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Version 1.1c

Element 1 - Principles of Environmental Risk Management.

Overall Aims
On completion of this unit, candidates will have knowledge and understanding of:

reasons for managing environmental risk;

environmental hazard identification;
assessment of environmental risks;
control strategies for environmental risks;
awareness of the relationships between source, pathway and receptor when
assessing environmental risk and developing control strategies;
appreciation of environmental issues and their relevance to business.

Specific intended learning outcomes:

The intended learning outcomes are that candidates will be able to:

understand the principles of environmental hazard identification and risk assessment

and control;

advise management on the environmental hazards that may be associated with an

organisation's activities and the reasons for addressing them.

Hours of tuition and private study:

9 hours of tuition
3 hours of private study.
1.1 Introduction.
There are three main reasons for managing environmental risk. These reasons may already
be familiar to those who have studied health and safety. These reasons are moral, legal
and financial but there can be a substantial degree of overlap between them.
1.2 Reasons for Managing Environmental Risk.
Moral.
In general, the term 'environment' covers the physical surroundings that are common to
everybody including air, water, land, plants and wildlife. The definition used in the
Environmental Protection Act 1990 is that the environment '... consists of all, or any, of the
following media, namely the air, water and land'.

Because these media are common to all, the environment is everyones responsibility and
we all have a moral duty to protect it and our neighbours from environmental damage. Over
recent decades, we have become more informed and knowledgeable about our environment
and environmental issues have been championed by pressure groups.
Information about the environment has become readily available and easily accessible
though the internet and television. Government bodies conduct regular polls to gauge our
opinions on the environment and our environmental concerns (DEFRA website). Commercial
and industrial organisations have also had to adopt strategies to protect the environment, not
just for legal reasons but for moral ones too, so that they may attract more investment. There
has been a huge emphasis on the ways manufacturers use valuable raw resources in
production.
1.2.1 Legal.
Legal.
The environment is protected by legislation. It is important that organisations
take responsibility for ensuring that they are aware of all existing legislation and the arrival
and implications of new laws. They also need to understand how to comply with
that legislation in their day-to-day operations. As we shall discover in Unit B, environmental
legislation covers the principal areas of environmental protection including emissions to air,
water and land.
The main purpose of environmental legislation is to prevent damage to the environment.
Enforcement agencies can issue enforcement, prohibition or stop notices. It is through
environmental statutes that fines can be issued and imprisonment ordered. These last two
are known as punitive functions.
The legal reason for environmental management also interlinks with the financial reason
here in that the law can also have financial impact; for example, legislative requirements for
permits and consents have cost implications and clean-up costs may also be incurred.
1.2.2 Economic.
As we have learned from section 1.2, the legal and financial reasons for environmental
management interconnect. The company has to consider its shareholders to whom the
managers are responsible for running the company. Financial performance may be the main
focus of managers; however, equally important are the company image, eco-efficiency and
cost.
The direct costs of managing environmental risk are those incurred when complying with
legislation, the costs of non-compliance and the cost of permits.

Indirect costs would include the loss of company image, loss of customers and loss of
reputation both with stakeholders and regulatory bodies. Stakeholders may include the
media, the general public, customers, banks, employees, community groups and
environmental protection groups and insurers. Financial organisations have also shown
interest in the environmental performance of organisations.
Many are reluctant to invest in companies without an environmental policy or in companies
that have not been accredited by ISO 14001 (an environmental standard that was first
published in 1996 and specifies the requirements for an environmental management system.
It applies to those environmental aspects which the organisation has control and over which
it can be expected to have an influence. It can be employed by an organisation to measure
and document their environmental impact.)
Question 1.
Direct costs of managing environmental risks are those incurred when complying with
legislation and the costs of non-compliance
True/False (HP)
Answer 1: True
Response 1:
Jump 1: Next page
Answer 2: False
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
2.0 Definitions.

Environmental Aspects and Impacts.

Hazard.
Risk.
Danger.
Sustainability.

Here we will outline some of the definitions used in Environmental Risk and Risk
Management.
2.1 Environmental Aspects and Impacts.
Aspects
ISO 14001 defines environmental aspects as elements of an organisations activities,
products and services which can interact with the environment.
Environmental Aspects include the following:

Emissions to air of particulates (smoke and dusts), carbon monoxide, nitrogen

oxides, sulphur dioxide, volatile organics, benzene, lead.
Discharges to water of solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, organic matter, litter, oil,
hazardous substances.
Waste disposal with the generation of volume of contaminated solid and liquid
wastes and the disposal of wastes that could be used as material inputs, hazardous
wastes and radioactive wastes.

An organisation can have a large number of actual and potential aspects. Effluent

discharges, leaks and spills resulting from an organisation's activity can enter rivers, lakes,
seas and oceans, as well as the land (through ground water) and therefore result in a
number of impacts. It is important that significant environmental aspects and impacts are
identified and prioritised. Significant environmental aspects are generally defined as those
which have a demonstrable impact on the environment, are of particular concern to
stakeholders and are subject to regulatory control or a code of practice to which
the organisation is a signatory.
Impacts
The term 'Environmental Impact' is used in management standards such as BS EN ISO
14001:2004, and legislation such as the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations
(EIA) 1999. It is used In order to assess the environmental significance of a process or
substance.
ISO 14001 defines an `environmental impact` as
any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting
from an organisations environmental aspects
Therefore the term 'environmental impact' essentially refers to significance. Environmental
impacts can be positive or adverse and be identified and assessed on a local, regional or
global level.
Environmental changes due to an aspect impacting on the environment

Examples of environmental impacts

1.People living near airports have to contend with the immediate effects of aircraft noise, air
quality problems and increased congestion on local roads. Urbanisation sometimes
associated with airport development such as new hotels, retail outlets and transport
infrastructure can also have adverse impacts on landscape and habitat.
2.Climate change poses the most serious long-term threat to wildlife in the UK and globally.
The UK government have set a target to source 15% of electricity from renewable sources
such as solar and wind energy, by 2015. However, evidence from the US and Spain
confirms that poorly-sited wind farms can cause adverse impacts and severe problems for
birds through disturbance, habitat loss/damage or collision with turbines.
3.Consumption of non-renewable resources can also impact the environment.
4.Damage to buildings can occur through the emission of acidic gases.
5.Pollution of water by poor storage of wastes, chemical or oils.
6.Damage to and depletion of forests and vegetation can be caused by the formation of
ozone and other reactive chemicals as a result of emissions from organic compounds and
unsustainable forestry practice.
7.Changes to the landscape by quarrying or mineral extraction.
8.Damages to lakes and coastal waters as the result of excessive deposition of airborne
substances containing nitrogen or phosphorus.
At the global level, the greenhouse gases emitted from aircraft engines into the atmosphere
make a significant, and growing, contribution to climate change. In general, emissions of
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons,
perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride can contribute to global warming and climate
change.
The Kyoto Protocol (1997) is an international treaty which brings together many of the
world's developed nations (with the notable exception of the United States) in an effort to
limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the effects of global warming.
To eliminate or minimise risks that may occur from an organisations interaction with its
environment, it is important that risks are identified, prioritised and reduced.
Question 2.
Environmental aspects are the elements of an organisations activities, products and services
which can interact with the environment and include ...
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: Discharges to water
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: Waste disposal
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page

Answer 3: Emissions to air

Response 3:
Jump 3: This page
Answer 4: All of the above
Response 4:
Jump 4: Next page
Question 3.
Environmental impacts are any change to the environment whether adverse
of beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organisation's
environmental aspects
True/False (HP)
Answer 1: True
Response 1:
Jump 1: Next page
Answer 2: False
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
2.2 Hazard, Risk and Danger.
Hazard
This is defined as the property or ability of a substance or activity to cause harm.
Risk
Risk is the probability or likelihood of the hazard actually causing harm or damage and the
severity or consequence of it. Some definitions add a time component. One definition states
that risk is 'the probability that a hazard may be realised at any specified level in a given
span of time'.
Harm
So, what do we mean by the term 'harm'?
Harm is defined by the UK Environmental Protection Act (1990) as meaning:
'harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of
which they form part and, in the case of man, includes offence caused to any of his senses
or harm to his property`.
Danger
Danger is defined as:
Exposure or vulnerability to harm, injury or loss or `imminent contact with a hazard`.
2.3 Sustainability.
The most commonly-accepted definition of sustainable development was published in the

report Our Common Future by the WCED (World Commission on Environment and
Development), chaired by the then prime minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1987.
Members from the Brundtland Commission came from 21 nations, more than half of those in
the developing world. The Bruntdland Commission called for an international conference to
be convened within an appropriate period after the presentation of its report to review
progress and create a follow-up structure (the United Nations on Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED or the Earth Summit) was held in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil in 1992).
The definition published in the report Our Common Future came to be known also as the
'Brundtland definition'; sustainable development is:
`development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.`
A UK definition appeared later in `This Common Inheritance' in 1990, namely:
living on the Earths income rather than eroding its capital. It means keeping the
consumption of renewable resources within the limits of replenishment. It means handling
down to successive generations not only man-made wealth, but also natural wealth.
As these definitions clearly show, sustainability is a goal but sustainable development is a
process. This consists of three main environmental components which we need to maintain:
1. Biodiversity: the variety of species, populations, habitats and ecosystems.
2. Ecological integrity: the general health and resilience of natural life support
systems, including their ability to assimilate wastes and withstand stresses such as
climate change and ozone depletion.
3. Natural capital: the stock of productive soil, fresh water, forests, clean air, oceans
and other renewable resources that underpin the survival, health and prosperity of
human communities.
A prime example of a sustainable system is the earth, and is highly relevant in
understanding what sustainability means for humanity.
Earths ecosystems have evolved over billions of years to maintain physical resources
through the use of solar energy. The biosphere consists of links of complex and intertwined
food chains and the waste products of each link form the food for subsequent links in those
chains. The earth must not be viewed solely as an inheritance from the past to be enjoyed in
our lifetime, but regarded as something that is passed on to future generations.
The growth in the human population is one of the major drivers of todays environmental
concerns, and the number of inhabitants has mushroomed in the past century from
1,750,000,000 in 1910 to somewhere in the region of 6,800,000,000 today. This figure is
predicted to rise to over 9,000,000,000 by the middle of the 21st century. This increases the
demands they make on the planets resources.
The link below provides a useful interactive map which shows the impact of human society
on the ecosystems of the world.
http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/

2.3.1 Sustainability (Cont.).

Different countries held different ideas on sustainable development depending upon the type
of resources that they used, whether or not these were renewable or non-renewable. A
global North-South divide developed, with the North concerned about climate change and
the depletion of the ozone layer and the South concerned with poverty and food supplies.
The United Nations commissioned a global agenda for change in 1983 in the face of a
looming environmental crisis, for which the evidence was by then abundantly clear. Under
the title of 'Our Common Future' (see section 2.3, above), the World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED) reported in 1987. As a direct result there have been
worldwide initiatives to deal with environmental problems.
The targets of 'Our Common Future' were multilateralism and interdependence of nations in
the search for a sustainable development path. The report sought to recapture the spirit of
the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment - the Stockholm Conference
1972 - which had introduced environmental concerns to the formal political development
sphere and established The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) . 'Our
Common Future' placed environmental issues firmly on the political agenda; it aimed to
discuss the environment and development as one single issue.
The publication of 'Our Common Future' and the work of the WCED laid the groundwork for
the convening of the 1992 Earth Summit and the adoption of Agenda 21 , the Rio
Declaration and to the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development .
The Montreal Protocol 1987 dealt with depletion of the ozone layer by setting a timetable
for phasing out the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, notably the CFCS
(chlorofluorocarbons). At the United Nations Millennium Summit, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan emphasised to delegates the basic services that the natural environment affords us,
including protection from the suns ultraviolet rays provided by the ozone layer in the earths
atmosphere. He warned that, in many cases, people are degrading the ability of the
environment to provide these life-sustaining services, but went on to praise the Montreal
Protocol as perhaps the most successful environmental agreement to date. Since the
1970s, scientists began to see evidence that certain man-made chemicals - including those
used in common products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol cans, cushions,
packaging materials, insulation and cleaning solvents - were rising into the stratosphere and
damaging the earths natural shield against ultraviolet radiation.
Increased ultraviolet radiation levels lead to higher rates of skin cancer, cataracts and
damage to peoples immune systems. Even small increases in ultraviolet radiation can
diminish the productivity of important food crops and adversely affect levels of plankton in
the ocean.
After the adoption of the Montreal Protocol, industrialised countries discontinued the use of
the most damaging ozone-depleting substances; developing countries were given more time
to phase out their use of these chemicals.
Agenda 21 was a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally
by organisations of the United Nations System, Governments and major groups in every
area in which humans impact on the environment. The programme highlighted the pressures
on the natural environment from population growth and associated poverty in the developing
world and unsustainable patterns of consumption in the industrialised world.
Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of

principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178
Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) (The Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 3rd to 14th June 1992.
A global plan of action entitled `Local Agenda 21` (referring to the 21st Century) was aimed
at local government with the urgent and evocative message to `think global, act local`. Local
Agenda 21 has subsequently served to unlock creativity at the local scale in addressing
specific sustainability challenges.
The Earth Summit resulted in 27 principles for sustainable development which were not
legally binding but prompted further treaties and declarations such as A Framework
Convention on the Atmosphere (Climate Treaty).
The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to
ensure effective follow-up of UNCED and to monitor and report on implementation of the
agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels. It was agreed that a fiveyear review of Earth Summit progress would be made in 1997 by the United Nations General
Assembly meeting in special session. These included ratification of several international
agreements such as the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that deals with global climate change,
assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to
the signatory nations, as well as integrating and setting specific time targets for plans to deal
with issues such as health, children, water and poverty.
2.3.2 Sustainability (Cont.).

The full implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda
21 and the Commitments to the Rio Principles were strongly reaffirmed at the World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26th August
to 4th September 2002.
This was in fact a ten-year follow up to the original Rio Earth Summit and the goals were to

strengthen global commitment on sustainable development.

The UK published its strategy for sustainable development in 1999 'A Better Quality of Life'.
It meant meeting four objectives at the same time, in the UK and the world as a whole:

social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;

effective protection of the environment;
prudent use of natural resources; and
maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/
The UK Government launched its new strategy for sustainable development, 'Securing The
Future', in conjunction with a Strategic Framework on 7th March, 2005. This updates and
builds on the strategy published in 1999. It takes account of new policies since 1999 and it
highlights the renewed international push for sustainable development from the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. The lead Department,
DEFRA, chairs a Programme Board to oversee delivery of the Strategy, but all UK
Departments share responsibility for making sustainable development a reality.
Key trends in the UK environment can be found on the DEFRA website. The trends include
all the environmental indicators from the set of headline indicators of sustainable
development in the UK and various case studies.
To get a general feel of environmental statistics, see
http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/index.htm
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created on 3rd October
2008 to take over some of the functions of the Department for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (energy) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(climate change). It was retained by the new government after the May 2010 elections. In its
initial year, it published a Low Carbon Transition plan (large file) and a Renewable Energy
Strategy.
For sustainable development to work, the issues of environmental, economic and social
performance need to be addressed.
Organisations also need to ensure that their activities and production do not undermine their
ability to function in the future. In environmental terms, if the consumption of natural capital
(resource depletion and degradation by waste and pollution) exceeds the ability to renew,
then this condition is not sustainable.
There are many approaches to sustainable development which can be placed in hierarchical
order. Firstly, an organisation could choose solutions at the end of a production process (end
of pipe solutions). Secondly, cleaner technologies could be adopted in order to minimise
pollution and waste. Thirdly, a cradle-to-grave analysis could consider the total of disparate
elements that make up the process and their costs to the environment.
The importance of sustainability has been highlighted by the introduction in Jund 2002 of a
sustainability matrix produced by Morley Fund Management. This ranked the UKs 100
largest companies from A to E for business sustainability on environmental and social issues
and from one to five for management vision and practices on sustainable development and
corporate responsibility. The companies scoring the highest rankings on the Morley Fund

Management sustainability matrix in 2002, with their scores, were:

AstraZeneca (A2)
GlaxoSmithKline (A2)
Pearson (A3)
Smith& Nephew (A3)
Reed International (A4)

Companies with the lowest rankings, with their scores, were:

BAT (E3)
Enterprise Oil (E3)
Rolls-Royce (E3)
BAE Systems (E3)
Gallaher (E4)
Imperial Tobacco (E4)

Low-scoring companies attacked the exercise, accusing the fund manager of carrying out
insufficient research and overly simplifying a complex issue. Others, while supportive of the
process, criticised Morleys approach in that it excluded certain activities. Regardless of the
truth of the matter, this clearly demonstrates that the perception of a company's
environmental credentials has now become very important, both to outside stakeholders and
to those companies themselves.
3.0 Environmental Hazard Identification.
The UK has a very long history of industry and commerce. It also has the longest
established history of industrial regulation. However, its knowledge of the environment is
historically poor; in the past, there were few controls and legislation tended to be in response
to a particular issue (as opposed to the anticipatory and preventative legislation we have
today). The country also has a legacy of industrial pollution, caused for a large part by lack
of understanding and the nave opinion that somehow nature would deal with waste
and emissions, etc. Some industries have a greater effect than others; in the table below are
some examples of how industries can affect the environment.
Industry/Process
Agriculture
Brick manufacture

Construction
Food production
Metal finishing

Offices
Timber

Potential Environmental Impact

Use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, wastes.
Quarrying (landscape changes, noise, dust, transport, water run-off,
visual effects, loss of natural resources, etc.), manufacture, noise,
dust, energy use, transport, gaseous emissions.
Dust nuisance, noise nuisance, use of raw materials, contaminated
water run-off.
Effluent containing food solids and fats, cleaning chemicals, solid
food waste, combustion gases, packaging, transport, etc.
Acids, alkalis, effluent containing toxic metals, energy use, fumes,
VOCs, detergents, toxic metals, waste water, cakes or sludges
contaminated with toxic metals, combustion gases from boilers, etc.
Use of energy including air conditioning systems, hardwood
furniture, paper use.
Sustainability of raw materials, noise, dust, transport.

