HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-05-10 Correspondence1
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CIVIC CENTER 410 E. WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 (319)356-500C)
TO: Bill Ambrisco, Darrel Courtney, Kate Dickson, Susan Horowitz, Randy
Larson, John McDonald, George Strait
You and each of you are hereby notified that pursuant to the authority
vested in the Mayor of the City of Iowa City, Iowa, or under State Law and
the Ordinances of the City of Iowa City, Iowa, as Mayor, I hereby call a
special meeting on May 10, 1988, at 5:15 p.m., to be held in the Council
Chambers of the Civic Center of Iowa City, Iowa.
The meeting is called for the purpose of consideration of a motion
approving recommendation that the City negotiate a construction management
contract with Stanley Consultants for the Wastewater Treatment Plant
Project, and further approve recommendation that the construction of
neighborhood sewers and other major sewers be incorporated into our in-
house public works operations; and consideration of a motion approving the
purchase of an automated pool blanket for the Mercer Park Aquatic Center,
all as detailed on attached agenda.
Dated at Iowa City, Iowa, this 6th day of May, 1988.
ATTEST:
IT CLERK
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CIVIC CENTER 410 E. WASHNGTON ST. IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 (319) 356-5000
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May 10, 1988 received:
•' Signature of Councilm er
r
e3 -, � /
Date Time
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CIVIC CEN(ER 410 E. WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 (319) 356-5000
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY 'CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of Play 10. 1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
I
i.
I
i
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY 'CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of Play 10. 1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
WA CITY
OF I O 319) 356-5050CITYWGTON ST. IOWA CITY, IOWA 5224p �
CIVIC CENTER 410 E. WASH
s�
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i
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May l0 1988 received:
(Signature of Councilmemoer�
�gi-
� � Time
DatkLv
e '
/y10 ,j/(4
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of -of f -ice-r
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CIVIC CENTER 410 E. WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CV, IOWA 52240 (319)356-50M
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
i
i
Notice of Special Meeting of May tn. ig88 received:
i
ignature of Councilm tuber
(Date Time
s
i
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
- i
Signature of Officer
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i
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CHIC CENTER 410 E. WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 (319) 356-5000
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May 10. 1988 received:
'AfW,tJ_AYaM (n, 1161 Mn
i nature Councilmem er) ��
�I lgff 3,`(0 Pnj
(Date) Time
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
I
i
I
i
i
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F
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May 10. 1988 received:
'AfW,tJ_AYaM (n, 1161 Mn
i nature Councilmem er) ��
�I lgff 3,`(0 Pnj
(Date) Time
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CNIC CENTER 410 E. WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CffY, 19WA 52240 (319) 356-5COD
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May 10, 1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
a
i
j
i
i
i
I
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice of Special Meeting of May 10, 1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of Officer
a
CITY OF
CMC CENTER 410 E. W 10 VVA
WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CfIY, IOWA 52 CITY
240 (319) 356-5000
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice Of Special Meeting of blay 10,
1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of fficer
i
CITY OF
CMC CENTER 410 E. W 10 VVA
WASHINGTON ST. IOWA CfIY, IOWA 52 CITY
240 (319) 356-5000
THIS FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CITY CLERK
Notice Of Special Meeting of blay 10,
1988 received:
IF UNDELIVERABLE:
Signature of fficer
City of Iowa City
MEMORANDUM
Date: May 5, 1988
To: City Council
From: City Manager
Re: Vandalism
I was advised by Department of Parks and Recreation staff that on the
evening of April 29, 26 monuments were tipped over, two of which were
broken and a 20 -foot section of split rail fence was torn down. Our crews
were able to repair the damage.
I was further advised that this is the second time on the weekend of a
prom night that vandalism has occurred at Oakland Cemetery. We do not
wish to direct any undue criticism; however, the coincidence cannot be
ignored. Hopefully, during the prom night in 1989, we will be able to
provide more frequent police patrol in the area and apprehend the vandals.
Also on Wednesday night, nine City vehicles were sprayed with a tar -like
substance. Each automobile will need to be sanded and the damaged area
repainted.
cc: City Clerk
bj/pc2
! •� 0
M6
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City of Iowa City
MEMORANDUM
Date: May 5, 1988
To: Committee on Community Needs (CCN)
From: City Manager
Re: Women and Minority Business Enterprise
The other evening I reported to the City Council the concern we have with
respect to the inability and general unsatisfactory performance we have
experienced with respect to Women and Minority Business Enterprise par-
ticipation in the CD8G program. While the Council was understanding of
the difficulties we are experiencing, they suggested we may wish to under-
take new policy initiatives to encourage WBE/MBE participation. It would
be appreciated if the Committee would schedule a discussion of this issue
and if possible prepare policy alternatives for Council consideration.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
tp3/8
cc: City Council
Marianne Milkman
Don Schmeiser
Ell
/ R
G87
RECEIVED MAY 3 1988
THE
LAND
C000nting Americ '
Ga jba�ge � Glut as
BY
STEPHANIJOHN E PM, 0WASSON AND
he United Sures is the ultimate
throw-au5y socia}•. eusrdispos-
able tlashiighn and razor 61ades
and u•ar oaper clothing, Il'e dmr
vonciousli• at' -""nod resnunnrs
that havily pack2ge rhrir products. If'e
sealcd aio l biodegradable laves tightly
plastic bads, along with
disposable tars, tattles and nus, ans
mountains of paper,
No other rounrn' in the world can
match she L-itcd•$ntcs's output of
garbage on aper -capita basis..amcrinns
Refit. - four to six pounds of garbage pct
da>', about double that produced by the
typial Japanese, Su•iss, ll'esr German or
Swedish Citizen and almosr three times that
of the typial resident of Oslo, \oru•ay,
The total amount of tush Fenented in the
res
4
JA"" )e
11 a wnm
SOence fOr the Pe6 40
colp
STE
C000nting Americ '
Ga jba�ge � Glut as
BY
STEPHANIJOHN E PM, 0WASSON AND
he United Sures is the ultimate
throw-au5y socia}•. eusrdispos-
able tlashiighn and razor 61ades
and u•ar oaper clothing, Il'e dmr
vonciousli• at' -""nod resnunnrs
that havily pack2ge rhrir products. If'e
sealcd aio l biodegradable laves tightly
plastic bads, along with
disposable tars, tattles and nus, ans
mountains of paper,
No other rounrn' in the world can
match she L-itcd•$ntcs's output of
garbage on aper -capita basis..amcrinns
Refit. - four to six pounds of garbage pct
da>', about double that produced by the
typial Japanese, Su•iss, ll'esr German or
Swedish Citizen and almosr three times that
of the typial resident of Oslo, \oru•ay,
The total amount of tush Fenented in the
res
4
JA"" )e
11 a wnm
SOence fOr the Pe6 40
colp
United States each day—about 400.000
tans—boggles the mind. It's enough to fill
about 40.000 carbace trucks or feat an
armada of 125 c2.,bagc barges Re the
..prodipal barge" that rceendy uandacd
the Atlantic Chun czrvin c tush eenmud
to Islip. Long Island.
Where docs this countn•'s trash go?
Well. as a recem advertisement placed by
the St amfitting Industry Promotion Fund
put it, "There are four wars to dispose of
garbage: Burn it. Bun• it. Recycle it. Or
send it on a Caribbean cruise." Although
the last alternative is used more width•
than people think—another, las pubdiciztd
barge full of toxic incinerator ash has been
wandering the sats for over a yor—the
three basic alternatives are burring the
garbage in landfills, burning it in
incinerators or recycling it.
The vast majority of g2rb2ge-80 to 90
percent—is dumped in landfills. fhc
remainder is split fairly evenly between
recycling and incineration. This historical
pattern is about to change dnstially.
Landfills arc rapidly running out of space.
A nxcmt survey hs• the federal Environmental
Protection Agmcv (EPA) found that one-
half of 211 municipalities will run out of
landfill space within ten yars, one-third
within five vars. This spacecrunch will be
compounded by the difficulty of finding
new dumpsites and the closure of man)-
dumps
anydumps that are polluting ground or surface
waters with 2 host of toxic materials.
