Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 13:26:12 -0700
Subject: Finding toxic waste (Re: Flying for the Environment) - rec.aviation #12954

In article <1992Aug24.050723.23752@leela.cs.orst.edu>, mpucket@jacobs.CS.ORST.EDU (Margaret Puckette) writes:
|> 
|> fskevin@mars.lerc.nasa.gov (Kevin R. Kirtley (SVER)) writes about
|> reporting a shipping spill:
|> 
|> >While flying along the coast of Lake Erie, I noticed a loaded tanker ship
|> >steaming out of Cleveland trailing a bright red substance in its wake.
|> >I didn't think rusty bilge water could be THAT red so I called Burke Lakefront
|> >tower and asked them to call the U.S. Coast Guard.  They called and the tower
|> >asked for a position report so the tanker could be intercepted.  I gave
|> >all the necessary information and continued my flight.
|> >
|> >I never did find out what that tanker was discharging but I felt good about
|> >my actions.
|> 
|> GOOD JOB!
|> 
|> I once gave a DEQ agent the lat-lon position of a place I found while
|> flying over the forest: big fancy A-frame house in the front, and in the
|> back some large tanks, piles of cannisters and 55-gallon drums, and trash
|> strewn out everywhere.  The agent was thrilled; it turned out to be an 
|> illegal metals processing operation, apparently something dangerous, though 
|> I did not learn any more details.
|> 
|> It is amazing what *is* visible from the air that is easily hidden on
|> the ground!  There are some tell-tale clues that make an operation look
|> suspect, especially one involved in the illegal storage or dumping of
|> toxic materials:
|> 
|>     * Ponds - These will almost always be square or rectangular
|>         and filled with something unusually colored, often there
|>         are several.  Blatant violators have junk floating in the
|>         ponds, and any such pond not associated with an obviously 
|>         industrial operation (found out in the middle of nowhere,
|>         a farmer's field, a forest, etc.) is *highly* suspect.
|>         The ponds are usually fairly small, too (not like those
|>         brightly colored salt ponds in the Bay Area).
|> 
|>     * Plumes - This is a discolored discharge like the one Kevin
|>         saw on Lake Erie, but you'll see them in rivers, lakes, and
|>         along shorelines.  Some of these are legitimate, check and
|>         see if there's a nearby water treatment plant, for instance.
|>         But it never hurts to report plumes!  I've worked in an oil
|>         refinery; I know that stock can pressurize unexpectedly, blow 
|>         through a relief valve, and "vent" to the environment because
|>         some worker was lax at watching his area.
|> 
|>     * 55-gallon drums - a legitimate operation utilizing toxic materials
|>         will neatly stack and store these drums on a concrete, fenced-in
|>         pad (often with a dike around the area).  Remember, these are
|>         inspected and tested areas; they are NEAT and ORGANIZED.  Beware
|>         of sites that are messy and have obvious spills and stains.  When
|>         I flew some DEQ guys around Portland, they were *very* interested
|>         in a neat stack of 55-gallon drums out in the middle of a farmer's
|>         field, weeds growing all around...kinda begs the question whether
|>         someone was trying to save some bucks by not paying to have them
|>         properly disposed of.
|> 
|>     * Piles - Just like the drums, there are often piles of *stuff* lying
|>         around the landscape.  They look docile, like bricks or used lumber
|>         or demolition waste, but they can hide some seriously poisonous
|>         materials: asbestos, old transformers filled with PCBs, and other
|>         "dry" forms of waste.  My DEQ passengers were fastidious about
|>         photographing and getting a position fix for each and every one
|>         of these we discovered from the air.
|> 
|> 
|> >So see Margaret, You've inspired at least one person so:
|> >
|> >PICK UP THE PHONE
|> >TELL US ABOUT THE NEWS FOOTAGE OF YOU
|> >INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW
|> 
|> Oh yes, that will take place on NBC, Saturday October 3, 10:30am (check
|> your local listings).  The show is "Name Your Adventure", and I will be
|> part of the 2nd segment (after a story about a sportscasters school...or
|> something like that).  I have no idea what the final cut looks like.
|> 
|> 
|> >Kevin 'the forests are already cleared in Ohio' Kirtley
|> 
|> We've still got 10% left.
|> 
|> *************************************************************************
|> Margaret "admitting she needs a high-winger for this work" Puckette
|> AOPA Archer N1939G