Environmental Hazards and Industrial Processes - how different industries can affect
the environment.

Industries such as agriculture have potential impacts on the environment through the use of
pesticides and fertilisers. The impacts from construction are also well-documented. The
activities of the construction industry cause nuisance, in particular noise and dust. The use
of raw materials on site can easily lead to contaminated water run-off causing the
contamination of nearby water courses.
Asbestos was also used in common industrial activities such as domestic appliances,
storage heaters, gas warm air heaters and in catalytic converters, as well as sprayed in
applications or insulating boards in buildings, and as lagging for boilers and pipework and in
the production of fire blankets, ropes, yarns and friction products. It can cause air pollution
and - as a class 1 carcinogen - it is harmful to health. 25% of those who die from asbestosrelated diseases each year are workers in the building trade. Health and safety disasters
such as Bhopal and Chernobyl also caused harm to the environment, people and the food
chain.
3.1 Direct Effects on the Health & Safety of People Outside the Workplace.
We have seen previously that health and safety and the environment share some strong
correlations, and as such it makes sense for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the
Environment Agency to work together. This is so in the case in the Control of Major Accident
and Hazards (Amendment) Regulations (COMAH) 2005.
The environment may be defined as the air, water and land and a hazard is 'harm to the
health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of which they
form part and, in the case of man, includes offence caused to any of his senses or harm to
his property'.
There are many different types of environmental hazard including fires and explosions,
chemical spills, hazardous substances in land fill sites, low river flows, releases of harmful
gases that do adversely affect the air, land and water that can also cause harm to people
outside the workplace..
Hazardous Substances
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) interprets
substances hazardous to health as including:
Substances which under The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging) Regulations
(CHIP 3) 2002 are in categories of very toxic, toxic, harmful, corrosive or irritant.
Under these regulations, employers are required to carry out a risk assessment (Regulation
6), Control exposure (Regulation 7), maintain control measures (regulation 9) and monitor
exposure (regulation 10). However, people are not likely to be exposed to risks from
hazardous substances necessarily in the workplace alone, but also outside of the workplace
in the environment.
Hazardous substances can affect people outside of the workplace, for example with effluent
outfalls from factories, refineries and waste treatment plants directly into watercourses and
urban water supplies and the uncontrolled waste which could cause indirect pollution of the
land or water.
On the next few pages are examples of environmental incidents which have brought about
the introduction of further health and safety legislation to prevent their recurrence.
3.1.1 Minimata Bay Japan 1953-1960.

A severe environmental incident occurred in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan

in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the
Chisso Corporation 's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968.
This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the
Shiranui Sea, which - when eaten by the local populace - resulted in mercury poisoning. As
of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognised (1,784 of whom had died) and
over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso.
Lawsuits and claims for compensation continue to this day.
Minamata disease, sometimes referred to as Chisso-Minamata disease, is a neurological
syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include

ataxia,
numbness in the hands and feet,
general muscle weakness,
narrowing of the field of vision and
damage to hearing and speech.

In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of the onset of
symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect foetuses in the womb.
3.1.2 Flixborough, England 1974.
On 1st June 1974, Flixborough was at the centre of the UK's worst industrial accident when
the Nypro Works chemical plant was devastated by an explosion. Twenty-nine people died
and more than 100 were injured with around 100 homes in the village itself being destroyed
or badly damaged.
The chemical plant, owned by Nypro (UK) (a joint venture between Dutch State Mines and
the British National Coal Board ), and in operation since 1967, produced caprolactam, a
precursor chemical used in the manufacture of nylon. The process involved oxidation of
cyclohexane with air in a series of six reactors to produce a mixture of cyclohexanol and
cyclohexanone. Two months prior to the explosion, a crack was discovered in the number 5
reactor. It was decided to install a temporary 50 cm (20 inch) diameter pipe to bypass the
leaking reactor to allow continued operation of the plant while repairs were made.
Residents of the village of Flixborough were not keen to have such a large industrial
development so close to their homes and had expressed concern when the plant was first
proposed. Their prescient concern was well-founded.
At 16:53 on Saturday 1st June 1974, the temporary bypass pipe (containing cyclohexane at
150 C (302F) and 1 M Pa ) ruptured, possibly as a result of a fire on a nearby 8 inch (20
cm) pipe which had been burning for nearly an hour. Within a minute, about 40 tons of the
plant's 400 ton store of cyclohexane leaked from the pipe and formed a vapour cloud 100
200 metres (320-650 feet) in diameter. The cloud, on coming in contact with an ignition
source (probably a furnace at a nearby hydrogen production plant) exploded, completely
destroying the plant. Around 1,800 buildings within a mile radius of the site were damaged.
The fuel-air explosion was estimated to be equivalent to 15 tons of TNT (60 gigajoules) and
it killed all 18 employees in the nearby control room. Nine other site workers were killed, and
a delivery driver died of a heart attack in his cab.

Observers have said that had the explosion occurred on a weekday, more than 500 plant
employees would likely have been killed. Resulting fires raged in the area for over 10 days. It
was Britain 's biggest ever peacetime explosion until the Buncefield Depot explosion in 2005.
Substantial destruction of property was recorded in Flixborough itself, as well as in the
neighbouring villages of Burton-on-Stather and Amcotts. Significant structural damage
affected Scunthorpe (eight miles away) and the blast was heard (and felt) twenty-five miles
away in Grimsby.
Although the area was quite remote, graphic images of the disaster were soon shown on
television due to a film crew who had been covering a Gala in Scunthorpe that afternoon.
The official inquiry into the accident determined that the bypass pipe had failed due to
unforeseen lateral stresses during a pressure surge. The bypass had been designed by
engineers who were not experienced in high-pressure pipework, no plans had been
produced or calculations produced, the pipe was not pressure-tested, and was mounted on
temporary scaffolding poles that allowed the pipe to twist under pressure. These
shortcomings led to a widespread public outcry over industrial plant safety and significant
tightening of the UK government's regulations covering hazardous industrial processes.
Despite protests from the local community the plant was re-built but due to a subsequent
collapse in the price of nylon, it closed down a few years later. The site was demolished in
1981 although the administration block still remains. The site today is home to the
Flixborough Industrial Estate, occupied by various businesses.
3.1.3 Seveso, Italy 1976.
Seveso made world headlines when, on July 10th, 1976, storage vessels at the ICMESA
chemical plant ruptured, releasing several kilogrammes of the dioxin TCDD (2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) into the atmosphere. Tens of thousands of farm animals and
pets died or were later deliberately slaughtered, though it is believed that there was not a
single human death directly attributable to the incident. The event came later to be known as
the Seveso disaster, so named because Seveso was the community most affected.
The industrial plant was owned by the company ICMESA ( Industrie Chimiche Meda Societ
), a subsidiary of Givaudan which in turn was a subsidiary of Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche
Group).
The factory building was many years old and the local population did not perceive it as a
potential source of danger. Moreover, although several industrial accidents involving dioxins
had occurred before, they were of a more limited scale.
The accident occurred as 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (TCP), a herbicide, was being produced from
1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene by the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction with sodium
hydroxide. It is thought that some 1,2,4,5-tetra chlorobenzene had formed a solid cake on
the upper parts of the reaction vessel. As the temperature increased, this melted and
entered the sodium hydroxide containing mixture. The addition of more 1,2,4,5tetrachlorobenzene increased the rate of heat production. The 2,4,5-trichlorophenol was
intended for use as an intermediate in the production of hexachlorophene, a medical
disinfectant. An unintended byproduct of the manufacture of TCP is TCDD in trace amounts,
measured in ppm (parts per million). Due to human error, an uncontrolled reaction (thermal
runaway) occurred bursting the security disk of the chemical reactor and an aerosol cloud
containing sodium hydroxide, ethylene glycol, sodium trichlorophenate, and somewhere
between a few hundred grammes and up to a few kilogrammes of TCDD was released over

an 18 km area.
The affected area was split into zones A, B and R in decreasing order of surface soil
concentrations of TCDD. Zone A was further split into 7 sub-zones. The local population was
advised not to touch or eat locally-grown fruits or vegetables.
Zone A had a TCDD soil concentration of > 50 microgrammes per square metre (g/m). It
had 736 residents.
Zone B had a TCDD soil concentration of between 5 and 50 g/m and about 4,700
residents.
Zone R had negligible or a TCDD soil concentration of < 5 g/m and 31,800 residents.
Within days, a total of 3,300 animals were found dead, mostly poultry and rabbits.
Emergency slaughtering commenced to prevent TCDD from entering the food chain. By
1978, over 80,000 animals had been slaughtered. 15 children were quickly hospitalised with
skin inflammation.
By the end of August, Zone A had been completely evacuated and fenced, 1,600 people of
all ages had been examined and 447 were found to suffer from skin lesions or chloracne.
Industrial safety regulations were passed in the European Community in 1982; they were
called the Seveso Directive and imposed much harsher industrial regulations. The Seveso
Directive was updated in 1999, amended again in 2005 and is currently referred to as the
Seveso II Directive (or COMAH Regulations in the United Kingdom).
3.1.4 Love Canal, Niagara, USA.
The roots of the disaster can be traced back to the 1920s when an old canal which had been
dug to link the Upper and Lower Niagara rivers was turned into a municipal and industrial
chemical dumpsite.
In 1942, Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation (a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum)
expanded use of the site, and, by 1947, acquired the land for its own private use. In the
subsequent five year period, the company buried about 22,000 tons of toxic waste in the
area. Once the site had been filled to capacity in 1952, Hooker closed the site to further
disposal, back-filled the canal and covered it over with 4 feet of impermeable clay. The local
authorities, desperate for land, made several attempts to buy the old canal site; Hooker at
first refused, citing the presence of toxic waste but eventually gave in and sold it for one
dollar, with a seventeen-page caveat detailing the nature of the site.
During the 1950s and 1960s, about 100 homes and a school were built at the
site. Continued construction work disturbed the ground, including the clay seal laid down by
Hooker. The building of a highway restricted the run-off of rainwater to the Niagra river,
causing more potential for pooling.
In early 1977, heavy winter and spring rains caused pools of oily and coloured water in yards
and gardens in the area. Surveys in 1978 revealed that 82 different compounds, 11 of them
suspected carcinogens had been percolating upward through the soil, their drum containers
rotting and leaching their contents into the backyards and basements of homes and a public
school. It was estimated that of the children born in the area during the 1974-1978 period,
56% had some kind of birth defect.

The local residents had a long fight on their hands, as neither Occidental nor local
government seemed particularly interested in investigating the reports. By 1978, Love Canal
had attracted the attetnion of the national media.
On August 7th, 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced a federal health emergency, called
for the allocation of federal funds and ordered the Federal Disaster Assistance Agency to
assist the City of Niagara Falls to remedy the Love Canal site. This was the first time in
American history that emergency funds were used other than for a natural disaster. Carter
had trenches built that would transport the wastes to sewers and had home sump pumps
sealed off.
At first, scientific studies did not conclusively prove that the chemicals were responsible for
the residents' illnesses, and scientists were divided on the issue, even though eleven known
or suspected carcinogens had been identified, one of the most prevalent being benzene.
There was also dioxin (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) in the water, a very hazardous
substance. Dioxin pollution is usually measured in parts per trillion; at Love Canal, water
samples showed dioxin levels of 53 parts per billion.
In 1979, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the result of blood tests that
showed high white blood cell counts, a precursor to leukemia, and chromosome damage in
Love Canal residents. In fact, 33 percent of the residents had undergone chromosomal
damage, while in a normal population, this should be at 1 percent. Other studies were
unable to find harm.
Eventually, the government relocated more than 800 families and reimbursed them for their
homes, and the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or the Superfund Act, that holds
polluters accountable for their damages. In 1994, a judge ruled that Hooker/Occidental had
been negligent, but not reckless, in its handling of the waste and sale of the land. Occidental
Petroleum was sued by the EPA and in 1995 agreed to pay $129 million in restitution.
Residents' lawsuits were also settled in the following years.
3.1.5 Bhopal, India 1984.
The Bhopal Disaster took place in the early hours of the morning of December 3rd, 1984,in
the heart of the city of Bhopal, India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
It was caused by the release of 40 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a Union
Carbide India Limited pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide. The International Medical
Commission on Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the disaster.
The BBC gives the death toll as nearly 3,000 people dead initially, and at least 15,000 from
related illnesses since. Greenpeace cites 20,000 total deaths as its conservative estimate.
Bhopal is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster.
The Union Carbide plant was established in 1969 and had expanded to produce carbaryl in
1979; MIC is an intermediate in carbaryl manufacture.
In November 1984, most of the safety systems were not functioning. Many valves and lines
were in poor condition. Tank 610 contained 42 tons of MIC, much more than safety rules
allowed. During the nights of 2nd3rd December, a large amount of water entered tank 610.
A runaway reaction started, which was accelerated by contaminants, high temperatures and
other factors. The reaction generated a major increase in the temperature inside the tank to
over 200 C (400 F). This forced the emergency venting of pressure from the MIC holding

tank, releasing a large volume of toxic gases.

