Question #3 Two acts passed by congress, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) were made to control the creation, distribution, and disposal of hazardous waste from cradle to grave. They hold people who have mishandled toxic substances accountable for the damage they have done there is a spill or leakage, both past and present. RCRA seeks to prevent spills before they happen by imposing strict regulations on the handling of hazardous wastes. CERCLA (or the Superfund) main goal is to clean up hazardous sites after a spill has occurred, and generate the money to do so. The case here was triggered under CERCLA because there has been a spill of multiple
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RCRA also helps by setting standards for waste handling, and making sure spills do not occur. Because of the harsh repercussions of a CERCLA lawsuit, many hazardous waste companies will take all possible precautions to prevent any mishandling of waste. In this regard the laws have been very effective, but it holds everyone accountable for the whole amount of response costs. While contribution suits can divide how much each party helps pay for response, the courts do not determine an amount for each person. They merely identify the PRP’s, and it is up to the defendant toile the contribution suit and get the money. After the response cost is settled then it will go back into the Superfund where it can be utilized again for future …show more content…
Unfortunately this creates a highly corrosive acid that can not be disposed of by common means. She has thought to combine it with a EPA listed alkaline substance that a local manufacturer (Sus Tainibel) generates, which will neutralize them both and render them inert. While this is would solve both of their waste problems, it will create many more if they do not adhere to the law. There is an act called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which sets clear rules about the creation, disposal, and treatment of hazardous waste. Treatment is the modification of a hazardous waste that chemically alters it, or physically mixes it with a different substance. Subsection C of RCRA has a rule called the “mixture rule” which states that if a hazardous waste is added to a non hazardous substance in any amount, the entire resulting mixture becomes a hazardous waste. By mixing your acid with Sus’s base, you have just become a treatment, storage, and disposal facility under RCRA, and you have just created a new hazardous waste without any of the proper permitting (outlined in RCRA §3005), and the EPA can sue you for operating without a license and the potential harm of your waste. This means they would sue you for more money than a college student could afford, even with a profitable business venture. Even without the modification of your waste, it can still be counted as a
RCRA also helps by setting standards for waste handling, and making sure spills do not occur. Because of the harsh repercussions of a CERCLA lawsuit, many hazardous waste companies will take all possible precautions to prevent any mishandling of waste. In this regard the laws have been very effective, but it holds everyone accountable for the whole amount of response costs. While contribution suits can divide how much each party helps pay for response, the courts do not determine an amount for each person. They merely identify the PRP’s, and it is up to the defendant toile the contribution suit and get the money. After the response cost is settled then it will go back into the Superfund where it can be utilized again for future …show more content…
Unfortunately this creates a highly corrosive acid that can not be disposed of by common means. She has thought to combine it with a EPA listed alkaline substance that a local manufacturer (Sus Tainibel) generates, which will neutralize them both and render them inert. While this is would solve both of their waste problems, it will create many more if they do not adhere to the law. There is an act called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which sets clear rules about the creation, disposal, and treatment of hazardous waste. Treatment is the modification of a hazardous waste that chemically alters it, or physically mixes it with a different substance. Subsection C of RCRA has a rule called the “mixture rule” which states that if a hazardous waste is added to a non hazardous substance in any amount, the entire resulting mixture becomes a hazardous waste. By mixing your acid with Sus’s base, you have just become a treatment, storage, and disposal facility under RCRA, and you have just created a new hazardous waste without any of the proper permitting (outlined in RCRA §3005), and the EPA can sue you for operating without a license and the potential harm of your waste. This means they would sue you for more money than a college student could afford, even with a profitable business venture. Even without the modification of your waste, it can still be counted as a