With landfills filling up and closing
down, communities across the country are
grappling with the problem of what to do
with their trash. Where will the mountain
of garbage be moved in the coming
decades?
THE LEAKING LEGACY OF
LANDFILLS
One approach to the gub2ge glut would
be to build more landfills. But such a
program would be difficult and expensive
to implement. Land shorr2ees, public
opposition, and the costs of adequate
environmental monitoring and controls
will combine to limit the use of landfills in
the future.
Landfills require large expanses of
accessible space, preferably removed from
residential 2tas. Such land fs an increasingly
rare and expensive commodity in many
cities and towns. and landfills cannot be
built on just 2nv avail2ble 12nd. The iesson
that has been Tamed, the hard way. over
the last few decades is that landfills must be
sited in areas with appropriate soil
condition in order to present comaminarion
John.tf. I Pinson em4rararraJJsrirnrin fm m
rneironmrnsal consulting firm. Srrphmfr
Pollark is an mvironmrnml lacyn and
mrmhn of Srirncr Jar shy Proplri rdirorul
committer.
SE OF GARBq�;E;
THERE ARE FOUR WAYS
TO DISpO
IIrStHlta Af 4l 9 ,e srPY
Kr car � `I.Ir,...r+c�r,. ^4ro,0 „oC
n..."•+�
of ground or surface waters.
Historically, municipal landfills—then
known u town dumps—wen placed on
unwanted land, over old sand and gravel
pits or in swamps or wetlands. But such
lomrions were ultinutely found m contain
very permeable soil and resideabovcmajor
groundwater 2euifm. Raims�tcr percolzing
through the decomposing trash mixed
with wastes such as paints, solvents, oils.
poricides, and fertilizers to form toxic
leachate streams. This toxic soup traveled
through the permable soil into the
groundwater below.
The results? Municipal dumps ended up
polluting the groundwater below than
with frightening regularity. A survey of
New Hampshire landfdls br the Consen'2-
tion Mau• Foundation of New England
found that two-thirds of the dumps that
had monitored narbe groundwater found
evidence of contamination. According to 2
1986 EPA survey, over twenty percent of
the 850 sites then chosen or proposed for
the Superfund cleanup list were municipal
12ndfills. (See the accompanying sidcb2r.)
This enduring lee2cc of leaking landfills
posy a serjous roadblock to communities
or prix•", dr•elopers seeking to construct
neat• landfills. Citizens simply do not scant
such facilities in their towns. let alone their
backyards. Even ifi, developer an identify
2 suitable site for 2 new landfill, the plans
usually meet with stiff local opposition.
Such opposition is hardly unexpected,
given the current span of dump closures
and disclosures about drinking water
contamination. Landfill developers counter
November/December 1997 5 6V
The Disposable Society. A Look at the Nation'
POICent of oil materials thrown' Y Where It S Garbage
What We Throw Awa
waste systems in 1984, into municipal Goes �r x� ElRecycletl
Foaer ontl ❑Incfneraled for energy
37.1% Poperboord ■landfill
Source; fron4//ngaoaiotet
yourd wastes 17,9%
—Glass 9.7%
—Metals 9.6%
—Food 8.1%
—Plostics 7.2%
-Wood 3.8%
Rubber and leather
2.5%
Textiles 2.1%
Other 1.9%
'
by expl,fning 0121 landfills bi
ad,), bear little resemblance communed
Inking Predecessors. Stare• to their
i landfills use a host o °f•thc•art
treatment technalo f containment and
Of Inchare. Symheticto limit the spend
Placed ben. 'the I, and clay bners are
ramwaterthat er landfill to Capture the
I Cnlleaionsysrems°pumrhroughthe rush
.
disposedof the ofll so it can this
he treated and
nd
monitorin f Properly, In addfrfan,
Frounduateru•ells ring the sire so Thar
basis for ea° be tested on a r
But this concminarfon. regular
liners are hnv To' is largely unrested;
forn•er and llnkcha To remain fmpermcable
j fail. And eve to eolleman sysrerus can
ensure ° Per(eer man
cannot
Thar new landfills will not pollute
ppthooe ens•uonmem. Given the nothistPollute
fand(fq ord of govC'mar cal r
i Opponents le ieFul,TorsI
question who will overs a mately
and • eventually. elosurre the opernian
tacit fries. of the new
A related problem is
landfill ou•n ensuring th
-- ry •75 '77'79 '81 '83
landfill is ex r
millions of If nsis•r, often running rens of
dollars. Part of this high c°mmu n sures. Bur thrsizrof
nF is the result of F rice nirics or eve
develo decisions by landfill regional landfills not
pars to censrrua as I,rgea Gcflfq•,s > im•ieonres tont
Possible, Since Opposition. ,"lost residents simple do not
the rime and u'anT their community
Per its ito obtain necessary• to m°nr}' dum 10 become the
Permits it relatively indc cat and state of°r surrounding erns.
o(Thrfadlir •, Pendenro(theshc duCn•en rhe lack of open space in
and
ro obtain The rdes elopers h,eean Incentive the high rose of mos
lar n°he°r`' aPPr°s•,Is for one -tcorous local cunng r°f-rhe-artnlandfrlls, the
Fe hdliry'• than ro r
Process for a number of s ryrn the and 0I Un Opposition They engender,
4"s'fngly, maller sires, and fiann CF macs about Their
are often smto-o4the-art and
merits, it sec rhnoloeid
regional facilities, that ,crept Thar burial mill be ms improbable
u•as«s from a number garbage the primary
Of surraun 1 disposal in comingmans of
g Landfills will, of Course. luea role roades,
bemuse certain npv of u•ste_ Play
Mar) be -aviator ash—must go to such s �,.af
�/ States far lo, er Percentage
But landfills Will handle
arethan Th., Percentage of municfp,l wastes,
Planning do today,
on making.
.on
responsible ars are held fi u
moble for ode Ge nPci'^la ; their gree
q°i1p a Preeminent
mersuraifcont P
Neighbors of p p 1�ndfiUs n occurs• '
how to as marrask trash_disposal...
sere and local gosemmcnr a(fici h
and landfill developers will Fuaramee that
re f. Halides U., I Ge m method,
MI �e Financed. \",.Ind-itsamussr t
surfatt-roarer possibility' of ground- and �anneCl ICut
for n ' contamination and prossi,r plays to
rob1 Pid and ef(eaive remedial aaiont if burn
P tans write.
chmlFurther,testmolefcalfixesd
p.'. Constma0not cothe-three-quarters
P ing , state•of- me
6 ,tt of its garbage,
THE BURNING QUESTION OF
INCINERATION
Goverrmment planners in,-.sinely a•ieu•
inane-ro-energy(ae.1.. as the solutionToTheir garbage
the EPAdisposal needs. ,According To
b . there are III incinerators
uT`9 six million tons of muncipal
tubage nou•—bur there could be 300
iadlinv burning up To ?S Pvttnt of the
nation's garbage by the mid -"Ices. o ft he
and munries in at just de stars are fn the
ies
process of planning, permitting or
°�raO°F rim «ashburners. ,item• stare are
pl=Twv r trash ng on akfdss� w r yro�r. 0 Fy their
for example, Plans to incfnen« rtan"Clice
quarters of its Farbage by 1990.
The reasons for the headlong rush are p
Science for the people a
clear: incineration reduces the volume of
garbage that must be landfilled by Min 90
percent, and in the process generates
cicancity that can he sold to utilities. But
such benefits do not come without a price.
11'astc•m-energy facilities MIT a hast of art
pollutants and leave hchind toxic ash. And
because of these environmental hazards•
incinerators arc beginning to face the same
kind of local apposition as landfills.
Two of the most controversial classes of
air pollutants emitted by municipal
incinerators are dioxins and furans.
Dioxin, a component of Agent Orange and
the notorious colprit in the Times Beach,
Missouri contamination, is one of cher most
potent carcinogens known. Incinerators
emit dioxin• but in concentrations so low
that it is often difficult to detect even at the
top of the smokatack. Nonetheless, no one
disputes the presence of dioxin in
incinerator emissions. The controversy is
over the magnitude of the health threat.
