the pathways by which humans and wildlife are exposed, and includes discussion of the adverse health effects linked to these pollutants. It provides numerous case studies of hazardous waste mismanagement that have led to disastrous consequences, and highlights the deficiencies in science and regulation that have allowed the public to be subjected to myriad potentially hazardous agents. Finally, it provides a discussion of measures that will need to be taken to control society’s hazardous waste problem. This book was designed to appeal to a wide range of audiences, including students, professionals, and general readers interested in the topic. Provides information about sources of and health risks posed by hazardous waste Explains the legislation and regulations surrounding hazardous waste Includes numerous case studies of mismanagement, highlights deficiencies in science and regulation and discusses measures to tackle society’s hazardous waste problems

Site-specific risk assessment is the process of evaluating whether or not a site poses a risk to human health or the environment. The purpose of all hazardous waste site remediation is ultimately to render a site safe for human or ecological populations. Consequently, risk assessment, as the process used to measure the effectiveness of the remediation process, is critical to all hazardous waste-site work. Risk assessment at hazardous waste sites involves the use of standard approaches and assumptions in a reasoned, common sense manner. The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance to people wishing to learn about, conduct, or use risk assessment procedures in evaluating hazardous waste sites. Critical issues, standard formulas and assumptions, and guidance on characterizing risk results in a useable manner are presented. The use of risk assessment as a key tool in selecting appropriate remedial options at hazardous waste sites is also described. Most attention is given to human health risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals, but descriptions of the strategies used to estimate radiation health risks and to evaluate risks to the environment are also provided. Although most commonly applied to hazardous waste site remediation, the procedures outlined in this book are generally applicable to any situation involving a potential for health risks to an exposed population. This book provides guidance on the mechanics of risk assessment preparation and illustrates these approaches with examples. However, the focus of the book is on the subjective nature of risk assessment, the art rather than the science. The actual risk (i.e., the right answer) can never be known. Consequently, while it is valuable to attempt to obtain the best numeric solution, reasonableness and the application of common sense are equally important. The book therefore devotes a substantial amount of space to issues of uncertainty that are inherent in risk assessment, and the need to address this uncertainty.

This book is concerned with international regulation, negotiation and policy-making in the environmental realm.