Understanding Price and Cost of Hazardous Wastes

The first line of defense for companies is they don’t have any hazardous, toxic or regulated wastes. And if they do, it is minimal, gets cleaned up and sent to a safe landfill (if there is such a thing). So they believe they are safe.

You may be safe, but our environment is not and our children for sure are not and your future stockholders definitely are not.

I have knowledge of asbestos problems, because that is my business. I am gaining knowledge of Hexavalent Chromium problems, a new business for me. I am also somewhat knowledgeable about other toxic and hazardous wastes, but these wastes are not as well publicized as asbestos due to mesothelioma litigator’s barrage of constant advertisements.

The Wall Street Journal took a look at asbestos trust’s fraudulent claims on March 11. Fact: Where there’s money, there will always be fraud. Who knows better than the Wall Street Journal, they cover Wall Street.

With the trusts paying out $100 million a year, “There is growing concerns that the trusts will run out of money before America runs out of asbestos victims,” the article reports. And that, my friends, is exactly the point.

One litigator claims that asbestos “victims are the worst corporate mass genocide in history,” a very true statement.

Hazardous, toxic and regulated wastes must be dealt with now! They must be taken out of our environment — permanently — or the genocide will continue!

It doesn’t make sense that companies wouldn’t be interested in using available positive environmental technologies to permanently rid these dangerous wastes. I think corporations think the price of landfilling is cheaper than treatment. Please keep in mind that price and cost are two totally different numbers.

What happens when asbestos is landfilled: the driver who takes asbestos to the landfill must suit-up in asbestos protective clothing with respirator before the load can be dumped. When dumped, inevitably containers are going to break, allowing asbestos to become airborne. This holds true for other hazards. I sure hope you don’t live around one of these landfills.

Where the cells asbestos and other hazardous and toxic wastes are stored (I used the word stored, because the waste eternally belongs to the generator) cannot be used for any other purpose. They can’t be used for waste-to-energy, recyclables recovery, installation of wind farms or solar panels or to capture methane gases. The cells cannot be disturbed forever except by the inevitable wear and tear, causing exposure to hazards long into the future.

The fact is the generator’s name is listed on the landfill manifest, container the waste is stored in and, in some cases, on the waste material itself.

Why do the generators keep landfilling hazards when asbestos has proven that the cost will be much greater than the price?