The reaction was sped up by the presence of iron from corroding non-stainless steel
pipelines. It is known that workers cleaned pipelines with water. They were not told by the
supervisor to add a slip-blind water isolation plate. Because of this, and the bad
maintenance, the workers consider it possible for water to have accidentally entered the MIC
tank. UCC maintains that a "disgruntled worker" deliberately connected a hose to a pressure
gauge.
The timeline of the disaster was as follows:
At the plant
21:00 Water cleaning of pipes starts.
22:00 Water enters tank 610, reaction starts.
22:30 Gases are emitted from the vent gas scrubber tower.
00:30 The large siren sounds and is turned off.
00:50 The siren is heard within the plant area. The workers escape.
Outside
22:30 First sensations due to the gases are felt - suffocation, cough, burning eyes and
vomiting.
1:00 Police are alerted. Residents of the area evacuate. Union Carbide director denies any
leak.
2:00 The first people reached Hamidia Hospital. Symptoms include visual impairment and
blindness, respiratory difficulties, frothing at the mouth, and vomiting.
2:10 The alarm is heard outside the plant.
4:00 The gases are brought under control.
7:00 A police loudspeaker broadcasts: "Everything is normal".
Charges
On 7th June 2010 seven former employees of the Union Carbide subsidiary, all Indian
nationals and many in their 70s, were convicted of causing death by negligence and each
sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined. All were released on bail shortly after the
verdict. The CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson absconded India whilst on bail and
fled to the US. He has never faced justice for his part in the incident.
3.1.6 Chernobyl Ukraine 1986.
The Chernobyl disaster was a major accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April
26th, 1986 at 01:23 am, consisting of an explosion at the plant and subsequent radioactive
contamination of the surrounding geographic area. The power plant is located near Pripyat,
Ukraine (which, at the time of the disaster was in the Soviet Union.)
It is regarded as the worst accident ever in the history of nuclear power. A plume of
radioactive fallout drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern and Western
Europe, Scandinavia, the UK, Ireland and eastern North America. Large areas of Ukraine,
Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement
of over 336,000 people.
About 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus, according to official post-Soviet data.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, slowing
its expansion for a number of years, while forcing the Soviet government to become less
secretive. The now-independent countries of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have been
burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the
Chernobyl accident. It is difficult to tally accurately the number of deaths caused by the
events at Chernobyl, as the Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims.
Lists were incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on
death certificates. Most of the expected long-term fatalities, especially those from cancer,
have not yet actually occurred, and will be difficult or even impossible to attribute specifically
to the accident.
However, estimates and figures vary widely. The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl
Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health
Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with
thyroid cancer), and estimated that as many as 9,000 people among the approximately 6.6
million most highly exposed may die from some form of cancer (one of the induced
diseases). Nearly 20 years after the disaster, according to the Chernobyl Forum, no
evidence of increases in the solid cancers and, possibly more significantly, none of the
widely expected increases in leukaemia have been found in the population.
http://www.chnpp.gov.ua/eng/articles.php?lng=en&pg=28
3.1.7 Camelford, Cornwall 1988.
A contamination incident occurred in Camelford, a small town of about 2,500 people,
situated in Cornwall. The incident occurred in July 1988 when a contractor dumped 20 tons
of aluminium sulphate into the wrong tank at the Lowermoor treatment plant operated by
South West Water. The plant was an unmanned installation and the contractor was a relief
driver, unfamiliar with the plant layout and delivery procedures.
The resultant acidic water entered the supply directly, causing public complaints about the
taste, skin irritation and corrosive effects on plumbing and fixtures. However, the cause of
the problem was not determined for two days. The public were assured by a spokesman for
the water authority that the water, while tasting slightly acidic, was safe to drink.
Consumers were exposed for up to three days to water with pH as low as 3.9 to 5.0. An
aluminium content of up to 620 milligrammes per litre and a sulphate concentration of up to
4,500 milligrammes per litre were recorded in the water supply. Once the cause of the
problem was determined, a programme of flushing reduced levels rapidly to 1 milligramme
per litre.
Over the following months, more than 400 of the town's residents complained of a range of
symptoms including skin rashes, arthritic pains, sore throats, loss of memory and general
exhaustion. These complaints were investigated by health authorities and the government
appointed the Lowermoor Incident Health Advisory Group to report on the health effects of
the incident. In two reports delivered in 1989 and 1991, the Advisory Group concluded that
there was no convincing evidence that harmful accumulation of aluminium had occurred, nor
that there was a greater prevalence of ill-health due to the toxic effects of the contaminated
water. The report also stated that the Advisory Group recognised that the incident and
subsequent events had led to real suffering in the community, but attributed this to anxiety
rather than direct health effects; a conclusion which angered many residents.
There were suspicions at the time that the full truth about the incident was being supressed

to avoid derailing the government's planned sell-off of the water industry.

Since the incident, over 700 claims for damages have been paid with individual amounts
ranging as high as 10,000. The South West Water Authority was prosecuted for causing a
public nuisance, fined 10,000 and ordered to pay 25,000 in costs.
A new group was set up in 2001 to conduct a full inquiry into the incident, and in
January 2005, the Lowermoor Sub-group (LSG) published the draft report into the incident. It
concluded that it was unlikely that the chemicals involved in the incident would have caused
any delayed or persistent health effects.
The Subgroup noted that many individuals locally were concerned and distressed about the
possible health consequences of the incident. No conclusive link was found between the
incident and the chronic symptoms and diseases reported to the Subgroup. However, the
available information led the Subgroup to recommend further work on the following long term
health effects:

Effect of contaminants on neurological health. This is due to problems with design of

previous studies.
Effects on the development of those under 1 year old at the time of the incident.
The incidence of diseased joints in the affected area.

The Subgroup was chaired by Professor Frank Woods and included experts in toxicology,
epidemiology, and child health as well as representatives of the local community. In addition
to reviewing scientific research, the Subgroup heard evidence throughout its period of work
from people who considered their health to be affected by the incident, as well as local GPs
and other relevant professionals.
3.1.8 BP and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
The BP Deepwater Horizon was a 9-year-old semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit,
a massive floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in waters up to 8,000
feet (2,400 m) deep and drill down to 30,000 feet (9,100 m).
During March and early April 2010, several platform workers and supervisors expressed
concerns with well control. At approximately 9:45 p.m. CDT on April 20th, 2010, methane
gas from the well, under high pressure, shot all the way up and out of the drill column,
expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded. Fire then engulfed the platform.
Most of the workers were evacuated by lifeboats or were airlifted out by helicopter, but
eleven workers were never found despite a three-day Coast Guard search operation, and
are presumed to have died in the explosion. Efforts by multiple ships to douse the flames
were unsuccessful. After burning for approximately 36 hours, the Deepwater Horizon sank
on the morning of April 22nd, 2010.
On the afternoon of April 22nd, a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. Two
remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) unsuccessfully attempted to cap the well. On
April 24th, the US Coast Guard announced that a damaged wellhead was indeed leaking oil
into the Gulf and described it as "a very serious spill". BP has not given a cause for the
explosion. According to the US Congressional investigation, the rig's blowout preventer, a
fail-safe device fitted at the base of the well had a hydraulic leak and a failed battery, and
therefore failed.
Volume and extent of oil spill
According to the Flow Rate Technical Group, the leak amounted about 4.9 million barrels of

oil, exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the largest ever to originate in U.S. waters
and the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill as the largest spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Spill flow rate
After the explosion, BP and the United States Coast Guard initially estimated that the
wellhead was leaking only 1,000 barrels per day. This was a massive underestimate.
Outside scientists quickly produced higher figures. Official estimates increased as follows:

1,000 to 5,000 barrels per day on April 29th.

12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day on May 27th.
25,000 to 30,000 barrels per day on June 10th.
35,000 to 60,000 barrels on June 15th.

Internal BP documents, released by Congress, estimate the flow could be as much as

100,000 barrels if the blowout preventer and wellhead were removed and if restrictions were
incorrectly modeled.
Spill area and thickness
The oil's spread was initially increased by strong southerly winds caused by an impending
cold front. By April 25th, the oil spill covered 580 square miles (1,500 km2) and was only 31
miles (50 km) from the ecologically sensitive Chandeleur Islands. An April 30th estimate
placed the total spread of the oil at 3,850 square miles (10,000 km2). The spill quickly
approached the Delta National Wildlife Refuge and Breton National Wildlife Refuge.
Oil sightings
Oil began washing up on the beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore on June 1st. By
June 4th, the oil spill had landed on 125 miles (201 km) of Louisiana's coast, had washed up
along Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands, and was found for the first time on a Florida
barrier island at Pensacola Beach.
Capping of the wellhead
The wellhead was capped on July 15th and by July 30th the oil appeared to have dissipated
more rapidly than expected. Scientists believe the rapid dissipation of the surface oil may
have been due to a combination of factors that included the natural capacity of the region to
break down oil (petroleum normally leaks from the ocean floor by way of thousands of
natural seeps and certain bacteria are able to consume it.); winds from storms appeared to
have aided in rapidly dispersing the oil, and the clean-up response by BP and the
government helped control surface slicks. As much as 40% of the oil may have simply
evaporated at the ocean surface, and an unknown amount remains below the surface.
The Deepwater Horizon spill is the second-largest in history. The dubious honour of being
the largest belongs to the Lakeview Gusher in Kern County, California in 1910 which lasted
eighteen months and released an estimated nine million barrels of crude oil.
4.0 Definitions Ecotoxic and Ecotoxins.
Ecotoxic - this term is applied to substances or waste which, if released into the
environment, may present immediate or delayed adverse impacts to the environment.
The Ecotoxic label specifically recognises substances that are harmful to the environment,
although in practice, most substances which are labelled toxic, harmful, corrosive, etc. are
also capable of doing harm to the environment if they are released in an uncontrolled

manner.
Ecotoxins - these are hazardous by means of bioaccumulation and/or their toxic effects
upon biotic systems; they can accumulate in the tissues of animals or plants to a
concentration higher than the surrounding environment and have toxic effects when
absorbed by a living organism.
CHIP refers to the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations
2009. These are sometimes also known as CHIP4. CHIP is the law that applies to suppliers
of dangerous chemicals. Its purpose is to protect people and the environment from the
effects of those chemicals by requiring suppliers to provide information about the dangers
and to package them safely. CHIP requires of the suppliers of a dangerous chemical to
identify the hazards of the chemical (classification), give information about the hazard to their
customers and package the chemical safely.

Harmful to the environment

4.1 Risk Phrases.
R50
R50/R53
R51
R51/R53
R52
R52/R53
R53
R54
R55
R56
R57
R58
R59

Very Toxic to aquatic organisms

Very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the
aquatic environment
Toxic to aquatic organisms
Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic
environment
Harmful to aquatic organisms
Harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the
aquatic environment
May cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment
Toxic to flora
Toxic to fauna
Toxic to soil organisms
Toxic to bees
May cause long-term adverse effects in the environment
Dangerous for the ozone layer
4.2 Incidents Causing Harm to the Environment.

Basel, Switzerland 1986

In November 1986, a chemical warehouse accident occurred at the Sandoz facility. The
warehouse was built in 1967. It was part of a large Sandoz chemical complex in
Schweizerhalle, a small community six miles east of Basel on the Rhine's left bank. Because
the fire was not discovered until it was already large and being fed by a warehouse full of

highly flammable chemicals, it was accepted from the start that the warehouse would be a
total loss. Attention was focussed on stopping exposure as barrels of flammable chemicals
were hurtling through the air. The fire fighting was defensive to begin with and massive
amounts of water were used to stop the spread of the fire.
The fire water volume applied has been estimated to be of the order of 20,000m3. The fire
resulted in substantial releases of chemicals, which - when combined with fire water drained into the nearby water course. Thirty tons of toxic material washed into the Rhine
River along with the water used to fight the warehouse blaze.
By the time the chemicals, mostly pesticides, had travelled 500 miles down river, half a
million fish were dead, several municipal water supplies were contaminated and the Rhine's
ecosystem was badly damaged with virtually all marine life and a large proportion of microorganisms wiped out.
The chemical slick, now approximately 25 miles long, drifted slowly downstream from the
Swiss border to the North Sea. It contained about 30 tons of insecticides, herbicides, and
mercury-containing pesticides and threatened the North Sea's Winter Cod Harvest.
Not only were there significant challenges in fire-fighting tactics emergency response
management and crises communications with the two nearby countries (France and
Germany), there were also the challenges of air and water pollution in a densely-populated
area.
4.2.1 Allied Colloids Site, Bradford, England 1992.
The seat of the fire was located in a raw materials warehouse at the Allied Colloids site in
Low Moor, Bradford. The warehouse itself had two rooms allocated for the storage of
oxidising and flammable products known as No.1 and No. 2 oxystores. No. 2 oxystore had
steam heating as it was originally designed to store frost-sensitive products.
On the morning of the incident, steam-heated blowers in the warehouse had been turned on
to dry out moisture. It is thought that a steam condensate line was responsible for heating a
number of AZDN kegs, which were stored at height in the No. 2 oxystore. The heating effect
caused two or three of the AZDN kegs to rupture and spill white powder all over the floor. A
passing employee thought that the powder was smoke and raised the alarm. It was
determined that no immediate hazard was present and the AZDN data sheet was referred to
before a clean-up plan was devised. While waiting for confirmation from the appropriate
vacuum cleaner manufacturer, an employee noticed a plume of smoke/vapour and a hissing
noise coming from a bag of SPS that was located underneath the AZDN kegs. Before the
employee could douse the SPS with water, the vapour plume ignited and became a jet flame
of about 300 mm in length. Within a few seconds, the jet flame became a flash fire which
was transmitted all around the room.
It was determined later that the AZDN powder probably mixed with unintended spills of SPS
and other oxidising products. AZDN in contact with SPS is likely to have been ignited by an
impact, possibly from a lid and associated metal ring closure from one of the damaged
AZDN kegs falling onto a bag or the floor.
The fire spread throughout the warehouse and smoke was blown towards nearby
motorways. The fire was contained that day and the fire brigade was not stood down until 18
days later due to risk of re-ignition during clean-up. Considerable environmental damage to
the Aire and Calder rivers resulted from the firewater run off.
4.2.2 Milford Haven, Wales 1995.

On the morning of Thursday 15th February 1995, Texaco informed the Millford Haven Port
Authority that there was a berth available at its docks and that the Sea Empress supertanker
carrying crude oil should be allowed to proceed to port. A pilot was sent out alongside the
tanker, and one hour and 20 minutes before low tide, the ship began steaming towards the
Haven. On that same evening, the Sea Empress ran aground at St Anns Head in the
entrance to the Milford Haven waterway.
Milford Haven lies within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and the main spill area
affected 35 sites of special scientific interest, two national nature reserves (at Stackpole and
Skomer), and one of the UK's three marine nature reserves (Skomer).
Over the next seven days, approximately 72,000 tons of light crude oil were released, mainly
at low tide, and 480 tons of heavy fuel oil escaped whilst the vessel was being re-floated and
towed to a jetty within the waterway.
Despite a rapid clean-up response at sea, oil came ashore along 200km of coastline in an
area of international importance for wildlife and natural beauty. The worst affected areas
were Milford Haven and the south coast of Pembrokeshire, towards the beaches of
Carmarthen Bay, Tenby and Pendine.
The total cost of the accident is estimated at 45 million for the clean-up and salvage
operations, 90 million in economic costs, and 29 million in environmental impacts.
Included in the casualty list were fish - whose eggs and larvae are extremely sensitive to oil
pollution - and 25 different species of birds. At least half the population of migrant Scoter
Ducks was killed, as were thousands of Guillemots, Cormorants, Oyster Catchers, Gulls,
Shags and Red Throated Divers. A conservative estimate is that up to 20,000 birds died
either from drowning, hypothermia or swallowing toxic oil whilst preening.
A report by Friends of the Earth found that "the massive kill of marine animals will cause
long-term ecological changes, including a change in species diversity and species and
population numbers."
The Marine Pollution Control unit estimated, in its report on the accident (1997), that less
than 5,000 tons of oil came ashore, and the main amenity beaches were cleared by Easter.
The clean-up operation was a close collaboration between central government, local
authorities, public bodies, private companies and voluntary organisations.
4.2.3 Aznacllar Mine, Spain 1998.
In 1995 two workers at the Aznacllar Mine alerted authorities to the condition of the mines
dam and the possibility that the Guadiamar river could become contaminated if the dam
collapsed. However the Swedish-Candadian mine owners, Boliden Apirsa, responded to
this by saying that the dam was safe.
The dam did collapse over two years later on the 25th of April 1998. The dam contained
stagnant, toxic waste water from the Aznacllar Mine. Five million cubic metres of heavymetal laden water broke free and flowed into the Guadiamar river, directly polluting more
than 4,400 hectares of land and wiping out almost all life in the river.
Doana National Park , a UN World Heritage Area and home to six million migratory birds as
well as the habitat for rare species such as lynx, otters and imperial eagles was
situated close to the mine and this caused anxiety over the severity of the toxic overflow.
The wetland areas were not polluted although a huge area of land was contaminated,

endangering humans and wildlife. Work to eliminate the toxic sediments continued many
years later. Experts designated by Spains Higher Council of Scientic Investigation have
studied the river. Results show that the severe metal and arsenic contamination of the
Gaudiamar Rivers mud and sediments has diminished and the fish are just recovering.
However, the metal concentrations in aquatic organisms remains above normal and some
invertebrate species still show severe concentrations of heavy metals and a high degree of
toxicity.
Question 4.
The Chemicals (Hazard Information & Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002 (CHIP)
requires the supplier of a dangerous chemical to.....
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: Package chemicals safely
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: Give information about the hazard to the customers
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
Answer 3: Identify the hazards of the chemicals
Response 3:
Jump 3: This page
Answer 4: All of the above
Response 4:
Jump 4: Next page
5.0. Fire and Explosion.
Fires and explosions can cause harm to people on- and off-site, and to the environment.
They have the potential to cause widespread pollution as pollutants will be dispersed over
large areas. It is for this reason that industrial plants using large volumes of substances,
where fire and explosion are a particular risk, are subject to the Control of Major Accident
Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (COMAH). Such operations are also required to
specifically assess the likelihood, consequences and risk reduction measures associated
with a Major Accident To The Environment (MATTE).
It is not the purpose of this course to describe the mechanisms used in the chemical industry
to assess the risks associated with chemical processes methods such as HAZOPs,
HAZANs and FMEAs have already been covered in other health and safety training courses.
However, these techniques will be used to determine potential for failures which could lead
to fire and explosions and will also identify and demonstrate potential hazards to the
environment.
5.1 Fire.
Fire or uncontrolled combustion can pose a substantial threat to the environment because:

Chemicals can be released into the air which disperse over many tens of square
miles at concentrations above the background; dispersion effects may be felt several
hundred metres beyond the accident location.
New chemicals can be created as part of the oxidation and pyrolytic process (the
products of combustion can vary during the course of the fire).

