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April 13, 2004

CHE 475/575 (Pollution Prevention)

324 Withers Hall (on the Main Campus) – 8:05 am to 9:20 am

“Three Critical Skills to Tackle Industry, Work with Environmental Agencies, and Maintain a Commitment to Environmental Change”

A Pollution Prevention Story: “Copper Hill, Tennessee”

A place that is reported to be Copper Hill, Tennessee, looks like a moonscape for miles in every direction. A major cooper smelting plant has operated there, through much of the 20th century. - It’s smoke stacks spewed out huge amounts of acid vapor, which condensed and settled back to the ground. With such a low pH in the soil nothing grows for 5 or 10 mile around the plant. And with nothing growing, erosion took takes a toll on the environment and rivers. - During the 1960’s, when the national environmental groups were becoming a force, “Copper Hill” was one of their first targets. The fight dragged on for years, with many millions of dollars spent on environmental lawyers and corporate lawyers fighting through the courts. Then one day a new engineer at the plant started taking measurements and, in a few weeks, wrote a report to the corporate board. The report showed that the plant could make a substantial profit if they collected the acid vapor, going out the smoke stacks, and sold it to any of a number of chemical companies in that part of the state. The story does not say what the corporation did with this new information. However, this story does illustrate some of the difficulties pollution prevention and business can face.

First I want to give you a quick look at how easy it is to ignore P2 when getting started after college.

I graduated with a BS in Engineering from NCSU – class of 83. My first job with Burlington Industries Inc., as an industrial engineer following people and robots around with a stopwatch, at the world’s largest Denim textile plant. The next job was the building of a new machining and fabrication plant as coordinator of machinery placement and general contractor liaison My next job was as construction crew chief working on a robotic cement block making plant That lead to a job as an asst. block plant superintendent

Around this time, I realized that my degree and working the private sector failed to let me see the value of Pollution Prevention. It was always business as usual until P2 was shown to be profitable. In hindsight, I realized it was like all the bosses and instructors were a colony of penguins hesitating to jump into the water because they feared predators were waiting for the first few.

The catalyst that started this thinking was one day at the block plant an inspector from the NC Division of Air Quality came to inspect the air pollution control bag houses, on top of the cement silos. Bob, the plant superintendent, told him that he would have to go up the stairs inside the plant, cross the old wooden catwalk 30 feet up against the roof, go out the hole in the wall and across the roof, climb the wood latter and walk across the board above the feed grinder bins, then balance and pull that board to walk across from the bins to the top of the silo, finally he should carry the board with him to reach the other silos. The inspector looked, at all that, and said ‘No thanks, I’ll just take your word for it the houses are ok.’ After he left, I went to Bob and asked why didn’t you just tell him to walk around to the back and climb the safety ladder? Bob said, keep it quiet we don’t have anything in those little rooms on top the silos.

It was around then I decided to start a career that that mattered to the environment. I started with the state Environmental Tech I – sampling rivers and streams and hunting water polluters Then an Environmental Engineer I, writing water treatment permits and regulations now as an Environmental Engineer II – educating and helping industries, businesses, government agencies, and individuals find ways not to pollute.

With all that, I would like to talk with you about 3 basic skills needed to make pollution prevention work in industry, business, and government.

1) Don’t fall, or get pushed, into the trap of doing things because that’s the way they have always been done.

2) Observation makes all the difference in pollution prevention.

3) It is Communication, Communication, and Communication that enable P2 to get done.

A Pollution Prevention Story: “The Ford Factory”

When Henry Ford opened his first Model-T Car factory he made uncommonly specific and detailed stipulations in his contracts with parts supplier. One example was that the crates for nuts and bolts delivered to the factory had to made of specific size boards, of specific thickness and have specific size holes at precise locations. The suppliers saw this as being very odd because crates are just thrown away or burned in the boilers. But they wanted the business, so they complied. However, at the Ford Factory when one of these creates became empty, instead of throwing it out back to be burned, the workmen carefully disassembled the crate. Then the boards were used to make the floor for the next Model-T coming down the assembly line. The holes lined up perfectly to bolt the boards into the metal frame. At thousands of crates a year this practice was very intelligent pollution prevention.

The first skill is: Don’t fall, or get pushed, into the trap of doing things because “that’s the way it’s always been done”.

