LUDB: Waste

Albany Dump

Sun, 27 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The undeveloped Albany Dump peninsula (also called Fleming Point and "the Bulb") is composed of fragments of the urban landscape dumped into the Bay up until 1984. Chunks of concrete, twisted metal, piles of shingles, and other debris are visible like a sort of geologic stratigraphy on the steep escarpments on the edges of the Bulb. Pathways wander through the scrub, leading to sculptures, piles of refuse, encampments, open air galleries, and other surprises, and the dump has been home to as many as sixty people. Recent evictions by the city, in anticipation of the area becoming a park, have met with limited success. At the base of the peninsula is Golden Gate Fields, the Bay Area's largest horse racing track, recently bought from the Catellus Corporation by an English gaming company. The track is built on the site of a former explosives plant which blew up for the last time in 1892, shattering windows in San Francisco.

Aptus Hazardous Waste Incinerator

Wed, 23 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Major hazardous waste incinerator. Burns a minimum of 30,000 tons of solvents, paints, old chemicals, contaminated soils, and PCB's every year. Owned by Safety Kleen, which owns another major chemical waste incinerator a few miles west at Clive. The other major incinerator owned by the company, one of the largest hazardous waste companies in the country, is at Deer Park, TX. Former operators of Aptus include Rollins Environmental Services, which recently bought it from from Westinghouse.

Arlington Chemical Waste Facility

Tue, 15 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A 1,288-acre chemical waste disposal site with a capacity of 2,180,000 cubic yards, operated by Chem-Security Systems, a subsidiary of waste giant WMX Technologies. One of less than 30 commercial chemical waste sites in the country.

Beatty Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Site

Fri, 11 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A chemical and radioactive waste dump, and one of the few commercial facilities that can accept certain low-level radioactive and mixed hazardous/PCB wastes. It opened in 1970, as a radioactive waste site, and has over 1 million cubic yard capacity. Famous briefly for lending radioactive machinery to building projects in nearby Beatty, including the construction of a county office building and the Sourdough Saloon (after which, when this fact was made known, the buildings had to be torn down). U.S. Ecology is a division of American Ecology, which operates a few other similar facilities.

Boyer Smelter Site

Fri, 28 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A large, now closed-down smelter for lead and zinc mining operations in the Coeur d'Alene region, called Bunker Hill, which is now one of the nation's largest Superfund toxic clean-up sites. Two large stacks at the smelter, one 715-feet high, were demolished in 1996, and the rest of the operation, which employed 2,100 people once, closed in the early 1980's. The company that owned most of the smelter, Gulf Resources, went bankrupt, largely due to suits for negligence that allowed excessive emissions from the smelter's stacks to further contaminate the area. Lake Couer d'Alene, downstream from the smelter, received much of the runoff from the operation, and has a toxic sediment 18-inches thick. The smelter site is being cleaned up, and over 200 buildings have been removed since 1995.

Byxbee Park

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

This 30 acre park, constructed on a landfill between 1988-1992, has several earthworks and land art pieces on it, designed by the park designers, George Hargreaves, Peter Richards, and Michael Oppenheimer. A series of mounds, a series of poles, and other berms and concrete zigzags. Palo Alto meets the Bay in an interesting collection of terminal sites around the park. An active landfill for the city lies next to the wastewater treatment plant for the region, which discharges into the adjacent slough. Up until a few years ago, gold from the area's high-tech firms was extracted from the wastewater and sold. Now companies using gold capture it themselves.

Calumet Chemical Waste Dump

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A chemical waste site with a capacity of 3 million cubic yards, operated by Chemical Waste Management, a subsidiary of waste giant WMX Technologies. One of less than 30 commercial chemical waste sites in the country.

Chicago River Lockport Gates

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

When these gates on the Chicago River were opened ceremoniously in 1900, the course of the river reversed direction, in the culmination of an eight year engineering project. The river was reversed to move the sewage it contained, dumped into the river by the booming city of Chicago, into a river system that leads away from the city and, eventually, to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, instead of to Lake Michigan, as it did naturally. One of several rivers that have been reversed in the USA, this project was among the first and the largest. A total of 56 miles of canals were dug by the City in the early part of the 1900's to keep the waste out of the lake, in a network that is said to have involved more earth-moving than digging the Panama Canal.

Clive Incineration Facility

Wed, 23 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A relatively new $125 million hazardous waste incinerator, fully operational since January 1996, and one of the largest in the USA. Designed to burn up to 130,000 tons of toxic chemical wastes per year, mostly from petroleum and chemical industries. Owned by Safety Kleen, which owns another major chemical waste incinerator a few miles east at Aragonite. The other major incinerator owned by the company (one of the largest hazardous waste companies in the country), is at Deer Park, TX. Safety Kleen bought this plant around 2000, and prior to that it was operated by Laidlaw Environmental Services, the Canadian waste giant, which bought USPCI from Union Pacific in 1995, the company that began construction on the incinerator.

