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Technology and Environment. 1989.
Pp. 15~166. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press.
The Rise and Fall of
Environmental Expertise
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL
Vanous professions have thrust themselves forward with enthusiasm,
pride, and touching self-confidence as the key to saving and managing our
natural environment. Physicians, engineers, biologists, and lawyers have all
contributed the* talents and prejudices to the cause. Given their differences
of New, it is probably not surprising that we are where we are today. Thirty
years after the birth of the modern environmental movement, we are
still questioning what the real problems are, what technical solutions are
appropriate, and most difficult of all, how to make those solutions socially
acceptable. Ib our frustration, the public seems to have lost confidence
the ability of politicians and professionals to solve the problems.
This chapter traces the history of the modern environmental move-
ment through the rise and fall of prpes of expertise brought to bear on
the problems. Then the relevance of the technical solution to socieW's
means for addressing the problems is examined. I=st, the formal methods
established to make environmental decisions are examined and contrasted
with the ways in which decisions are actually reached. This approach will
lead to recommendations on how to proceed in the future.
Let us look first at the professions that have been in the forefront of
environmental management over the years. Each has discovered problems
and offered solutions to them. Unfortunately, some of these solutions
have had unforeseen consequences. Almost all have been focused so
narrowly that opportunities to do the job right have been lost. I have
chosen illustrations from water resource management because that is the
159
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Y7CTORLA ~ TSCH - =L
environmental problem most familiar to me. However, similar examples
exist in air pollution and solid waste management.
Physicians were first to understand the direct effects of man's activities
on water supplies. Their initial efforts were aimed at keeping harmful
exposure to a minimum. Sewage was carted away from populated areas,
and by 1850 the storm drain was commonly used to dispose of household
wastes, thereby drastically reducing the spread of cholera. This solution
led to the unforeseen consequence of dumping raw sewage into water
bodies used as sources of drinking water. The response to the resulting
threat to public health was chlorination of public water supplies to prevent
diseases caused by this method of sewage removal By 1930, chlorination
had virtually eliminated typhoid in the United States. In a sense, this
major achievement completed the contribution of the early public health
approach to wastewater management. What have the consequences been?
First, the large quantities of sewage that are diluted with water and shunted
off to bodies of water cause eutrophication and contamination of our
natural surface water bodies. Tremendous quantities of water and nutrients
are wasted in this practice. Ironically, it has since been discovered that
chlorine itself may be an indirect cause of illness by combining with organics
to form trihalomethanes, which are suspected carcinogens. This problem
has required attention at 3,000 public drinldng water systems around the
country.
Despite what appeared to be permanent public commitment to the dis-
charge of domestic waste mixed with vast quantities of water, the engineer-
ing profession rallied to the task of reducing the nutrients and pathogens
entering waterways. By 1970 a vast infrastructure of secondary treatment
plants was substantially complete all over the country. Building contin-
ues on these facilities. Between 1977 and the present, local and federal
governments have invested more than $100 billion to gain 87 percent com-
pliance with the standards for secondary treatment. However, by 1980
policymakers and regulators realized that they had been lulled into a false
sense of accomplishment. Despite this enormous infrastructure investment,
few improvements have occurred in most of our waterways since those
achieved by the early 1970s. It is not surprising that the public has lost
confidence. As some engineers had warned, slipping by the neatly devised
and heroically built system were 37,000 inappropriately designed landfills,
hundreds of thousands of leaking gasoline tanks, and millions of tons of
untreated nutrients and metals left over from secondary treatment. Worst
of all, discharges of storm water, as polluted as raw sewage and laden with
heavy metals and exotic chemicals, continue to run untreated into our lakes,
rivers, and estuaries. Bizarre new fish diseases are appearing almost weekly
around the country, most likely because of long-term bioaccumulation of
unregulated pollutants. In Florida, such storm water accounts for all solids,
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THE RISE AND FALL OF E~RONME=^ EXPERTISE
161
8~95 percent of the heavy metal loads, and 20 percent of the nutrients
polluting our surface waters.
