Communicating health risks to the community from a state-of-the art waste-to-energy resource recovery facility through multimedia environmental monitoring program
Since 1986, when Montgomery County, Maryland decided to construct a municipal solid waste Resource Recovery Facility (RRF), the County has been seeking citizen input through citizen advisory committee meetings. Due to public concern that organics, primarily dioxins, that are released from municipal waste combustion create the risk of potential health-effects including cancer, the County conducted a multiple pathway health-risk study in 1989. In this study, organics and trace metals that are known to be released from municipal waste combustors and are generally considered to be of importance from a public health perspective were addressed. The County conducted several citizen meetings for communicating the results of the health risk studies. In these meetings, some citizens living in the neighborhood of the facility still expressed concern, and asked the County to conduct an ambient monitoring program prior to and during the operation of the facility. The County agreed to conduct a multimedia environmental monitoring program. The County Council endorsed this program. The major objective of the program was to determine the existing background levels of toxics prior to the operation of the facility and incremental increases, if any, resulting from the operation of the facility. In this program organics and trace metals discussed earlier, were periodically sampled. The media sampled were: air, soil, garden vegetables, surface water, fish and sediment from the farm ponds, dairy milk and hay. This paper discusses the original design of the program, citizen input to the design of the program, results of the program, and typical issues raised by the citizens in numerous public briefing conducted by the County, and the County's responses.
- Research Organization:
- Montgomery County Dept. of Public Works and Transportation, Rockville, MD (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20017386
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6th Annual Waste-to-Energy Conference, Miami Beach, FL (US), 05/11/1998--05/13/1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: In: 6th annual waste-to-energy conference, 328 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITIES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HEALTH HAZARDS
MONITORING
MARYLAND
MUNICIPAL WASTES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
METALS
PUBLIC INFORMATION