Coeur d'Alene Lake

Fri, 28 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Though the water is clean, this lake is heavily contaminated. It is popular among the recreational boaters who are no doubt mostly unaware of what lies under them. At the bottom of the 50-square-mile lake is 75 million metric tons of contaminated sediment (contaminated with lead, zinc and cadmium, and other metals), deposited in the lake from the Coeur d'Alene Mining District upstream, part of which is now a 21-square-mile toxic area known as the Bunker Hill Superfund Site.

Coffeyville Hazardous Waste Site

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

This hazardous waste management site is among the largest and most notorious in the nation. The hazardous chemical incinerator on site burned the contaminated soil from Times Beach, Missouri, as well as PCBs and other chemicals from all over the nation. The Safety-Kleen company, the nations largest hazardous and industrial waste management company, acquired the site when it bought Aptus, a division of Rollins Environmental Services, which itself had acquired the company from Westinghouse. Safety-Kleen closed the incinerator in 2001, but is continuing on site hazardous storage activities.

Deer Island Water Treatment Plant

Mon, 7 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The brand new multi-billion dollar Deer Island waste treatment plant and its affiliated engineering projects is said to be the largest public works project in the country. It is, at least, the second largest sewage treatment plant in the country (Chicago's is larger). Waste comes in pipes from the north, and from the south through a new 14 foot diameter, five mile long pipe traversing the bottom of Boston Harbor. The plant is capable of handling more than a billion gallons of wastewater per day, ejecting treated effluent out giant submerged sprinkler heads at the end of a 9.5 mile long tunnel that heads out to sea. A dozen "egg-shaped" digesters, 110 feet tall, loom over the island, and break down solids in the waste. Like many of the harbor's islands, Deer Island has hosted the unwanted for centuries, from banished native Americans, to quarantined Irish immigrants and prisoners. The city's sewage has been pumped out to sea here, treated and untreated, since 1899.

Detroit Waste to Energy Facility

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

One of the largest "waste-to-energy" plants in the country, this one handles 3,300 tons per day. Operated by Covanta Energy, which owns the most waste-to-energy plants in the United States (around 25 plants).

Devil's Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Relying on natural decontamination processes instead of chemical agents, Viet Ngo's "Lemna System" utilizes a variety of floating plants to remove harmful phosphorus, nitrogen and algae in water before it is released into a bay of Devil's Lake. Shaped in the form of a long, windy road or a coiled serpent, this site has attracted much attention from environmentalists, artists, and the general public as a role model for the natural reclamation of water.

Eagle Mountain Mine

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A shut-down Kaiser iron mine, that once provided ore to Kaiser's Fontana steel works. A suburban-looking development, with over 100 houses built to house mine workers and their families, is virtually abandoned, making Eagle Mountain one of the more recently-formed ghost towns. There is also a minimum security prison occupying some of the town's structures. The Eagle Mountain mine is one of three sites being considered for a "megafill" landfill site for Los Angeles (the others are the Mesquite Regional Landfill, near Glamis, and Bristol Dry Lake, near Amboy).

East Liverpool Hazardous Waste Incinerator

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:52:18 GMT

Around 60,000 tons of hazardous material, containing contaminants such as lead, mercury and arsenic, are burned in this incinerator on the Ohio River every year, making it one of the largest of its type in the world. It is operated by VonRoll America Incorporated's Waste Technology Industries, and went on line in 1993, despite being only 1,100 feet from a school.

Envirosafe Chemical Waste Site

Sun, 13 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The single permitted commercial hazardous waste dump in Ohio is located across the river from Toledo, in the industrial and farming community of Oregon. The site consists of hundreds of acres of grass covered mounds and waste handling sheds. It is one of the only commercial hazardous waste dump in the country with direct rail access. Envirosafe sold its other hazardous waste site in Idaho in 2001.

Falls Township Trash Plant

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

As much as 1,600 tons per day of trash is converted into energy here at this plant, finished in 1994. Billed as the "world's most technologically advanced trash-to-energy plant" by its parent company WMX Technologies, the large waste-handling company. The stack is 386 feet tall.

Fort Wayne Chemical Waste Dump

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A chemical waste site with a capacity of 2,800,000 cubic yards, operated by Chemical Waste Management, a subsidiary of waste giant WMX Technologies. One of less than 30 commercial chemical waste sites in the country.

Fresh Kills Dump

Sun, 13 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The principal dump for New York City's garbage for over 50 years, Fresh Kills is the largest landfill in the world. 2,200 acres and a few hundred feet high, the dump received 14,000 tons per day, or 5 million tons per year, until it was shut down in 2001. It became the disposal site for the remains of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attack of Sepember 11, 2001. It will be redeveloped into a park, eventually.

General Electric Hudson Falls Plant

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 00:00:00 GMT

This General Electric Plant, along with another, one mile downstream at Fort Edward, is the source of the PCBs that line the sediments of the Hudson River, making what some call the "largest Superfund Site in the Nation" (the watershed downstream of Butte, Montana also makes this claim). GE first took over this former paper mill to build parts for bombers in WWII. After the war, it became a major production site for capacitors and transformers, devices that used PCBs, a stable and noncunducting fluid, as insulation, until 1976, when PCBs were regulated out of common use due to health concerns about the material. During this period, GE discharged over a million pounds of PCBs through outfall pipes directly into the river. The pollution of the river caused fishing on the affected stretch, from Hudson Falls to Troy, to be outlawed in 1976, and a catch and release only law exists to this day downstream of the plant. Lingering deposits of PCBs, including 600,000 pounds pooled up in the ground under the parking lot of the Fort Edward plant, may still be be leaching into the river. The worst toxic deposits along the shores of the river are known and are fenced-off. The idea that the underwater sediments could continue to contaminate the river for decades has led to one of the most heated environmental debates in the history of New York. Most environmental groups support the dredging of these deposits. GE contends that disturbing the sediments will only make the matter worse.