One of the most vocal opponents of
incinerators is Dr. Barry Commoner,
director of the Ncw York -based Center for
the Biology of Natural Synems. Commoner
argues that the dioxin emitted by
incinerators makes them "an inhercndv
urocccprable technology." Anothcr critic
of trashburners, Ellcn Silbcrgcld, chief
toxicologist for the Environmental
Defense Fund, stresses that dioxin is
believed to be one of the longest -lived
contaminants that accumulates in the
human body. As a result, dioxin—cven in
the small amounts mined by incinerators—
can pose a significant health threat because
of its tendency to remain in the human
body over long periods.
Dioxin is hardly the only dangerous
pollutant emitted by incinerators. Neil
Seldman, director of the Institute for Local
Self -Reliance in Washington. D.C.•
characterizes the dioxin controversy as a
"sideshow"—trot because dioxin emissions
are safe• bur because the disputes deflect
attention from air emissions that are
potentially trate dangerous. Two pollutants
of particular co earn tae metals and acid
gases.
Seidman points out that, unlike dioxin,
there is little controversy over the health
threats posed by heavy meals emitted by
incinerators. One example he cites is lad• a
potent neurotoxin whose effects on blood
formation and neurological development
at even low levels are well documented.
Allen Henhkowim. of the New York -
based environmental croup INFORM,
similarly argues that more attention should
be foswed on the 27 different meals that
municipal incinerators may emit. Only
three of the 27 are currently regulated.
Incinerators also emit significant levels
of acid gases and acid min precursors, such
as hydrogen chloride and sulfur and
nitrogen oxides. Besides contributing to
acid min, highly corrosive acid gases can
November/December 1987
CLEANING UP THE
LANDFILLS'
LEGACY
n many cities and towns, landfills
are not part of the solution to the
solid waste crisis—they're part of the
problem. Indeed, many town dumps
Epe a crisis all their own• because of the
und• and surface -water contamination
they have wrought. Regulators and
communities struggling to dal with the
garbage crisis will, at the same time, have
to devote regulatory attention and
financial resources to closing down
existing landfills and cleaning up their
toxic legacy.
Bcause municipal landfills contain a
variety of hazardous wastes mixed in
with the household crash, they an
produce Icachatc containing a variety of
carcinogenic and toxic substances. The
EPA's preliminary• assessment of haardom
organic compounds in leachate from
municipal landfills found 48 different
Substances, including bmzm mahykne
chloride, tetnchlorcacthylene, trichloro-
ethylene, and toluene.
Most existing landfills are not designed
to prevent this ledsate from coma m arc ring
groundwater. In 1986, the federal
Environmental Protection Agency
completed the first phase of a Coneresiom8•v
mandated study on regulation of
nonhazardous solid waste disposal. The
agency identified 16.416 municipal and
Private landfills, and found that feu• had
taken adequate precaution 10 protea
against groundwater contamination.
Only eleven percent had either soil or
synthetic liners• and only four percent
had leachate collection and removal
Systems.
No one is certain how serious the
Problem of groundwater contamination
is, however, beaus: very line monitoring
has been done. Only 19 percent of the
landfills surveyed by the EPA performed
any groundwater monitoring at all. One
startling statistic from the EPA study
protides an important clue about the
snipe of the problem: over 20 percent of
the 850 situ thin on or proposed for the
Superfund clamp lis[ were municipal
landfills. Another clue: a 1980 study by
the :Ueine Department of Environmental
Protection found that every landfill
located on a sand and gravel aquifer was
contaminating the aquifer.
Federal and state regulation is finally
catching up with these laking landfills,
and many will eventually have to be shut
down and cloned up. A Massachusetts
court, for example• recently upheld the
state's effort to close a laking landfill in
Quincy, calling the dump "an ecological
disaster, discharging leachate into
adjacent wetlands and quarries, and God
knows where else."
The federal Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act, as amended in 1984,
provides that open dumps must be shut
down or upgraded to meet minimum
criteria established by the EPA to ensure
the safety of sanitary landfills. Under the
Act, states formulae solid waste
management plans and receive federal
funds to aid in their implementation.
lAndfills must obtain permits or shut
down.
The EPA's solid waste management
criteria are being revised currently.
Congress mandarcd that new regulations
be in place by March 31, 1988. The
criteria arc expected to require that
landfills located in certain panieularly
facile locations shut down, nese and
existing landfills install groundwater
monitoring systems, and new and
expanded landfills have liners and
lachare collation systems.
Current and expected regulatory
i
requcomm's will force many municipal
Iandfills to close. Only half of the nation's
9,244 municipal landfills have valid
operating permits. Many of the others
wont,Zlify. New York's Env'nonmmal
C, lavation Commissioner has estimate(
that only 65 of the state's 340 landfills
qualify for state operating permits. Some
towns may be able to upgrade their
dumps, but choose not to because of
costs. Mlulrinationd Business Systems,
I= has escimated that compliance with
the EPA's revised criteria could cost
municipal landfill operators anywhere
from 83 to 835 billion.
THE ECONOMICS OF
INCINEPATION _
r Inst until additional pollu-
uon controls ere required, trash -
burning will be a huCrahVe seg-
ment of the United Scatter's $13 billion
solid waste disposal industry, But
incinerators are more than 2 waste
disposaltechnology:21,500ton-per-day
plant produces 40 mcg2W2tts of daxridry.
The economics of incineration an be.
understood only by viewing the plants as
elaxriciq• gencraron u well u truhbumm.
Incinerator operators make money at
both ends: municipalities pay them
tipping fee's to take the garbage and
Utilities Pay to buy the electricity
produced by the plants. But much of the
revenue comes from energy sales. Signal
Environmental Systems in Saugus,
M2ss2chusens gets a tipping fee of S?2
per ton plus 2 little over seven cents per
kilowatt-hour for electricity from its 37-
mcg2av2[1 plant. Electricity sales produce
over 60 percent of the plants tool
revenue
The profitability of incinerators is
likely to be greatly reduced by regulatory
developments in the next few years.
Scrubbers and high -efficiency particulate
removal systems—used to reduce emissions
Of meals, acid gases, and perhaps
dioxin—arc expensive. Allen Heehkowim
of INFORM esrirratn that air pollution
controls would add SS to SIO to current
tipping fees of S20 to S35. In connection
with its recent proposal to impose
emission standards, the federal Environ -
menial Protection Agency estimated that
iuch controls would cost from $9 to S 1
per ton, adding 10 to 15 percent to the
consumer's cost for solid waste disposal.
Any requirement that ash betrated as
2 h2mrdous waste would further incase
costs. California, which regulates
incinerator ah as a hazardous waste,
estimated in 1981 that disposal costs
under its regulations would be S50 per
ton. .... _.
Mich orw•ithout pollution controls, the
economic of incineration would be very
different if incinerators were viewed as
solid waste disposal facilities other than
energy production facilities. Treating
garbage.2s 2 fuel for electric generation
an have the unfortunate side effect of
undermining source reduction and
recycling efforts. Incinerator operators
w•2m a steady scam of fuel—garbage—
ad contracts may nm penalize rnuudlwliit
who undertake recycling efforts that
reduce their waste Bows below a
guanntced minimum. Priorities should
be reversed, critics contend, with all
possible recycling conducted to minimize
waste Bows, and incineration used only
for that garbage which cannot be
recycled.
Recycling 2dvoatc argue that, at a
minimum, incineration should occur in
refuse -derived fuel facilities rather than
mass -burn incinerators. %12ss-burn
Plants incinerate a mixed stream of
garbage with little or no pec -processing,
while refuse -derived fuel facilities sort
Out metals 2nd sometimes other materia$
priorto incineration. Ncil Scldmanofthe
Institute for Local Self -Reliance has
estimated that pre-processing the waste
stream to remove recycl2ble matc621s
prior to incineration would lower the
cost of 2 2,500 ton-per-dav incinerator
from S300-5400 million to S125million.
