Master of Business Administration Semester 4

EM 0006: Pollution and Disaster Management

ASSIGNMENT- Set 1

Q1. Evaluate the significance of various pollution control approaches. Ans1. The Significance of Pollution Control Approaches. The environmental consequences of rapid industrialization have resulted in countless incidents of land, air and water resources sites being contaminated with toxic materials and other pollutants, threatening humans and ecosystems with serious health risks. More extensive and intensive use of materials and energy has created cumulative pressures on the quality of local, regional and global ecosystems. Before there was a concerted effort to restrict the impact of pollution, environmental management extended little beyond laissez-faire tolerance, tempered by disposal of wastes to avoid disruptive local nuisance conceived of in a short-term perspective. The need for remediation was recognized, by exception, in instances where damage was determined to be unacceptable. As the pace of industrial activity intensified and the understanding of cumulative effects grew, a pollution control paradigm became the dominant approach to environmental management. Two specific concepts served as the basis for the control approach: The assimilative capacity concept, which asserts the existence of a specified level of emissions into the environment which does not lead to unacceptable environmental or human health effects the principle of control concept, which assumes that environmental damage can be avoided by controlling the manner, time and rate at which pollutants enter the environment. Under the pollution control approach, attempts to protect the environment have especially relied on isolating contaminants from the environment and using end-of-pipe filters and scrubbers. These solutions have tended to focus on media-specific environmental quality objectives or emission limits, and have been primarily directed at point source discharges into specific environmental media (air, water, soil). Market-Based Approach to Pollution Control : Problems like these have led policymakers to look for more efficient means of cleaning up the environment. As a result, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments look very different from their predecessors of the 1970s because they include market-based incentives to reduce pollution. Market incentives are generally of two forms: pollution fees and so-called marketable permits. Pollution fees are simply taxes on polluters that penalize them in proportion to the amount they discharge into an airshed, waterway, or local landfill. Such taxes are common in Europe but have not been used in the United States. Marketable permits are essentially transferable discharge licenses that polluters can buy and sell to meet the control levels set by regulatory authorities. These permits have been used in the United States because they do not impose large taxes on a small set of polluting industries, as would be the case with pollution fees.

Q2. What is the objective behind using the carbon capture technology.
Ans2. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) (or carbon capture and sequestration), is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide(CO2) from large point sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, transporting it to a storage site, and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere, normally an underground geological formation. The aim is to prevent the release of large quantities of CO 2into the atmosphere (from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries). It is a potential means

of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming and ocean acidification. Although CO2 has been injected into geological formations for several decades for various purposes, including enhanced oil recovery, the long term storage of CO2 is a relatively new concept. The first commercial example was Wey burn in 2000. 'CCS' can also be used to describe the scrubbing of CO2from ambient air as a geo engineering technique. An integrated pilot-scale CCS power plant was to begin operating in September 2008 in the eastern German power plant Schwarze Pumpe run by utility Vattenfall, in the hope of answering questions about technological feasibility and economic efficiency. CCS applied to a modern conventional power plant could reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by approximately 8090% compared to a plant without [3] CCS. The IPCC estimates that the economic potential of CCS could be between 10% and 55% of the total carbon mitigation effort until year 2100 Capturing and compressing CO2 may increase the fuel needs of a coal-fired CCS plant by 25 [3] 40%. These and other system costs are estimated to increase the cost of the energy produced by 21 [3] 91% for purpose built plants. Applying the technology to existing plants would be more expensive especially if they are far from a sequestration site. Recent industry reports suggest that with successful research, development and deployment (RD&D), sequestered coal-based electricity generation in 2025 may cost less than unsequestered coal-based electricity generation today.

