Ocean Incineration Research Articles

‘Ban the Burn’: At-sea Incineration, Trans-local Activism, and Ocean Health

This article is about the rise and fall of ocean incineration, a method for the disposal of hazardous chemical waste that was initiated in the late 1960s, developed, tested, and perfected throughout the 1970s, commercialized in the 1980s, and eventually phased out from the 1990s onwards. Ocean incineration consisted in the offshore destruction of toxic liquid substances in specially designed ships outfitted with high-temperature combustion chambers and high stacks. When this technology broke through, it seemed like a panacea. It heralded the safe disposal of noxious compounds such as organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were ubiquitous by-products of petrochemical industrial processes. It promised to minimize private companies’ externalities and ease environmental concerns. But it ultimately failed to provide an alternative to safely disposing of toxic waste. What does explain such a decline? This article answers this question by arguing that the demise of ocean incineration was due to the combination of locally oriented and transnationally driven protests, which emerged across the (North) Atlantic and exposed the dangerous and highly exploitative nature of such a practice.

Distribution of Organochlorine Pollutants in North Sea Sediments

Sediment samples from the North Sea and the Skagerrak were analyzed for organochlorine pollutants. Standardisation for organic carbon content of sediments proved to be a suitable tool for comparison of pollution of different sea regions. Relatively high contaminant concentrations were found in coastal regions of the southern North Sea, while standardised organochlorine concentrations in the Skagerrak were almost at baseline level. In addition to the major inputs via rivers and the atmosphere, ocean incineration of hazardous wastes was identified as a probable source of organohalogen pollution. Although the production and use of certain organochlorines have been restricted in most North Sea states, depth profiles from the Skagerrak indicate that deposition of these contaminants has increased until recently. This trend will possibly continue since only a very small proportion of all persistent organochlorines produced in Western Europe in the past has already reached the sea. As a consequence, no persistent and bioaccumulable organics, like most organohalogens, should be allowed to enter the sea in the future. This, in many cases, will necessitate not only better filter techniques, but a dramatic reduction of organic chemical production itself.

Out of sight is not out of mind: Public opposition to ocean incineration

Abstract During the early 1980s, ocean incineration emerged as one of the hottest issues in the field of hazardous waste management. Ocean incineration involves the thermal destruction of liquid hazardous wastes on specially designed ships and was promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency and powerful industry groups as part of the solution to liquid hazardous waste disposal. Attempts to adopt ocean incineration led to heated debate and apparent defeat of efforts to introduce this technology. The arguments advanced by proponents and opponents are examined. Success of environmental groups opposed to ocean incineration is explained with reference to technical, environmental, socio‐political, and legal factors. Ocean incineration, promoted as a solution to “not‐in‐my‐backyard”; opponents, instead ran afoul of region wide opposition by coastal residents for whom the sea is a common backyard.

Interpretation of need in US ocean incineration policy

In early 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was on the verge of issuing new regulations that would enable the commercial incineration at sea, based on need, of certain hazardous organic wastes. The special vessels that would be used would operate in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in the Gulf of Mexico. The role such a program might play in relation to the overall hazardous waste problem depends upon the agency's interpretation of need. This article considers the proposed interpretation and is severely critical of it, claiming that it excludes promising options and contravenes provisions of the London Dumping Convention.

Hazardous Waste Incineration at Sea: EPA Decision Making on Risk

This paper critiques the Environmental Protection Agency's assessment of risk for hazardous waste incineration at sea. It reviews operational and transportation risks and considers alternative approaches for managing chlorinated organic hazardous wastes. It concludes that depending on the scale of the program, ocean incineration will either contribute little to the overall management of this waste stream or else it will engender significant risks, especially in the coastal environment. Furthermore, past assessments on the part of EPA have tended to understate the risks of incineration at sea while simultaneously holding out the promise of the technology as a commercial‐scale management option. Finally, this paper observes that the Western European countries that pioneered incineration in the North Sea are now finding practical alternatives. It is recommended that waste reuse, on‐site treatment, and techniques of waste reduction provide viable alternatives and obviate the need for incineration at sea.

