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History
A Brief History of Solid Waste Management in the US 1950 to 2000 |
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Part 4:
Building a National Movement In the 1950s, the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) began a national effort to eliminate open-burning dumps. In time, the USPHS expanded its efforts to address all aspects of refuse management. (For the balance of this series, the term solid waste will be used, replacing refuse as the term of choice. See Note 1.) This part will chronicle the emergence of the USPHS as the catalyst that brought about what we know today as integrated solid waste management and the emergence of institutions to build a national movement. World War II Ends Growth of the US industrial base during and after WWII and changing American lifestyles brought about major increases in air, water, and solid waste emissions. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the war effort was over and domestic issues once again became important, the impact of these emissions gained national attention. Air-pollution health alerts occurred in the east and west. Major fish kills occurred in many rivers, and some rivers actually caught on fire. Federal action in the form of national legislation (Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act) occurred, establishing for the first time a federal presence and role in cleaning up the nation’s air and surface waters. The USPHS Enters the Arena The responsibility for implementing the air and water statutes was assigned to the USPHS (the federal agency charged with protecting the nation’s public health). Principle authorities included research, technical, and financial assistance to state agencies and support for states to regulate air and water emissions. By the mid-1950s, the USPHS air- and water-pollution–control programs were flourishing. In the late 1940s, the USPHS solid waste program - while small, underfunded, and undersupported - was directed to address the issues associated with health impacts from open-burning dumps1. In 1948, this effort was modest as one employee worked on this effort as well as other assignments. This modest effort, however, would in time lead to a major effort by the USPHS. By the early 1950s, the American Public Works Association (APWA) had restarted its solid waste efforts. The USPHS established a partnership with APWA to optimize the use of both organizations’ limited funds. This partnership was key to the eventual passage of national solid waste legislation. It became evident to this partnership that the elimination of open-burning dumps was not going to get done with current federal legislative authorities and funding levels. The sanitary engineering leadership in the USPHS concluded that in order to be successful in its efforts to protect the public health from improper solid waste management practices, (1) passage of national solid waste legislation was needed to have the resources to get the job done and (2) the public-health impacts from solid waste management practices, especially open-burning dumps, would have to be demonstrated to justify passage of that legislation. A number of initiatives were started to implement two conclusions as the USPHS took steps to:
Implementing a National Strategy The USPHS was a public-health organization (See Note 2). Key to any expanded solid waste effort within the USPHS depended on demonstrating ties between public-health impacts and improper solid waste management practices. The small cadre of USPHS people working on solid waste issues, who fully believed that ties existed, began a concerted effort to document those ties. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the USPHS pursued its strategy of creating the necessary technical, professional, and political support that would lead to passage of national solid waste legislation. The Division of Environmental Engineering and Food Protection, under the leadership of Wes Gilbertson (See Note 3), led the strategic effort. Efforts included the development of new publications, interaction with state and local governments, and increased partnering with APWA. Dialogues were opened with academia. Research on improved methods for disposal and the application of sanitary landfill methods were advanced.1 The Communicable Disease Center, through its in-place state assistance programs began training in improved landfill practices. Surveys were conducted to report on practices and progress in solid waste management in the US, and national conferences were sponsored to help foster a national consensus on the need for a national effort to correct improper solid waste management practices.2,3 In 1957 Leo Weaver, a sanitary engineer in the USPHS who was also serving as the secretary of APWA’s Refuse Collection and Disposal Committee, reported on the results of a 1956 national solid waste survey.3 One part of the survey analyzed filling practices. Results indicated that only 37% of the landfills reporting were operating without public nuisance or public-health hazards, had adequate daily cover and did not deliberately practice open burning. In 1964-65, the USPHS released a report on solid waste handling in urban areas.4 Key findings of the report noted that:
The report also listed a number of serious major institutional policy deficiencies, including a lack of:
Today, as the next millennium begins, to a great degree we are still wrestling with many of these policy issues, while the technical issues have been pretty much dealt with. Strategic Success In December 1963, the turning point for almost 20 years of hard work by the USPHS, APWA, and their partners occurred at the APWA/USPHS–sponsored National Conference on Solid Waste Research in Chicago, IL. Robert J. Anderson, M.D., assistant surgeon general of the USPHS, presented a paper titled "Public Health Aspects of the Solid Waste Problem." This paper signaled that the USPHS was prepared to make a case that improper solid waste management had major public-health implications that required a national effort beyond the current limits of the USPHS authorities. This was a huge signal that a major policy shift within the USPHS and its parent organization, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW), had been made. Many people can be credited with helping the USPHS reach this policy decision, but Wes Gilbertson, Ralph Black, Leo Weaver, and the members of APWA made it happen. Within 18 months, as the top management of the USPHS, DHEW, and the administration actively advocated for national solid waste legislation, the Congress acted. With Gilbertson leading the charge and with the active support of the APWA membership, the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 was passed on October 20, 1965. A national movement for solid waste management had been created. The golden years for the USPHS solid waste program had begun. In the next issue: Building Institutions. Notes 1. It is not clear when the term solid waste began to appear as a replacement for the term refuse. In the 1961 APWA/USPHS publication, Municipal Refuse Disposal,5 the term appears. We note that the term waste appeared by 1954.6 In the late 1950s, in the USPHS organizational structure, "solid wastes methodology" was a program in the Division of Environmental Engineering and Food Protection. While it might never be nailed down, it would seem to be a safe assumption that sometime between 1954 and 1961 the name evolved and probably occurred within the USPHS. In 1965, the Solid Waste Disposal Act defined solid waste. 2. The USPHS was not an enforcement organization. The USPHS, with top management being medical doctors, worked with state agencies to improve public-health conditions by preventative health measures. Research, information development and dissemination, and technical assistance were the major tools of its programs. 3. Under Wes Gilbertson’s leadership, the small, fledging program was eventually successful in building a consensus that recognized the public-health effects of improper solid waste management practices and supported the passage of the first national solid waste legislation, the Solid Waste Disposal Act. With a small and dedicated USPHS staff, Gilbertson brought about the formation of what today is the national effort we call integrated solid waste management. References
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