Q3. What are the different types of solid waste? Ans3. Types of solid waste Solid waste can be classified into different types depending on their a)Household waste is generally classified as municipal b)Industrial waste as hazardous waste, c) Biomedical waste or hospital waste as infectious waste. Municipal solid waste: Municipal solid waste consists of household waste, construction and demolition debris, sanitation residue, and waste from streets. This garbage is generated mainly from residential and commercial complexes. With rising urbanization and change in lifestyle and food habits, the amount of municipal solid waste has been increasing rapidly and its composition changing. In 1947 cities and towns in India generated an estimated 6 million tonnes of solid waste, in 1997 it was about 48 million tonnes. More than 25% of the municipal solid waste is not collected at all; 70% of the Indian cities lack adequate capacity to transport it and there are no sanitary landfills to dispose of the waste. The existing landfills are neither well equipped or well managed and are not lined properly to protect against contamination of soil and groundwater. There are different categories of waste generated, each take their own time to degenerate (as illustrated in the table below). source: waste, and

Garbage: the four broad categories Organic waste: kitchen waste, vegetables, flowers, leaves, fruits.

cals, bulbs, sp ray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish. Recyclable: paper, glass, metals, plastics. Soiled: hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids. The type of litter we generate and the approximate time it takes to degenerate Type of litter Approximate time it takes to degenerate the litter

Organic waste such as vegetable a week or two. and fruit peels, leftover foodstuff, etc. Paper Cotton cloth Wood Woolen items 1030 days 25 months 1015 years 1 year

Tin, aluminium, and other metal 100500 years items such as cans Plastic bags Glass bottles one million years? undetermined

Hazardous waste Industrial and hospital waste is considered hazardous as they may contain toxic substances. Certain types of household waste are also hazardous. Hazardous wastes could be highly toxic to humans, animals, and plants; are corrosive, highly inflammable, or explosive; and react when exposed to certain things e.g. gases. . Household waste that can be categorized as hazardous waste include old batteries, shoe polish, paint tins, old medicines, and medicine bottles. Hospital waste contaminated by chemicals used in hospitals is considered hazardous. These chemicals include formaldehyde and phenols, which are used as disinfectants, and mercury, which is used in thermometers or equipment that measure blood pressure. Most hospitals in India do not have proper disposal facilities for these hazardous wastes.

Hospital waste Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities in these fields or in the production or testing of biologicals. It may include wastes like sharps, soiled waste, disposables, anatomical waste, cultures, discarded medicines, chemical wastes, etc. These are in the form of disposable syringes, swabs, bandages, body fluids, human excreta, etc. This waste is highly infectious and can be a serious threat to human health if not managed in a scientific and discriminate manner. It has been roughly estimated that of the 4 kg of waste generated in a hospital at least 1 kg would be infected.

Q4.Define bio-terrorism. What is the main objective of resorting to bio-terrorism?

Ans4. Bioterrorism refers to the intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize civilians, in the name of a political or other cause.The U.S. Center for Disease Control has classified the viruses, bacteria and toxins that could be used in an attack. Category A Biological Diseases are those most likely to do the most damage. They include: Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin) The Plague (Yersinia pestis) Smallpox (Variola major) Tularemia (Francisella tularensis) Hemorrahagic fever, due to Ebola Virus or Marburg Virus A bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins or other harmful agents used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents are typically found in nature, but it is possible that they could be mutated or altered to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Biological agents can be spread through the air, water, or in food. Terrorists tend to use biological agents because they are extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents, like the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to person and some, like anthrax, cannot. Bioterrorism is an attractive weapon because biological agents are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain, can be easily disseminated, and can cause widespread fear and panic beyond the actual physical damage they can cause. Military leaders, however, have learned that, as a military asset, bioterrorism has some important limitations; it is difficult to employ a bioweapon in a way that only the enemy is affected and not friendly forces. A biological weapon is useful to terrorists mainly as a method of creating mass panic and disruption to a state or a country. However, technologists such as Bill Joy have warned of the potential power which genetic engineering might place in the hands of future bio-terrorists. The use of agents that do not cause harm to humans but disrupt the economy have been discussed. A highly relevant pathogen in this context is the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus, which is capable of causing widespread economic damage and public concern (as witnessed in the 2001 and 2007 FMD outbreaks in the UK), whilst having almost no capacity to infect humans.