Firewater can disperse pollutants to water. It can also pollute groundwater.

Extinguishing media are often themselves capable of causing environmental
damage.
A fire may release other substances (such as asbestos) from the building structure.

As well as the long distance dispersion of pollutants, there may be local deposition at high
concentrations and fires can also cause flows of released materials, resembling a spill.
5.2 Explosion.
Explosions can pose a risk to the environment because large amounts of substances will be
released suddenly. They can also initiate either a fire or a spill. Explosions that cause large
quantities of toxic materials to be released into the air can cause considerable damage to
sensitive sites, vegetation or birds. Explosions which lead to a release of a cloud of material
could pose a considerable threat under stable atmospheric conditions, as the cloud could
travel a large distance before dispersing.
The material released will depend on the type of industry, but could include gases, vapours,
chemicals and inert substances, which are thrown out as a result of the event. The COMAH
Regulations cover certain requirements in respect of major accidents and require among
other things, the preparation of a Site Safety Report.
Such a report will cover:

major hazards arising from the consequences of potential accidents, especially to the
possible extent and severity of an accident;
maps showing land use and the location of sensitive parts of the environment;
description of the environment and surroundings of the establishment;
the ecotoxicology of substances that might be released in an accident;
protection and intervention methods designed to limit the consequences of accidents;
provisions made to mitigate post-accident impacts and aid the recovery of the
environment;
a review when circumstances, including environmental ones, change in important
ways.

There is also a requirement within COMAH to assess the effects of potential Major
Accidents To The Environment (MATTE), which could occur as a result of an explosion
involving certain dangerous substances.
An explosion could also cause the release of a non-hazardous substance, for example by
rupturing a pipeline or causing the collapse of a drain, which could have devastating effects
on a sensitive environment or a watercourse.
Radiation may be released as a result of a fire or explosion. It poses some unique hazards
to the environment and to people outside the workplace.
6.0 Radiation.
Radiation is a form of energy and the types of radiation are labelled according to the amount
of energy they have. Some of these forms of energy are transmitted by waves called
electromagnetic waves or particles emitted by radioactive materials which are known as
alpha particles, beta particles, electrons, positrons, protons and neutrons.
Electromagnetic spectrum

Radiation can be arranged according to its frequency or wavelength:

Wavelength is the distance between wave peaks.
Frequency is the number of wave peaks in a given point in one second.

6.1 Ionising and Non-ionising Radiation.

Gamma rays and X-rays to the left of the electromagnetic spectrum above contain the
greatest energy. They can remove the electron from the atom as they are so powerful, and
we call this ionisation. These rays are known as ionising radiation.
Radiowaves to the right of the electromagnetic spectrum above do not contain enough
energy to ionise; these are known as non-ionising radiation.
6.2 Ionising Radiation.

Ionising radiation is produced by unstable atoms which differ from stable atoms. These
unstable atoms are said to be radioactive.
Ionising radiation occurs as either electromagnetic rays (such as X-rays and gamma rays) or
particles (such as alpha and beta particles). It occurs naturally (e.g. from the radioactive
decay of natural radioactive substances such as radon gas and its decay products) and it
can also be produced artificially or emissions of radon gas and radiation can occur as a
result of fire or explosion. Everyone receives some exposure to natural background
radiation. Ionising radiation is used in medicine (for diagnosis and treatment), industry (for

measurement and other purposes as well as for producing electricity), research and
teaching.
6.3 Types of Ionising Radiation.
Types of ionising radiation include:
Alpha Particles
They are swiftly-moving nuclei of helium atoms and carry positive charges. They have very
little power of penetration and can easily be stopped by a sheet of paper or the outer layer of
the skin, depending upon the thickness of the skin and the energy of the alpha particle.
Ingestion of alpha particles or inhalation can cause damage.
Beta Particles
They are high-speed electrons and are smaller in mass and more penetrating than alpha
particles. A sheet of aluminium a few millimetres thick, Perspex or glass can stop beta
particles.
Neutrons
They are one of the constituents of the nucleus and do not carry any electric charge.
Hydrogen-rich materials, such as water or paraffin can shield against these particles more
effectively. Neutrons are emitted during nuclear fission and have greater penetrating power.
Thick shielding with substantial layers of concrete or water are required to prevent risks to
health.
Gamma rays
They are high-energy electromagnetic waves and can pass right through the body. Dense
materials such as steel, lead or concrete can absorb these rays more effectively. Gamma
rays are also emitted naturally in rocks and soils.
X-rays
They are very similar in their effects to gamma rays.
6.4 Non-ionising Radiation.
Non-ionising electromagnetic radiation (NIEMR) is the term used to describe the part of the
electromagnetic spectrum covering two main regions, namely optical radiation (ultraviolet
(UV), visible and infrared) and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) (power frequencies,
microwaves and radiofrequencies).
Some common sources of Optical Radiation are the sun, sunbeds and lasers, while some
typical sources of EMFs are generated by electrical supply equipment and
telecommunications systems.
6.5 Sources of Radiation.
The following list indicates the sources of radiation present in the UK :

Naturally-occurring radioactive gases - radon and thorium - which come up from

substrata and accumulate in buildings. The levels of these gases can vary across
different parts of the country, according to the nature of the underlying rocks.

Gamma rays emitted from naturally-occurring radioactive materials in rocks and soils.
The amount of this source present will also vary across different parts of the country
and tends to be highest in granite areas, e.g. Cornwall.
Internal sources, i.e. from naturally-occurring radioactivity in food and drink. Certain
foods contain higher levels of radioactivity than others.
Cosmic rays from the sun and from outer space. The radiation dose received from
this source will be higher the nearer one is to the poles, the higher one is above sea
level, the more time one spends in aircraft and the more time one spends outdoors.
Medical services, e.g. diagnostic X-rays and radiotherapy. The amount of radiation a
person receives from this source will obviously depend upon how frequently in the
course of a lifetime they are subjected to services of this kind.
Fallout from weapons tests, from waste from the nuclear industry and from nuclear
accidents.
Occupational sources, i.e. industrial and medical uses.
Miscellaneous, e.g. from ionisation chamber smoke detectors, luminous watches,
television sets, etc.

Sealed and Unsealed Sources

When radionuclides are employed, they are generally contained in such a way as to prevent
contamination of those handling them or of adjacent surfaces, breathing zones, etc. Such a
contained source is referred to as a sealed source of radiation. This term has been used
historically for electrical devices producing radiation, but they are now more correctly
referred to as radiation generators. A sealed source, though not a contamination hazard,
may still be dangerous because of the emission of penetrating radiation. When containment
of a radionuclide is not possible or desirable, it is referred to as an unsealed source of
radiation.
6.6 Hazards to People from Radiation.
When radiation interacts with the electrons in surrounding molecules, it can produce
changes in those molecules by ionisation. This process can cause a change in the physical
structure of DNA (the basic material which controls the functions of the cells that make up
the human body). This can cause adverse chemical reactions which could lead to the
destruction of the cell or the production of poison within it. This may then lead to biological
effects such as abnormal cell development, which may not be seen for some time after the
exposure to radiation.
The penetrating power of radiation and the hazards thus presented to humans will depend
upon the type of radiation emitted by the radioactive material.
Question 5.
Examples of non-ionising radiation include....
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: Electromagnetic rays (X-rays and Gamma rays) or particles such as
Alpha & Beta.
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: Optical radiation (Ultra violet & Infrared) and Electromagnetic fields
Response 2:
Jump 2: Next page
7.0 Indirect Effects on the Health & Safety of People Outside the Workplace.

The environmental media are inter-related and an understanding of this interrelationship is

fundamental in appreciating the effects of health and safety of people outside the workplace.
Changes to the environment - either natural or caused by man - can have impacts on the
flora, fauna and human health.
Global, Regional and Local Pollution Effects
In order to understand the global, regional and location pollution effects, it is important that
we understand the ecosystem and earth's natural cycles. Here we will outline these main
principles.
Deforestation for example, is one human activity that can impose far-reaching effects on an
ecosystem. This occurs when the worlds forests are destroyed. This is done to clear land to
meet growing human needs such as grazing animals and growing crops, but also for
commercial logging purposes. As the human population grows, we need more fuel, water
and food and this is when ecosystems can be damaged.
We have seen that the environment can extend from the workplace to the global
environment (ISO 14001). Some environmental impacts may be observed locally, whilst
some spread as far as the global environment. Now consider as an example, two very
different air emissions: a nuisance dust and a solvent emission. The former may be confined
to being a local problem, whereas the latter has the potential to affect the global system
(although it does not follow that the solvent emissions from one particular factory can do this
on their own).
7.1 Food and Drinking Water Safety.
Water is essential for all life on earth. Humans can survive for weeks without food, but only
days without water. The water we drink in the UK comes from the surface waters and ground
water. Ground water is water located beneath the surface in soil pore spaces and in the
fractures of geological formations. A formation of rock or soil is called an aquifier when it can
yield a quantity of water. The water table is the depth at which soil pore spaces become fully
saturated with water. Both surface and ground water are vulnerable to pollution.
The Government has set legal standards for drinking water in the Water Quality
Regulations and their subsequent amendments. Most of these standards come directly from
a European law and are based on World Health Organisation guidelines. The Water Industry
Act 1991 sets out specific requirements to ensure that water companies supply water of
potable quality.
The term 'potable' refers to water of sufficient quality to serve as drinking water, whether it is
used as such or not.
Many fresh water sources are utilised by humans; some contain disease vectors or
pathogens and cause long-term health problems if they do not meet certain water quality
guidelines. The UK has additional standards to safeguard the already high quality of water in
England and Wales. The standards are strict and generally include wide safety margins. The
standards cover the way water looks and how it tastes, metals such as lead, chemicals such
as nitrate and pesticides and bacteria.
Drinking water quality in England and Wales is regulated by the government through the
Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). It is responsible for assessing the quality of drinking
water, taking enforcement action if standards are not being met, and appropriate action
when water is unfit for human consumption. The inspectorate was set up in 1990 after the

water industry was privatised to operate an independent body with staff experienced in all
aspects of the water supply. Their main job is to check that water companies in England and
Wales supply water that is safe to drink and meets the standards set in the Water Quality
Regulations.
Inspectors carry out technical audits of each water company. The two main parts include
inspections of the individual companies and an annual assessment of the quality of drinking
water supplied by the companies. Inspections are also carried out to ensure results are
reliable. In an inspection, there are various checks that are made. These include checks:

to ensure that consumers receive sound advice and help with queries and concerns;
that the right number of checks are carried out;
that samples are tested by trained staff using accurate methods;
that procedures used in sampling are satisfactory;
that consumers receive sound advice and help with queries and concerns;
that correct results are entered in the public record;
that sampling procedures are satisfactory;
that treatment processes and the water distribution system are operated and
maintained with safety in mind.

Section 70 of the Water Industry Act 1991 makes it a criminal offence for a water company
to supply water which is unfit for human consumption. The Inspectorate can bring
prosecutions in the names of either the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs or the National Assembly for Wales.
The Inspectorate will bring prosecutions

if it believes that it has evidence that water unfit for human consumption was
supplied;
if it believes that the company does not have a defence that it took all reasonable
steps and exercised all due diligence and
if such a prosecution is regarded as being in the public interest.

OFWAT stands for The Water Services Regulation Authority and is the economic regulator
of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. OFWAT works independently of
the government but works closely with the following;

the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh
Assembly Government;
the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater), which is an independent organisation
that represents customers' interests;
the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which sets standards for the quality of drinking
water;
the Environment Agency, which regulates and enforces water abstraction consents
and quality standards in inland, estuarial and coastal waters; and
Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales , on environmental issues.

OFWAT can

set price limits on what companies can charge their customers, ensuring companies
are able to carry out their responsibilities under the Water Industry Act 1991 as
updated by section 39 of the Water Act 2003;
protecting the standard of service;

encouraging companies to be more efficient;

meeting the principles of sustainable development; and
helping to encourage competition where appropriate.

For more information click on http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/

Food Safety
The Food Safety Act 1990 is the principal piece of legislation dealing with food safety and
defines food to include drink, articles and substances of no nutritional value which are used
for human consumption, chewing gum and other products of a like nature and use and
articles and substances used as ingredients in the preparation of food.
The main provisions of the act make it an offence to render food injurious to health, and of
selling or possessing for sale food that does not comply with food safety requirements. This
is food which is unfit for human consumption or is so contaminated that it would not be
reasonable to expect it to be used for human consumption. The Act gives ministers powers
to make emergency control orders prohibiting commercial operations in relation to food, food
sources or contact materials when there is an imminent risk of such food causing such injury
to health.
The Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (FEPA) addresses problems associated
with pesticides and pollutants that can reach the food chain. The Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (and in Wales, the National Assembly) has a statutory
duty to control the deposit of articles or materials in the sea/tidal waters; the primary
objectives being to protect the marine ecosystem and human health, and minimising
interference and nuisance to others. This duty is exercised under powers conferred by the
Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 Part II (FEPA), which require that a licence be
obtained from the licensing authority to deposit any articles or substances in the sea or
under the seabed. This includes the burial of human remains at sea.
7.2 Pesticides.
What are pesticides?
Definition: a pesticide is any substance, preparation or organism prepared or used, among
other uses, to protect plants or wood or other plant products from harmful organisms; to
regulate the growth of plants; to give protection against harmful creatures; or to render such
creatures harmless. (Food And Environment Protection Act 1995 (FEPA)).
Pesticides are chemical or biological substances that are used to kill or control pests that
harm our food, health or environment. They are particularly used in food production because
pests can have devastating effects on the quantity and quality of crops. Pests include
rodents, insects, fungi and plants. Plant growth regulators, which are used to influence
particular growth processes in plants (for example, slowing down the growth of sprouts on
potatoes) are also regulated as pesticides.
Pesticides are used mainly in agriculture to keep crops healthy and prevent them being
wasted by disease and infestation. Pesticide residues are the small amounts of pesticides
that can remain in a crop after harvesting or storage and so can make their way into the food
chain. The Pesticides (maximum residue levels in crops, food and feeding stuffs) ( England
and Wales Regulations) 1999 are the principal Regulations in a series establishing a regime
for setting and controlling pesticides residues in crops, food and feeding stuffs.

The Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD)

PSD is an organisation established by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to
assist him in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by and under Part III of the Food
and Environment Protection Act 1985 (FEPA) and EU Directives, in relation to controls over
pesticides. Pesticides are controlled in Great Britain mainly through a system of product
approval and consents covering the advertisement, sale, supply, storage and use of
pesticides laid down in Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) and the Control of
Pesticides Regulations 1986 (COPR) and their subsequent amendments (1997).
The PSD is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(DEFRA). Their aim is to ensure the safe use of pesticides and detergents for people and
the environment, to harmonise pesticide regulation with the European Community, and as
part of the strategy for sustainable food and farming, to reduce negative impacts of
pesticides on the environment.
The Trade Effluents (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations
1989Schedule 1 state that pesticides may not be discharged into drains or watercourses.
Pesticides pose particular risks to the environment and their storage and use are tightly
controlled.
Some of the issues associated with pesticides are illustrated with regards to DDT and
related compounds.
DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was first sythesised in 1874 but its insecticidal
properties were not discovered until 1939. It was used in the second half of World War II to
control malaria and typhus among civilians and troops. After the war, DDT was used as an
agricultural insecticide, and its production and use increased exponentially.
In 1962, American wildlife author and marine biologist Rachel Carson wrote a book entitled
Silent Spring. The book detailed the environmental impacts of indiscriminate DDT use in the
United States and raised questions about the practice of releasing large amounts of
chemicals into the environment without a full understanding their effects on the environment
or human health. Carson suggested that DDT and other pesticides could cause cancer and
that their use in agriculture was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. Its publication caught
the public's imagination and has been credited as a major factor in the birth of the
environmental movement. It led to a 1972 ban in the US. DDT was subsequently banned for
agricultural use worldwide under the Stockholm Convention, but limited use in disease
vector control (which Carson never opposed) continues.
7.3 Landfill Gas.
A hazard associated with landfill gas is its flammability in concentrations in air of between
5% and 15% in confined spaces. Levels such as these can lead to a potentially explosive
situation. For this to occur, there needs to be generation of landfill gas and its migration into
a confined space.
In this example, the hazard is the flammability of the landfill gas and to understand the
likelihood of this hazard causing harm (risk), information needs to be gathered about the
landfill site and the surrounding environment.
http://www.landfill-gas.com/

Loscoe Explosion, Derbyshire 1986.

