History
Beginning on August 13, 1987, a “30-mile garbage slick” composed primarily of medical and household wastes prompted expansive closures of numerous New Jersey and New York beaches. Investigations ongoing throughout the year indicated that the waste likely originated from “New York City’s marine transfer stations … and the Southwest Brooklyn Incinerator and Transfer Station in particular…” The then-assistant commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stated his belief that the cause of pollution was intentional rather than accidental; “sealed plastic garbage bags, he said, were cut at the top, so their contents could disperse through the ocean.” Such a deliberate action may have arisen given the high cost (~$1500/ton) associated with the legal disposal of the waste, thus incentivizing private waste contractors to dump illegally to avoid high fees.
Ultimately the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 (MWTA) arose from the aftermath of this situation. It was designed primarily to monitor the treatment of medical wastes through their creation, transportation and destruction, i.e. from “cradle-to-grave.” Congress approved the bill “to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations on the management of infections waste.” In short, Congress enacted the MWTA as a pilot study to better determine how the life cycle of medical wastes played out under federal regulations.
Read more about this topic: Medical Waste Tracking Act
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of our era is the nauseating and repulsive history of the crucifixion of the procreative body for the glorification of the spirit.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)