Four years ago, if you took your cans or bottles to a recycling center in the town of Radford, they were as likely to go to the landfill as to the regional recycling center in Christiansburg. That’s because recycling loads were very often contaminated by trash.
No similar levels of contamination were taking place in the surrounding counties of Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski, and Floyd because their recycling centers were in much better shape. They were supervised, there were large friendly signs telling you how to recycle, and the various containers were color-coded for various grades of glass, plastic, aluminum, and paper.
In Radford there were a few big blue boxes for glass, plastic, aluminum, and magazines, and another big brown box for newspapers.
Today, after an education program and a strategic re-positioning of a reduced number of containers, most of Radford’s recycled materials are now going exactly where they are supposed to go. It’s an improvement that was long overdue. But it’s half-hearted at best.
Ironically, the improvement meant that Radford did not have to join the regional recycling compact with its neighbors. Opinions differ about this, but I believe that the city missed an important opportunity here. By operating independently, and keeping operations small, Radford focused on industrial recycling to make up its state-mandated share of waste reduction. In effect, it is asking very little of its residents.
Overall, the improvement in recycling is a drop in the bucket compared to Radford’s many environmental problems. These include:
Sewers: The city’s sewer system is antiquated. Water-level manholes and broken pipes routinely dump raw sewage into the New River with every flood. E. coli bacteria, from human and animal waste, is so high in some places that the river is unsafe for swimming.
Railroad ties: City officials claim there is no problem with a million railroad ties in a 65-foot-high, mile-long mound located along the tracks behind the Post Office. But in 2004, a New River Valley hazard mitigation study found that this should be a high priority. Fire reduction strategies would cost $50,000, and overall cleanup costs begin around $2 million.
Norfolk Southern railroad dumped the ties beginning in the 1980s using a company that quickly went bankrupt. The company, supposedly, was going to use the ties for landscaping—although the mystery of how 8,000 residents would use a million railroad ties was never quite addressed. The ties have remained in place for more than 20 years, and the city has been afraid to try to make Norfolk Southern to take responsibility. If a fire broke out, the smoke from the tie pile could mean evacuating the city. A similar fire in a tire dump shut down the city of Salem a few years ago.
Air pollution: For years, city and state officials claimed that no significant air pollution was coming from the Intermet iron foundry in town. But when the city’s environment commission checked EPA reports, it was clear that hundreds of thousands of pounds per year of chemicals such as phenols and benzene were typical emissions from that kind of plant. The only state air pollution measurements being taken at the foundry involved particulate emissions from casting sand, which can cause silicosis of the lungs. When particulate standards became more stringent around 2003, the state monitoring equipment was simply removed.
PCBs: From the town of Radford downstream, there is a fish consumption advisory for PCBs, but according to Friends of the New River, the state environmental agency also lists problems with mercury, DDT, and other pesticides in fish tissue as well.
Riverside: At Bisset Park and downstream along the river, the city looks beautiful. But along the bike path in Connelly’s Run, sewer overflows have caused algae blooms. Meanwhile, upstream of the park, beyond the railroad bridge, there is a large hillside waste dump with mounds of rusting containers and deeply eroded riverbanks. A little further upstream is a dump for foundry sand, which is leaching heavy metals toward (if not yet into) the river. Monitoring is taking place, but the company won’t clean up the waste and the city doesn’t have the money.
It’s possible to have hope for a city like Radford, which is small enough for people to know each other, yet large enough to accomplish interesting things. And in fact, Radford’s environment has been greatly improved in the past decade thanks to efforts of volunteers who devoted a huge amount of time to the city’s bike path and other projects.
Still, it will take a far different attitude on the part of city government if it is to solve its extensive environmental problems in the future.
A half-hearted recycling program is simply not enough.
Bill Kovarik is a professor of communication at Radford University and was the chair of the City of Radford’s environmental commission when it was disbanded in 2004.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Lucinda // May 7, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Thanks, Bill, for this informative report. I have questioned the air quality as a result from the foundry. Depending on how the wind is blowing, there can be an actual smell.
