Eye Opener: Review of reading 23- Bioreactors and EPA Propsal to Deregulate Landfills

This article is based around the idea that the compost industry has yet to show how it can complete as an alternative to landfills because current landfill regulations put composting at a severe disadvantage by allowing landfills to defer costs of inevitable environmental contamination to future generations while composting had to address evironmental concerns in the short term before compost can be used beneficially. It talks about helping the problem by having and EPA deregulate most national standards, but in the long run it would just perpetuate landfilling. The article is then divided into 3 sections: Failure of "Dry Tombs", "Bioreactors" a Risky Techno-fix, and Deregulating Landfills.

Failure of "Dry Tombs"

This section talk about how back in 1987 composting attempted to complete with landfilling. Things didn't work out due to a political decision which was based around money. EPA could have could required keeping biodegradable materials out of landfills and promote source seperation of materials- leading to reduced multiple problems. But, the reason is became flawed went into effect because the practice of deferring liability for these discharges in the future made it appear that landfilling was less expensive then it really is.

"Bioreactors" a Risky Techno-Fix

Finally, during the 1990's the EPA couldn't ignore the facts about landfilling and composting. So, instead of recognizing the futility of trying to manage organics mixed with toxics in huge mountains of garbage, EPA promotes an extremely risky technological fix dubbed "bioreactors". A technique of deliberately flooding the landfill with massive additions of liquids in an attempt to accelerate rather than halt, decomposition. The was "cheap" and only partially resolved the longterm problems that wil create a whole new set of short term problems.

Deregulating Landfills

EPA is still investing in the risky techno-fix of bioreactor landfills. They are also proposing a rule that would allow each state the sole discretion of issuing exemptions from most of regulations for landfill operators without oversight. This is apparently a rule to encourage innovation. According to the autor, this is rule a disguise to deregulate most of the minimum national standard for landfill permitting and open the flood gates to the most ill-considerest bioreactor designs built on the cheap to ensure that composting will not be able to compete in the 21st century.

My Thoughts

I really liked this article, but at the same time found it to be very opioniated on the autors behalf. He basically bashed the EPA the entire time about landfilling vs. composting. I agree with him when he says we should work harder in the direction of composting and not just use "cheaper" methods in get rid of our waste. It's funny to me and also saddening that most issues are based around money. That's the world we live in, so we are going to have to find ways in which we can help. We have to work together and strive for the same goals. If thats not going to happen, then helping the planet is going to be a hard task.

Different View Points on The Topic

The EPA is doesn't exactly have a good reputaion within this article, but after reading through their website, they do contribute to the environment in many other ways. It's easy to pick apart a large corporation and find flaws here and there. At the same time, I don't think some things should be taken more lightly than others.
http://www.epa.gov/ -EPA
http://www.fairfieldcompost.co.uk/what_we_do/environmental/environmental3.html- Importance of Composting
http://www.jgpress.com/archives/_free/000146.html - Interesting article on Lanfill Gases

Questions to Pose..

-Do landfills have any benefits to the environment?
-Should the EPA be so concerned with the economical decision rather than the "healthier" decision?