The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Waste
Waste is an inherent part of activity.
How much we produce and what we do with
our waste, however, is very much under
our control.
For most of this century, Vermont towns
have operated dumps or landfills as centers
for disposal of industrial as well as household
waste. Over time, growing incidence of
contaminated surface water, groundwater
supply wells, and soils linked to these and
other land disposal sites led to increased
concern about waste management practices.
In response, there are now stricter controls
on the disposal of industrial and household
hazardous wastes, and improved landfill design,
construction, and operation standards.
While these changes leave led to significant
improvements in public health and environmental
protection for Vermonters, solid and
hazardous waste continues to be a serious
problem facing, the state. Recent increases
in recycling and pollution prevention efforts
by Vermont industries, governments, and
citizens are promising responses to the
state’s waste problem.
SOLID WASTE
Over the last three decades, there have been
significant changes in the way Vermont handles
the solid waste it produces. Before j968, open
dumps and open air burning were common waste
disposal practices. Unlined and uncovered,
they posed significant public health risks
and aesthetic degradation. The move to
sanitary landfills in the 1970s reduced the
most drastic health and aesthetic effects
associated with open dumps, but still allowed
contamination of surrounding surface and groundwater.
Beginning in 1988, sanitary landfills were
replaced with more protective lined landfills.
Since 1991, 47 unlined landfills within Vermont
have been closed. These closures, coupled with
increased regional competition to provide solid
waste disposal services for Vermont municipalities,
have contributed to an increase in the amount of
solid waste going to landfills or incinerators
in neighboring states. The net effect has been
a reduction in the amount of waste being disposed
of in the older, less protective unlined landfills.
In 1994, of the approximately 285,000 tons of waste
disposed of in state landfills, only 20% (58,000
tons) was disposed of in unlined facilities.
As new lined landfills are constructed
and operated by Solid Waste Management
Districts in Vermont, the export trend is
likely to reverse while continuing to offer
significant improvements in public health
and environmental protection to Vermonters.
Recycling continues to play a key role
in reducing the amount of solid waste
Vermonters send to disposal. Although
there has not been a significant increase
in the number of recycling facilities
statewide, the number of towns adopting
local recycling ordinances continues to
rise. As a result, there has been a
dramatic increase in the number of
households and businesses participating
in local recycling programs (Fig. 1).
HAZARDOUS WASTE
In the 1950s, the town of Springfield
opened its new landfill. Citizens were
proud they had found a safe way to dispose
of their industrial wastes. Today, that
landfill is one of eight Superfund sites
in Vermont on the National Priority List.
Cleanup is currently underway with an estimated cost of $20 million.
The discovery of hazardous waste sites
in Vermont has occurred steadily over
the past 25 years. Many of these sites,
such as the Springfield landfill, are the
result of past disposal practices which,
at the time, were considered safe and acceptable.
It was not until the early 1980s that
Vermont became seriously concerned about
the effects of hazardous waste releases.
Since then, both the discovery and clean-up
of hazardous waste sites in Vermont has
steadily increased (Fig. 2).
By 1994,
1,499 sites had been identified in the state.
Of these sites, 643 had completed clean-ups
with no further action necessary. An
additional 856 sites are in various stages
of investigation and clean-up.
Included in this total number of hazardous
waste sites are eight sites (including six
closed community landfills) that are on the
National Priorities List as Superfund sites.
Two of these sites have cleanups underway,
three have proposed cleanup plans under state
and local review, and two have been found to
not require cleanup under Superfund criteria.
A vast majority (74%) of hazardous waste
sites in Vermont are from leaking underground
storage tanks. The risk of an underground
storage tank (UST) leaking is partly a function
of its design characteristics. Older,
single-walled USTs are more likely to leak
and contaminate the surrounding sod and
groundwater. The number of single-walled
USTs has been steadily declining over the
past eight years, dropping from 7,110 in 1986
to 3,367 in 1994 -- a reduction of over 50%
(Fig- 3). The number of safer double-walled
USTs has increased over this same period from
37 to 1,245 as they replace the older, single-walled
tanks. Overall, more than 2,500 USTs have been
removed since 1986.
Although progress continues to be made, a number
of Vermonters are still affected by contaminated
drinking water caused by these hazardous waste
sites. Since 1987, contaminated drinking water
has been found in 25 public wells and 228 private wells.
POLLUTION PREVENTION PROGRESS
Pollution prevention continues to be the
preferred strategy to reduce the generation
of hazardous wastes in Vermont. In Vermont,
nearly 250 large and small quantity generators
of hazardous waste are required to implement
hazardous waste reduction strategies. In addition,
beginning in 1995 Vermont companies using
1,000 pounds or more of a toxic substance par
year must prepare toxics use reduction plans.
Data collected by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency shows a significant
downward trend in the release of toxic
substances by Vermont facilities. The
1992 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) indicates
that since 1988, the 50 Vermont TRI reporters
nearly halved the total amount of industrial
toxic chemicals they released into the environment
(Fig. 4). In 1992, reporting facilities in
Vermont reduced chemical releases by 13% from
1991 levels (compared with a national average
decline of 6.6%). The 1992 TRI total ranks
Vermont 52nd in the nation for toxic releases.
While the TRI data indicates that Vermont
facilities are decreasing their releases to
the environment, it remains difficult to
develop meaningful estimates of reductions
in hazardous waste generation from toxics use
and hazardous waste reduction plans submitted
to date.
The ANR is continuing its effort to
encourage pollution prevention and to more
accurately measure and monitor resulting toxics
us and hazardous waste reduction.
CHALLENGES
Waste generation can often be influenced by
the decisions of individual consumers. To help
reduce the volume and negative consequences of both
solid and hazardous waste generation, Vermonter may
consider the following:
- Practice Pollution Prevention. Buy durable
goods that last longer, buy products with minimal
or reusable packaging, give preference to products
that are energy efficient and that are made from
materials readily recycled in your community, and
consider making deliberate choices to do without.
- Make Informed Buying Decisions to Reduce
Toxics. Read product labels to avoid hazardous
household products and use less toxic alternatives
to commonly available paints, pesticides, automotive
products, chemical cleaners, and polishes.
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