In thinking globally and acting locally, I often want to ask our local, state, and national politicians: in what area of your agenda are you considering our children?
2 Bill Kovarik // May 9, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Thanks, Lucinda.
That smell is usually phenol. If you Google for Phenol MSDS (material safety data sheets) you will find that phenol is a systemic poison that constitutes a serious health hazard, especially through inhalation. That is only one of the serious problems around the foundry that are being ignored by local and state government.
If you ask Radford city politicians if they care about the environment, they will say, of course we do. But if you ask them for specifics or put them on the spot in some way, for example, insisting on city and state air pollution monitoring, they will evade the issue. Monitoring is needed.
In 2002, I wrote a memo to the City of Radford as a member of the Environmental Improvement Commission asking the city to look into the issues. There was never a response. Here is the memo:
Date; Nov. 21, 2002
To: Radford Environmental Improvement Commission
From: Bill Kovarik, commission member
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality monitored one of the air pollutants of concern – Total Suspended Particulates –- in Radford off and on for the past 19 years. The data were recently made available to the commission. Unfortunately, only 7 years of complete data were available; the TSP monitor was permanently dismantled in October of 2001; and no new monitoring is expected.
The attached data indicate that particles of sand and dust have been significant but within the older EPA guidelines. Even daily highs (such as a high of 171 ug/m3 in 1987) were within the old standards (the comparable primary standard number for a 24-hour concentration was 260 ug/m3).
New guidelines involve monitoring of finer particles (PM2.5 and PM10). Unfortunately, the older monitor was not upgraded and cannot yield data concerning how coarse or fine the particulates may be. Therefore, nothing in the data support the assertion of DEQ officials made in July, 2002, that “Emissions that settle close to the plant are large particulates that can be expelled from the lungs. This type of particulate is not considered a serious health threat.” (Intermet Corp. Response to Adverse Comments, DEQ, July 23, 2002), p. 3.
It is important to note that DEQ has not monitored other types of emissions which have been characterized in the Feb. 7, 2000 EPA report of the Castings Emissions Reduction Program (See Fig. 3-5 Comparison of Grensand/ Core Baseline, p. 27). Assuming maximum operation at 377,000 tons of steel output per year, the theoretical amounts of significant annual air emissions would be as follows:
All Volatile Organic Compounds: 301,000 lbs
All Hazardous Air Pollutants: 188,000 lbs.
Benzene: 79,000 lbs
Toluene: 37,700 lbs.
Xylenes: 30,160 lbs
Ethyl benzene: 7,500 lbs.
This compares to Intermet’s reported 2000 TRI data as follows: Phenol 4,233 lbs; Nickle, Copper, Manganeze, Zinc compounds (under 100 lbs); Methanol and Formaldehyde (insiginificant)
In summary:
1) Particulate emissions data are not in excess of EPA guidelines;
2) There are large areas of uncertainty in the monitoring program; and
3) There are discrepancies in the data that require further inquiry.
3 Finding that thing I’ve always wanted but never knew I did… | Return to Roots // Jun 15, 2008 at 4:44 pm
[…] children to deal with. Clearly, we don’t care. Some do, but not nearly enough. Bill Kovarik has written a detailed comment on how the City of Radford has addressed its recycling issues. Not much more than a cursory […]
4 RU Getting Greener // Jul 2, 2008 at 7:01 pm
[…] City of Radford has no curbside recycling service, making it more of a challenge for students who live off campus to recycle. RU administrators have […]
5 Ryan // Feb 3, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Hey,
I just came across your article, even though it is old, it has taught me much about the City of Radford. I go to Radford University, and have always wondered about the local envirornment. I want to some how know more about whats going on, I have started a website, that I hope I can turn into an organization that creates environmental programs. If you can point me in any direction, or maybe anyone that would like to help support or sponsor programs. Also, any information on the environment here and hte politics that surround it. Thanks!
Ryan Van Patten
(www.gogreenseed.com)
Leave a Comment