Despite the quantities of water treated and wasted in secondary treat-
ment plants, new water supplies are continuously being sought. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers has been active in this area in Florida, and many
benefits have resulted. However, there are some sad legacies of the past.
One is the Central and South Florida Flood Control project designed to
create and protect 750,000 acres of agricultural land, formerly part of the
great Everglades, and to provide water in times of drought to the urban
areas of south Florida. Ternble by-products of this project have been a
90 percent reduction in the population of wading birds in Everglades Na-
tional Park and the eutrophication of Lake Okeechobee, the heart of the
freshwater supply to south Florida.
For their part, the biologists are waiting in the wings to solve these
problems. If more had been known, they say, few of these disasters
would have occurred. Absent a clearer understanding of consequences
and alternatives, the public is now more respectful of embarking on new
projects. However, after 20 years of study on Lake Okeechobee, biologists
still cannot describe with any certainty the nutrient regime of the lake. They
are similarly confused on issues surrounding the effects of acid rain and
other major ecological disturbances. Few in our society believe it would be
prudent to wait to intervene in such problems while biologists fully sort out
causes and effects.
Because causes, effects, and cures are still elusive in many large en-
vironmental problems and enormous challenges keep appearing, the con-
dition that As developed is obviously one in which the legal profession
can flourish. The legal system has produced some of the basic decisions
supporting environmental protection, but it has also produced an adver-
sarial, combative climate in which it is impossible for people from industry
to feel comfortable discussing facts with their colleagues in government or
with the public. Many people who are knowledgeable about environmental
issues are constantly in litigation and constrained from solving problems
by using each other's talents cooperatively. The amount of litigation IS
alarming. For those cases that went to trial in federal court, 10 percent of
the civil suits overall took longer than 45 months to resolve, and 10 percent
of the environmental cases took longer than 67 months to resolve. Most
serious is the fact that the legalistic approach has produced a staggering
load of regulations, purportedly to cover every conceivable circumstance.
This regulatory burden has left little time or incentive for creativity and
human judgment, and no time for concentrating on environmental results.
It has created a process-oriented, rather than a results-oriented, approach
to environmental regulations.
The purpose of this review is to underscore the need for humility in
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proposing umversal solutions to individual problems. Regulators have to
consult with their colleagues and force themselves to justify carefully the
need for action and its probable consequences.
OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES
What lessons can engineers learn from these expenences? Engineers
will continue to be hampered by a poor understanding of the biological
world as reflected in the poor models of it. Research is essential to
improve these models. Nevertheless, the engineering profession can move
out with confidence and self-respect in developing several technological
opportunities.
First, because experts are weakest in convincing each other, let alone
the public, that they can describe and quantifier the effects of contaminants
released into the environment, there is a need for chemists and engineers
to work diligently at finding new processes to avoid creation of these
by-products. It is no longer possible to make radical improvements in end-
of-process treatment. In large measure, the concept of treatment should
become passe. Let us not give the biologists and the lawyers anything to
worry about.
Second, recycling technologies will be required for unavoidable by-
products and for reusing or reformatting products that are no longer useful.
America generates nvo to three times more garbage than our economic
peers do, and one-third of current landfills in the United States will be
out of space in 5 to 10 years. New landfills and incinerators are becoming
impossible to site. The only silver lining to this situation is that disposal
costs have tripled or quadrupled in many locations, making recycling more
palatable. The time has come to avoid product or process technologies
that create new waste disposal problems in favor of those that reduce the
need for ultimate discharge or disposal (see Friedlander, this volume). The
developed world will not be allowed much longer to dump used articles on
a poorer country in the name of recycling, if the result is to contaminate
the land in that country.
