Industrial Waste

 

Industrial waste - all of the liquid, solid and gaseous waste that is generated by industry - is a major concern for watersheds and for fish.  It can pollute the air, water and land, and the toxic pollutants may persist or accumulate in the environment, leaving a lasting negative impact. 

 

The following kinds of waste are examples of industrial waste:

 

·         petroleum refinery effluent

·         PCBs

·         metals from metals and surface finishing operations and smelting operations

·         effluent from industries such as photofinishing labs, chemical labs, paint and solvent producers and automotive shops

·         phenols from the wood industry, and creosoted timber.

All of these kinds of waste can be toxic to fish and to other organisms.  Negative impacts may include fatalities, developmental defects, diseases (e.g. cancers), loss or alteration of reproductive capacity, and loss or destruction of important habitat or sources of food.

 

Liquid waste presents the most immediate concern for watersheds and for fish, since it often finds its way directly into rivers, streams, lakes and oceans; but, liquid waste is not the only concern.  Even solid waste that is dumped into landfills may leach toxic substances into the groundwater.  Similarly, airborne emissions, such as particulate, may also end up on the ground and in the water.

 

Issues around Industrial waste fall under three broad headings: the creation of industrial waste (including waste prevention); waste disposal; and management and clean-up of contaminated sites.

Creation of industrial waste

 

The most important step that can be taken to fight industrial waste is to prevent it from being created in the first place.  If you don’t create new waste, you don’t have to figure out how to deal with it!  There are many ways for industry to avoid creating new waste, including environmentally friendly alternatives and recycling existing waste materials.

 

Other issues related to the creation of industrial waste include:

 

·         safety testing on chemicals and determinations on which chemicals it is legal to use

·         the establishment of standards for reducing the risks associated with chemical transport, labeling, storage and use

·         spills and accident prevention

Disposal of industrial waste

 

What to do with the toxics once they’ve been used?  Issues around disposal are many and varied, and include:

 

·         recycling of toxic by-products

·         detoxification methodologies

·         toxics containment

·         pollution control devices – and disposal of the devices after they are saturated

·         standards for effluent and emissions, considering issues of persistence in the environment and impacts on the food chain

·         proper disposal of containers that contained toxics

Management and clean-up of contaminated soils and waters

 

Sometimes it is too late to take preventative measures, since the damage has already been done:  you either suspect, or know, that the soil or water is already contaminated.  What to do?

 

The kinds of issues that need to be addressed here include:

 

·         site risk assessment

·         site security – including warning people of the dangers to human health

·         containment of the toxics on-site

·         site remediation and decontamination

Legislation

 

Industrial waste is regulated at both the federal and provincial levels.  At the provincial level, the Waste Management Act is the primary legislation.  The Act defines special wastes (i.e. toxics, as opposed to sewage), establishes laws for handling and disposing of special wastes, requires waste management plans to be created and followed and sets up standards and a scheme for permitting waste discharges and emissions. The Contaminated Sites Regulation sets out a scheme for managing contaminated sites.  The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is responsible for the legislation.

 

The BC Environmental Assessment Act also regulates industrial waste by subjecting certain projects to an environmental assessment prior to the project being allowed to go ahead.  Part 6 of the Reviewable Projects Regulation prescribes which projects generating special waste and local government solid and liquid waste will be reviewable on an assessment, unless the project is exempted by the executive director of the Environmental Assessment Office under section 10(1)(b) of the Environmental Assessment Act.

 

An engineer or water manager appointed under the BC Water Act has the power (further to s. 39(1)(j)) to order a person to “cease putting or not to put any sawdust, timber, tailings, gravel, refuse, carcass or other thing or substance into a stream”, and it is an offence to fail to comply with such an order (s. 41(1)(l)).

 

At the federal level, the primary legislation governing industrial waste is the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA).  Stating that pollution prevention is its “primary purpose”, the Act establishes and maintains various lists of substances such as toxic substances, and has laws and regulations for controlling their use.  For substances that are persistent and bio-accumulative, the goal is to “virtually eliminate” their release into the environment.  The Act and regulations under it also regulate the export and import of hazardous substances, disposal of waste at sea and transportation of dangerous goods including shipments of hazardous waste.

 

The Fisheries Act has important pollution prevention provisions that address the deposit of deleterious substances into fish-bearing waters.  An application for a Fisheries Act permit will also trigger the need for an environmental  assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.  

 

Related Guide pages:

·         Waste Management Act

·         Water Quality

For more information on Industrial Waste:

·         BC Environmental Network Waste, Health and Toxics Caucus, at BCEN website