IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envman/v30y2002i6d10.1007_s00267-002-2649-z.html

Sydney Tar Ponds: Some Problems in Quantifying Toxic Waste

Author

Listed:
  • EDWARD FURIMSKY

    (IMAF Group, 184 Marlborough Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 8G4)

Abstract

Information on the type and amount of hazardous and toxic waste is required to develop a meaningful strategy and estimate a realistic cost for clean up of the Sydney Tar Pond site which is located on Cape Breton, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The site covers the area of the decommissioned Sysco (Sydney Steel Corporation) plant. The materials of concern include BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes), PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), and particulates laden with toxic metals, such as arsenic, lead, and others. The originally nontoxic materials such as soil, blast furnace slag, and vegetation, as well as surface and ground waters, which were subsequently contaminated, must also be included if they fail tests prescribed by environmental regulations. An extensive sampling program must be undertaken to obtain data for an accurate estimate of the waste to be cleaned and disposed of. Apparently, 700,000 tons of toxic waste, which is believed to be present on the site, may represent only a fraction of the actual amount. The clean-up of the site is only part of the solution. Toxic waste has to be disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward Furimsky, 2002. "Sydney Tar Ponds: Some Problems in Quantifying Toxic Waste," Environmental Management, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 0872-0879, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envman:v:30:y:2002:i:6:d:10.1007_s00267-002-2649-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00267-002-2649-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00267-002-2649-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00267-002-2649-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envman:v:30:y:2002:i:6:d:10.1007_s00267-002-2649-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.