【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 1996. 處理有毒化學(xué)物品的問(wèn)題并沒(méi)有因?yàn)樵?996年環(huán)境保護(hù)局的成立而有所改善。 The first task of the new agency was to clean up rivers and streams. 此新興機(jī)構(gòu)的首要任務(wù)是清理干凈河流水道。 Unfortunately, no one in power in the government at the time had insight into the problems that were to be created by the new agency. 不幸的是，當(dāng)時(shí)政府的執(zhí)政人員沒(méi)有一個(gè)洞察到那個(gè)新興機(jī)構(gòu)帶來(lái)的問(wèn)題。The EPA was quite successful in those early days in the enforcement of the many water pollution laws that evolved. 環(huán)境保護(hù)局在早些年的時(shí)候，對(duì)于強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行污染法的發(fā)展還是做的相當(dāng)成功的。 As the practice of the dumping of hazardous materials into the rivers and streams was eliminated, those same materials created other disposal problems. 隨著往河道排放有毒物質(zhì)的習(xí)慣的消除，但這些相同的物質(zhì)造成了其他處理問(wèn)題。Many of the chemicals saved from the sewer were either worthless or of such a low value as to render recovery uneconomical. 在下水道中回收到的物質(zhì)不是沒(méi)價(jià)值的就是低廉到不足以恢復(fù)利用. In some cases, recovery was technically impossible. As a result, the waste chemicals were disposed of by any convenient method. 一些情況下,很多廢棄的化學(xué)藥物都被很簡(jiǎn)單地扔掉了. The makeshift dumps sites were expanded. Because there were no regulations regarding disposal, 臨時(shí)的垃圾場(chǎng)已經(jīng)不得不擴(kuò)大,因?yàn)闆](méi)有任何關(guān)于廢物丟棄的法規(guī).persons with no technical expertise entered into the business of waste disposal. The profits were high because these individuals did not treat the chemicals. 很多不具備專業(yè)技術(shù)知識(shí)的人就進(jìn)入了廢物處理的行業(yè),由于這些人并沒(méi)有真正處理掉化學(xué)藥物，所以這個(gè)行業(yè)的利潤(rùn)相當(dāng)高。In most cases, the waste materials were transported to impounding areas located on privately owned land. 很多情況下,廢棄的化學(xué)物品會(huì)被運(yùn)到私有土地上的貯物地.The factories that generated the waste felt secure in the belief that the waste transporter was disposing of the materials in an acceptable manner. 那些產(chǎn)生廢棄物的廠家之所以感到安心是因?yàn)樗麄兿嘈艔U物處理者會(huì)用一種合理的方法來(lái)處置掉廢物.In most cases, this was not a correct assumption. 但很多情況下,事實(shí)并非如此.The unregulated dumps grew both in size and plexity. 亂堆放的大小規(guī)模和復(fù)雜度上都在增長(zhǎng). When the dumps were in close proximity to populated areas or public water supplies, a series of problems begin to develop. 當(dāng)垃圾場(chǎng)很接近居住區(qū)或公共水源的話,一系列的問(wèn)題將會(huì)開始產(chǎn)生.Citizens in the vicinity of some of the dumps began to experience adverse health problems such as skin rashes, paralysis, cancer, and birth defects. . In some cases, these problems have been attributed to contamination from the chemicals. 有時(shí)候,這些問(wèn)題會(huì)歸屬于受到化學(xué)藥物的污染而產(chǎn)生的.Because of these concerns, the United States Congress enacted a new legislation that dealt with the issues of disposal of hazardous wastes. 由于這些擔(dān)心，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)了一個(gè)新的處理有害廢物過(guò)程中出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題的法規(guī)。This was the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act of 。The purpose of the Act was to allow regulation of hazardous substance disposal. 這項(xiàng)法案的目的是同意有害物質(zhì)處理的方法。As a result, industries that generated large quantities of these waste materials now had to ensure that the materials were disposed of in the a manner that was safe for the 。Many of the improper dumps that were created prior to the RCRA legislation were created by persons with little or no financial ，很多不合理的堆放已經(jīng)造成。