The arrival of oil-tainted waste to federally approved landfills across the Gulf coast is raising concerns are raised about the potential impact on the environment and public health.
An estimated 700 million liters of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20th explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
今年4月20号发生的墨西哥湾钻井平台爆炸事件导致7亿升石油泄漏，并侵入墨西哥湾沿岸海滩和湿地。
As the oil has spread and washed ashore at Gulf Coast beaches and wetlands, cleanup crews have been trying to scoop up what they can. The've collected tons of oily waste that's now being dumped in landfills in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
清污工人努力捞起油污，把成吨的油污运往阿拉巴马、佛罗里达、路易斯安那和密西西比州的垃圾掩埋场。
Residents and environmentalists worry about the long-term effects of the oily trash.
当地居民担心这些油污会对公众健康和当地环境产生影响。
New waste entering landfills
People who live near waste landfills are accustomed to seeing trucks dumping normal household waste such as food, packaging, appliances, furniture and yard cuttings.
住在垃圾掩埋场附近的居民习惯看到卡车将一般家庭垃圾运送到掩埋场，这都是些食物残渣、包装盒、废旧电器、家具和草屑树枝等。
But the sight of workers wearing white protective suits and gloves hauling in tons of oil-contaminated waste - including bags of sandy tar balls, vegetation, used oil booms, rags and other clean-up supplies - has caused alarm among some Gulf coast communities. They're concerned about potentially toxic waste entering their local landfills.
但是穿着防护服的人运来成吨沾满焦油的沙球、植物、破拦油栅和沾满油污的破布等，引起一些海湾沿岸社区居民的警惕。他们担心这些东西可能含有有毒物质。
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to allow BP, the British oil company responsible for the spill and its cleanup, to dispose of solid oil waste in approved landfills along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
美国环保署同意这次事故的责任方BP公司将清理出来的固体油污运到美国海湾沿岸经批准的垃圾掩埋场。
No liquid oil waste will be dumped.
这其中不包括任何液体油污。
Protected sites
Jeremy O'Brien sees no problem with this strategy.
欧布莱恩认为这种作法没有任何不妥之处。
He is the director of applied research for the Solid Waste Association of North America, a professional organization that promotes the efficient and environmentally-sound management of municipal solid waste. O'Brien notes that composite liners underneath and above landfill waste offer protection to the environment. Additionally, two feet of clay under the liner offers increased protection to the groundwater.
杰里米·欧布莱恩是北美固体废物协会的负责人，这是一个倡导以高效环保方式处理固体废物的专业性团体。
"So the bottom portion of the landfill is designed to prevent any leachate that's generated by the landfill from exiting the landfill and contaminating the groundwater," says O'Brien. "They've been installed for the last almost 15 years now and tests show that they work very well."
他说：“人们认为最重要的是，垃圾掩埋场要有复合材质的基底和表层覆盖系统。在塑料层下面，是两英尺的厚实粘土。这样的底部是为了防止垃圾填埋场污染地下水。这套系统已经使用了15年，测试表明效果很好。”
Waste Management is a private company that operates several of the landfills that are receiving BP oil cleanup waste. Spokesman Ken Haldin says a combination of testing by BP, the Environmental Protection Agency and landfill operators, including Waste Management, should ensure that debris from the oil cleanup can safely be added to household waste in these facilities. He adds that landfills can easily accommodate the unexpected additional waste.
废弃物管理公司是家私人企业，经营着好几处接收BP油污废弃物的垃圾掩埋场。公司发言人肯·霍尔丁表示，BP、环保署和填埋运营商的各项检验，应该确保油污废弃物可以安全地和家庭垃圾填埋在一起。他补充说，垃圾填埋场可以很轻易地容纳这些额外的废弃物。
Like other kinds of trash dumped into landfills, the waste from the Gulf cleanup will eventually decompose, releasing a variety of gases and liquids which are vented or disposed of in turn. But in certain landfills, including some accepting the BP cleanup, waste, heat and methane gas produced by decomposition are being used to generate energy. Two hectares of treated landfill can generate enough electricity to power several thousand homes.
Best option
Still, there are potential hazards associated with dumping the Gulf oil waste into landfills.
不过，把油污废弃物运到垃圾填埋场还是有潜在的风险。
Allen Hershkowitz with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private environmental group, says air quality around landfill sites must be carefully checked when oil-contaminated waste is added to normal household trash.
私人环保团体“自然资源保护委员会”的艾伦·赫什诺维茨说，垃圾掩埋场接收油污废弃物之后，一定要监控周围的空气品质。
According to Hershkowitz, no landfill liner system is completely leak-proof, meaning there is some possibility that the industrial quantities of waste coming from the oil cleanup could pollute local underground water supplies.
他补充道，没有任何底衬系统是绝对防漏的，也就是说，油污废弃物还是有可能污染地下水。
"So what this points out is that these types of oil disasters are not only posing risks to marine life and to fisheries and to the economy of coastal communities," he says. "They also pose long-term risks to those communities hosting the landfills where the oil saturated materials are being deposited."
“这意味着，这类石油灾害，不仅威胁到海洋生物、捕捞业和沿海地区经济，而且对接收油污废弃物的垃圾掩埋场附近的社区也有长期的风险，因为最终垃圾掩埋场还是会渗透。大量的油污废弃物本不应该运往市区的垃圾掩埋场。”
Hershkowitz says, ideally, the Gulf cleanup's oily trash should be disposed of in an energy-producing furnace, but there are currently no facilities large enough to handle the volume of waste being generated by the cleanup efforts.
赫什诺维茨说，理想的情况是，这些油污废弃物应该让能够产生能源的焚化炉处理，只是目前没有足够大的设施去处理如此大量的废弃物。
Another option, is to put the waste aside and dispose of it properly when resources are available. But the environmental waste expert concedes that for the time being, landfills are the only practical option.
他表示，还有一种做法是先把这些废弃物放置一处，留待将来条件具备时再进行处理。但是专家承认，目前看来，垃圾掩埋场是唯一的选择。 |