Number: 1981-20
WHEREAS, some 57 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated in the United States each year and the quantities are increasing; and
WHEREAS, the improper transportation and disposal of these wastes can cause significant damage to the environment, public health, and fish and wildlife habitat and resources; and
WHEREAS, it is illegal to dispose of hazardous wastes anywhere but in licensed and regulated facilities, and there is a severe shortage of such facilities; and
WHEREAS, public opposition based upon legitimate fear and distrust of industry and the Government from past incidents and hazardous waste disposal poses a major obstacle to the siting of safe and environmentally sound hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 26-29, 1981, in Norfolk, Virginia, urges each State to promptly design and implement a hazardous waste treatment and disposal siting process which includes:
- adequate regulatory, safe transportation, and enforcement capability to protect the environment, public health, and wildlife resources; and
- a preference for waste reduction, recycling, waste exchange, detoxification, and incineration, over land disposal; and
- provision of opportunities for full and informed public participation from the earliest point of site selection and at every significant planning and decision making stage; and
- provision for independent expert analysis of proposed facilities at the request of local residents; including impacts on affected communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that hazardous waste management methods and site selection should be based on minimization of risks to health and the environment and not on the basis of local veto or political expediency; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers should make its resources available to assist the Environmental Protection Agency and the states in the engineering design of hazardous waste management facilities in the remediation of contaminant release problems at existing and abandoned disposal sites.