Grand View Chemical Waste Site

Fri, 28 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Chemical waste dump with a 2,500,000 cubic yard capacity. Located on a 120-acre site, on a former US Air Force location purchased by Envirosafe in 1981, and later purchased by US Ecology, a division of American Ecology Corporation in 2001. Accepts PCBs and other hazardous industrial chemicals from industries all over the country, by rail and truck. Also accepts some low-level radioactive waste.

Grassy Mountain Waste Dump

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

This 640 acre site for hazardous and toxic materials opened in 1982 and employs about 100 people. Laidlaw operated this facility until recently, and it served as a dump site for the toxic ash from Laidlaw's incinerator, 15 miles away at Clive. One of three waste sites Laidlaw acquired when it bought U.S. Pollution Control Inc. (USPCI), a Union Pacific corporation, in 1994. Grassy Mountain is now operated by the Safety-Kleen company, which has bought most of Laidlaws hazardous waste site in the west. Safety-Kleen operates more than 10 landfills and four chemical waste incinerators throughout the United States and Canada.

Hanford Nuclear Site

Mon, 28 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Hanford is one of five major Department of Energy nuclear processing plants and R&D laboratories in the United States. It has more than ten industrialized areas (most with reactors of some kind) located on a 562 square mile site on the Columbia River in eastern Washington. Originally built in secret to produce plutonium for the Manhattan Project, the installation manufactured nuclear materials used in bombs for decades after the war, and it has become one of the most contaminated sites in the country, with millions of gallons of radioactive waste, much of it migrating through the soil towards the Columbia River. More than 10,000 people work on clean-up issues at the reservation, most of which continues to be closed to the public.

Haverhill Waste to Energy Facility

Mon, 7 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

One of the larger "waste-to-energy" plants in the country, this one handles 1,650 tons per day. Operated by the Covanta Corporation, which operates over 25 waste-to-energy plants, more than any other company.

Hyperion Treatment Plant

Sun, 20 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant is the last stop for the liquid wastes flowing out of the City of Los Angeles. From the 4 inch pipes that connect to the homes of the city, to the 30 foot diameter trunk lines that connect to the plant, the city's network of 6,500 miles of buried pipeline bring 320 million gallons of waste into the plant every day. Hyperion underwent a major expansion in the 1990's, and is now the third largest sewage facility in the country, after Chicago's and Boston's. It is located above the beach next to LAX, and discharges the treated waste into the ocean.

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Nuclear technology lab and test location, and a major radioactive material storage/disposal site. Located on 573,608 acres in southern Idaho, facilities include 52 nuclear reactors, 13 of which are still operable. The Navy's nuclear-powered submarine reactors are disposed of in a pit at INEL, as are radioactive wastes from other government sources. At the Test Area North, uranium-hardened armor for Abrams tanks is manufactured. Non-nuclear defense and energy-related R&D is performed at labs on the site as well, and INEL is a major contributor of waste management technologies. The only two nuclear-powered jet aircraft engines ever made were developed and built at INEL in the late 1950's, and remain on their outdoor test tracks today. The installation, owned by the Department of Energy, employs 7,500 people and is operated by Lockheed Martin.

Indianapolis Waste to Energy Facility

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

One of the larger "waste-to-energy" plants in the country, this one handles over 2,000 tons per day at a 23.5 acre site. Operated by the Covanta Corporation.

Kettleman Hills Hazardous Waste Facility

Thu, 19 Dec 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A chemical waste disposal and treatment site with a capacity of 5,700,000 cubic yards, operated by Chemical Waste Management, a subsidiary of waste giant WMX Technologies. The 1,600 acre site employs 120 people, and accepts waste from all over the west, but mostly serves California. One of less than 30 commercial chemical waste sites in the country, and one of less than ten sites licensed to take PCB's. Located 2.5 miles west of Interstate 5, the facility, as described in company literature, is 4 miles from the nearest residence, in Kettleman City. "The next closest populated area, Avenal, has a population of 12,000 people (6000 of which are in prison)."

Lokern Hazardous Waste Facility

Sun, 3 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

This is a hazardous waste dump now operated by Safety-Kleen, one of the largest hazardous waste companies in the country. The 320 acre facility accepts Class 1 wastes from petroleum-related industries, such as soils contaminated by chemicals from extraction and refining operations. Safety-Kleen bought a number of hazardous waste disposal sites, including this one, from Laidlaw Environmental Services in the late 1990's. Safety-Kleen allegedly dumped 2,200 tons of radioactive material from New York at this dump in 1999/2000.