Third, there is a need to plan for problems that are coming and effects
that are unavoidable. It is not necessary to wait for the modelers to describe
these effects in detail. The engineering profession can help find ways to
reduce the carbon dionde burden in the atmosphere where possible, but
also to prepare for rising sea levels. Local coastal effects and the best
mitigation for these impacts must be understood before disaster occurs.
Fourth, appropriate development of water supplies and efficient use of
available resources are going to be of major importance as water becomes
increasingly scarce in many parts of the world. It has been estimated that
global warming, with an increase of 2°C in temperature and 10 percent
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THE RISE AND FALL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTISE
163
reduction in rainfall, could reduce available water supplies by 50 percent
in the drier states of the U.S. Southwest.
Finally, although many environments have damaged in the past, there
is still time to rehabilitate many of them, including the Everglades and the
Chesapeake Bay. It will take our best team efforts to bring these wonderful
places back, yet we must because we depend on them economically and
culturally and because they are natural wonders. There will be a host
of new public works actions needed to correct non-point-source problems
and delicate freshwater-saltwater imbalances and to restore the natural
hydropenod essential to a balanced fishery.
There are exciting and challenging opportunities for engineers in con-
serving natural resources, but it is equally important to ensure that these
solutions are usable and used. Let us examine for a moment the unrecep-
tive atmosphere in which these brilliant and practical new discoveries will
struggle to live.
First, problem definition is often a major drawback to progress. There
are usually deficient or conflicting scientific data defining the problem. The
public often disagrees about the causes of problems and the priorities for
solutions. This is not surprising because scientists also often disagree, both
on sources and fates of contaminants in the environment, and on political
aspects of the issues as welt
Second, appropriate solutions may elude us because the regulatory
system and the market often do not encourage them. For example, we
require advanced waste treatment of domestic waste at about 50 percent
higher cost than the usual secondary treatment when discharged into a
eutrophic water body. Right next to this "gold-plated pipe" is a storm
water ditch carrying the equivalent of raw sewage. This water has received
absolutely no treatment.
Third, some of the toughest environmental issues-ozone pollution
from automobiles, climate change, eutrophication of water bodies, and
loss of natural habitat due to the growing market for vacation homes are
the consequences of large-scale cultural patterns, the summed effects of
millions of people making individual decisions. It is easy for people to rally
around a common enemy "the smokestack," but ask them to separate their
garbage or stop fertilizing their lawn and the commitment to environmental
quality becomes less important.
Fourth, there Is a common tendency to rely on "high-tech" solutions
and use "low-tech" human beings to implement them. Three Mile Island,
Bhopal, and Chernobyl all come to mind. This problem has arisen so
often that a whole new discipline, "human engineering," has developed
to cope with it. Let us not forget that even with a computerized cockpit,
experienced pilots still forget to set flaps. Human frailties are here to stay,
and design must involve an understanding of human behavior.
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VICTORIA I TSCHINKE:L
Fifth, the regulatory system was largely designed around the outmoded
concept of treatment after process completion, rather than avoidance and
reuse. This has been a more practical approach for the regulator and keeps
government out of the internal workings of the regulated community. It
does not encourage the modern approach, which by its nature is highly
individualized by location, so that each plan is suited to the individual
sensitivites of each natural system.
Last, despite a centralized approach to pollution control, one that
is highly structured and legalistic, the United States is moving more and
more toward negotiated decision making. Still another new profession, the
environmental mediator, has leaped into the fray.
THE REAL WORLD OF DECISIONS
Many times I have heard competent industrial managers say that they
are frustrated by expensive regulations which they feel are irrelevant or
by local citizens who fail to distinguish between a real risk and what
is merely a fear. These managers feel betrayed by local and regional
governments that feel compelled to add their own burden of regulation
because, somehow, the state and federal governments are not doing their
job. Local regulations often conflict with the national approach. This
situation is a natural consequence of our lack of hard data and the mistaken
demand on all sides for clearly articulated rules so that all parties can tell
what is expected of the regulated party. The sheer volume and conflict
among all the rules make that clarity a chimera.
