Environmental challenges remain

As the 20th century comes to a close, we can look back on the enormous negative impact the industrial revolution had on our environment. In turn, we can measure the progress made in providing safe, stable and healthy communities all over our nation. Sanitation conditions are better than ever, with controls in place to effectively manage the waste by-products of human activity.

Towns and cities no longer struggle with open sewers, air black because of smoke stacks, and animals foraging in garbage thrown into the streets. Much of the nation’s environmental degradation took place in fewer than 200 years – as did most of the progress in dealing with it. In fact, many major improvements have occurred in just the past few decades.

In the 21st century, cities and counties will continue to face challenges in managing their public works services. Environmental protection, guided by the federal government, is evolving, creating demands for local control and sophisticated technologies and solutions. Competition for local resources places stress on local services. In addition, many local governments are faced with aging infrastructure, failing sewer and water systems, and deteriorating roadways.

However, the new millennium brings opportunities to deal with those problems. Creating effective partnerships between the local government, private industry and citizens is key to addressing solid waste, wastewater, drinking water, transportation and stormwater services. In addition, technology that allows for creative solutions to enhance productivity and reduce costs is evolving.

Solid waste We should anticipate a new emphasis on disposal options as the landfills developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s are filled. Long-range planning is essential as the availability of sites for negatively perceived land use is becoming more limited.

The general public is more sophisticated and educated, and its perception of quality of life often translates into requiring waste treatment facilities to be placed as far from population centers as possible. That, coupled with the demand for more efficient collection operations, creates a need for better compaction collection equipment; transfer stations within communities that allow for consolidation of garbage for shipment; rail shipment; and, perhaps, a re-energized focus on incineration.

A new push for waste separation and use of recyclables is likely as well. Those programs have expanded in times of crisis because of the economics of the recycling industry. During a major downturn in the general economy, a national crisis such as war, or a lack of available disposal capacity for garbage, the motivation to engage the public in collecting and marketing recyclables is easy to generate and sustain.

The challenge is to maintain program support when the crisis has ended. However, the need for raw materials and the improved efficiencies in use of the recyclable waste materials should help expand materials reclamation. New opportunities will develop as solid waste management programs become more entrepreneurial through the use of internal enterprise funding and full cost accounting. Technologies such as anaerobic fermentation used in wastewater treatment will be used to manage organic wastes from garbage services.

Water resources One of the last century’s most visible success stories has been the significant improvements in the overall health of the country’s water resources. The next challenge is to sustain that progress and continue to make strides, and that will require the involvement of all: local, state and federal governments; business and industry; agriculture interests; and citizens. Technology for control of water pollution is consistently advancing, but non-point source pollution still poses problems.

Protecting source waters for drinking purposes will take on higher visibility in the next millennium. Investing in the distribution infrastructure is a top priority; and rehabilitating old pipe systems and building new capacity for treatment and for wastewater disposal are the critical priorities. Reclaiming and reusing water resources will take on a renewed importance as a key solution to the problems of limited water supplies and higher demands. Advances in technology and conservation are needed to extend drinking water resources to support economic development within any community.

Protecting existing high-value water assets should be another focus for local communities. Wetlands and stream restoration initiatives need greater attention at the local level, and local governments can expect more regulatory mandates to address the degradation of those water resources. Finally, increasing demand for recreational waters and for greenways in our towns and communities will stimulate innovation in the design of water features that will contribute to the health of our resources.

A partnership between local communities, their citizens and local businesses can offer solutions to the challenges of environmental resource protection. Additionally, such partnerships will lead the country into the new millennium with exciting options for improving the health of its environment.

Just as exploration of the universe will continue to expand over the next thousand years, local governments will continue to explore opportunities to reach new frontiers in environmental protection.

Elizabeth Treadway, former director of environmental services for Greensboro, N.C., is a consultant with Ogden Environmental and Engineering Services, Greensboro.