The risk of hazardous waste spills from incineration at sea

This paper presents a critical assessment of the risk of spills from hazardous waste incineration aboard ocean going vessels. The likelihood of spills is estimated on the basis of recent domestic and worldwide chemical tanker experience. Results indicate that the probability of a spill is significant for projections of future ocean incineration demand. The severity of spills is explored using mathematical models of chemical transport and fate. This analysis is site specific and presents upper and lower bounds on the average pollutant concentration from spills of polychlorinated biphenyls in Mobile Bay. Severe impacts on the water quality and marine life in this region would result from spills of less than the capacity of a single incineration vessel. These findings demonstrate some inherent uncertainties in the analysis of these risks which bear strongly on the reliability of the program, the adequacy of contingency plans, and current liability requirements.

Ocean incineration of toxic wastes: A footprint in North Sea sediments

In an investigation of organochlorine levels in sediments from the North Sea, most organochlorine pesticides as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) showed highest sediment contamination levels close to the German, Dutch, and British coasts that decreased towards the open sea, but elevated hexachlorobenzene (HCB) concentrations were found in the sediments of the international ocean combustion area in the centre of the southern North Sea and were accompanied by exceptionally high levels of octachlorostyrene (OCS). It is suggested that both HCB and OCS enter the North Sea ecosystem as products of incomplete combustion from ocean incineration.

Ocean incineration: The European experience

Procede ameliore de traitement des dechets dangereux (contenant principalement des organochlores) par incineration en mer. La difference notable par rapport au procede «terrestre» est que l'epuration des effluents gazeux produits (neutralisation) se fait par lavage a l'eau de mer. Evaluation des performances d'une installation pilote, le navire Vulcanus II

Simulation of marine ecosystem effects due to PCB waste incineration in the Gulf of Mexico

A four-level atmosphere—ocean-sediments transport model has been coupled to an ecosystem model to estimate the magnitude of effects of ocean-based incineration of PCB wastes. The atmospheric (top) layer of the model has a seasonally variable thickness, a reflecting boundary at the top, and an absorbing boundary at the air—water interface. Both wet and dry deposition are included. Rainfall occurs stochastically. Upper and lower layers of the oceanic water column constitute the second and third layers of the transport model, while the sediments on the seafloor are the fourth layer. Adsorption of pollutants to particulate matter in the water column, and resuspension of pollutants in shallow coastal regions are included. The ecosystem model focuses on linkages among major trophic compartments, and includes predation, metabolic, and pollutant assimilation/depuration components. Simulation results suggest that, for destruction and removal efficiencies (DRE) on the order of 0.9999 (‘four nines’), measurable bioaccumulation effects may occur in the benthos over a 50-year policy horizon, whereas if a DRE of six nines can be established and maintained, effects will be negligible. Efficiency monitoring and control during the incineration process is therefore of primary importance if a policy of ocean incineration of hazardous wastes is to be adopted on a large scale.

The problems of ocean incineration: A case of modern mythology

Incineration of hazardous waste at sea has been conducted in Europe since 1969 by six different vessels, three of which are still in operation. With the exception of a number of successful test burns from 1974 to 1982, this technology has not been utilized commercially in the United States. Several independent groups have encouraged or otherwise have supported its use including industry groups, public interest groups, as well as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, but all efforts to permit it have thus far been unsuccessful. One of the primary factors has been the misconceptions of the technology. This paper describes the myths that have developed about ocean incineration, its safety, its technological ability to destroy organics, its effects on the environment, its need in the overall scheme to clean our environment. These misconceptions have played an important role by contributing to the delays in the acceptance of this valuable and needed technology at both the public and regulatory levels. Several key issues are addressed and, hopefully, the myths surrounding ocean incineration will, at last, be laid to rest.

The problems of ocean incineration: a case of modern mythology : Nassos, G.P., 1987. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 18(5):211–216

The problems of ocean incineration: a case of modern mythology : Nassos, G.P., 1987. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 18(5):211–216

OTA supports ocean incineration of wastes

OTA supports ocean incineration of wastes

ES&T Views: Ocean incineration of hazardous wastes: An update

This article describes the controversy which characterized the annual meeting of the International Maritime Organization Scientific Group on Dumpling held in London in March of 1985. The group was unable to reach consensus on the following issues: the relationship between destruction and combustion efficiencies over a wide range of operating conditions; sampling procedures to be used to obtain a representative gas sample of the entire stack; methodology to be used for collecting particulate material in the stack; quality assurance requirements to be used for monitoring incineration emissions; new organic compounds which may be synthesized during the process. The group referred these issues to an intercessionary group of experts for further study. Some European countries affirmed their move to ban ocean incineration of liquid hazardous wastes and some are seeking methods to recycle and reuse or treat wastes on site.