An explosion occurred in a bungalow adjacent to a landfill site at Loscoe on 24th March
1986. One bungalow was destroyed and the residents were severely injured. The resulting
investigation showed two more houses had been unfit for habitation for the preceding
months, and others for short periods.
The site was used as a brickworks from the mid-nineteenth century until the early 1970s.
The quarry in which it was situated comprised an elliptical hole with three stepped quarry
faces. The quarry was part-filled with inert waste products from the brick making which
ceased in 1971.
Permission was then granted for the tipping of inert materials only, and from 1973 to 1975 a
number of companies tipped at the site, until one firm acquired the sole rights and in 1978
purchased the site. During 1977 a licence had been granted to tip a wide variety of wastes,
including 50 tons per day of untreated domestic waste.
From 1977 to 1982, amendments to the licence were granted to increase the quantities of
domestic waste tipped, despite complaints from the residents of adjacent houses of vermin
and flies. Houses surrounded the site on all four sides; those on the fourth side were built in
the 1970s.
The first signs of gas generation were in 1984 when lawns and trees began to die in the
surrounding gardens. Later the soil around the affected areas began to heat up. This is
thought to be have been due to the presence of methane-feeding bacteria.
After the explosion, Derbyshire County Council monitored methane levels in the houses at
regular intervals and attempts were made to draw the gas out of the tip by horizontal and
vertical methane extraction wells. This proved only partially successful due to a perched
water table (Open University literature 1989).
Flow rates of landfill gas generated from the site measured subsequently were 150-200
cubic metres of gas per hour at a 30-35% methane content, with 3-4% oxygen or
approximately 45-70 cubic metres of methane per hour. After the explosion, the gas was
extracted by the use of 17 wells and was flared off through a purpose-built pump and flaring
unit.
8.0 Global, Regional and Local Environmental Effects.
Air and the ways in which it is polluted.
Air is essential to all life and we need a supply of clean air to function effectively. Polluted air
can directly affect our health as well as the environment.
The atmosphere (which at ground-level comprises approximately 79% nitrogen, 16% oxygen
and 3% inert gases), is a complex mixture of gases and vapours. Its depth is 8-15
kilometres, being deepest at the equator and shallowest at the poles. Without it, the Earths
temperature would be approximately 18C.
The layer nearest the ground is known as the troposphere and it has the most variation or
weather. Above the troposphere lies the stratosphere which is less turbulent.
Air pollution occurs generally in the troposphere and pollutants may be deposited by rainfall,
reaction or deposition relatively quickly. Conversely, pollutants in the stratosphere can be

very long-lasting; examples include the products of major volcanic eruptions.

8.1 Natural Emissions to the Air.
Most pollutants are emitted both by natural as well as by anthropogenic (human activity)
sources. Natural sources are not influenced by humans or by human-induced activities.
Volcanoes are a good example of this type of source and can emit large amounts of sulphur
dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. Natural emissions far exceed those made by humans.
Many emissions are biogenic, i.e, produced by living organisms, but these emissions are
very often influenced by mans activities. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas that is for
a large part emitted during nitrification and de-nitrification processes (the conversion of
ammonium to nitrate and of nitrate to N2O and ammonium respectively), which take place in
the soil. The largest N2O emissions are observed where nitrogen-containing fertiliser is
applied in agriculture.
The largest natural source of methane (a key global-warming gas) is the anaerobic
fermentation of organic materials, which takes place in rice paddies and in bog lands in the
northern hemisphere, plus the fermentation in the digestive systems of ruminants. Methane
is also released from coalmines and insects. Other hydrocarbons such as terpenes are
released directly by trees.
For the purpose of this course, we will concentrate for the most part on anthropogenic
emissions.
Air pollution and its trends are very important in the context of quality of life, urban planning
and air quality from a public health standpoint. Details of the legal requirements relating to
the air will be discussed later.
The following are key environmental effects observed on a global basis:

Global-warming (also known as climate change) - the greenhouse effect.

Depletion of the ozone layer.
Acid deposition.
Low-level ozone photochemical smog.
8.2 The Carbon Cycle.

The main component of a fossil fuel (coal, oil, wood, gas, petroleum) is carbon. Carbon
burns in the presence of excess oxygen to give carbon dioxide. Where there is reduced
oxygen, the result is carbon monoxide.
In general terms, carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis
in plants and released in the natural processes of respiration and decay. The process of
removal and release within the system should be roughly in balance. However, atmospheric
levels of CO2 are increasing together with other gases such as methane, nitrogen dioxide
and CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that together contribute towards greenhouse gases and
global climatic change.

Risk assessment and risk management techniques allow us to identify hazards that we face
and to set priorities, and form a key factor in public health and environmental management
decision making. Earlier, we looked at the definition of a hazard as the property of a
substance, or activity, to cause harm.

Natural Cycles: The Carbon Cycle

Gaseous carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is converted into organic compounds by the
process of photosynthesis in plants. The carbon is then stored in the biomass of the plants
during their life. Herbivores obtain organic carbon compounds by eating plants and
carnivores obtain organic carbon by eating herbivores. When the plants or animals die, the
dead organic matter is consumed by decomposer organisms, which return carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere.

Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants.

In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2).
Through the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is pulled from the air to produce food
made from carbon for plant growth.
Carbon moves from plants to animals.
Through food chains, the carbon that is in plants moves to the animals that eat them.
Animals that eat other animals get the carbon from their food too.
Carbon moves from plants and animals to soils.
When plants and animals die, the carbon that makes up their bodies, wood and leaves
decays in the ground. Some is buried and will become fossil fuels in millions of years.
Carbon moves from living things to the atmosphere.
Each time you exhale, you are releasing carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere.
Animals and plants need to get rid of carbon dioxide gas through a process called
respiration.
Carbon moves from fossil fuels to the atmosphere when fuels are burned.
When humans burn fossil fuels to power factories, power plants, cars and trucks, most of the
carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Each year, five and a half
billion tons of carbon are released by burning fossil fuels. Of this massive amount, 3.3 billion
tons stay in the atmosphere. Most of the remainder becomes dissolved in seawater.
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the oceans.
The oceans and other bodies of water absorb some carbon from the atmosphere. The
carbon is dissolved into the water. Marine animals are able to use the carbon to build their
skeletal material.
8.3 Effect of Human Activities.
Over time, human activities have contributed to the gradual increase in CO2 . Burning of

fossil fuel increased tenfold between 1900 and 1980 to 5.3 x 109 tons globally. Coupled with
deforestation at 1 x 109 tons per year, this has had a net effect of causing imbalances for
which the cycle cannot compensate. The rise in carbon dioxide coincides with the start of the
industrial revolution.
The World Climate Conference met in Geneva in 1990 and discussions were held on the UN
International Panel on Climate Change. The outcomes of the talks were that countries would
aim to reduce CO2 levels by:

stopping deforestation;
reducing fossil fuel burning;
increasing energy efficiency and conservation;
using alternative energy, i.e. gas, solar and wind.

The UN Climate Change Conference held in Montreal in December 2005 aimed to

implement the Kyoto Protocol, which provided tighter binding targets and timetables to
reduce greenhouse gases.
The evidence for climate change is complex and sometimes conflicting, but it is generally
accepted that there are strong indications that air pollution is significantly altering the worlds
climate. Increased concentrations of certain gases in the atmosphere allow more of the
energy coming from the sun to be retained, thus giving rise to increased temperatures.
The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of a gas depends on how long it lasts in the
atmosphere and how strongly it absorbs infrared radiation. GWPs are ratios normally
expressed relative to the effect of CO2. Some Global Warming Potentials for common gases
are illustrated in the following table.
Substance
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Dinitrogen Oxide
CFCs

GWP
1.0
24.5
320.0
4,000.0

11,700.0

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

Source: IPCC Third Assessment Report, 2001 Methane makes a 30% contribution to
greenhouse effects.
Carbon dioxide has increased by 25% over the 20th Century. At present rates, it will increase
by over 150% during the next century. CFCs contribute 15% of greenhouse effects.
Industrial activities release a number of gases besides carbon dioxide, including sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from the burning of fossil fuel. When combined with
atmospheric water vapour, acids such as sulphuric acid and nitrogen acid are produced.
These are then washed out with the rain to form acid rain.

Question 6.
The World Climate Conference outcome in 1990 stated countries would aim to reduce
Carbon Dioxide levels by....
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: Using alternative energy
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: Reduce fossil fuel for burning
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
Answer 3: Stop deforestation
Response 3:
Jump 3: This page
Answer 4: All of the above
Response 4:
Jump 4: Next page
8.4 Acid Deposition.
Acid rain (or to be more accurate, deposition, since the rain may fall as snow) is caused by
sulphurous and nitrous gases from coal burning and internal combustion engines combining
with water vapour in the air.
All rain is naturally acidic, approximately pH 5.6, due to the dissolution of carbon dioxide in
the water vapour in the air. This produces a very mild acid, known as carbonic acid. This
is why the term acid rain is slightly misleading. However, in Eastern USA and Central and
North West Europe , the pH of rain is approximately 4.0-5.0. Whilst this may not seem
significant, it represents a tenfold increase in acidity, as the pH scale (a measure of acidity
and alkalinity) is logarithmic.
The reason for the high acidity is the dissolution of sulphur and nitrogen oxides in the water

vapour. These give rise to the much more powerful sulphuric and nitric acids.
Environmental impacts include: forestry damage; groundwater, surface water and soil
acidification; damage to buildings; decline in fish and other ecosystem damage.
Smog
There has been great emphasis on the control of smoke and sulphur dioxide emissions in
the UK. This arose from the London smog which lasted from 5th to 9th December 1952.
Reports at the time put the death toll at 4,000 but modern research indicates that it could
have been closer to 12,000 although this takes into account those who died subsequent to
the four-day smog itself.
Smog was caused by low level emissions from coal burning during weather conditions that
did not disperse the pollutants, i.e. still foggy conditions. Taken together, the smoke and
sulphur dioxide had an adverse effect on human health. Consequently, with the passage of
the Clean Air Act of 1956, air quality standards were developed, the use of smokeless fuel
was made compulsory and there was increased control on domestic and industrial
emissions. Dramatic decreases in smoke and sulphur dioxide have been seen since the
1960s.
8.5 Ozone.
A feature, particularly of diesel vehicles, is that they produce very small particles in their
exhausts. These are known as PM10 particles, because they are 10 microns (or less) in
diameter. This is sufficiently small to be unaffected by our natural defences (the respiratory
escalator) and so they can pass directly to the lungs, where they may cause inflammation. At
present, there is much discussion as to whether PM10 particles (and the even smaller PM5
particles) may be responsible for the huge rise in respiratory ailments, such as childhood
asthma.
Depletion of the Stratospheric Ozone Layer
In 1984-1985, so-called ozone holes were discovered over Antarctica. The international
outcry resulted in the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which called for cuts in CFC
(chlorofluorocarbon) production within five years.
Ozone (O 3 ) is found naturally in the stratosphere, 20-30 km above the Earth and it results
from the interaction of UV light and oxygen.
Ozone is naturally depleted. However, this natural depletion is accelerated by human
activities, especially the production and use of CFCs which enter the stratosphere, where
they break down to produce free chlorine ions which react with the ozone. CFCs are
naturally very stable but will break down over time. The effects of releases of some CFCs
will be felt for decades, although there is some recent evidence that the polar ozone holes
have stopped increasing in size.
It was estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency that for every 1% reduction in
ozone in the stratosphere, there will be a corresponding 2% increase in UV light reaching the
Earths surface. As well as contributing to climate change, it is predicted that this will result in
an 8% increase in certain forms of skin cancer.
Low Level Ozone and Photochemical Smog

Whilst ozone in the upper atmosphere is essential for the well-being of the planet, ozone is a
gas that is toxic to both animal and plant life. It is found in the lower atmosphere as a result
of photochemical processes.
Photochemical smogs have high levels of ozone produced by reactions between certain
chemicals released by man into the atmosphere, i.e. oxides of nitrogen and VOCs
(hydrocarbons) that react together in the presence of the UV in sunlight.
Today, this smog occurs in such localities as Mexico City, Los Angeles and Rome, where
cars are banned in an attempt to reduce the photochemical smog during high-pressure
weather systems. Low-level ozone can also be a problem in UK cities, in certain weather
conditions.
In the UK, higher ozone concentrations are often found in rural, rather than urban areas.
This is because ozone is not produced directly, but results from a complex chemical
reaction, which may occur significant distances away from the source of pollution. Ozone is
produced in sunny conditions, in air rich in nitrogen oxides and volatile organic carbon
compounds (VOCs) which are a component of vehicles exhausts, but are also released from
other processes.
8.6 The Nitrogen Cycle.
The ultimate source of nitrogen is the atmosphere. Biological processes at the Earths
surface capture the nitrogen in a cycle. Micro-organisms in the soil oxidise and fix the
nitrogen to form ammonia. This in turn is converted to nitrite and nitrate by other microorganisms in a process involving oxygen, called nitrification. Under low oxygen conditions in
the soil, the nitrate is changed to ammonia and the nitrification cycle can begin again.

8.7 Effect of human activities on the Nitrogen Cycle.

Nitrogen is a vital element and although it is one of the most common gases, it is often in
short supply in the soil. Soil nutrients are vital to plant growth and where they are

lacking, fertilisers are added. Excessive use of fertilisers on crops, together with surface runoff, can lead to eutrophication. It is estimated that 50% of the nitrogen applied to crops is lost
to water.
Eutrophication is the enrichment of watercourses by certain plant nutrients, which results in
the growth of algal bloom on water courses. Fertilisers are added to increase crop yield
and contain nitrogen and phosphorous. The latter causes increases in algal growth. The
algae produce a thick, cloudy cover which prevents photosynthesis and causes the bottomdwelling plants to die. The oxygen is therefore depleted due to the lack of photosynthesis.
This level is then further depleted by the dead plants being decomposed by bacteria, which
use up oxygen. Consequently, other organisms in the water are affected, resulting in fish
mortality and stagnant waters with reduced species diversity.

The Atmospheric Cycle of a Pollutant

Pollutants are emitted from sources and removed from the atmosphere by sinks. A typical
cycle is illustrated above. Although many pollutants can have both natural and man-made
sources, the latter tend to dominate at a local level. Sink processes include:

dry deposition which removes gases and particles to land and water surfaces without
rain or snow;
wet deposition through incorporation within the clouds and washout (or scavenging)
via rain or snow;
chemical reactions changing one pollutant to another, i.e. ozone.
8.8 Phosphorus Cycle.

Phosphate (PO4), is released in energy to be used by organisms in the construction of

proteins and muscles. Phosphorus is used by invertebrates like calcium in the formation of
teeth and bones. Phosphorus is also known to be important in the frework that holds DNA
together.

This cycle differs from the other types of cycles we have discussed as there is no gaseous
phase, as there is not much phosphorus gas present in the atmosphere, most is held within
sedimentary rocks. Acid rain does however contain a slight amount of phosphoric acid but
due to the temperature and pressure experienced on Earth phosphorous is not a gas.
The phosphorous cycle begins in these sedimentary rocks, where it is then removed via
weathering, to the soils and underground water. The plants take up the phosphorous form
the soil and when eaten by herbivores, is passed to their system and finally into the
carnivore systems when the herbivores are themselves then eaten.
The cycle is then completed when the phosphorus is then returned back to the soil from
faeces, urine or decomposition of the dead animals.
Phosphorus is not soluble so it adheres and binds to soil particles and then enters the
aquatic environment when soil run-off occurs. Other ways by which phosphorus can enter
the aquatic environment is through industrial waste and run-off, leaks from sewerage
systems as well as from fertilisers, which can also run-off directly to water sources.
In the aquatic environment the phosphorus settles to the bottom and is often stirred up and
absorbed by the water plants and introduced to the aquatic food chain. Excessive amounts
of phosphorus in surface waters can lead to eutrophication, the overgrowth of aquatic plants
which blocks sunlight to the bottom and suffocates marine life.
Much of the phosphorous found in the aquatic environment comes from agricultural
fertilisers. Many crops cannot absorb the amount of fertiliser so much runs off to the nearest
waterways.

