Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey say Norman’s closed landfill is the most studied landfill in the world. They’ve got it hooked up to thousands of monitors so they can draw a 3-D picture of the plume of pollutants that leaches out of the bottom of the landfill — and they can use that information to draw conclusions about landfills all over the United States.
An oil drilling project on site could jeopardize the work, or bring new opportunities, depending on who you ask. Check out my story in today’s Oklahoman.
States are wrestling with how best to dispose of e-waste, or consumer electronic products that aren’t useful anymore and can be toxic.
Some states prohibit landfills from accepting the waste, which contains several toxic parts including lead in computer monitors and television screens. The electronics are more difficult to recycle and more expensive to recycle than some other materials, particularly because toxic chemicals can be released during the recycling process if they’re not handled properly. Because it’s so expensive and dangerous, some of America and Europe’s e-waste winds up at landfills and recycling plants in developing countries, like those in West Africa, where workers can be exposed to the hazardous wastes.
The Oklahoma Legislature made a move to address the issue by passing a law last session will require computer companies in Oklahoma to take back and recycle worn-out computers. The law, which goes into effect Jan.1, will encourage the development of companies that can recycle e-waste in Oklahoma, said Fenton Rood, of the state Department of Environmental Quality (see video above). The law only applies to household computers, not those in office buildings, and it doesn’t cover other e-waste, like cell phones and televisions.
Before the law goes into effect, people in Oklahoma City can take their old computers and electronics to the city’s hazardous waste center. There’s only one other permanent hazardous waste collection center in the state, in Midwest City. Towns and cities in rural Oklahoma hold recycling events from time to time. Rood said the law is designed so that it hopefully will be more convenient for people to recycle their computers in the future.
The state Department of Environmental Quality is already discussing ways to implement the new law. Rood, who works in the department’s land protection division, said the new law lets the DEQ pay for its efforts by charging fees to computer companies, but that the department is not allowed to hire a person to run that program. Unless that piece of the law is changed, it will be impossible to make the required changes, he said.
Whenever I write about air pollution here, I can’t help but think back to a year ago when I was living in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo. The city is this winding, hilly mess of cobble stone roads and tunnels that go through the hills. To walk into the city center from where I lived, I had to go through one of the main tunnels: it dripped this black goo, and when I walked through it, I would put my sleeve over my mouth to avoid lapping in all of the soot. At night, I’d come up to blow my nose to find tar-colored snot. It was gross, to say the least, and it wasn’t even on the radar of the environmental and health problems faced in Madagascar.
Here’s a blog I posted almost a year ago to the day about that situation. It’s a recap of a postcard I wrote to a friend here in Oklahoma City. (He jokes around that I have a big nose, so that’s what’s up with the drawing.) By one news report, Antananarivo has the second worst air quality of any city in the world. I’m not trying to downplay what officials here in Oklahoma say are significant health problems associated with ozone and soot in the air, but I think it never can hurt to get a little perspective, also.
