Air and Water Pollution

1
Air and Water Pollution

• Sevi Beykozlu
• Alexandra Yu
• Meissa Dia
• Shumin Li

2
Air and Water Pollution Facts

• 
  
• The EPA has stated the following
• 100 million of the USA's 263 million
  residents face health problems from
  breathing dirty air.
• 64,000 Americans die prematurely each
  year from respiratory illness and heart
  attacks linked to particulate exposure.
• INDOOR air can be 20 to 70 times worse than
  outdoor air.

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Air and Water Pollution Facts

• The EPA has stated the following (cont.)
• Radon gas is the second leading cause of
  lung cancer in the U.S.
• Over half of our homes and offices
  are suffering from a form of sick building
  syndrome.
• In 1990 the EPA estimated that nearly
  10,000 community wells contain pesticides, which
  are linked to cancer as well as liver, kidney,
  and nervous system damage.
• EPA records for 1993 showed that
  operators failed to notify customers that they
  were drinking substandard water in 94 of the
  cases where the systems violated the law.

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Air and Water Pollution Facts

• Health Experts Say
• The body easily gets rid of large
  airborne particulates but the particles 5 microns
  and smaller are the dangerous ones.
• Over 40 million people now suffer
  from allergies, asthma, emphysema, and other
  breathing disorders.
• Doctors have linked indoor air
  pollution with ailments ranging from behavioral
  problems to kidney failure.

5
Air and Water Pollution Facts

• Health Experts Say
• Thousands of people every day are
  reaching saturation levels and becoming chronic
  sufferers.
• A study by the U.S. Council of
  Environmental Quality showed that the cancer risk
  among people drinking chlorinated water is 93
  higher than those whose water does not contain
  chlorine.
• As chlorine is added to kill
  pathogenic microorganisms, the highly reactive
  chlorine combines with fatty acids and carbon
  fragments to form a variety of toxic compounds,
  which comprise about 30 of the chlorination
  byproducts.

6
Air and Water Pollution Facts

• Health Experts Say
• Drinking chlorinated water may as much as
  double the risk of the Bladder Cancer, which
  strikes 40,000 people a year.
• Taking long hot showers is a health
  risk. Showers lead to a greater exposure to toxic
  chemicals contained in water suppliers than does
  drinking the water. The chemicals evaporate out
  of the water and are inhaled.
• Scientific studies have linked
  chlorine and chlorination byproducts to cancer of
  the bladder, liver, stomach, rectum, and colon,
  as well as heart disease, atherosclerosis
  (hardening of the arteries), anemia, high blood
  pressure, and allergic reactions.

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Case Study Water Pollution

• Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

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Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• People and domestic animals in Hinkley,
  California, were getting sick and dying.
• Residents depended on the local ground water
  supply.
• PGEs Gas compressor station was there.

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Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• In 1987, officials from PGE detected and
  reported high level of hexavalent chromium
  (chromium VI) in the waste water ponds.
• PGE bought every piece of property thought to be
  affected by the pollution and destroyed 75 of
  them.
• PGE hid the truth from the residents.

10
Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• PGE distributed flyers discussing the companys
  use of chromium to local residents, but the
  contents were misleading.

11
Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• PGEs flyers
• Chromium occurs in 2 forms. The form that is
  present in groundwater can cause health effects
  in high doses. The cleanup program, however, will
  result in chromium levels that meet the very
  conservative drinking water standards set by the
  EPA. In addition, the form of chromium that will
  be left on soils after irrigation is nontoxic. In
  fact, chromium in this form is a naturally
  occurring metal that is an essential ingredient
  in the human diet, on that is often included in
  multiple vitamin/mineral supplements.

12
Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• Why did PGE use chromium VI ?
• -PGEs compressor station was built to be part
  of the pipeline system that transfers natural gas
  to the service area.
• -Gas compression generates heat so the gas and
  the compressors have to be cooled with
  circulating water.
• -To keep its cooling towers from corroding too
  fast, PGE added chromium VI as corrosion
  inhibitor.

13
Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• Chromium VI is perfect to use in pre-treatment
  process to resist corrosion and provide good
  adhesion.
• Chromium VI is toxic and can cause cancer.

14
Erin Brockovich v.s PGE

• Upon reading the peculiar medical bills from
  residents in Hinkley, Erin Brockovich and Ed
  Masry rose to the occasion.
• 77 initial plaintiffs filed their lawsuit against
  PGE and offered the settlement of 250 million.
• PGE refused.

15
Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• Eventually 648 plaintiffs joined the lawsuit.
• 36 claims were tried and the arbitration trial
  took nearly 2 years.
• In 1994, plaintiffs and PGE reached an agreement
  to arbitrate.

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Erin Brockovich v.s. PGE

• Results
• PGE agreed to
• Compensate all the named plaintiffs in the amount
  of 333 million.
• Clean up the environment.
• Stop using chromium VI.

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Professional Issues

• Economic concern
• Safety health issue
• Duty to inform the public
• Proper disposal of PG E chemical waste

18
Legal/Policy Issues

• Harmful chemical usage regulation
• The levels of Chromium VI in monitoring wells
  were 10x the legal limit
• Misleading the public
• Lawsuit
• Penalty
• Environment cleaning

19
Ethical Issues

• Regard for Public Well-Being
• Responsibility to clean up the damaged
  environment
• The effects of chromium VI have been known
  since the 1920s
• PG E knew about the contamination since
  1965 when levels were 400 times the EPAs safety
  standard! (LawBuzz.com)

20
Stakeholders

• PG E
• Executives
• Engineers
• Project members
• Government
• Surrounding communities
• Future Generations

21
Possible Alternative Actions

• PG E could simply follow the government
  standards for safe levels of Chromium VI
• Find a safe alternative to Chromium VI even if it
  means higher cost to PG E

22
Consequences

• Expensive process
• Less environmental pollution
• Might decrease efficiency
• Lower or eliminate the law suit possibility
• Unknown side effect in a long term

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Consequences (cont.)

• Lower efficiency
• Higher cost
• Safe environment

24
Individual Rights

• PG E has its right to choose which chemical to
  use within a safety limitation
• People have their rights to live in a safe
  environment

25
Common Good

• Less harmful to environment and people

26
Our Final Decision

• Find a safe alternative to Chromium VI