Preface
Solving Hazardous Waste Problems Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by 185.252.219.123 on 09/23/18. For personal use only.
SOCIETY'S
CONCERN ABOUT POLLUTANTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT requires
pollution control and cleanup of hazardous waste sites. The 1986 Congres sional reauthorization of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund), similar initia tives in the Departments of Defense and Energy, and industry efforts may lead to expenditures on waste cleanup of $10-20 billion over the next five years. The problems are great, and the solutions are complex and expensive. Solutions require the cooperative effort of the public, government, industry, and the technical community. Yet, the methodology for achieving these solutions remains poorly understood, and advances in solving hazardous waste problems are rarely reported or are scattered in diverse literature sources. The symposium on which this book is based was intended to publicize recent advances in the methodology of cleanup of sites contaminated with polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). PCDDs, and especially 2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), are well-studied classes of chemicals that can serve as a model of approach to other hazardous chemical waste issues. Paul des Rosiers and I called on experts from many disciplines to define the potential problem, assess the risk, and describe the management of that risk. The multidisciplinary perspective covered the detection of the contaminant in the environment, its toxicology to living organisms, risk assessment through exposure routes, and elements in management of the risks. Because of the emotional nature of the dioxin issue, we strove to include speakers from many points of view. I have tried to maintain this balance in the book. I sincerely thank Paul des Rosiers for helping organize the symposium and all contributors. It is my hope that this book can define a very complex problem and describe solutions. The examples of dioxin cleanup issues and procedures are offered to provide engineers, health scientists, regulators, lawyers, business people, and other concerned individuals with a methodology applicable to other hazardous chemicals. I believe that science can detect pollutants in the environment and estimate their potential health risk. Society as a whole, scientist and nonscientist, determines acceptable risk. Society also plays a major role in managing risk because we face many problems and have limited resources to deal with them all. ix
I hope that we can address these important problems with sound information and a spirit of cooperation among the diverse interests, and I hope that we remember the fundamental intent: to solve hazardous waste problems. JURGEN H. E X N E R
International Technology Corporation Martinez, C A 94553 December 1, 1986
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