- In the history of industry, business, and government, there has always been a suborn momentum, where old guys teach the new guys the bad habits. They are so busy keeping things together they don’t have time to learn new ways. And, people can only act on what they know.

- To defend yourselves, learn why things are done the way they are. Have things that made it that way changed? As an industrial engineer I saw it was quite common to change entire methods when just one little thing changed, like a new machine, a slight change in the product, or even a new guy who didn’t listen to the old guys and did it her way.

When I was writing State permits for wastewater systems, we came up with a way to speed up production by cutting nearly 40% of our requests for additional information from the applicants. It took several years for other permit writing groups on the same hallway with us to discover what we had done already.

- Sometimes you can’t do anything about P2. This is because somewhere “way back when”, decisions were made that forced everything in a specific direction, and now all new stuff has to conform to the old way of doing things until the “sunk costs” can be overcome. Usually this means you have to prove it’s worth the trouble to make such any change. And even then, you have to overcome the inertia of doing it the old way and the hesitation penguins.

A Pollution Prevention Story: Space Shuttle Boosters

The space shuttle has the two rocket boosters, which were originally meant to be shorter and thicker. However, the boosters being made in California required them to be shipped by rail through several tunnels in the Rocky Mountains. The rail tunnels are only so wide because of the standard track gage. It is the standard track gage because the first train designs used standard wagon technology. Standard wagon technology originally came to America via wheelwrights trained in Europe. Wheelwrights in Europe could only make wagons that fit the ruts in the extensive old Roman highway system. The old Roman highways were designed to fit the standard military chariot design. Military chariots were designed to only be the width of two Government Issue horses. So, the Space shuttle boosters are designed the way they are because of two government horses Asses.

2) The second skill is Observation makes all the difference in pollution prevention.

No matter how complex a facility is or how difficult a P2 audit appears to be, you still are only impacting the air, the water, the land, or human health. Once you have a good idea what is being impacted you can back up through any complex system and find the sources that way. Various permits a facility has (federal, state, and local) can tell you how they impact air and water. An inspection of waste, dumpsters and the “bone yards” can tell a lot about impacting the land. Energy is a question of observation and basic knowledge the electric bills of what uses energy in the facility. Motor inventories, machine inventories, and lighting lists are the best tools.

Pollution Prevention Story on Observation

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went camping in the woods. On the first night Holmes awoke, punched Watson in the arm to awake him, and asked “Watson what do you see?” Watson rolled over looked up at the stars and said; “Astronomically I see a billion galaxies with a billion-billion stars in each one. Philosophically I see that we are just a small spec of life in the great Universe. Astrologically I see that Mars is in Virgo and Jupiter is in Aries. Meteorologically I see that we are in a high-pressure area, because the stars are so clear. Chronologically I see from the position of the moon and constellations that it is about 3:30 in the morning.” Then Holmes punched Watson again and said, “Watson you idiot, someone has stolen our tent.”

Where to observe P2 is mostly common since and deduction.

1) Look and ask for what good P2 things people are already doing. Let people brag. It gets them to think about other things to show you.

 

2) When touring the workspace look at the floors, the walls, the ceilings, and the location of furnishings. Do there seem to be the barriers or smooth channels for workflow? This can indicate of how much thought goes into efficiency and P2.

 

3) Look at WHAT people do. Look at WHEN tools are used. Notice HOW the tools are used, such as a central location, or an odd in the way location, in a confined space, or is the plug overloaded. Notice Usually workers with plenty of practice have already found the best work methods. Then you can see WHERE the waste and energy goes.

 

4) Do people look comfortable in their surroundings? If not, finding out why, because this often leads to good P2 items.

 

5) Look at what people throw away. It indicates the attitude for doing something positive like sustainability. “Lack of information” or “motivation” is indicated if many people have too many recyclables in their trashcans. If a lot of useful stuff (or multiple drafts) are thrown away, it can mean people think they are too busy to do anything sustainable.

Pollution Prevention Story: “Jersey Walls / Highway Dividers”

A major manufacture operated a plant that made triangular shaped, highway dividers, commonly known as “Jersey Walls”. The plant brought in a supply of rebar every six months, pre-cut to 6-foot lengths. To make the walls the rebar was cleaned of grease and oil and three inches of each rebar were cut off to insure the concrete covers all the rebar in the mold. It cost about $100,000 a year to haul the cut off pieces to the landfill. To handle the grease removed from the rebar, the manufacture operated a $1,000,000 a year pretreatment plant, before any wastewater went into the city sewer.

