18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · May 2016
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Nemerow & Dasgupta, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment, 2nd ed.; Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery, 5th ed.; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, 6th ed.; LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, Hazardous Waste Management, 2nd ed.; CCME, Guidelines for the Management of Biomedical Waste in Canada (1992); Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (1989); Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulations on radioactive waste; provincial hazardous waste regulations (e.g. BC's Environmental Management Act and Hazardous Waste Regulation).
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
Hazardous wastes pose direct risks to human health — acute exposure (chemical burns, poisoning, explosion/fire) and chronic exposure (carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, bioaccumulation up the food chain) — to workers, nearby residents and the general public if released. They also threaten the environment: improperly managed hazardous waste can contaminate groundwater and surface water (often irreversibly on a human timescale, as with a DNAPL plume), degrade soil quality, and cause ecological toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Beyond the direct hazard, historic mismanagement (leaking drums, unlined landfills, abandoned sites) has left a legacy of expensive contaminated-site remediation liabilities, which is itself a strong economic and regulatory driver for proper management going forward.