Even 2 stricter recycling program than
char used in refuse -denied fuel fadlitic
would not naxssar0y proven incinerators
from serving as cost-effective electric
generators. Studies have shown that 2
well-planned program of mull -material
recycling on 2cu2lly increase the BTU
content of the pubage. and even if 60
percent of the paper is removed from a
waste scram through recycling prior to
incineration, the gubage's energy
content is reduced by less than nine
percent. Recycling advocates, such as the
Natural Resourm Council of M:iinc,
thus conclude there is no conflict bcw•em
rcevclinp and incineration. -
Still, earn if incineration an be used to
produce clecvicity in a manna that docs
sear discourage reeding, enviuesrnemlists
saws the impomnce of viewing the
Plants as waste disposal facilities other
than power plana. Allen Hershkowitz
has studied incineration in Japan and
concluded that one of the reasons that it is
arced out so elonly and sucrosfully is
That J2pance operators sin their lobs as
preventing pollution. To U.S. operators,
what they bum is just solid fud that
happens id be garbage Hershkowiitz
rejects "the erroneous assumption that a
municipal incinerator is primarily
involved inroducing energy rather than
disposing of wane"
adversely affect people's eyes and
mpruory sysern INFOR.\I's Hcohkouzz
has written that refuse -burning plants in
the United Stites emit 90 times as much
hx•drogm chloride a mil-bumme heilitics.
Proliicnrine incinerators would thus
exacerbate the acid rain problem.
Incinerator advocate,. like landfill
operators. argue that this pollution nn be
substantially reduced by mandating use of
snrca(the-an contuols. C0r2ml todrrtolugia
such as acid gas scrubbers and hiph
efficiency particulate removal systems—
electrostaticprecipitators and baphous r—
an allegedly remove 99 percent of toxic
particulates.
But the ability of such controls to limit
emissions of the most controversial air
pollutant—dioxin—is still uncertain. As
importantly such controls are larking on
most existing incinerators and will not be
required on current or new plants forsome
time. Although state-of-the-art controls
are standard faeurc on J2pancw incinerators,
only two of the 70 high-volume incinmton
operating in the U.S. as of 1986 had
scrubbers.
The EPA has just announced plans to
impose technology -bated limits on
emissions from new incinerators beginning
in November 1989 and from existing
incinerators beginning in 1993. Critics
contend that these delays will allow too
many vashbumers to be built without
adequate pollution controls. And they will
not protect public health as stronely as
standards under 2 different section of the
Clean Air Act that w2s designed to deal
with toxic air emissions. The N2mnl
Resources Defense Council 2nd t%vo stats
have challenged the EPA's approach in
court.
Toxic substances present in g2rb2ee or
created by combustion also escape from
incinerators in ash, which includes both the
fly ash trapped in pollution control
equipment 25 the cues flow- out the sock
and the bonom ash that falls to the bonom
of the boiler after combustion. Ash is
essentially the part of g2rbape that don not
bum. Depending on the technology. from
65 to 90 percent of municipal solid w•ute is
combustible, laving 10 to 35 percent to be
disposed of 25 ash. Based on the EPA's
projections of incinerator opacity, 10.000
to 35.000 tons of ash will be generated
daily by the mid-1990s.
This ash may contain high concentrations;
Of heavy meals, dioxin• and organic
chemicals. Noncthelees. except in a it" -
states such as California and Washington,
ash is not treated as a hazardous waste.
Incinerator ash is usually disposed of in
landfills. FIs• ash and bottom ash are
generally combined prior to disposal,
21thoueh some environmentalists contend
that the more toxic Oy ash should be
handled scp2rarel'v. Undfilled ash poses a
threat to human health and the essirorment
60
Science for the People
through direct exposure—dust Bnating in
the atmosphere, suspended particulate
falling on surfaccwvtcl, or contain manrs in
the sod - and indirectly' by the leaching of
its toxic consumcnts Into groundwater.
"ne most corn ovasol issue surrounding
incinerator ash is whether it should he
regulated as a hanrdnus waste. Fly ash
tested alone virtually always fails the
EPA's leachability rests. as does combined
bottom and 0v ash in many cases. The
Environmental Defense Fund has notified
operators of current and planned incinerators
of these test results, triggering a duty on
the part of the facilities to, conduct
additional testing.
But the EPA don not regulate the
disposal of incinerator ash bcause it is not
convinced that the eurramt test Procedures
adequately measure the toxicity of ash.
Bills have been introduced in both the
House and Senate that would order the
EPA to set standards for testing and
disposing of incinerator ash. Regulatory
treatment of ash as a hazardous waste
would have a profound effect on the
economics of incineration, since disposing
of ash would become much more
exprnsiee. (Sec the acmmPnying sidebar.)
Such argumcmts about environmental
effects and safety, made in the face of a
scenting iuggemant toward incineration.
remind at last one critic of the early
debates over another technological fix that
eventually w•cm awry. Neil Scldman of the
Institute for Local 5c11.1162nce fears that
incinerators could be the nuclear power
plants of the 1990s. He has written that
both technologies "have been plagued Ilya
series of technological failures and plant
cancellations. Both force a communip• to
put all its eggs into one technological
basket. And both have a powerful industry
as their strongest advocate."
THE POTENTIAL FOR RECYCLING
....."..,.,.R er. the nnelear tsow•er
Recycling is
a flexible,
decentralized
approach to
solid -waste
disposal that
may, like
conservation,
prove to be
the cheapest
way to go,
plants of the solid waste industry,
receding is its conservation analogue.
Rather titan depending on large, custrolizcd
and largely unrested rechnologics like
landfills and incinerators. recycling efforts
focus on changing the way garbage is
generated and disposed nf. Recycling is a
flexible, decentralized approach To solid
waste disposal that may. like conservation,
prove to be the cheapest w•ay to go.
Environmentalists and government
oficials are beginning to reach a consensus
that recycling should he the number -one
solid waste disposal option for the 19905
and beyond. But a recycling program that
would involve _'i to EO percent of the 150
million tons of garbage generated in the
C.S. each year will look very different
from today's saticred, often voluntary
efforts to recycle perhaps live to ten
percent of the waste stream.
Recycling advocates view garbage not
at waste to be disposed of out as a
collection of "pre-omsumaf' raw materials
available to Ir .mined." .\fang of the
components of parbage-paper and
ncscspaper. yard wastes. aluminum cans.
glass -an be easily recovered from
earbaec and renud. (tic, the• occompanvmg
sidebar.) But even rcc)clmg advocates
disarray about shit perecm age of the
want stream an be rccvdcd in practice.
Effective recpelmp programs must fust
promote a high level of consumer
participation. Neil Scldman advises
municipalities and recycling companies to
think of consumers at suppliers of raw
materials. They can be Induced to
"supple' recyclable goods by mandating
participation in recycling programs and by
offering financial and other incentives.
Tlse other key to widespread recycling
involves the "demand" side of the
cquatium go,cmmcm at all levels must
help develop stable markets for bath "raw'
rec}'clad materials and finished products
made with recycled materials. Without
such markets, rccyelers will have recharge
more To accept garhace because then will
not be able to make as much selling it. In
the same way that incinerator operators
make money from both tipping fees and
electricity sales, reepders will sock profits
from both tipping f ecs and sales of rccyded
materials.
After evaluating the potential for
promoting recyclinp, several cities and
states have recently made their recycling
goals far more ambitious. New Jcrscy and
.Massachusetts are aiming to recycle 'i
percent of their waste stream, while
Berkeley. California and Philadelphia have
crated a 50 percent recycling target.
Japan, which has one of the world's most
successful recycling proenms. recycles
upwards of 6i percent of its garbage. (See
the accompanying sidebar.) Others aim
earn higher. Barry Commoner believes
that source reduction and recycling could
eventually eliminate 70 percent of
America's garbage; Veil Seidman cites
Nowmber/December 1987
' 0, i
figura as high a 90paccnt. (Bosh u-ould
place the rest in landfills and ba
.Place
Two differ mi kinds of anion,, usually
grouped together as "recycling." are
touted as means it, reduce or redirect the
solid waste scram: source reduction and
various kinds of separation.