8.9 Natural Systems The Water Cycle.

Water is a vital natural resource, essential for all human existence. It is in great demand and
moves around the Earth through a system known as the hydrological cycle. For water to
complete the full cycle can take thousands of years.
Water is transferred to the atmosphere by evaporation from water bodies, such as lakes,
seas, rivers and release from vegetation. Water vapour gathers, rises and begins to cool to
form clouds that eventually release the water in the form of rain, sleet or snow.

The Natural Water Cycle

There are 5 major main constituents in the global water cycle

the atmosphere,
the land surface,
surface drainage,
ground water and
the seas and oceans.

Water vapour condenses and falls to the earth's surface (land or sea) as sleet, rain, snow or
hail. On reaching the land surface, the water is absorbed into the ground or is retained in soil
and plants. It runs off the surface to enter streams or rivers and evaporates or is transpired
back to the atmosphere. The cycle can begin again.
When the water drains from the surface into streams and rivers towards the sea, it is
evaporated back into the atmosphere, or is stored in ponds and lakes.
Water from the ground (groundwater) will seep through the ground and be taken up by the
roots of plants or be stored in aquifers.
The seas and oceans receive some of the precipitation directly from the atmosphere and as
water flow from the streams and rivers. The water is transported by currents and tides and
evaporates from the seas, continuing the water cycle.
Disruption to the water cycle is caused from global climate change, human activity such as
the use of hydroelectric systems, water extraction and drainage of wetlands. Also, the
accumulation of pollutants can occur with the use of water catchment areas.
Contaminated land can cause pollution of the groundwater supply, if the contaminants are in
sufficient quantity, are mobile and the geology is permeable. Contaminants may be diluted
within the water, float on the surface or sink to the bottom of the groundwater store, and
move with or against the groundwater direction.

8.10 Water Catchment Areas.

A catchment is the whole system that drains into a particular river or river system. Hence we
have the Severn catchment, or the Thames catchment. This will include all the springs,
streams and tributaries which drain into those rivers.
Point and Diffuse Sources of Water Pollution
A point source is a single point of entry to the water system, such as a discharge pipe. A
diffuse source applies to entries to a water system, which are spread over wide areas.
Examples of these may be pesticide spraying, contaminated land or land pollution resulting
from chimney emissions.
The Man-Made Water Cycle
In addition to the natural cycle, there is the man-made water cycle which includes farm
dams, storage dams, hydro-electric power stations, waste treatment plants and power
stations. This is illustrated in the following diagram.

8.11 Effects on Quality of Life.

In March 2005, the Government launched a new Sustainable Development Strategy, One
Future - Different Paths. This updates and builds on the Strategy published in 1999.
In this document, various indicators by which quality of life can be measured have been put
forward.
Other documents on this subject, such as a strategy for sustainable development in the UK,

will be discussed in future sections.

8.12 Nuisances.
Nuisances appear in statutory law (Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), Part III,
discussed later in the course) and in common law (reference the torts of Nuisance,
Negligence and Trespass). Of these, noise nuisance is that which is most commonly
encountered in environmental law. Nuisances are matters which interfere with the normal
common law enjoyment of the use of land or property.
Statutory nuisances are prejudicial to health or a nuisance. The Environmental Protection
Act 1990 classes the following as nuisances, which may be statutory:

Premises.
Dust, steam, smell, etc.
Smoke.
Animals.
Accumulations or deposits.
Noise.
Fumes and gases.

The following two additional statutory nuisances were added to the Environmental Protection
Act 1990 by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.

Light.
Insects.

Most of them have their origin in much older regulations and in the main date back to the
Public Health Acts 1975.
8.13 Visual Amenity.
What is a visual amenity? The UK Government defines it as 'the preservation of a view or
prospect available to a member of the local community from a public location which is
designated as protected'.
Visual amenity is normally an issue which is managed through planning law under its
development control responsibilities, which will be the responsibility of District or Unitary
authorities under the Town and Country Planning Acts. Among other things, these would
cover the colour and design of buildings, landscaping, tree-planting, advertising signs, etc.
There are other matters which are visually unacceptable, such as litter (controlled under Part
IV of EPA 1990), or fly-tipping, an offence under Part II of EPA 1990. Other matters such as
graffiti may be the underlying indicators of deeper social problems, but lessen the quality of
life. Therefore, measures such as the provision of certain surfaces or planting, which can
deter these problems, may be a planning requirement.
8.14 Transport Effects.
Road traffic affects people's quality of life, especially those occupying the poorer,
disadvantaged groups in society. These groups tend to live closer to the busier roads.
It is estimated that road vehicles produce 20% of the UKs CO2 emissions.
In 1997 a review of the Air Quality Strategy concluded that while existing policies in the UK
were likely to have a significant impact on air quality in general, they were unlikely to enable

European vehicle emissions and fuel quality standards to be met, particularly in London and
other major conurbations.
The UK has shown the poorest rate of improvement in reducing CO2 emissions from new
vehicles compared to the rest of Europe, with the possible exception of Finland. Whereas
Sweden, the country showing the highest improvement, has achieved a reduction in CO2
emissions of 9.2%, the UK has achieved only a 3.3% reduction.
The UK car-buying public are purchasing vehicles with a higher consumption of fuel;
efficiency is not being seen as a high priority.
To reduce road transport emissions to the extent that the objectives in the Strategy are met
in the UK, additional measures from the transport sector are needed. The review also
concluded that the Strategys original objectives for particles (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) would be more difficult to meet. The measures in A New Deal for Transport (1997)
should have their greatest effect on traffic and congestion in London and the large
conurbations, where measures to reduce emissions are most needed.
The CBI estimates that congestion currently costs UK businesses 15 billion per annum. UK
roads are the most congested in Europe and transport accounts for 26% of the UKs
emissions of CO2 , 33% of energy consumption and is responsible for 80% of the UKs poor
air quality.
In the control of air pollution, transport effects include the emissions of combustion gases,
such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and sulphur oxides (NOx and SOx),
particles, and in lesser quantities up to 40 other gases, such as butadiene and benzene.
Other effects of traffic should not be overlooked. Included here would be noise, dust,
congestion, changes to the landscape, land-take (land used for the building of new roads,
etc.) and the effects of refuelling, etc.
The overall trend is towards better technology, improved combustion and the use of
catalysers for commercial, as well as private vehicles.
8.15 Wastes from Consumer Products (Packaging).
The environment is the ultimate resource for society, providing air, water, minerals and food.
It is also the sink for unwanted byproducts of society: waste.
Waste and waste disposal is one of the greatest issues of the 21st century. As our lifestyles
change, so do the types and quantities of waste we produce. More takeaway and
convenience food, individual portions in supermarkets, ready meals and DIY pre-packaged
goods all produce waste in large quantities. The composition of this waste is very different
from waste produced a few decades ago when coal fires produced ashes, which - although
heavy - were relatively inert.
Todays municipal waste is lighter but of greater volume than the ashes of the 1960s and
before, when coal ash was a major constituent of municipal wastes. Waste today is also
more bio-active. This means that when it breaks down, it will tend to decompose to give
carbon dioxide and in anaerobic conditions, such as may be found within a landfill site,
methane and liquid effluents known as leachates.
There are detailed regulations, the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste)
Regulations 2005 which lay down the quantities of each type of waste that commercial and

industrial packaging users are required to re-use and recycle. Other legislation limits the
materials which may be used in packaging.
Detailed regulations also exist for the management of other types of commercial, industrial
and hazardous wastes. These regulations govern the transport, documentation, treatment
and deposit of all types of wastes which are the responsibility of the producer under a
specific duty of care for waste (EPA 1990, Part II.)
Various uses to which the land has been put can affect land itself, not just in respect of
waste disposal, although this is one. Contamination of the land is an issue in some areas
and regulations are now in place to manage this because in the UK, there is a long history of
land pollution.
However, the land is not a uniform entity. The types and properties of the soil will depend on
the underlying geology and hydrogeology. These will be discussed in detail later in the
course.
9.0 Nuisance - Noise, Dust & Odour.
Nuisance is defined as:
Interference with anothers use and enjoyment of the environment (including loss of amenity)
through something that annoys, bothers or causes damage to that person or their property.
Examples include noise, odour and visual intrusion.
Noise
Noise is defined as unwanted sound. Noise can cause hearing damage and stress, if we are
exposed to high levels at home or at work. Exposure to noise at work can lead to industrial
or occupational deafness referred to as Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Permanent
hearing loss can also be caused from intense impulsive noise such as blast deafness. Also,
noise can cause temporary hearing loss following short exposure to high noise levels. This is
followed by a gradual recovery, termed 'temporary threshold shift'. Noise can have a
negative effect on an individuals quality of life, causing both physiological and psychological
effects. Noise can cause annoyance, distraction, intrusion and interference.
Exposure to noise can affect the circulation of blood around the body as the blood vessels
tighten and cut down the flow of blood to body parts. This is referred to as a `startle
reaction`. Research indicates that prolonged exposure to intense noise can affect digestion,
muscle tension, acceleration and deceleration of heart rate and constriction to the peripheral
blood flow of the skin. Exposure to high levels of noise has also been linked an increase in
the susceptibility to disease and sleep disturbances leading to lack of concentration,
irritability and reduced efficiency.
Noise can hinder communication and when this occurs in industry, it can affect
concentration, efficiency and output. At home, noise can affect a persons enjoyment of life
and interfere with the television, radio and general communication.
Road traffic causes problems not just because of the noise generated from vehicles, but the
sheer volume of traffic using the roads. Even in rural areas where the local environment is
quiet, there is usually the faint but distinct noise from quite distant A-roads.
Legislation has been introduced as a result of societys recognition of the need to control
noise in the workplace, and to protect those living alongside roads exposed to high levels of

noise from traffic. Local authorities have been given powers to control noise nuisance.
10.0 Effects on Plants, Animals and Natural Systems.
Ecosystem
The plants, animals (biotic), and microbes that live in a defined zone (it can range from a
desert to an ocean) and the physical environment, e.g. soil and climate (abiotic) in which
they live comprise an ecosystem.
An ecosystem is therefore a community of interdependent organisms and the physical and
chemical environment they inhabit. Examples of ecosystems include acquatic, (freshwater)
e.g. lakes , terrestrial (land based) e.g moorland and marine (seawater). Ecosystems
embrace the food chain and have the means of producing both energy and materials for life
to go on continuously. The presence of ecological systems is fundamental to the balanced
functioning of the atmosphere, water and soils.

As identified earlier, light energy from the sun is the energy source for most ecosystems.
Light energy from the sun is absorbed by green plants through photosynthesis. Minerals and
nutrients also provide another source of energy and are obtained from inorganic matter and
non living compounds (abiotic). In a terrestrial ecosystem, this source of energy would be
provided by the soil.
Producers consist of plants which receive their energy from the sun. The plants also absorb
nutrients from the soil through their roots. Such nutrients include calcium and nitrogen.
Consumers (which include humans) are mostly animals. These consist of herbivores,
carnivores and omnivores that intake organic material as food. For example, you can see
from the previous diagram that the primary consumer is the rabbit and the secondary
consumer is the fox that will eat the rabbit.
Decomposers when organisms die, the nutrients are returned to the soil. Fungi and
bacteria decompose the dead material, making it ready for re-use.
Natural systems are the fundamental operating systems for the environment. They can be

changed and disrupted by human activity. Appreciation of these basic systems is essential
for a better understanding of environmental management.
Significant impacts can occur when changes take place within systems. These could be
caused by natural or non-natural changes brought about by human activities. Disruption at
one level of the food chain for example, will affect the entire food chain.
11.0 Assessment of Environmental Risks.
Risk Management
In the environmental and health and safety fields, the term Risk Management is normally
used to describe the management of physical risks. However, we should be aware that in
other fields the term may include financial and business risk, and this wider usage also may
be referred to as Risk Management.
Risk Management is defined as the identification and analysis of and degree of control
exercised over the risks which have the potential to threaten the assets or well-being of an
enterprise. In this context, it is the making of decisions concerning environmental risks and
their subsequent implementation, i.e. it means identifying and managing potential
environmental liabilities.
Risk Management involves a consideration of the consequences by the likely outcome of
failure.

Summary of a Risk Management Strategy

This strategy can be used in a very wide variety of circumstances, such as reducing water or
energy use, a waste minimisation scheme or improved training strategies.
11.1 Assessment of Environmental Risks.
Definition
Risk is a combination of the probability or frequency of the occurrence of the defined hazard
and the magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence.
With regard to the environment, the situation is complicated by the difficulty in defining what
would constitute harm. In some cases a definition of environmental harm is set out in
statutory regulations, such as the Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2006in
which harm is defined.
However, in most cases the criteria may include both scientific and social judgments; refer to
Guidelines for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management, published by DEFRA in

2000.
Specific Risks
Risk Assessment and risk management techniques are widely used in businesses. For
example, the risks from an Underground Storage Tank (UST) may be tabulated using a
simple system, as shown below:

Tank System Age (years)

Corrosion Protection
Leak Detection
Soil Corrosivity

Low Risk
0-10
Tank and/or piping
protected
Continuous
pH> 6.5

Moderate Risk
11-20
Either tank or
piping protected
Intermittent
pH 5.5 6.5

High Risk
21+
None
None
pH <5.5

UST Release Potential Factors

The Scientific Aspects of Environmental Risk
One of the problems associated with environmental risk is lack of knowledge or uncertainty
as to the effects of a particular situation. Although there has been a huge growth in the
understanding of environmental mechanisms, there are still many areas of uncertainty. This
has led to one of the cornerstones of the EU environmental policy being the precautionary
principle.
11.2 Social Aspects of Environmental Risk.
Society in general is more environmentally aware than may have been the case in the past;
examples may be seen from the Brent Spar discussions or the 2001 Foot-and-Mouth
disease outbreaks. These and others have led to the need for transparency in the decisionmaking process and a greater involvement of stakeholders, which include the public. The
public is often actively involved in the decision-making process; for example, in planning
applications and in public consultations on new legislation and requirements.
Risk Perception
Risk perceptions are linked to wider attitudes and certain risks have been found to create
particular anxiety (reference research carried out by the Department of Health, 1998).
The following risks are of particular concern:

Involuntarily imposed risks, e.g. emissions from chimney stacks.

Unfamiliar risks, e.g. genetically-modified organisms.
Technological risks, e.g. nuclear power.
Fear of diseases, such as from carcinogens.
Risks with large single consequences, such as chemical explosions and aircraft
crashes.
Where effects are delayed, e.g. asbestosis or ionising radiation.
Risks involving children or future generations.
When risks and benefits are distributed inequitably.
Risks involving contradictory information, such as BSE.
11.3 Data and Information to Aid the Evaluation of Environmental Risk.

The subject of the environment, and hence environmental risk, is growing almost by the day.
No course text could hope to provide such continuously updated material. However, there is
a very wide availability of such information, largely through official and authoritative
websites.
Data on environmental matters is much easier to access thanks to the World Wide Web. The
Internet can provide a great deal of essential information, some of which is detailed below.
There is a wide range of data available on environmental problems. Unfortunately, it is not
available from a single source. The following text shows where information may be found.
Government and Statutory Information Legislation and Guidance
The principal body responsible for carrying out the Government policy on the environment is
DEFRA, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The DEFRA website: www.defra.gov.uk contains a huge amount of information explaining
policy and providing official guidance to the regulations, plus consultation on incoming
regulations, discussion and research papers. There is also a very useful section on
environmental statistics and public opinion surveys.
All current legislation, dating back to the mid 1980s is freely available on the Office of Public
Information (OPSI) web site: www.opsi.gov.uk (previously HMSO). It is searchable and lists
legislation, i.e. Acts and Regulations (Statutory Instruments) by year. Statutory Instruments
(SIs) are found in numerical order. Wherever possible on this course, we have tried to link to
OPSI for the benefit and convenience of students.
Most environmental regulations have associated, explanatory guidance with them, examples
being IPPC and COMAH. These are to be found on the Environment Agency:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk and DEFRA: www.defra.gov.uk websites.
Question 7.
The principal body responsible for carrying out the Government Policy on the Environment is
.....
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: The Environment Agency (EA)
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Response 2:
Jump 2: Next page
Answer 3: The Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
Response 3:
Jump 3: This page
12.0 Air Quality.
Air Quality is measured continuously throughout the UK . Details of monitoring points and
results may be obtained on an hourly basis from the following websites: UK National Air
Quality Archive. The National Atmospheric Inventory can be found at www.naei.org.uk .