The plant manager wanted to reduce costs, so he called in a pollution prevention inspector. The inspector looked at the operation and asked to make one phone call. He called the rebar supplier and asked, ’Why does the rebar have all this grease on it?’ The answer was that the grease kept the rebar from rusting out in the rain. He then asked, ‘How long would the rebar last without the grease?’ The answer was the rebar would last about a week without rusting. The auditor next asked, ‘Can you deliver rebar once a week?’ The supplier immediately said “yes”, explaining that it cost money to hire extra trucks for delivering those large quantities every six months. The inspector them asked, ‘Does the rebar have to be precut to just 6 foot lengths?”’ The supplier said “no” they can precut to any length wanted.

So with just one phone call, the manufacture saved $100,000 a year in land fill waste costs, and was able to close a pretreatment plant that cost a million dollars a year to operate.

The real question is why didn’t the mamager of the factory see the situation? All too often, busy people get so used to following procedures that they fail, or just don’t have time, to see pollution prevention opportunities.

Three good ideas for P2 observation are:

1.People you are auditing know their work better than you do. Take advantage and ask questions, opinions, and what they want to see improved.

2.

Many P2 opportunities are invisible because people become accustomed to working with a flawed system. You are a “fresh pair of eyes” to see these things.

3.

Find out what P2 problems people are most concerned about. Concentrate on these because people are more likely to work on the P2 improvements for problems that worry them the most.

Sustainability Story: “The 5 Whys”

In the 1960’s, Washington DC, officials in charge of the Jefferson Memorial feared the Thomas Jefferson’s statue would be ultimately damaged by constant washing off the bird droppings. Their plan was to encase the statue in a thick layer of plastic. It was estimated that it would only cost $300,000 for the initial plastic treatment, and only $20,000 a year to keep the plastic in good shape. An Auditor from the General Accounting Office came to ask “why”.

First he asked, ‘Why does the statue need to be incased in plastic?’ ‘Because the constant

cleaning of the statue will quickly damage and deteriorate it’, the officials chimed.

Second he asked, ‘Why does the statue need cleaning so often?’ ‘Because the birds are in here

leaving droppings on it’ they answered.

Third he asked, ‘Why are the birds in here?’ ‘Because they are after a large population of

spiders we have in here’ was their reply.

Fourth he asked, ‘Why are so many spiders in here?’ ‘Because they are after the water flies that come up from the river at night and swarm in the memorial’, they grumbled.

And fifth he asked, ‘Why do the water flies come in here?’ ‘Because of the flood lights used to

show the memorial at night attracts them’, they shouted.

The auditor then went out to the store bought a $2 dollar solenoid, for controlling light timers, and had it installed in the light control system. He set it so that the Jefferson Memorial’s floodlights came on a half hour after dark. This caused most of the water flies to be attracted to lights elsewhere. The spiders and birds left and it was no longer necessary to cover the statue in plastic.

And a third skill is: Communication, Communication, and Communication will make it possible for P2 to get done.

Pollution Prevention Communication story: The “Box” story (a true story)

A Team from DPPEA once visited a large factory on a waste audit. They started in the front of the factory, at the receiving dock, where the dock manager was very proud of his P2 method of reusing boxes. In fact he showed the Team several hundred used boxes he was storing on the loading dock at that time. He saved them and sold them to a retired gentleman for 5 cents each. The retired gentleman would break them down and take them and sell them for 25 cents somewhere else. The Team asked but the manager didn’t know where. At that moment the retired gentleman pulled up in his old pick-up truck and began to take down the boxes. The Team made their audit of the factory and about three hours later came to the shipping docks behind the factory. The shipping dock manager was happy to show how they buy used boxes for 25 cents each instead of paying a dollar each for new boxes. In fact he expected a new shipment of used boxes that day. About that time the same retired gentleman and his old pick-up truck, full of broken down boxes, pulled up to the shipping dock.

Not fully understanding how a system works is a common occurrence in industry. They have a set formula and “that’s it”. It’s the same for systems and selling most P2 projects.