As a result, the cleanup of the old sites has been taken over by the government under legislation. 使得清理舊的堆放點(diǎn)的工作由政府接管。As of this time, the results of these clean up efforts have been ineffective. 在這一時(shí)期，這些清理的努力效率不高。Because of the abuses and problems of the past, regulations have been enacted that force American industry to be responsible for hazardous waste ，強(qiáng)制美國(guó)工業(yè)承擔(dān)有害物質(zhì)處理的責(zé)任的相關(guān)法規(guī)已經(jīng)頒布。The problems were brought about by a lack of economic indentives to the industrial 。The problems were pounded by the inexperience and lack of insight by elected governmental officials and the governmental agencies charged with the task of 。Although sufficient legislation is now in place to solve the problem of hazardous waste disposal, it is unlikely that a true solution will be achieved for 20 years or ，但是在二十年或更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間內(nèi)是不可能真正的解決的。Only through interaction between industry scientists, and government regulators will true solutions be finally ，科學(xué)家和政府部門的共同努力，才能最終得到解決。Unit 3 What is Waste Reduction/Waste Minimization?什么是廢物減量化，廢物最少化 A great amount of time has been spent in the . discussing the terminology of such words as source reduction, waste minimization, recycling and pollution prevention. EPA has provided the following ，廢物最小化，循環(huán)和阻止污染這些術(shù)語(yǔ)上，EPA已經(jīng)提供了以下的定義。Source reduction: Any action that reduces the amount of waste exiting a process. 資源減量化：減少在于一個(gè)過(guò)程中的大量廢物的任何行為。This includes, for example, process changes, feedstock changes, improved housekeeping/management, and inprocess ，例如，過(guò)程調(diào)整，原料調(diào)整，提高管理和回收內(nèi)在循環(huán)。Waste minimization: The reduction to the extent feasible, of waste that is generated or subsequently treated, stored, or disposed of. 廢物最少化：產(chǎn)生的廢物最大程度減少，然后處理，存儲(chǔ)，或者處置。It includes any source reduction or recycling activity of waste or the reduction in the toxicity of waste (or both) as long as the reduction is consistent with the goal of minimization of present and future threats to human health and the ，或者兩方面兼?zhèn)涞陌l(fā)生器承擔(dān)任何資源減量化或循環(huán)的活動(dòng)。Recycling : The use or reuse of a waste as a substitute for a mercial product or as a feedstock to an industrial process. 回收：作為一個(gè)商業(yè)產(chǎn)品的代替品，或作為一個(gè)工業(yè)過(guò)程的原料的利用或再利用。This includes the onor offsite reclamation of useful fractions of a waste or the removal of contaminants from a waste to allow 。Pollution prevention: Pollution may be generated during manufacturing, or when certain products are used mercially or by consumers. 污染的防止：污染可能在生產(chǎn)過(guò)程之中產(chǎn)生，或者在當(dāng)一個(gè)產(chǎn)品被用作商業(yè)用途或被消費(fèi)者使用的時(shí)候產(chǎn)生。This may be prevented in three ways: changing inputs/reducing reliance on toxic or hazardous raw materials。 process changes /increasing efficiency/improved maintenance such as equipment modifications, better housekeeping, inprocess closedloop recycling。 or changing outputs/reducing reliance on toxic or hazardous ：改變投入/減少依賴有毒物或有害的原材料；改變過(guò)程/增加效率/提高類似設(shè)備修改的維修保養(yǎng)，更好的管理，在過(guò)程中閉環(huán)循環(huán)；或者改變產(chǎn)出/減小對(duì)有毒或者有害產(chǎn)品的依賴。With the passage of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1984, the . Congress established a national policy declaring the importance of reducing or eliminating the generation of hazardous ，美國(guó)