However, when monitoring air quality (perhaps as part of a plume modelling exercise),
information will be required on local meteorological data, which is available from the
Meteorological Office.
Pollution Inventory
The Pollution Inventory (PI) is an annual record of pollution in England and Wales from
activities regulated by the Environment Agency. It records pollution which is released into the
air, discharged into rivers, the sea or the sewerage network, or transferred off-site as waste.
The PI now includes four years of data from major industrial sites. It is being gradually
extended to cover sewage treatment works, sites licensed to work with radioactive
substances, landfill sites and waste transfer stations.
13.0 Source, Pathway, Target & Impact Model of Pollution.
The pollution-pathway concept (developed by Holdgate in 'A Perspective of Environmental
Pollution', 1979) has been used in the study of environmental pollution. The main
characteristics of pollution events are described in the following diagram:

1. Pollutant e.g. oil, solvents, pesticides, sulphur dioxide.

2. Source e.g. from point or diffuse sources including industrial processes, agricultural
processes, waste disposal sites, scrapyards, dye works, glass and ceramics making,
vehicle breaking yards, naturally occurring e.g. radon.
3. Pathway (Transport Medium): air, water and soil.
4. Target (receptor): ecosystem, organisms, humans and property.
5. Impact : change to the environment.
Holdgate provides a definition of pollution as something in the wrong place at the wrong
time in the wrong quantity. The extent to which a pollutant impacts on our environment not

only depends upon the material, but also the concentrations and quantities. Pollutants can
be transformed into other substances or diluted to harmless levels.
13.1 Risk Assessment.
Risk assessment is the systematic process whereby estimates are made of both the
probability of an adverse event occurring over a stated period time and its likely magnitude.
There are many different expressions of harm ranging from issues of human health and loss
of welfare, death or injury, to the environment where harm may be made to individual
species, ecosystems and habitats.
There are many kinds of losses resulting from many kinds of hazard and risk assessment is
therefore a vast subject. The main areas of interest to us are health-based risk (outside the
workplace) and ecological risks.
As individuals, the ways in which we perceive the risks that we face are shaped by our
world-view and personal differences in risk-seeking or risk-avoiding behaviour. This is also
true for different interest groups in society.
Estimating Risks
The risks associated with environmental pollutants are often very difficult to assess due to
the multi-factorial nature of the environment and human exposure to pollutants.
Risks can be classified into at least three broad categories:

Risks for which statistics of identified casualties are available.

Risks for which there may be some evidence, but where connection between
suspected cause and injury to any one individual cannot be traced.

Experts' best estimates of probabilities of events that have not yet happened.

Health-related and ecological risks generally belong to the first two categories.
Whatever the nature of cause and effect being investigated, the risk assessment process
consists of four main stages:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Hazard identification.
Dose-response assessment.
Exposure assessment.
Risk characterisation.

Once a risk has been characterised, social and political factors come into the equation as
policy makers decide on what course of action is required in formulating their risk reduction
strategies. The end of the process is termed 'risk management' and includes the important
component of risk communication, the interactive process by which information about risk
is exchanged between different groups and regulators.
13.2 Environmental Risk Assessment.
Introduction
Environmental risk assessment is similar to risk assessment carried out for health and safety
purposes. However, it must be remembered that hazards to the environment are not always

hazardous to human health. Milk is a good example of this; it is not considered to be

dangerous to humans but if it is allowed to pollute a watercourse, it can cause considerable
damage to the environment. Thus although the methodologies are similar, care must be
taken by those familiar with risk assessment for health and safety purposes that they do not
underestimate environmental risks. The following notes on Environmental Risk Assessment
are a summary of guidelines published by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (DEFRA 2002).
Environmental protection & progress
Society is increasingly conscious of the harm that its activities can cause to the environment,
and the harm to people or the loss of quality of life that can result from environmental
degradation. There is a need to manage abilities in a way that minimises the risks of
environmental damage, while at the same time ensuring economic growth and social
progress. The interaction between human activity and the environment is complicated and
difficult to quantify, and it is not easy to judge where the balance should lie between
environmental protection and economic and technological progress. Environmental risk
assessment is a key element in the appraisal of these complex problems, and for formulating
and communicating the issues so that transparent and equitable policy, regulatory or other
decisions can be taken. (DEFRA 2002)
The proactive application of risk assessment
In recent years, there has been a shift from reactive measures to protect the environment to
more probative approaches aimed at preventing or minimising (rather than remediating)
environmental damage and loss. This change in emphasis has been reflected in the use of
risk assessment at the outset as part of the package of tools for making decisions about
environmental management, particularly in the context of sustainable development. DEFRA
encourages the use of formal risk assessments as part of a probative approach to
environmental protection.
While such an approach should be the norm, risk assessments may sometimes usefully be
applied retrospectively if previously unidentified risks come to light. Environmental
surveillance and monitoring to collect information over a long period of time can help to
detect previously unidentified risks as well as provide a basis for forecasting future impacts.
13.3 Risk Assessment - Stage 1 - Hazard Identification.
The DEFRA guidelines define 'hazard' as a property or situation that - in particular
circumstances - could lead to harm. This may be determined by properties or circumstances
and could include, for example, the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a tidal surge
along a stretch of the coast, a dry summer leading to low river flows, or the planting of a
genetically modified crop.
Where risk assessment is to be applied at the policy level, the hazard may be as broad as
the adverse impacts of road transport on the environment, or the adverse impacts of induced
climate change from the contribution of fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide emissions.
The identification of hazards will have an important bearing on the breadth of the overall
assessment and the credibility of the final output. One common pitfall in establishing the
hazard is to overlook secondary hazards that may arise, for example, during a river flood,
sediments may be deposited on agricultural land in the flood plain. If these sediments were
to be contaminated, they might pose an additional hazard.
13.4 Risk Assessment Stage 2 - Identification of Consequences.

The potential consequences that may arise from any given hazard are inherent to that
hazard.
Although the full range of potential consequences must be considered at this stage, no
account is taken of likely exposure and therefore likely consequences, for example, while the
potential consequences of a discharge of toxic metals to a watercourse may be self-evident,
a flood may have additional, non- obvious consequences such as pollution arising from an
over-stretched sewerage system, or loss of habitats due to river scouring.
These examples serve to highlight why it is necessary to take a broad look at the potential
environmental damage that may occur, if only to be clear why some potential consequences
are rejected for further assessment.
13.5 Risk Assessment Stage 3 - Estimation of the Magnitude of Consequences.
The consequences of a particular hazard may be actual or potential harm to human health,
property or the natural environment.
The magnitude of such consequences can be determined in different ways depending on
whether they are being considered as part of a risk screening process, or as part of a more
detailed quantification of risk.
At all stages of risk assessment, several key features need to be considered, as described
below.
The spatial scale of the consequences
The geographical scale of harm resulting from an environmental impact will often extend
considerably beyond the boundaries of the source of the hazard. Failure to consider this at
an early stage may result in the scope of the risk assessment being too limited. For example,
a major accident in a chemical plant is likely to have significant effects on the environment
well beyond the perimeter of the site.
The temporal scale of the consequences
The duration of the harm that results may raise issues of intergenerational equity, or may be
so prolonged that the damage can be assumed to be permanent and the environment
beyond recovery, for example, should the release of a genetically modified crop result in
extensive cross-breeding with adjacent indigenous flora, any harmful environmental impacts
could extend far into the future.
The time to onset of the consequences
A further factor to consider is how quickly harmful effects might be seen. Standard economic
techniques tend to discount impacts that will happen in the future but sustainable
development emphasises the need to protect the interests of future generations. Risk
assessment and management must therefore pay as much attention to long-term problems
as to the more immediate risks, for example, the spillage of a solvent on porous ground may
not result in an impact on the underlying aquifer for decades. Once realised, however, the
duration of the harm is likely to be of the order of decades and will compromise the value of
that aquifer as a source of water for future generations.
The ability to forecast the time-scale and magnitude of the environmental impact through
robust and long-term modelling is therefore valuable, particularly at the quantifiable end of
the risk spectrum.

13.6 Risk Assessment Stage 4 - Estimation of the Probability of the Consequences.

All stages to this point have assumed that realisation of the hazard will lead to environmental
harm. However, the probability of the consequences occurring must also be taken into
account. This has three components:

The probability of the hazard occurring.

The probability of the receptors being exposed to the hazard.
The probability of harm resulting from exposure to the hazard.

The probability of the hazard occurring

Depending on the circumstances, assigning probabilities may be quite straightforward or
may require some sophistication in approach, for example, at a screening level, it might be
as simple as stating, on the basis of experience, that on a scale of 1 (Iow) to 5 (high) a pinhole leak in a particular pipe in a chemical plant has a probability of, say, 4. Floods can be
categorised by their return period (one in a hundred years) based on historical records.
On the other hand, there will be situations in which it is necessary to assign a probability
distribution to the likelihood of the event occurring - for example, that a non-genetically
modified crop will be widely pollinated by a genetically modified crop. In many instances, this
information can be obtained from monitoring data: or based on 'worst-case' or 'reasonable
worst-case' scenario estimates.
The probability of the receptors being exposed to the hazard
It is important to establish, at an early stage in the process, whether or not a pathway exists
between the hazard and the receptor. If it can be shown that no actual or potential
connection exists, then the risk requires no further attention, for example, soil contamination
will not pose a risk to farm animals if the land is not used for agricultural purposes. But care
is needed not to overlook less obvious pathways, or changes in future circumstances.
Having established one or more pathways, the degree of exposure via those pathways
should be quantified. A range of factors will affect the probability and degree of exposure, for
example, the exposure of a receptor to an atmospheric emission of sulphur dioxide will
depend on the direction and strength of the prevailing wind at the time of release.
The impact of a coastal flood in a tourist area may be dictated by the time of the year at
which the flood occurs; the loss of property may be greater in summer when caravan parks
are occupied than during the winter season when occupancy is likely to be low.
The probability of harm resulting from exposure to the hazard
Even following exposure, the likelihood of harm resulting is probabilistic and will depend on
the likely susceptibility of an individual receptor to the hazard and the amount and duration of
exposure. This is often simplified in terms of a dose-response relationship, which directly
relates exposure to the magnitude of harm for certain receptor types. Such relationships
frequently embody 'safety' or uncertainty factors to account for the extrapolation of data from
experimental or generalised studies. In flood damage assessment, for example, standard
depth-damage curves are used to relate the depth of flood waters to the amount of damage
sustained by a building or its contents, again according to the duration of exposure to the
flood waters. These relationships simplify the probabilistic nature of harm, because for any
exposure, the likelihood of harm at a certain magnitude will be dependent on many individual
factors. Few risk assessments allow for this level of sophistication, and the magnitude of

harm is usually taken as a direct result of exposure.

13.7 Risk Assessment Stage 5 - Evaluating the Significance of a Risk.
This stage is often referred to as risk characterisation, although this terminology tends to
hide the true goal of the activities involved. Having determined the probability and magnitude
of the consequences that may arise as a result of the hazard, it is important to place them in
some sort of context. It is at this point, therefore, that some value judgements are made,
either through reference to some pre-existing measure, such as a toxicological threshold,
environmental quality standard or flood defence standard, or by reference to social, ethical,
or political standards.
In some circumstances, a formalised quantitative approach to determining significance may
be possible, for example the tolerability of risk ( TOR ) framework developed by the Health
and Safety Executive. In other instances, the risks of various options might be compared
against one another.
Options appraisal
Having estimated the magnitude and the significance of the risks posed by the hazards), the
options for risk management are identified and evaluated. It is important to carry out this
procedure as a distinct preliminary step because ill-considered risk management strategies
may otherwise result in wasted effort and expenditure on the part of the decision-maker.
Options appraisal provides a framework for doing this. The options that will usually be
available are:

exploring with society the acceptability, or otherwise, of the risk - this can include
rejecting unacceptable risks altogether or accepting the risk being imposed,
reducing the hazard through new technology, procedures or investment, and
mitigating the effects, through improved environmental management techniques.

The decision on precisely which option or combination of options to choose will involve a
balance of risk reduction, costs, benefits and social considerations.
Question 8.
Annual records of pollution released in to the air, discharged into
rivers, the sea or sewerage network, or transferred off-site as waste
are recorded in the Pollution Inventory (PI)
True/False (HP)
Answer 1: True
Response 1:
Jump 1: Next page
Answer 2: False
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
14.0 Environmental Modelling.
Air Dispersion modelling was developed in the 1950s for predicting background pollutant
concentrations from chimneys, following earlier water modelling exercises dating back to
1925.
In essence, the predicted path or dispersion of a pollutant is mapped as a series of

algorithms or contour maps of an area, where concentrations are the same.

Since then, the science of dispersion modelling has rapidly developed and although many
models are still based on the classic algorithms, the laborious mathematical calculations
have been replaced with computer software, enabling a large amount of data to be entered
to account for wind, weather, tides, contours, etc. The results can predict the effects of an
explosion, a pollutant spill or other catastrophe, as well as the more general dispersion of
pollutants.
Complex river and air models can now be developed. This is a specialist subject and the
actual science of modelling is beyond the scope of the syllabus.
14.1 Biological Data Biological Indicators for Pollution of Freshwater.
Macro-invertebrates are small animals without backbones that can be seen with the naked
eye. Some spend part of their life in water, like insect larvae such as mayflies, caddisflies
and dragonflies (the presence of which is a marker of good water quality). Others spend the
whole of their life in the water and include snails, shrimps, worms, etc. They can be found in
rivers and in all freshwater habitats such as ditches, canals, ponds and lakes.
Macro-invertebrates are the most widely-used organisms for biological assessment because
they do not move far and respond to a wide range of pollutants in the water. This provides a
useful measure of water quality, as invertebrates are present in the water throughout the
year and can reflect any changes in water quality, which have taken place.
Biological indicators are sensitive to a wide range of stresses and as such, provide a
measure of the quality or health of river ecosystems. The improvements seen largely reflect
reduced pollution.
Data on the distribution of the marker species are available on the Environment Agency
website.
Pollutants may also enter a watercourse and so enter the food chain by a process such as
bioaccumulation.
Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation is the progressive accumulation of (usually) toxic materials within the
tissues of living organisms and not readily excreted by them; thus affording their
concentration in food chains.
Such an action was responsible for the Minamata Bay incidents in Japan, due to the
accumulation of methyl mercury from an industrial source being taken up by fish and passed
on to humans. Some toxic metals such as mercury, as well as pesticides have this property.
They are classified under the Dangerous Substances Directive.
Examples are pesticides such as DDT, which caused mortality in bird species due to the
softening of eggshells. In a researched example, 0.02 ppm (parts per million) of a waterborne pesticide resulted in 1600 ppm in the higher species of a fish-eating bird, the
progression having passed through plankton and fish before the wading bird.
14.2 Bioaccumulation.
Food Chain

Concentration of
pesticide (ppm)

Water
Plankton
Frog
Fish
Fish-eating Bird

0.02
5.0
40
240
1600

Similarly, acid rain could use the atmosphere as a pathway, which may affect buildings or
vegetation, the trees and the habitats of certain species.
Land and Water Protection
The Environment Agency has a wealth of information on water quality, groundwater source
protection, flood plains, vulnerable zones and wastes. It is a good source of information on
pollution prevention. There are detailed guidance notes to explain the legislation and there
are links to relevant EU sites. It also provides up-to-date information on current consultation
papers and legal actions.
Commercial Sources of Information
There are many commercial databases that provide updates on legislation and topical
articles on environmental matters.
The IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) www.iema.net also has
a large website containing current issues of importance to the environmental manager, and
produces a regular magazine, The Environmentalist.
14.3 Records Search.
In order to ascertain likely past history, the following types of records may be searched:

Ordnance Survey topographical maps.

Ordnance Survey special maps and plans and other maps.
Enforcement authority registers.
British Geological Survey plans, borehole logs and memoirs.
Environment Agency groundwater vulnerability plans.
British Coal mining records.

Many factors must be utilised if environmental risk is to be correctly evaluated. Examples

are:

Trade Directories, e.g. the Kellys Directories for past business use of the site.
Current Trade Directories entries also provide valuable information regarding
surrounding land uses. They may indicate certain types of business, which could lead
to pollution or nuisances.
Aerial photographs.
Local site history.
Enforcement history.
Local knowledge.
Property deeds.
Local planning records.

The following will also provide very useful information in evaluating risk. The explanations
will be found in the relevant modules which follow. They are provided here as part of a

comprehensive coverage of risk factors.

Location of any nearby landfill sites.