Snurcc reduction entails shrinking the
amount of material entering the waste
"ream, cspcnally items that cannot be
Secvcicd or composted. Neil Seldmanm
estiate that familia who rcrvelc reduce
their waste output by 20 to .'5 percent
simply because they think more about
what they buy. %lost source reduction
Proposals focus on reducing excessive
packaging, which generally accounts for
30 percent of the weight 2nd. -+0 patent of
the volume of household waste. Taxes and
other penalties could be used to reduce the
over 600 pounds of packaging material
(paper, glass, mails, and plastic) disposed
Of annually by the avenge American.
Separation involves removing recyclable
mataials either before or after thec enter
the unstc scram. Source scpantinn takes
place at home. Households are nquircd to
separate garbage into different categories
(paper, glass, cans). Although many Carly
recycling programs rcquircd separered
materials to he brought to desienarcd
locations, most recycling advoeaa ague
that curbside eollccrion is necessary 10
ensure high Ores of participation.
The most successful recycling programs
supplement source separation with further
sorting in materials -recover• facilities.
Separation—generally using labor-intesise
sorting—and Samnrimes processing of
«cyC12bIcs at these tens!)V loosed
facilities results in high-qualin"and high.
volume rm•cled goods, whirls helps to
ensure markets for these materials.
The economics of recycling depends on
a number of factors, including the cost of
altemative disposal methods and the
availab[liry of markets for the recovered
products. For a town with garbage to
dispose of, however, the deciding. factor
will be the cost of ren -cline compared to
tipping fes at landfills or incinenrors.
As Cymthia Pollock•s recent 15'orldwatch
Instirute report explains, "For years,
recycling has been hampered by the belief
that it should makemone•. But recycling is
a cost-effearve'disposal' option so long u
is require fewer government subsidies
tion bndfdlTog or mcinararion." : ccordism
to \ eil Seidman. most cities recs•cleto sas•e
the disposal costs (of up to SI do per ton),
nth" than to gain the sale value of
rm•cled goods (perhaps SIO to Si5 per
ton).
Recent estimates of disposal costs
strongly favor recycling. Charles Papke of
San Francisco's 'Resource .\langemenr
Associates estimates that that it cons S20
to S30 pa ton to con a weekly curbside
r
trash collation and recycling program, Li
las than The Si40 to S60 con of Imdfilhng
or the S70 to S L'0 cost of incineration. A
1957 study of uuuc management costs m
\Imncapnli, and St. Paul. khnnesou
reaehul the same eonelusinn. Consulum
John Madole estimated recycling costs at
$30 per ton, compared to landfill costs of
S90 to S INS and incineration costs of S90
to S110.
In addition to saving on disposal costs.
cities can tryto make moncv from
recycling h, selling the recovered
matcrials. Some even use rccyckd goods as
raw materials in municipally owned
manufacturing businesses, such as Fresno,
Califomia's plant for turning recycled
newspaper into cellulose insulation. The
Institute for Lou[ Sclf-Reliance argues
that rcx•vcling should be linked with local
economic duelnpmt and used to create
fobs (six times as many a the use of virgin
materials) and profitable nese businesses.
But those who would profit from the
salt of recycled products, whether cities or
prime companies, must overcome stmetunl
and attitudinal problems if stable markets
for their warn arc to he dcecleped.
Secondary materials markets areeurrenth•
plagued by low and volatile prices. The
marketplace is skewed against recycled
products buse of govment policies
hearing or mernsubsidizing virgin matcrials.
such as below -Cost rirnba Sala and water
rates. Cynthia Pollock of the Worldwatch
Institute has Called for government anion
'• to level the economic playing field so that
used materials can compete with new
substances."
Such levelling is likely to involve new
subsidies for recycling, since existing
subsidies for virgin materials will bee
difficult to rescind. But there are other
anions Char gowcmmcnt IS all levels can
take to promote recycling.
Government agencies an use their
purchasing power to create markets for
recycled materials. Federal lou• requires the
Fnvironmermal Protection Agency to
establish guidelines that encourage fedml
and state govemment agencies to purchase
products made of recs•cicd goods. After
prolonged delays, the Environmental
Defense Fund recenrIv sued the EPA to
prompt the esablishmemt of such regulations
BUT state and 1001 goyemmam aren't
waiting for fedenl action. Thinem states
lase passed laws coning the procrareman
of ren•Cconcerningcd goods. Vermont's precedent.
Baring statute, for example, requires the
mate's purchasing director to consider the
Costs of disposal in comparing the costs of
virgin and recycled matcrials.
Govan ments also have an important
role to play in retching providers of
recycled MTC621S with existing end-use
markets for their products. Emily Barson
of the Boston-based Conservation Law
Foundation notes that one of the best
WHAT'S IN A
WASTE
STREAM?
PAPER
Over one-third of the waste material
disposed of by U.S. municipalities is
Pipet and paperboard. At Inst one-
quarter of this is newspaper. A recent
IPorldwatch Institute report notes that
recovering the print run of the Sunday
Nnx )'af Tiara would leave 75,000
ace standing. Newspaper arid cardboard—
which usually contain recycled paper and
an be recycled again—arc probably the
osior and most lucrative matcrials for
recycling programs to dispose of. A
survey by the Natural Resou Sees Council
of Maine found that newspaper brings
SIO to S32 per ton and cardboard S22 to
515 per ton, compared to Sl2 to S20 per
ton (or glass and pnaically nothing for
scrap metal (which some recyclas pay to
have hauled assay).
YARD WASTES
V2rd wasteS, which make up about Ig
percent of the waste stream, can be
recycled using composting, one of the
oldest recycling techniques known.
Currently, leaves and other vard wastes
are trapped in nonbiodegradable plastic
bags in dumps. If, instead, they are
properly stacked and aerated and given
the right amount of moisture, they will
decompose into fertilizer.
GLASS
Glass makes up about ten percent of
munidpal wastes. After being sorted by
color, it an be crushed into nickel -sized
Pieces called culla. This recycled glass
an be used to make new glass, insulation,
and aggregate forasphalt in road paving.
Glass producers' demand for culla has
increased with the adoption of striver air
pollution Controls, became its use reduces
emissions.
METALS
Another ten percent of the wvsre mom
consists of mails. Some, such a rin and
aluminum ons, an be wily recycled.
Recycling aluminum acts an ala
conserve up to 95 patent of the large
amounts of electricity needed to make
aluminum from bauxite. Boole bills and
voluntary efforts have prompted large.
sale recycling of aluminum ons: over
half of all the aluminum acts sold in the
US. are aerssally taumd for recycling.
Science fw the People6p?
NElectric pow"
\V,1
generation
sillily
steam piped to
turbine generator Boller TYIbIM
generator
crane
Steam drum
Refuse feed
hopper / Scrubber
IN,Fabric
/ finer
o r o
Refuse
fuel PllINV M
0 0
Receiving aroHyd'r
r
tam feeder
ram feedd er Stack
MoM Bottomash Flyash
a�raa�s�s+vf�aurr�io.�rn.,i sMrns conveyor conveyors
aep0ete01vn teorebD'ae.vw
Abore: Row a wale• fly ash—the ash carried
te»n.rgy plant out of the furnace by as.
works. lime sprayed Into haus! gases. A fabric fll•
the scrubber neutralizes ler collects the fly ash,
■cld gases that would which must be dumped in
otherwlse contribute to secure landfills so that It
meld rain. The scrubber does not contaminate
_ also helps control dioxins groundwater. The bottom
and toxic metals emitted ash, another residue of
during burning. These pol. the burning process, Is
lutants are adsorbed onto not as dangerous.
examples of this type of governmental
effort is the New Hampshire Resource
Recycling Association. Towns inform the
association about the materials for which
then need mark as: the associuion comate
businesses in the ars, negoliams a prig
scale for the town, and arranges a pickup
schedule once the town has enough
volume.
Government must Ind the Way in
creating and promoting markers for
recycled materials to help compensate for
Americans' suspicious attitude toward
goads crude from such products. �,\luny
people view- ren•ded products as inferior
to goods made from virgin resources. As
Clifford P. Case of the National Recycling
Coalition has noted, "our soden• is built
an the idea that new is always bencr."
