r-
O
C
(0
a.
UJ
u>
a>
o
1
w
c
en
CO
CO
CD
i_
ro
o
CD
Becausi
jrly disposed-of hazardous
a
o
Q.
E
"o
vt
D
C ^ .
:op-pnority national probler
everyone's attention. To lei
U.S EPA's new Hazardous
~ CO
CO "O
. CD
CO CD
CD C
*->
"> ^
il
CO
0
0
c
-H
CD
C
Lj
0
I
CD
(O
CO
p;
n
c>(
(^
O)
5
0
O - m ••- ~ •- ^ T3 !5 •:;;
= „•; 2? O CO CD r • ^ ro
If III;
oo-2 « g -g s -a o g = J . c: £ £2
"^mclsi-^E^^^lSiE?
lSE£°a|riOgs-5^-«£
£-|3-o£:g°«2£!SE8':*»«£
3°^°c5tI3x^°ro-c»c2®S5
? ? S -H o I 'S = S « g, g - | - E |
\--5-§r°cS£>i-2^a^cS^
ISDco^Cs-coC^i—^o1- . Q. OT
OT!<1>^CD>,. 05 turicDccnOco
ll S °. 1 3fe»c| g >&-I^ ^£
« -5CD*T'O-c:(rrDcrO)Conj0t±ta
-g-So-B-S^^^-foco^^Sc??^
5! 8 8s S si*! S |wj.c.g 2£^
o^£2£^^Si 2^55^5. Eo<:i
vironrnent.
c
CD
CD
J=
TO
C
CO
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region V
Office of Public Information
230 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
S300
Postage and
Fees Paid
Environmental
Protection
Agency
EPA 335
f*l
l^^All
third Class
Bulk
ILLINOIS INDIANA • MICHIGAN MINNESOTA OHIO WISCONSIN
-------
How do hazardous wastes
cause harm?
• They can contaminate drinking water
supplies if they leak or seep into
groundwater from dumps or from
improperly stored drums or dumps.
• They can contaminate surface water
directly if they are carried with rain or
snowmelts from dumps and improper
storage sites.
• They can cause explosions or fires;
hazardous wastes may emit gases that
become both lethal and flammable.
• Direct contact with toxic wastes can
cause immediate or delayed damage to
living things.
• Open burning, wind erosion of open
dumps, or evaporation from liquid wastes
can result in hazardous air pollution.
Some of the harm caused by
hazardous wastes is obvious . Plants and
sensitive wetlands die. Air or water smells
of chemicals. Fish, birds, and small
animals may become sick and die. Toxic
hazardous wastes such as PCBs
"bioaceumulate" in body tissues and can
enter the human food chain in fish,
poultry, or dairy products.
The health effects of hazardous
wastes on mammals are just beginning to
be documented. But early research
indicates that effects may include
damage to the kidneys or other organs,
cancers, sterility or miscarriages, and
birth defects.
Who's doing something about
hazardous wastes?
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and State environmental
agencies are jointly responsible for
enforcing State and Federal laws that are
designed to protect both the environment
and human health from the damaging
aspects qf wastes produced by our
modern industrial processes.
In January of 1979. U.S. EPA Region
V formed a Hazardous Waste Task Force
made up of engineers, scientists, and
attorneys who could investigate— and
take enforcement actions to clean up—
these sites in the Midwest. The Task
Force, working with State and local
authorities, has evaluated hundreds of
potential hazardous waste disposal sites.
U.S. EPA and the States have filed many
enforcement cases against sites that
threaten health or the environment. SEEK
& FIND intensifies EPA's efforts.
Then why this new Hot Line?
Despite its efforts. U.S. EPA.and the
States have only begun to identify all the
problem sites in Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and
Wisconsin. We need your help. Farmers,
chemical factory workers, students,
outdoor enthusiasts, and other
concerned citizens may now call the new
Hazardous Waste Hot Line directly to
report any site that is suspected of
improperly managing hazardous wastes.
In other words, we need your help if we
are to effectively SEEK & FIND these
locations—and do something about
them.
What is the Hazardous Waste
Hot Line?
It is a toll-free telephone line to give
members of the public access to
U.S. EPA specialists who are trained to
investigate hazardous waste problems in
the six-State Midwest Region of EPA.
If you do see a suspicious place, DO
NOT MAKE YOUR OWN INVESTIGATION.
Many wastes are toxic. Some are volatile
and might explode.
What, then, can you be
watching for?
Some of the warning signs of a
hazardous waste problem are listed
below. Any one or combination of these
warning signs— or other signs you might
chance upon—should be reported to U.S.
EPA via the Hazardous Waste Hot Line.
DRUMS. Hazardous wastes may be
shipped in 55-gallon steel drums.
Unscrupulous waste haulers, paid simply
to remove wastes from an industrial site,
may dump these drums in swamps,
woods, along roadsides, on vacant lots or
fields— or anywhere.
OILOR SLUDGE SPILLS. Any significant
quantity of oil or oily sludge on the
ground, in waterways, or on wetlands
may be a hazard to the environment.
ODORS. Hazardous waste spills may be
detected by distinctive smells such as
those that resemble turpentine, paint,
glue, or hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggsL-
DEAD VEGETATION. A barren spot
woods, a swamp, or even alonoXroad
may mean that hazardous wastes have
been dumped, buried, orxsprayed there.
Any area of significant and new dead or
dying vegetation is a quiet warning.
ABANDONED WAREHOUSES OR
FACTORIES. iNot all waste sites are open
to public view. An abandoned building
with leaking, unsecured chemical drums
inside may be a serious health or fire
hazard. Both U.S. EPA and your local fire
department should be notified. DO NOT
ENTER these buildings: Toxic or
flammable gases could be present.
If you have ANY information on
hazardous waste treatment, storage, or
disposal, call the Hazardous Waste Hot
Line to report both the EXACT LOCATION
and a DESCRIPTION of the suspected
hazard.
Call the Hazardous Waste
Hot Line:
800-621-3191 or
(Illinois only) 800-972-3170
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Central time
Monday through Friday
Or call the proper hazardous waste
authorities at your State environmental
control agency.
Illinois 217-782-6760
Indiana 317-633-0178
Michigan 1-800-292-4706
Minnesota 612-297-2727
Ohio 1-800-282-9378
Wisconsin 608-266-3232
(Call collect)
DO help with SEEK & FIND. But
DO NOT investigate a possible
hazardous waste disposal site yourself.
U.S. EPA, Region V, Graphic Arts, 1980
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 826 581
------- |