The Limits of “Eco-Efficiency”: Arsenic Pollution and the Cottrell Electrical Precipitator in the U.S. Copper Smelting Industry

LeCain, Timothy J.

doi:10.2307/3985480

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…[24][25][26][27] These early twentieth century conflicts were sometimes litigated and sometimes turned over to court-appointed commissions to solve, which led to the increased use of technology for controlling lead and other heavy metal emissions from smelters. 28 Baghouses were used in lead smelters to filter lead particulates from the smoke stream before they exited the stack. 29 In 1907, the Cottrell electrostatic precipitator, which uses electrical charges to capture particulates from smoke streams, was first installed at the Selby smelter near the San Francisco Bay.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…29 In 1907, the Cottrell electrostatic precipitator, which uses electrical charges to capture particulates from smoke streams, was first installed at the Selby smelter near the San Francisco Bay. 28 By the end of the first decades of the twentieth century, most lead smelters were using one or both of these particulate control measures, either because they were required to by the courts or because they found that capturing heavy metals from their smoke stream could increase profits. 24,28 These technologies substantially reduced lead and other toxic metal emissions from smelter smokestacks; however, some portion of the toxic heavy metals in the smoke stream still escaped.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reducing Lead in Air and Preventing Childhood Exposure Near Lead Smelters

Sullivan

2015

New Solut

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Childhood lead exposure and poisoning near primary lead smelters continues in developed and developing countries. In the United States, the problem of lead poisoning in children caused by smelter emissions was first documented in the early 1970s. In 1978, Environmental Protection Agency set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for lead. Attainment of this lead standard in areas near operating lead smelters took twenty to thirty years. Childhood lead exposure and poisoning continued to occur after the lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards were set and before compliance was achieved. This article analyzes and discusses the factors that led to the eventual achievement of the 1978 lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards near primary smelters and the reduction of children's blood lead levels in surrounding communities. Factors such as federal and state regulation, monitoring of emissions, public health activities such as blood lead surveillance and health education, relocation of children, environmental group and community advocacy, and litigation all played a role.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Lead in Air and Preventing Childhood Exposure Near Lead Smelters

Sullivan

2015

New Solut

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“…introduced into mass production in the XXth century (Meikle, 1997;Travis, 1997), development and expansion of automobile production industry (McCarthy, 2001), process of industrial impact on land resources (Cumbler, 2000;LeCain, 2000), changes of economic and social significance of some natural resources during various historical periods (iron, aluminum, uranium, low-grade ores, rubber, oil) (Rosenberg, 1972), influences of the polluted environment on human's health (Platt, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Problems of Middle Volga in the Second Half of the XXth Century: Historical and Ecological Analysis of Leading Industrial Regions Development

Kalimullin¹

2014

RES

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The present article is aimed to identify origins and evolution of environmental problems characteristic for Middle Volga Region in the second half of the XXth century. The approach applied for the research allows to analyze the industrial growth of the country from a totally new level, to observe the course, character and peculiarities of its impact on the ecological degradation that determines the critical condition of environment at the present stage. The article reveals the results of historical and ecological analysis conducted by Russian and foreign researchers on issues of a human and environment interaction; they make it possible to designate for Russia such perspective scientific guidelines of studying contradictions in the system "human nature" as: origins and evolution of industrial pollution, ecological problems of urbanized territories, dynamics of natural resources exhaustion, water utilization history. The materials of this article may facilitate the efficient usage of economic, technological, moral and organizational methods aimed to impact the developing economic system, its highest ecologization.

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“…Smith's successor, Fletcher, initially embraced the challenge of the clean-up of cement processes with enthusiasm and acuity. He showed interest in the electrostatic precipitation of gas and dust as a potential BPM for this industry (and others), which academic physicist Oliver Lodge conducted in respect of a lead works in Chester (in 1886) (Ashby and Anderson 1981: 111;LeCain 2000). However, Fletcher does not appear to have prioritized the realization of this potential, and it was 50 years (and a succession of new chief inspectors) before the Inspectorate was satisfied that this technology was practicable.…”

Section: Generalized Voluntarism In the Context Of The Cement Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuisance Law, Regulation, and the Invention of Prototypical Pollution Abatement Technology

Pontin

2016

Oxford Handbooks Online

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The emerging idea that the private enforcement of nuisance injunctions can facilitate investment in pollution abatement technology raises important questions of the wider regulatory context of this area of tort. This chapter examines the role of the Alkali Inspectorate historically in facilitating progressive improvements in industrial production process standards to an extent comparable with nuisance law. It is argued that regulation in this field has demonstrably shaped the development of pollution abatement technology, but exceptionally so. The notion of ‘voluntarism’, which tort scholars have used to explain the scope and limits of nuisance law’s inventiveness, can be helpfully generalized. Voluntarism accounts for the success with which government inspectors set out to clean up industry through pushing the frontiers of clean technology, and the difficulties of sustaining this success with the passage of time. This is illustrated by a case study concerning cement industry pollution.

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The Limits of “Eco-Efficiency”: Arsenic Pollution and the Cottrell Electrical Precipitator in the U.S. Copper Smelting Industry

Cited by 15 publications

References 4 publications

Reducing Lead in Air and Preventing Childhood Exposure Near Lead Smelters

Reducing Lead in Air and Preventing Childhood Exposure Near Lead Smelters

Ecological Problems of Middle Volga in the Second Half of the XXth Century: Historical and Ecological Analysis of Leading Industrial Regions Development

Nuisance Law, Regulation, and the Invention of Prototypical Pollution Abatement Technology

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