The biggest barrier to recycling is both
strumr2l and anintdiml: the natmrnt of
recycling u an interesting hobby for
hippie or u a fundraiset for scout troops,
rather than an integral pan of solid waste
doposal policy. Like energy conservation,
consumers must begin to sen recycling u a
necessary pan of resource management,
rather than a monev-saving anion to be
taken by individuals.
Given the magnitude of the solid uaste
problem and the amount of recycling that
Nmtember/December 1987
is needed to make a significant dant,
individual actions are no longer enough.
As Lester Brown of the 1l'orldw2teh
Institute has noted, "It's one thing to save
your aluminum cans or your u•asrc paper
-Go ,dni ent must.
lead the way in,
1.::•, creating 'and.:';
promoting markets
'. for recycled;
aterials fa:: "
help compensate-.
for Americans"'.
suspicious,
attitudes toward-'
recycled products
for recycling, but if there isn't a viable,
stable, lang-term, national market for these
materials, that one day you'll find there s
no place for your stack of papers to go."
TOWARD A RATIONAL SOLID
WASTE POLICY
Bum it. Bury it. Recvcic it. Or send it on
a Caribbean cruise. That is the May of
disposal options available to municipalities
as they grapple with how to best disposeof
their steady stream of trash. Treating the
last option as a ioke—although in the
currant state of affairs it has become an
unfortunate reality—the question becomes
what mix of rm•cling, incineration, and
landfilling should cities ute2
The answer doe not involve a simple
choim among theserhreetechnologies. for
one thing, no single disposal mahod can
handle the entire waste stream. The most
avid recycling enthusiasts acknowledge
that 10 to 30 percent of the waste strum
cannot be recycled. Even if all waste were
to be incinerated. the ash would have to be
disposed of in landfills. And the potential
use of landfills is limited by the difficulry of
siting than given land shortages, rnviron-
mcnol considerations. and public opposition.
Nor ran the problem In v%cwal as a purciv
technological choice. Ile'eamat none of the
technologies can In evaluated independent
ni its ccononuc, environmental. and soctal
comet. A boiler is a header, but
incineration looks veru dsf iercm schen it is
cw%%cd as a mctimd of polluuan control (x
is the case in Japan) as oppwscd to a means
of producing electricity.
SmularIv, recycling can be seen as lust
another solid waste disposal technology car
as a method of mining urban wastes for raw
materials that can Income the basis of
municipal industry and connomic develop-
mcm. Cit ics and towns must decide not
only which disposal technologies to use,
but how they arc to be used and regulated
to promote economic and environmental
goals.
The three major factors that states and
cities should consider in deciding upon a
regulatory policy for solid waste are
environmental COSTS and b%nclits, economies,
and implementation issues. The three arc
not independent. Disposal costs, for
example, arc strongly affected by %%-hit
environmental controls arc required for
landfills and incinerators.
Recycling is the clear winner %t hen
environmental bcncfsts and drawbacks arc
considered. It is environmentally benign,
with few (if any) drawbacks and many
benefits. Recycling substitutes the reuse of
materials for the use of virgin materials and
thereby reduces the number of trees that
must be cut and the Tonnage of metals that
must be mined.
Recycling also reduces energy use: the
Worldwatch Institute notes that recycling
aluminum requires only five percent as
much energy as producing it, so each
recycled beverage can saves the energy
equivalent of a half -an of gasolinc..11 ining
Tau materials from garbage slots conump.
rion of the United States's limited mtural
resources and ensures that they are used
wisely and fineall%•.
londfdls and incinerators, by contrast,
pose many environmental ducats. Incinerator
emissions pollute the air. while incinerator
ash and other wastes in landfills can
contaminate groundwater with an array of
toxics. While the adverse environmental
impacts of these disposal methods may he
mitigated through the use of control and
containment technologies—like snubbers,
liners, and leachate collection systems—the
controls' long-term effectiveness is
uncertain.
Indeed, recycling tray be one of the
most effective means of rcducine the
environmental impacts of incineration and
landfilling. Sepataring recyclable materials
out of the waste stream removes the
plastics that appear to be one of the major
causes of dioxin formation in incinerators
and the metals that might otherwise go up
the stack of a trashburner or into the
groundwater under a landfill. And as
12
Recycling aluminum
requires only
five percent as
much energy as
producing it,
so each recycled
beverage can
saves the energy
equivalent of
a half -can
of gasoline,
Allen Hcrehknwnz of INFOR\I notes,
by removing noncombusublcs such as
bonles and cans. receding reduces the
amount of ash produced by incinerators.
Foumumics also scum to i.nor rvcvciing,
especially when the rnruonmental costs of
incinerators and 6ndfills arc properly
considered. Federal, state, and local
governments must act to ensure that
disposal costs for landfills and inancrators
accurately reflect environmental costs by
mandating measures such as sate -of -The -
art pollution controls and escrow accounts
car bonds to ensure that a pool of money
will be set aside to ensure adequate
maimenaec and to pay for unforeseen
problems.
Figures cited above indicate that
recycling costs Mae be only one-third to
one-half of those for incineration or
landfilling. Using straight economic
principles, a torn should rccycicup to the
point where The cost of promoting
additional recycling will exceed the cost of
alrcrntive disposal methods. This analysis
it
u . _- s
I'.
Science for the People 61?
will, however, involve more than a
eomp+nsoo of ripping fees, brcausc
rrecdmg entails other cvpenses such as
implementing and enforcing a Source
the
sc•Pantion ardinancc.
ma for strike acain.0 mevelme is nor
em'difrNl til or economic, hill polidnl:
itis difficult m Implemenr..11anv olscnrlcs
must be ocercomc for rres'cbnc to become
the primary mcrhnd of garbage din pL
Sourcrc separation will require a chance in
Am cans' 2rtitudrs and habits Chas will
have ro be induced through some
Combination of public education and
anions w
coercion, •11anv government and private
ill be needed to create sable
Prices and viable markets for rec•cied
materials and Plod u
The cts Made With them.
But these obsndcz arc nor insurmountable
PI wcanbeoughtabouttheneedfor
rcc)'Img• perhaps with some emphasis on
the need for source separation in order to
keep landfills and incinerators our n(thcir
btck!vwds. Procurcmrnr and other afthei-
menl poi ark can Ix used ro dcrc'. and
m.
stabilize markets and offset to
dg elop Ind
that favor use of dugin matcrials.
subsidies
,lltounpalitics arc also heginnine to realim
that massive incineration and landfill
proerarm have implement,,rion problems of
their own Public opposition must he fought,
sommma through landfill and incincntor
orpormions "buving off' to
subsidies and Mrenis•es. was still,
And stare and lool Friremments will also
have to take on the task of ensuring slut
P°8udon corHerr,
arc imnllcd and op=,cd
neededProPta10 IMI. coo, public education %.01 be P
needed ro mmirim Citizens that the benefits o!
i these rerhnoloeirs s
task that will &, outu•cieh their risks—a
explain easier if public ofridah Can °
P that as much of the wane steam his
°
been rcneled as possible ,I
Ilhrnallrhe(xtorshayelxerlu ciehed.the bo
•erou•esg Comrnsus is that rm•dinc desen•es BE
impact. Ind !a bche lwsrorin•, Asa dercnrralized.lou•-
rcrlsnol cur
u's`r`tu°agemrnr, it is far npPrwchsosolid I}
tnsitonnvn,II, bmirm than rc ncvlblearsd ra
high-technologylandfili s,nhdion`rn`ne aCt cOroll
with their -'attendant and.in ometsral the
problems Ind reehnologinI unten2inties, a•ot
There is also a Consensus about u•hn recv
anions need to be taken to bout
mo
Increase the level o(rervding. All levels of
gov'rnment should begin or upgrade NAM
etrans to promote sour ce srpanrion by 10'3
forrecycled
Crate Ind snbilizemarkrts of it
from
em. m2seriah and Products made . recyc
m them. permits for new landfills and eo0eet
sncin. Torsshouldbegnnredonlc'upon, WY
shooing rh,r the facllin•'s size is bocci
°Pon [he selling
assumption that 211 feasible order r
manures will star betaken to reduce the `htln °
waste stream using source reduction and Final
recti I, at ' to
of
11'has should be done nigh that part of 100 ton
the waste Sir eam which cannot be MINN
CONONUED ON PAGE 32 has inn
I MAKING
RECYCLING WORK
Successful Prograrns,
Future Strategies
VFW
ome cities and towns have been
working 2t recycling for a long program celled "shared sarin s.'