As a result of this complex regulatory structure and the public's contin-
ued distrust, many of the real decisions are actually being made locally with
a far broader agenda than that normally encompassed by the regulatory
approach. Some people call this the "let's make a deal" approach State
and local authorities need to take advantage of this approach to encourage
regional solutions to- environmental problems, solutions tailored to the en-
vironmental needs of each area and to the causes of those problems. The
Washington establishment will not always like this devolution of authority.
Although there are many examples of this regulatory approach around
the country, I will discuss two that I have participated in. The first concerns
a phosphate mining and chemical plant operated by Occidental Chemical
Corporation at White Springs, Florida. The company owns mineral rights
along the Suwannee River and for several miles inland. In 1984, new
management at the plant became frustrated by the constant litigation
surrounding every change contemplated. Planning expansion became im-
possible because of regulatory uncertainties and mounting public concern.
The company decided to open a dialogue with concerned agencies and
environmental groups. Although not every issue has been settled, certain
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THE RISE AND FALL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTISE
165
things have become clear to everyone. First, the protection of the Suwan-
nee River depends absolutely on developing a long-range plan that includes
preservation elements, acquisition elements, and mitigation of damage to
wetlands that are to be mined. The need for a long-range environmental
plan coincided with the company's view that, to make long-range business
plans, they had to know which areas would be allowed to be mined. Many
of the items that are central to the agreement lie outside the normal scope
of regulation, yet are essential to the well-being of the Suwannee River
watershed. Of course, this is a simple example compared with areas that
have more than one source of pollution.
A second example is the comprehensive basin approach to managing
water problems, which was begun in Florida in 1986. In 1987 Florida passed
the Surface Water Improvement and Management Act, which designated
critical basins. The new aspects of this program are funded at $15 million
per year, combined with $20 million per year for land acquisition programs.
By contrast, the entire Clean Lakes program (authorized under the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500) in
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency receives only $15 million. On
the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, for example, marsh restoration, land
acquisition, water supply, flood control, and enforcement actions are being
combined in a massive effort. It has become clear to us in Florida that it
is impossible to meet environmental goals on a routine permit-by-permit
basis.
We can listen carefully to these issues and examples and fashion a
newer, better means of dealing with many environmental problems. It
must be one that has a sound scientific base, has incentives for doing the
right thing, engages people's cooperation early in the process, recognizes
that humans are mortals, is relatively site specific and results oriented, and
is negotiated and agreed to by all parties.
Engineers must now consider such interaction with the agencies and
public as part of their job: the public should be the ultimate client for
every environmental engineer. It is time again for engineers, as well
as representatives of the many other professions with relevant expertise,
to step forward and commit themselves to maintaining and enhancing
environmental quality.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Water Works Association. 1981. Water Conservation Management. Washington,
D.C.: American Waterworks Association.
gingham, G. 1986. Resolving Environmental Disputes. Washington, D.C.: Ihe Conservation
Foundation.
Costanza, R. 1987. Social traps and environmental policy. BioScience 37~6~:407~12.
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Elkington, J., and J. Shopboy. 1988. Lee Shrinking Planet: U.S. Information Technology
and Sustainable Development. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute.
King, J. 1985. Troubled Water. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press.
Morgan, A. E. 1971. Dams and Other Disasters. Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers.
National Academy of Engineering. 1986. Hazards: Technology and Fairness. Washington,
D.C.: National Academy Press
National Academy of Engineering. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems Infrastructure
Past, Present, and Future. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.
National Council on Public Works Improvement. 1988. The state of U.S. infrastructure.
Urban Land May 2~23.
Rabe, B. G. 1986. Fragmentation and Integration in State Environmental Management.
Washington, D.C.: The Conservation Foundation.
Stokey, E., and R. Zeckhauser. 1978. A Primer for Policy Analysis. New York: W. W.
Norton.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
secondary treatment