Location of any site holding authorisations/permits under EPA 1990, the Pollution
Prevention and Control Act 1999 or the Control of Major Accident Hazards
Regulations 1999 (COMAH).
Sites notified to the Local Planning Department under the Notification of
Installations Handling Hazardous Substances Regulations 1982.
Abstraction points of drinking water.
Explosive sites.
Sites registered for handling radioactive substances.
Fuel stations.
Consents to discharge red list substances.
Pollution incident of controlled waters.
Prosecutions of discharges to controlled waters.
Prosecution related to an authorised process.
14.4 Air Pollution.

There is a detailed quantification of the major pollutant emissions to the air from various
sources on the DEFRA website: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics.
Site Sensitivity
The magnitude of the effect on the receptor may vary according to a number of factors.
Factors include sensitivity; for example whether the site is one protected under specific
environmental legislation, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas
of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), such as Ramsar sites
(protected wetlands). All these have special status in law, above and beyond the protection
afforded to the environment in general. Other factors include biological concentration effects
and the ease and speed of transmission, which will depend on the geology and
hydrogeology of the land and soil.
The Likelihood of an Incident
Having investigated the consequences of an incident or event, the probability should be
investigated, for example:

Could the event occur?

Is exposure to the hazard likely?
Will harm result?
How likely is the event to occur?

It is accepted that this is not a precise evaluation as it will be based on a reasonable

assessment of the facts and the use of professional judgment.
Question 9.
Bioaccumulation is the progressive accumulation of (usually) toxic
materials within the tissues of living organisms, not readily excreted;
thus affecting their concentrations in the food chain.
True/False (HP)
Answer 1: True

Response 1:
Jump 1: Next page
Answer 2: False
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
15.0 Control Strategies for Environmental Risk.
The importance of an environmental control strategy is to identify, prioritise and reduce the
liabilities arising from the environmental issues. In order to do this, the issues must be
understood and their importance to the business recognised. These notes provide some
insight into issues facing many companies.
Government Strategies
The Government, through its role in regulation, has introduced control strategies which affect
the way in which industries, commercial operations and the public can act, with the overall
protection of the environment in mind.
All laws and relevant fiscal requirements may be considered as control strategies (legislation
and fiscal measures are described in later modules).
These can be considered under the following headings:

Legislation: the Acts and Regulations which govern environmental management.

They will include the requirement for permits, licences and consents to carry out key
activities and the conditions of those permits, licences and consents. Generally,
failure to comply with these requirements is a breach of legislation and penalties
could be fines or even imprisonment.
Fiscal remedies: take the form of levies or taxes and are designed to encourage a
certain pattern of behaviour. Some measures also have rebate schemes, which
encourage certain actions. Examples include Landfill Tax, the Climate Change Levy,
Fuel Tax and Aggregates Tax.
Charges to cover costs; examples are charges made for Hazardous Waste
notification, costs of Permits and Authorisations and scrutiny of Applications under
IPPC or COMAH.
Targets: such as recovery and recycling targets under the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, where escalating targets are
incorporated into the legislation.
15.1 Risk Control Measures Practical Controls.

Control strategies for environmental risks follow a similar pattern and approach as for health
and safety risks. Any hazardous material released into the workplace may also present a risk
to the environment. As we have seen in the preceding sections, the environment also
presents additional problems due to individual surroundings and sensitivities.
There are, however, broad strategies of approach to be considered. In general, the following
strategy should be adopted:

Elimination.
Substitution.

Reduction/changes to the process.

Elimination and Substitution

This is straightforward; the substance or process can be stopped, shut down or an
alternative (less hazardous) substance substituted but there has to be an awareness of
potential conflicts between health and safety and the environment in carrying out this
substitution.
Reduction of Emissions and Changes to the Process
Process re-design and the introduction of new plant or equipment can bring environmental
benefits in terms of recovery and recycling of materials, energy savings and reduction of
waste.
Technical Factors
The following are part of the risk factors for environmental risks.
15.2 Location and Surroundings.
When considering the direct or indirect effects of different industries, we have to be aware of
one of the first aspects of the definition of environment: the surroundings.
When considering an industry or activity, it must be viewed in its surroundings. Local
sensitivities may magnify associated issues.
The following should be addressed when considering any site, process or activity:
Topography
Natural features, such as valleys and hills may affect dispersion mechanisms, as can tall
buildings or other man-made features.
Site History
The previous uses of the site may have caused contamination and there may be features
which require conservation for historical or archaeological reasons. Old drains or made-up
land may provide pathways for contaminants to spread away from the site.
The UK has been comprehensively mapped for about 150 years and old maps provide
excellent sources of information.
Historical note: in 1791, the Board of Ordnance instigated a mapping project to provide
information to protect England against the threat of invasion associated with the Napoleonic
Wars. The earliest Ordnance maps date back to these times, although the scales were not
fixed until the one-inch standard was adopted in 1863.
Maps on record at libraries are copyright protected after 1950, but are available through the
Ordnance Survey or the Stationery Office, up to the present. They record the development
over time and are a useful source of environmental information and potential contamination.
Note that the maps were only produced about every ten years, so the absence of a particular

use may not mean the process did not take place.
Geology and Hydrogeology
The nature of the underlying rock affects the associated groundwater and rocks of different
porosity affect the transmission of any potential pollutants. Groundwater can travel many
miles over time, through underground aquifers; polluting this groundwater may potentially
prevent its uses for drinking, washing, etc.
Location
Examples are:
The topography may involve a flood risk; the proximity of water courses.
Its elevation can lead to relative ease or difficulty of dispersion of chimney emissions.
Local weather conditions may vary throughout different continents, countries and regions.
Adjacent industries could affect/or be affected by the organisation concerned.
A feature of environmental risk assessments, which is a complication, is the lack of a
measure of harm to the environment. In many areas, environmental mechanisms are poorly
understood and growth in this knowledge is happening all the time. Both scientific and social
judgments may be involved, e.g. it is often difficult to put a value on landscape, or quality of
life issues.
Sensitive Sites
Sites may be designated for a number of reasons and protection is largely to prevent
damage to irreplaceable habitats or ecosystems. Several designations are available from the
Sites of International Importance to Local Nature Reserves. The identification of the
surroundings is of particular importance as it will affect the consequences of an incident. Site
designation is dealt with in detail later. Relevant websites are: www.englishnature.org.uk ,
www.jncc.gov.uk protected sites, www.ramsar.org and www.ukbap.org.uk .
15.3 Energy Sources and Raw Materials.
The type and source of a companys energy requirements represents an important
environmental choice. The company should be looking into switching to a cleaner source of
energy and considering whether different systems, such as the use of combined heat and
power systems, are appropriate. More innovatively, waste may be burned to raise power,
thus cutting out the need for (and consequent effects of) waste disposal. The design and
purchase of equipment can make huge impacts on the energy requirements; automatic cutoff valves and switches, use of limiters and other technical remedies will all reduce the
impact on the environment.
Raw material sourcing is very important; consideration of the distance transported and the
effects of mineral extraction on the local environment are issues which cannot be ignored by
the environmental manager. Some raw materials may produce excessive amounts of waste,
or residues which are difficult to dispose of, and extraction can have a deleterious effect on
the landscape. Most mineral raw materials are not renewable. Guarding a finite source
against unnecessary exploitation is an important strategy.

Timber is a raw material which has a high profile environmentally. There are audit systems in
place which can show the source and follow its production from cradle to grave. Hardwoods
are particularly sensitive as they are found in the equatorial rain belt, and it is the cutting
down of these trees (that absorb carbon dioxide), which is believed to have intensified the
problems of climate change.
Process Design and Pollution Control Systems
The design of the plant and the introduction and strengthening of engineering controls can
greatly reduce the likelihood of an environmental incident. Appropriate pollution controls
should be adopted and wherever practical, the philosophy should be to take a precautionary
approach. The mechanism for pollution controls concerning storage of water, elimination of
air emissions and water pollution control will be covered in later units.
15.4 Procedural - Systems of Work, Maintenance etc.
The environmental policy is regarded as the document which demonstrates an
organisations understanding of the environmental issues facing it, and the managements
will and resolve to deal with those issues. Consequently, customers, clients, the media and
often suppliers now request copies of the policy to gain insight into the organisations attitude
towards the environment. This is becoming increasingly important as the poor environmental
performance by a supplier or user of a product may reflect on the organisation.
Beneath the general policy, companies may develop specific policies associated with their
particular business; for example, a transport or energy policy, or a policy on sourcing raw
materials, particularly if there are sensitive environmental issues involved such as tropical
hardwoods. Other organisations may have an input into that policy and it may be part of a
supply contract.
Policies may incorporate commitments such as training for the workforce, or have a
commitment to providing information to the public.
The management system, which explains the arrangements and responsibilities described in
the overall policy, should also include procedures for carrying out environmental tasks in
such a way as to minimise potential environmental harm and include safe systems of work
following written environmental management procedures and maintenance requirements. In
the case of the environment, it is often necessary to consider the next step, i.e. where will
the waste go once it has been collected? How should a liquid be disposed of safely?
Both on and off-site effects will have to be considered in the answers to these questions.
15.5 Behavioural - Information & Training for Employees, Information for the Public
etc.
The environmental policy is the key driving document for environmental management.
A senior director or manager should be nominated to take responsibility for implementing
and monitoring the company environmental strategy. This person will monitor the
performance of specific senior postholders in implementing the strategy in their areas of
managerial authority. Since this person has a co-ordinating, rather than an operational role,
they may have almost any professional background, but must have a high level of authority
and management skills.
The policy should also specify which postholders are responsible for the environmental
performance in particular areas of the organisation. It is important that this responsibility is

known by the postholders and other members of the organisation. Clearly, this statement will
be specific for each company as the management structure will vary with industry type and
range of manufacturing process and products.
The introduction of any strategy into an organisation, whether it is loss control, health and
safety, quality or environmental, involves a change of behaviour in management and
personnel, which in turn affects company performance. Personnel at all levels must be
provided with information, instruction and training so that they are familiar with the
environmental strategy, are conversant with procedures introduced to improve
environmental performance and are aware of the consequences of their failure to implement
those procedures. The success of this training determines the effectiveness of the strategy
in initiating and sustaining the required behavioural changes. The need for effectively
communicating the environmental policy and strategy to all personnel within the company
should be reflected in the policy statement:
All company personnel are trained on the environmental policy and strategy and its
importance in maintaining and improving the companys environmental performance.
15.6 Factors Affecting the Choice of Control Measures.
All the control measures discussed (practical and procedural) have valid parts to play in the
management of risk. There has to be a combination of methods. Control measures can
basically be divided into physical and human. Note that the factors which affect health and
safety risk also affect environmental risk in many aspects. The measures include physical
controls (safety devices, containment, etc.) and human controls (information, instruction and
training).
Wherever possible, risks should be designed or engineered out; i.e. the equipment should
prevent the possibility of the event. An example of this applied to environmental matters may
involve a change in the design of the equipment, e.g. a detector to identify a leak in a tank
will avoid the necessity of operators having to constantly monitor the situation; a pH meter
connected to a valve which cuts in as soon as a certain pH value is reached is preferable to
an operator carrying out physical checks periodically. There are many such examples in the
workplace.
Control measures chosen must be usable and practical if they are to be effective. Processes
should be constantly monitored with the involvement of the operators and control measures
should be reviewed regularly.
Measures used in a temporary way usually involve higher risk than permanent solutions.
Many examples of this can be found in both health and safety and the environment.
Temporary solutions should be closely monitored and removed or made permanent as soon
as practicable. Any such measures should be assessed before adoption, looking for
environmental risks and risk to the land, water or air.
15.7 Possible Conflicts Between Protection of the Workers & Protection of the
Environment.
It is often very difficult to separate health and safety and the environment, and on occasions
this can lead to conflicts.
An example may be found in vapour degreasing. Trichloroethylene (1.1.2.trichloroethylene)
is a common degreasant. It is also widely used as a solvent and in the manufacture of glue
and rubber products.

It is a colourless volatile liquid, whose vapour is heavier than air. It enters the body by
inhalation, where its principal effect is depression of the central nervous system; it is also
carcinogenic.
The use of trichloroethylene requires a safe system of work for the product in use and when
cleaning out vapour degreasing tanks. The vapour must be controlled and information,
instruction and training for employees will include information on health hazards, the correct
plant operation, safe systems and permits to work, safe use of breathing apparatus and
emergency procedures.
The normal strategy following good health and safety principles, would be elimination of the
process or if this is not possible, substitution of the substance by a less harmful one.
Elimination of the substance may involve a change to soap or detergent washing, or dry
degreasing using crushed walnut shells may be appropriate in some circumstances. Solvent
alternatives include terpenes and paraffin derivatives.
Due to the health issues associated with the use of trichloroethylene, an alternative solvent
was eagerly sought by industry. The solvent 1.1.1 trichloroethane seemed to be such an
alternative, being less toxic to the human body. However, this solvent is a strong ozonedepleting substance and as a result, was banned from production under the Montreal
Protocol and the EU regulations which brought that protocol into effect.
In this case, industrial users who are unable to change their process to a non-solvent
application have had to use trichloroethylene, and increase the protection given to the
workforce through extraction, PPE, etc. Under the Solvent Directive, users are also
required to use means of preventing emissions of solvents to the air, so extraction systems
are required to be more sophisticated and include solvent collection systems.
Question 10.
When considering direct and indirect effects of industry on the surroundings, which of the
following should be addressed ....
Multiple Choice (HP)
Answer 1: Geology & Hydrogeology
Response 1:
Jump 1: This page
Answer 2: Site history
Response 2:
Jump 2: This page
Answer 3: Topography
Response 3:
Jump 3: This page
Answer 4: All of the above
Response 4:
Jump 4: Next page
16.0 Key Events.
Year
1988

Key Events
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change formed to assess the problem of global
warming

1990

1992

1994

1997

1998
1998

1999
1999
2000

2001

2001

2002
2003
2005

First Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific report published predicting that
global average temperatures could rise by 2.5 degrees c by 2100 based on a `business as
usual model`
UN Earth Summit held in Rio. One of the conventions signed was the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change. Under the framework, certain countries, including the UK,
made a commitment to return emissions of carbon dioxide back to1990 by 2000.
UK published `Climate Change the UK programme`. This included promotion of free best
practice advice to industry through the (existing) Energy Efficiency Best Practice
Programme.
Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed. Committed
developed countries to reduce a basket of six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide
and methane, by 5.2 % on 1990 levels by 2008-12
EU members signed Kyoto Protocol. Agreement reached within EU on how target of eight %
reduction should be shared between member states. UK agreed to 12.5 % reduction.
Marshall report on `Economic instruments and the business use of energy` issued. This
explored the use of energy taxes and tradeable permits to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
in the UK . Marine (Scotland) Act 2010
The Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations 2010
The UK government launched its strategy for sustainable development - A Better Quality for
Life.
UK government announced introduction of climate change levy (CCL) on energy use.
UK published revised `climate change the UK programme`. This set out measures to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Confirmed commitment to Kyoto target and domestic
goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% on 1990 levels by 2010. Set scene for
reductions beyond 2010.
CCL introduced applies to energy used by businesses throughout the UK. Good quality
CHP and renewable energy is exempt. Many large users secure reductions in the levy in
exchange for audited reductions in energy use on sector level agreements.
Carbon Trust established (part funded by the CCL) to help organisations to reduce carbon
emissions. The trust offers advice and incentives on energy efficiency, carbon management
and investment in low carbon technologies.
Launch of UK greenhouse gas emission tradeable permit scheme for large energy users
UK governments Energy White Paper set an aspiration for the UK to reduce carbon
emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 (with plans for significant progress by 2020).
Government launched its new strategy on sustainable development Securing the Future`.

Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations 2007

Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007
The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2007
Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 2007
Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007
Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2007
The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations

2007
EC Regulation 1907/2006 (REACH)
Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations 2007
The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2007
UK National Plan for phase out of chemicals containing components flagged for Substitution
and Annual Progress Reports extended to term permits;
Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 2007;
Consultation on Draft Regulations for implementation of the EU
The Control of Major Accident Hazard (Amendment) Regulations 2008
Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007;
Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) (Amendment)
Regulations 2008
Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2008
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations
2008
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2008
The Climate Change Act 2008 (c. 27) sets up a framework for the UK to achieve its longterm goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure steps are taken towards
adapting to the impact of climate change.
Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007
Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2009
Energy Act 2008
Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009
Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (Wales) Regulations 2009
Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2009
Guidance for Landfill Operators on Low-Level and Very Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2009
Ozone Depleting Substances (Qualifications) Regulations 2009
REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008

The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2009
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2010
The Planning Hazardous Substances (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2010
The Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Amendment
Regulations 2010
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2010
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010