it work Thr cxpre Ind nemoccofeound untto in, Ile like Pres private wings." The
rccyclers i `Cfl and community
Japan and L'.5. cities like Berkelen•, recycle newspaper.P rely S 1 J Per Ion to
ldmnblrg' and ,ll' Profits for reyles n, is results
(o both h
sratc Ind Ionl Officialsout` ch u'ak2d cin•, chi
amb
III ous ch would othcrss•isc have ro pay
programs. No assess or mor° Sl: per tonto dump the news ,
yet possible of the three corns transfer station. •P Pers ora
initiatives profiled here—regulatory
C this each u•s
bcgin.d )•ar—Isut they mark the Ne* Regulalory Inlllaflves
sr fri i n( what Promises ro Ise a new
sophistinto and far-reaching NEW JERSEY: Aj;cta Vs a
too ycling iniriativcS. leader in
mo recycling efforts , theoil to m scare recently
Programs That source sc andItaly recycling and
Work p ration. Each 'counr0 is
d�igncnar'd ,s ,solid n•asrc planning
JAPAN: This country is usually cited as Ind must submit a
hoeing one of rhe best teevclin Rcn•clIn Plan District
minims in the world. g °f Faliro 1O the state Dcpattmcnr
e crate The Japanese The plans Prorecdon for approval.
aPF°ties , whh dlfferbrnrgts• into ses•en P m must target reductions at at
lost l3 Percent by the end of the first
n different dans. Over 95Pesrollened year and 13
ru•spaprrs, i0 percent of second s. percent by the end of rhe
percent of steel and tar. P�eh municipality must
uminum ons, and 3 0 perccnr of lass eta a •lluma
pal rtles ,rr recycled, g ado tasourm- Ra.. COOniP�AorRKELE,
P sepanrion ordinance , and
reM4,, Cr1lIFORNI patCie.rollmion sysrem for separated
+Cody rerydes ?0 ',' The city materials.
3,000 eonsoigarba a percent of the pHILADEIP
r, utin , g sr generates each HIti PENNSYLVANIA; ,;(tv
g mmbmarion of curbside metal reluctance, Mayor Wilson
enian, composting of Bard brush recently si Goode
erred ar Ciro 0 Orr m•C, an ordinance u•'rh a goal
landfill. Thy ffsrres'andsalvageat g50porce torthI, T,,s2,000
City Council recently to pet day off wares by L 99
ed to aim for a goal of SO percent tu•o ears, 211 ho 1 tilt in
cling by
Ian im IIIc•, Coes and businesses will
rnorium on m poses five-year more rh sepanre their garbage into no
rutrsretion of inancmors. Can manhfaur bundles, The cin• an
BURG, NEW YORK This town of who fails to pickup from any resident
00I cycles an estimated 3} ownPercof comply,
s trash through 2 mandatory MAINE The stare's neu•solid waste lou• is
!mg ll gram. Garbage is not deigned to reduce the "a UMC of waste
ed unless it u properly separated. and- in
on, the town found market for grnenrion crease the level of
the r recycling• A new Office of 11•aste
m•eled in and, in Rcci'clingandRcc1
o emure Stability, has stuck with snrc reeydin etion n"lirompletea
s•rn when prices 1121.0 gonedou•n. MOST crunaBf Plan by January 1, 1989.
rg reC*v IM 300 tons of glass, }}0 solid ultsm din Dial ming is nod to other
newspaper ,rad nrdboard, and lou'• a license n methods Tinder the
s of ons annually. din n n be issued for a u•2sse
disposal facility only after 2 licensing
EAPOU4 MINNESOTA: This cit , board fords th2r u•atre volume has been
plcmented ( S reduced
Noi,emp=r/lac>mb:a onvard-thinking 2hle by m rhe gravitationgravitationgravitationevsrnr n
m•ling 2nd source reduaiorrn
r 1987
13 6y9
STERIUZATION
CONTINUED FROM PAGE I6
I,. Is
he psvchnloynr, .err LL Ihnrmlike
Lrwn li'"to' amt Role. Terkel The Ila uvluJn
mdl-nu. 116. ocher Geld, n.dl, the"' uml. r,
•horn .car gone amve m rhe,mm.
34 T lar rs-i Chda,m. ap. Co.. pp. 41.42.
Ibid., pp. 44, 56.
Jo. do Address by Dr. ro
Fnd.. FInchmumnr [.,.he
Imrnor. We" he Fm, 6 mo,ff of he E,{en
Cnunsil far Population and R,o.Pabnn, held an
elm, June J
M8, 1933- Evee 1111 Nr.-,, ell. 19, m..,
,\larch'.{peal 1934. p. 34. This
aro hrpn p,o
nesesnly be uenlurd. Cap eau no,
V, -no, p uPnms of
Nurnjon, uprcprion, muroayr rolneu0no mJ
,anon mold hmN. Thu was the,{moon ruga n
. ell.
17. F. Osbom, Grrua, Leon F<6. 34. 19J7,
Srnpbook, American Eupmin Society Pnpe,6 BA 6.
For the (i,rman Innillamon sulunn• sea G. fka{,
"Racism andi,.- " jn 117rn Bia/ep BnmrrDminp
ii:fMin'pe;Ium'uklieriii:ea Ln,vlehrn IO.• only
1930. Sheabo noI dol FOmen and 49o.amm JN I
a a ,null of rhe suI ny. ,\Iran dMile mania nn
also be found in Hero Harmsrn, "Thr C.
Srrilinrian An of 193J," h'aprnan
In Rri . vol. 46,
In, 4. 1935. nn. ;:7•J32.
Iry lahon t renin
(New
nran ai eaavtionm fonhe Third Rnchinnumtte
npartoa. "h he toned;' be arpuN, ".•jrh r
l"ute, basic In the couln.
m.sui0 con., rhntice ofr httrl it inch I IIhinp u life not w'anhu
W be lived." For an eamordimn' anidr on the
cont 1. we of hear nmr ps'cholepinl
merlum,ms, tin RIthaI Cmldvnn and Pnnet
Brabn, •'Tnhrdsum of Tanurr: How Ph)Yinam
&come APmn of &ne Tttror;' in Thr Bdmrn, a
U111 1 ion of the \ru' lbrk .{ndnnr o(,11Nidn,
ardl'•{pril IVB6. The article raammea torture jn
tool and Ceaonl Amttin in rhe 111, n.
v9. Tetuan>_ -i ChiL{rm. op. civ, p. if.
30. Ibud, pp. if, 46. f I.
m me Sullins 1973 for his work in
off'• His mshwiusie approval a! Noxi magma
ted. Sit
sod I eo tannic EalholoFinl Theonn Esplam eon
and Ideology. 193&1943--1 aa,aal of rN Nuren rJ
BaI vol, le, no. I•Spnng 1983. pp•30.33.
7.. Quoted from pose, or. cal.. P. 349.
33. "Eugenia in Gerona in 1946;' Eo mtid
x�Y,YOL'I.no..,JJanC 1946, p.?I, a
74. Fora nanpMe deacnprisn o(.hlmpele's work a
Wash. =* and his rebn eat hip Io {'mchun, see R.
.iiron. 71r \'_r n..._. _
mchua i amnuea eond In
under Thr Saai rrlpvne u
"misdn minium and tined him 6110 Mail,. He
connnued his illusion. ann,and rnirNuthairtrt e
on chs• Dcwmmns of Canmn d I974.
35, Humphrey, was head of the Drpanmrnr of
Pn'e6sloPv. Noor o(the PnrhehpBa/ BW/nin and true
irorruror frond eJPrrriwip. and the Ierond•hiphrn
admjm,mmr ,n'be Smorol Snmre Found Ulan.