For Example,

Some water saving controls were installed in a new state building cooling tower. The State construction office valued engineered away the ladder used to reach these controls. Its easy to blindly cut away anything that helps run a building better because your used to only looking at putting up the building.

There are also specialty companies that have a certain quality standards to uphold in order to keep their customers, so they don’t dare make changes.

For Example,

A specialty plating operation in NC was very dirty and wanted DPPEA help. But, they turned down the water and heat P2 ideas because they are the only compny that can reach a certain style of patina on the plated car parts.

At the beginning of our presentation, I showed that I was always a new guy trained not to see P2 by the old guys. P2 primarily saves waste, but aside from landfill tipping fees its tough to show a profit.

For Example,

A 120 lb 24 year old blond became a P2 engineer for a plant in Sanford NC. All the old men and good old boys kept warning her about not starting any “new fangled stuff changes” because this plant was their living. She asked how many of you have microwaves and CD players. Nearly all of them raised their hands. Now she said how many of you want to give up that new fangled stuff. After that at most of them cut her some slack.

A different Example,

The State budget office refused the NC Zoo $35,000 to build a compost pad. They got the money from a grant at DPPEA and the pad paid for itself in 3 months. Today the city pays the Zoo to bring leaves to be composted, rather than the zoo sending animal waste to the city. The Zoo nearly reaches $100,000 a year in disposal and compost savings because of the pad.

Very often long range planning is not included in P2. Soon the P2 project grinds to a halt and now one ever hears of it again.

For Example

DPPEA helped a plant with its compressed air costs by putting a sign on the compressors showing how expensive compressed air was. The following week compressed air usage was down to half of what it was because employees started being careful. But within 6 months the usage was back up to its old levels. People had just forgotten and went back to old habits. No one planned to keep the P2 campaign going until reduction became second nature.

The following stories are examples where State employees took P2 into their own hands, and then sold the idea to the powers that be.

Pollution Prevention story: DENR DAQ air monitoring station savings

THE NC DIVISION OF AIR QUALITY (DAQ) NEEDED TO SET UP AN AIR MONITORING STATION, BEHIND THEIR MAIN OFFICES AT THE PARKER-LINCOLN BUILDING IN RALEIGH NC. IT WAS DICOVERED THAT IT WOULD COST $10,000 OR MORE TO RUN AN ELECTRIC LINE UNDER THE ROAD, FORM THE NEAREST PUBLIC TRANSFORMER. DAQ EMPLOYEES INSTEAD DECIDED TO SPEND JUST $300 ON A SMALL SOLAR PANEL, A BOAT BATTERY AND A CONVERTER. THE AIR MONITORING STATION HAS BEEN WORKING WELL FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS.

Pollution Prevention Story: DENR DPR bathhouse savings

FOR OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, THE DIVISION OF PARKS AND RECREATION HAS USED SOLAR POWERED HOT WATER HEATERS IN THE BATH HOUSES OF MANY STATE PARKS. NO MATTER IF BATH HOUSE IS USED REGULARLY OR NOT A STANDARD HOT WATER HEATER WILL USE ELECTRICITY 24 HOURS A DAY. THE SUSTAINABILITY OF USING SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS HAS SAVED A LOT OF MONEY, OVER THE YEARS.

Pollution Prevention Story: NC DOT grass cutting costs

IT WAS SAID THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SPENT A LOT OF TAX DOLLARS CUTTING GRASS ALONG THE HIGHWAYS, AT AN AVERAGE OF 6 TIMES A YEAR. THEY LOOKED AT THE COST AND INVESTED A FEW CENTS MORE PER POUND FOR SEED OF A SLOWER GROWING GRASS. NOW, THE NEW SLOW GRASS ONLY HAS TO BE CUT AN AVERAGE OF TWICE A YEAR.

The fact is that somebody had to come up with these P2 related work improvements. How hard they had to work at getting the bosses to listened was probably nothing compared to how hard it was to get permission to do it from higher state government authority, even if it was obvious it could save the tax payers some money.

John Seymour

Environmental Engineer II

919/ 715-6503

NC Division of pollution Prevention & Environmental Assistance

p2pays,org

919/715-6500 or 1-800-763-0136

E-mail: nowaste@

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