The Environmental Pendulum: A Quest for the Truth about Toxic Chemicals, Human Health, and Environmental ProtectionThe pendulum of environmental policy swings from one extreme to the other, depending on which camp is in power and who has the ear of the media. Underkill is followed by overkill. Concern breeds action; disillusion breeds reaction. The Environmental Pendulum provides a thoughtful and evenhanded assessment of this conflict. Tens of thousands of sites across the country are contaminated with toxic chemicals. Environmentalists warn us that this legacy of carelessness is seriously affecting both human health and the ecological balance of nature. They point out that even improved industrial practices will not eliminate future chemical releases to the environment. Their demand for regulatory control has received wide public support and led to the passage of the Superfund legislation in 1980. Now, after twenty years, the value of the Superfund program is being challenged by corporate America, which argues that excessive cleanup costs have the potential to bankrupt the nation. R. Allan Freeze outlines the difficulties associated with the management of hazardous waste and offers a balanced account of the controversy over the role of environmental contamination in human health. Freeze clarifies what matters and what doesn't with respect to chemical contaminants in the environment, arguing that environmental policies should be based on an accurate appraisal of the risks associated with these toxins. He concludes the book with a brilliant summation of the good news and the bad news of environmental pollution, describing what can and can't be done to bring the situation under control. |
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Contents
Prologue A Day at Smithville | 1 |
The Polarization of the Environment | 7 |
Tables | 12 |
The Environmental Consequences | 48 |
O Cost per life saved for a selection of riskreducing | 138 |
Impacts of contaminated sites | 144 |
The Unpleasant Truths about Waste Management | 147 |
Disposal instructions for solvents on Chemical Safety | 151 |
Remedial options at Prices Landfill | 200 |
Status of emerging technologies for insitu site cleanup | 210 |
The Regulatory Quagmire | 221 |
The Environmental Game | 253 |
Players in the environmental game | 255 |
Some sources of technical uncertainty | 262 |
Examples of social bias | 266 |
Solutions | 282 |
Other editions - View all
The Environmental Pendulum: A Quest for the Truth about Toxic Chemicals ... R. Allan Freeze No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
acceptable action agencies American approach aquifer Assessment associated benefits bioremediation cancer carried chemicals cleanup clear companies contaminated sites corporate costs decisions direct disposal dose economic effective engineering environment environmental estimates example experts exposure facilities fact failure Figure flow future ground groundwater hazardous health risk human impact important increased industrial involves issues landfill leachate lead legislation less Love Canal million nuclear operation organic parties PCBs percent plant plume political pollution possible potential Press prevent probability problems programs protection pumping question recent recycling reduce regulations regulatory releases remedial remove represent require responsible result risk safety social society soil solvents standards studies Superfund Table technical technologies toxic turn types waste waste-management