36. Lloyd Humphny't. "Intelliprna and Public
Polis•," •Paper PresemN act he ,ympolium
Innllipnue, ,,ylea,urmumr and Public Polity.;' held
in hens, of HumrhrnYi muemenr from held
Cnirenny of Ilhnnis. ,April 30..11ar ], 1983. The
L'nivmi,y of Illinois Press i, pubhlhunr the
Po sendow, of doe rnnferm,e_
32
WASTE LAND
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
reccclol? Practically speaking thcamou
that is inrincnted will be determined i
large parr, by the number of incinerator
that have already been built or at
currently under construction. I(rhar is th
F
,; case, more garbage will be burned than
w people like Neil Scldman and Barry
k Commoner would like The most important
consideration for he nontecy'clible waste,
u•herher it is landfilled or incinerated, is ro
ensure that the facilities arc equipped with
sraI of c -art pollmion moot 1ahnology
and hcavily moniror� m msurc complimr.
.4 massive shift from fall ills and
fnoll loss m I c..cling will f uirc an
even more massive shift in the u•av
individuals and communities think about
garbage. The current labra c of moff
consumers is summed up by a woman in
San BemadmcS Califomia. ll'hm asked her
view about a proposed solid waste policy,
S he replied, "lihv do We need to chance
mashing? f put my garbage out on she
Si dewalk and They take it turas•," ds
Cynthia Pollock of she Worlilivatch
In it hu u•d'Tell, "7hefaathatthereis
no real 'au'av' (or throu always hisnot vo
it home."
Thus, the most difficult parr of
developing a rational solid waste manage-
ment policy will not be makine the choice
among disposal technologies, or even
designing a «cubion• spstan to Lmplanm,
that choice The crux of the problem is
convincing individuals—and government
agencies—that they can no longer send
their garbage our and forpr, about it,
Perhaps solid waste policy should be bucd
on a rule put is rth by Neil Seidman and the
Institute for Local Sell -Reliance: no waste
can be disposed of more thin ern mil
from where it is Peneratcd. J
HERITABIUTY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
ns tri"ell eye and demand much standards
IT of proof. Clarms that things arc
6 changeable, hisw'ever. sato self-v%idsntly
C true ,o us, so we scrutinize them much
c Its. We should not tolerate this double
standard.
licredirarI bom on amassing
evidence of The fixin• of our biological
Palates, while, for us, the research agenda
is to drrminc how• ro Po about changing
Things. }'a, again, the positions are not
svmmcrlcal. Heredinrians daiui to have
the same imerst as anti-hercditarians, to
determine how much change is possible
so that we may act ratiomlly in social
programs.
But if that is Scally he hereditarian
agenda, why do they keep studying
heritability, which simple logic ,ells us
cannot give the answer to the problem:
Why do rhes• not desicnsmdics rook the
questions about changeability dircoh,
Because the answer would come out •in
file wrong direction.
It is here that rhe deep asymmetry' of
The ideological positions realla• TICS. (
human soft really tumI
or he rcor4v cS.
then the political •agenda of the left is
iri elct'ant and those of us it -hose lives arc
devoted to bringing about such change
are doomed to failure. That is, for the left
a knowledge of The truth about these
questions is absolutely essential, Orh a
mad person would donare his or her life
to an activist- known to be contrary to
nature.
For the richt, however, thetmth of the
matter is of no great moment. Even if
Sfioet' were as changeable a the left
claims, the right could, with perfect
coherence and with the assurance of
considerable success, resist that change.
To delude themselves and evervone else
abour the meaning of heritabilin• isnot
Pnaially and politically in contndinion
with the social agenda of the riehr. 14'ith
enough power, one nn Solis, change
almost indefinitely. Thus, the two
ideologies have very' different stakes in
finding out ,he rru,h about human
flexibility,
.VOTES
I. R.0 Leu'ontin. "Race and Imc!!ipence"
Rul/rrin of rhe "'"if Srfrnru t, trot. ?6, no, 3,
1970, pp, 2.8.
'. R.C. Lewont!n and ,ILII', Feldman
'Tear Hniobilbt• Hang•up; 'Snout, no. 190,
1976, pp. 1163.1168.
3. "Genetic Aspects of Intellipma;'
.Inlaid Rrei—i of Gmelin, no. 9, 1967, pp,
38;•405,
4. L.J. Gamin. 77,e Srirnrr and Polircraf lQ.
John Wiley and Sons, I974.
Science for the PeoPle6erQ
1185 E. Jefferson St
Iowa City, Ia
4/21/88
City Managee Stephen Atkins �(
and Q _ 1988
Iowa City Council members
Dear friends: MARIAN K. KARR
CITY CLERK ('s)
For some time, some of us in the Senior Center
have been disappointed with the situation in our handsome
building The recent issue of the Senior Post with its two
articles (p.l and p.4) challenge us to think seriously about
strategies for improving the situation. Thanks to funds provided
by the federal government and Iowa City, we in Iowa City have
a very attractive, spacious facility.
We studied the federal guidelines as we planned
the move from 61ose Mansion to the new center. One of the
guidelines was: --to have annual survey of those who use the center
both as volunteers, staff and friends --just to monitor our
performance. With the University's resource of current developments
in areas of Social Bork and technological innovations, we could
readily design appropriate decodable summaries that would reveal
our strengths and weakness in current programs in the building.
There is no gain, --just tension and hostility --as seniors --
the intended fo�,_,cvs of the program are labelled ttLSvesL Certainly,
if Iowa City ranks so high with its youngsters' scores on
national tests, it stands to reason, that there are some fairly
"smart" adults now in the "senior" age group in our area.
My second recommendation—,'s to look into the
selection of our Senior Center Commissic:.. Only one or two of
that commission is ever seen in the building except for the
once -a -month Commission meeting. .lith as many able-bodied,
seasoned retired adults in town „ wouldn't it be possible to
discover persons to serve on the commi_cSion, who had the time
and interest to mingle around, participate, size up the us&ts
of the center.
, N-) v ES
My third concern is eeneer o wi-th the library
use. Vie are so lucky to have an attractive reading center.
Why not, open the Library Committee to our interested "senior
citizenry" to see whether we couldn't arrange to have minimal
supervision more hours of the week, so that resources could
be more widely used. We could have book reviews or discuss
current issues. Here's hoping, that one by one the missing
new Encyclopedias will be returned and we can regain our
friendly, trusting relationships during these "phasing out"
days of our life!
You, our City Council can help us, busy tho you are!
Sincerely,
KLIL11-
� 9�
I
109 South Johnson Street
Iowa City, Iowa $2240
April 18, 1988
I
I
To Whom it May Concerns
There has been much discussion regarding the elderly since Bette Meisel
and Lori Benz wrote the two articles in the Senior Post recently.
Does anyone really believe the elderly populhttion is any ss section rent as tor far
as greediness and theft are concerned than any
population?
We must get down to the question. Why are the books missing? Wouldn't i1
this same condition exist if books were handled in a public school, church
library, or elsewhere as they are in the Senior Center? If there is an open ;
room for books with no one present to check the books in or out, why
wouldn't many be missing? It seems to me that the system is at fault.
In some cases I believe people have taken the books to read and haven't
}
returned them yet -- why hurry since no one is checking up.
I am sorry our Senior Post had such aegative articles about the Johnson
County Senior Citizens who come to the Center.
i
As far as the garden surplusses are concerned, the volunthers need to make
rules for themselves and take turns enforcing them.
I
As far as the bread is concerned, the same holds true. The volunteers need
to decide in a democratic way how to handle charitable donations and how- to
enforce the rules.
What really is needed in all these matters is warm, kind, friendly leadership.
Sincerely,
s. Lorna L. Mathes
CCs City Manager
Members of City Council
Chairman, Senior Center Commission
Chairman, Council of Elders
�ILlly �IUUj�
-.32'1988
i MARIAN K. KARR
CITY CLERK (3) ��
APR 201988 4 i9, �98Y
MARIAN K. KARR
CLERK (3)
J p
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