Q5. Define risk assessment and describe the steps involved in risk assessment?
Ans5. A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures. Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or you have to go to court. You are legally required to assess the risks in your workplace so that you put in place a plan to control the risks. Five steps to risk assessment . 1. Identify the hazards 2. Decide who might be harmed and how 3. Evaluate the risks and decide on precaution 4. Record your findings and implement them 5. Review your assessment and update if necessary Step 1: Identify the hazards First you need to work out how people could be harmed. When you work in a place everyday it is easy to overlook some hazards, so here are some tips to help you identify the ones that matter: Walk around your workplace and look at what could reasonably be expected to cause harm. Ask your employees or their representatives what they think. They may have noticed things that are not immediately obvious to you. For information on how you can do this please visit our worker involvement pages. Visit the HSE website. HSE publishes practical guidance on where hazards occur and how to control them. There is much information on the hazards that might affect your business. If you are a member of a trade association, contact them. Many produce very helpful guidance. Check manufacturers instructions or data sheets for chemicals and equipment as they can be very helpful in spelling out the hazards and putting them in their true perspective. Have a look back at your accident and ill-health records these often help to identify the less obvious hazards. Remember to think about long-term hazards to health (eg high levels of noise or exposure to harmful substances) as well as safety hazards. Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how

For each hazard you need to be clear about who might be harmed; it will help you identify the best way of managing the risk. That doesnt mean listing everyone by name, but rather identifying groups of people (eg people working in the storeroom or passers-by). Remember: some workers have particular requirements, eg new and young workers ,migrant workers , new or expectant mothers and people with disabilities may be at particular risk. Extra thought will be needed for some hazards; cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance workers etc, who may not be in the workplace all the time; members of the public, if they could be hurt by your activities; if you share your workplace, you will need to think about how your work affects others present, as well as how their work affects your staff talk to them; and ask your staff if they can think of anyone you may have missed.

Evaluate the risks and decide on precaution First, look at what youre already doing, think about what controls you have in place and how the work is organised. Then compare this with the good practice and see if theres more you should be doing to bring yourself up to standard. In asking yourself this, consider: Can I get rid of the hazard altogether? If not, how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely?

1. Record your findings and implement them Putting the results of your risk assessment into practice will make a difference when looking after people and your business. Writing down the results of your risk assessment, and sharing them with your staff, encourages you to do this. If you have fewer than five employees you do not have to write anything down. When writing down your results, keep it simple, for example Tripping over rubbish: bins provided, staff instructed, weekly housekeeping checks, or Fume from welding: local exhaust ventilation used and regularly checked. Step 5: Review your risk assessment and update if necessary Few workplaces stay the same. Sooner or later, you will bring in new equipment, substances and procedures that could lead to new hazards. It makes sense therefore, to review what you are doing on an ongoing basis. Look at your risk assessment and think about whether there have been any changes? Are there improvements you still need to make? Have your workers spotted a problem? Have you learnt anything from accidents or near misses? Make sure your risk assessment stays up to date.

Q6. List the urban environmental development indicators. Describe any three. Ans 6.
Urban Environmental Indicators

The purpose of the Urban Environmental Management (UEM) Toolkit is to strengthen urban environmental management decision-making and planning practices. For its implementation, the UEM Toolkit aims to provide decision-makers with mechanisms (i.e., management indicators) to gauge the progress of their urban environmental management activities from a life cycle perspective. The Toolkit will also provide a range of examples of urban environmental management activities that are recognized as Best Management Practices (BMPs), including development policy strategies that integrate poverty reduction, cross-sectoral interests, and local-national-global perspectives. Ultimately, the Toolkit is intended to serve as a contribution for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. A key concept behind the development of this (UEM Indicators) section of the Toolkit is to identify environmental management indicators that go beyond a description of a condition and effectively link to the decision-making process, the latter often being a management element. The BMPs are to be related to the planning decision, to elements of environmental management, and to the indicators themselves. The process for selecting indicators must consider the need for flexibility, as well as the contribution to an integrated vision. The flexibility is required because, while developing countries may historically lack certain key data, significant advances in urban environmental data collection continue to be made (e.g., through the establishment of urban air quality monitoring networks and the assessment of health impacts resulting from the changes to environmental quality). The set of environmental indicators selected must contribute to the integrated vision of decision-makers. Therefore, the set must contemplate a variety of relationships, including inter-sectoral, multi-media, life cycle, and intergenerational issues of sustainability.