VOA标准英语2010年-Oil-Tainted Waste Raises Health, Envir
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2010年(八)月
The arrival of oil-tainted waste to federally approved landfills across the Gulf 1 coast is raising concerns are raised about the potential impact on the environment and public health
An estimated 700 million liters of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20th explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
Waste Management
Gulf Coast landfills are receiving tons of oil spill cleanup waste.
As the oil has spread and washed ashore 2 at Gulf Coast beaches and wetlands, cleanup crews have been trying to scoop 3 up what they can. The've collected tons of oily waste that's now being dumped in landfills in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Residents and environmentalists worry about the long-term effects of the oily trash.
New waste entering landfills
People who live near waste landfills are accustomed to seeing trucks dumping normal household waste such as food, packaging, appliances, furniture and yard cuttings.
But the sight of workers wearing white protective suits and gloves hauling in tons of oil-contaminated waste - including bags of sandy tar 4 balls, vegetation, used oil booms, rags and other clean-up supplies - has caused alarm among some Gulf coast communities. They're concerned about potentially toxic 5 waste entering their local landfills.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to allow BP, the British oil company responsible for the spill and its cleanup, to dispose of solid oil waste in approved landfills along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
No liquid oil waste will be dumped.
Protected sites
Jeremy O'Brien sees no problem with this strategy.
He is the director of applied 6 research for the Solid Waste Association of North America, a professional organization that promotes the efficient and environmentally-sound management of municipal solid waste. O'Brien notes that composite liners underneath 7 and above landfill waste offer protection to the environment. Additionally, two feet of clay under the liner offers increased protection to the groundwater.
"So the bottom portion of the landfill is designed to prevent any leachate that's generated by the landfill from exiting the landfill and contaminating the groundwater," says O'Brien. "They've been installed for the last almost 15 years now and tests show that they work very well."
Waste Management is a private company that operates several of the landfills that are receiving BP oil cleanup waste. Spokesman Ken 8 Haldin says a combination of testing by BP, the Environmental Protection Agency and landfill operators, including Waste Management, should ensure that debris 9 from the oil cleanup can safely be added to household waste in these facilities. He adds that landfills can easily accommodate the unexpected additional waste.
Like other kinds of trash dumped into landfills, the waste from the Gulf cleanup will eventually decompose 10, releasing a variety of gases and liquids which are vented 11 or disposed of in turn. But in certain landfills, including some accepting the BP cleanup, waste, heat and methane 12 gas produced by decomposition 13 are being used to generate energy. Two hectares of treated landfill can generate enough electricity to power several thousand homes.
Best option
Still, there are potential hazards associated with dumping the Gulf oil waste into landfills.
Allen Hershkowitz with the Natural Resources Defense 14 Council, a private environmental group, says air quality around landfill sites must be carefully checked when oil-contaminated waste is added to normal household trash.
According to Hershkowitz, no landfill liner system is completely leak-proof, meaning there is some possibility that the industrial quantities of waste coming from the oil cleanup could pollute local underground water supplies.
"So what this points out is that these types of oil disasters are not only posing risks to marine 15 life and to fisheries and to the economy of coastal 16 communities," he says. "They also pose long-term risks to those communities hosting the landfills where the oil saturated 17 materials are being deposited."
Hershkowitz says, ideally, the Gulf cleanup's oily trash should be disposed of in an energy-producing furnace, but there are currently no facilities large enough to handle the volume of waste being generated by the cleanup efforts.
Another option, is to put the waste aside and dispose of it properly when resources are available. But the environmental waste expert concedes that for the time being, landfills are the only practical option.
- The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
- There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
- The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
- He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
- In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
- Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。
- The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
- We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
- The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
- There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
- She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
- This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
- Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
- She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。
- Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
- Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
- After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
- Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。
- The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
- Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。
- He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
- He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。
- The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
- Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。
- It is said that the magnetite was formed by a chemical process called thermal decomposition. 据说这枚陨星是在热分解的化学过程中形成的。
- The dehydration process leads to fairly extensive decomposition of the product. 脱水过程会导致产物相当程度的分解。
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
- When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
- The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
- This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。