Worried citizens report thousands leaky containers hazardous waste in Idaho

Carol Forsloff - Seattle - Environmental disasters continue to be in the news that show how negligence can create serious problems for citizens in a region. Of consequence on an ongoing basis is hazardous waste reported by the EPA Thursday and undergoing an investigation.

The EPA is involved with a serious hazardous waste assessment and investigation of an incident involving hazardous waste in Rexburg in Madison County Idaho. 

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it is conducting a full investigation of the incident following a series of complaint-driven property visits by members of the (Madison) County Planning and Zoning Commission, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison Fire Department, all prompted a call to the EPA requesting assistance. 

On Friday, July 9, EPA obtained a civil warrant authorizing EPA to enter the property. Andy Smith, EPA On-Scene Coordinator, entered the property on Saturday, July 10, and determined that it was littered with dozens of non-operational cars and other vehicles, unattended solid waste, and hundreds of containers in various sizes from drums to buckets. Some containers were clearly leaking. 

“This is one of the most challenging sites I’ve seen,“ said EPA’s Smith. “We’ve had to move inoperable vehicles and clear a lot of brush just to see what we’ve got here. Because we’re so close to a drinking water well head and irrigation ditch, we’re being especially careful to not make this problem worse.” 

The Agency expects to have a better idea of the size and scope of the cleanup once more of the assessment phase is completed later in the week. EPA continues to work closely with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in addressing this situation. 

Purdue experts define hazardous waste as: A substance that is potentially dangerous, including but not limited to material that is explosive, radioactive, ignitable, corrosive, toxic or reactive. Examples in the home include paint cleaners, gasoline, drain cleaners and chlorine bleach. Products may be quite safe when used according to instructions, but still be capable of easy misuse.   Often these are dumped into garbage cans and become part of the landfills near towns all across America. 

While folks worry about oil spills and problems caused by energy sources, the problem of hazardous waste and the individual and corporate contribution to it is often not considered among the urgent environmental issues. 

This is what ThinkQuest underlines what folks need to know about the risks and how individual and corporate behavior impacts this growing problem. 

"Individuals often throw out goods without realizing that they are headed for a landfill and could be dangerous for the environment.  No matter where people put these hazardous waste materials, there is always a chance that they could find their way into the ground, and eventually into our bodies." 

That's what individuals do in the creation of problems regarding hazardous waste.  But what about corporations.  ThinkQuest goes on to tell us, "Corporations usually want to avoid the costs associated with having to limit creation of hazardous waste.  Consequently, they build landfills on site and fill them with waste, or sometimes pay to have their waste removed.  Often, hazardous materials are transported to areas that accept money to take the waste." 

The problem, however, continues to grow.  So ThinkQuest tells us, "It may prove very difficult to reduce hazardous waste in the future.  Unlike many other environmental problems, waste creation is something people do not often think about."