MEE 5801, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management 1 Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 2. Examine the key attributes of solid and hazardous wastes. 3. Evaluate laws, standards, and best practices related to hazardous wastes. 6. Assess the impact of industrial and hazardous waste on human populations. Reading Assignment Chapter 1: Wastewater Treatment Unit Lesson As you will notice, this class is designated as MEE (Masters of Environmental Engineering). As scholar- practitioners of environmental management, it is imperative that we learn to apply engineering principles to keep the environment and other people as safe as possible while operating within work systems across a wide cross-section of industry settings. This is the very basis for studying environmental engineering. Environmental managers typically observe and report incidents while implementing administrative programs to hopefully reduce the volume of incidents experienced in a given industry setting. Environmental engineers do something different. First, environmental engineers study the affected work systems to identify independent variables causally related to incidents. Second, environmental engineers use statistical data analysis to forecast future incidents. Finally, environmental engineers work to engineer out the risks from the work system. All of this is done well before introducing the environment and humans into the contemporary work system. This is the very work that we must do as scholar-practitioners of environmental management. Consequently, we must learn to think and work as environmental engineers. This unit is going to help us focus on our objectives for this entire class as we learn to study industrial and hazardous waste systems with the most effective technical design tools available to the environmental engineering field. Let’s make the mental transition from an environmental manager to an environmental engineer together as we begin! First, in an effort to appreciate the need for properly managing these wastes, it is important for us to assess the impact of industrial and hazardous waste on human populations. Hickman (2003) explained that the United States only began understanding the impact of solid, industrial, and hazardous waste on the human population after World War II (late 1950s). Before the early 1970s, the larger part of waste management seemed to have been focused on the transportation of the wastes, rather than the treatment and subsequent disposal of the wastes (Hickman, 2003). By the time we reached the early 1980s, we had just begun to recognize the relationship between the industry type standard industrial code (SIC) and the waste types (classifications) largely associated with each industry. For example, we learned that roughly 70% of the hazardous waste nationwide was generated by the chemical industry (SIC code 28 ...

1. MEE 5801, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Examine the key attributes of solid and hazardous wastes.
3. Evaluate laws, standards, and best practices related to
hazardous wastes.
6. Assess the impact of industrial and hazardous waste on
human populations.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 1:
Wastewater Treatment
Unit Lesson
As you will notice, this class is designated as MEE (Masters of
Environmental Engineering). As scholar-

2. practitioners of environmental management, it is imperative that
we learn to apply engineering principles to
keep the environment and other people as safe as possible while
operating within work systems across a
wide cross-section of industry settings. This is the very basis
for studying environmental engineering.
Environmental managers typically observe and report incidents
while implementing administrative programs
to hopefully reduce the volume of incidents experienced in a
given industry setting. Environmental engineers
do something different. First, environmental engineers study the
affected work systems to identify
independent variables causally related to incidents. Second,
environmental engineers use statistical data
analysis to forecast future incidents. Finally, environmental
engineers work to engineer out the risks from the
work system. All of this is done well before introducing the
environment and humans into the contemporary
work system. This is the very work that we must do as scholar-
practitioners of environmental management.
Consequently, we must learn to think and work as
environmental engineers.
This unit is going to help us focus on our objectives for this
entire class as we learn to study industrial and
hazardous waste systems with the most effective technical
design tools available to the environmental
engineering field. Let’s make the mental transition from an
environmental manager to an environmental
engineer together as we begin!
First, in an effort to appreciate the need for properly managing
these wastes, it is important for us to assess
the impact of industrial and hazardous waste on human
populations.

3. Hickman (2003) explained that the United States only began
understanding the impact of solid, industrial, and
hazardous waste on the human population after World War II
(late 1950s). Before the early 1970s, the larger
part of waste management seemed to have been focused on the
transportation of the wastes, rather than the
treatment and subsequent disposal of the wastes (Hickman,
2003). By the time we reached the early 1980s,
we had just begun to recognize the relationship between the
industry type standard industrial code (SIC) and
the waste types (classifications) largely associated with each
industry. For example, we learned that roughly
70% of the hazardous waste nationwide was generated by the
chemical industry (SIC code 28), with
approximately 20% belonging to the primary metals industry
(SIC code 33), and the remaining 10% belonging
to the additional industry types (Haas & Vamos, 1995). Still,
one of the most informative realizations was that
approximately 90% of the waste was being generated by
approximately 10% of the waste generators among
industry types. As such, one of the first classifications that is
important for us to understand is the small
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Industrial Hazardous Waste Attributes,
Impacts, and Regulations
MEE 5801, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management 2

4. UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
quantity generator that represents the 90% of the industry
generators producing approximately only 10% of
the total waste (Haas & Vamos, 1995).
Second, given that we understand every process is likely to have
an effluent waste stream (solid, liquid, or
gas), it is imperative that we as environmental engineers
understand the waste aspect of a given operation.
This means we must learn the fundamental science (chemistry
and physics) and engineering principles
involved in the operation. Interestingly, the majority of the
chemistry involved in waste treatment occurs within
the wastewater matrices of the industrial effluents. Bahadori
(2014) carefully navigates us through this critical
first lesson of wastewater chemistry within the context of a
wastewater treatment plant. It is critical that you
take the time to carefully follow Bahadori (2014) through this
discussion as it will inform your thinking
throughout the entire course.
Third, it is important that we be able classify wastes by
understanding and recognizing the key attributes of
wastes that may be considered industrial wastes, solid wastes,
or hazardous wastes. In addition to Bahadori’s
(2014) characterization and classification of wastewaters, we
must also begin to recognize the differences
between solid wastes and hazardous wastes generated by
industrial sources. This is largely achieved by
using applied chemistry to delineate the differences between
solid wastes and hazardous wastes. We first
distinguish between inorganic wastes and organic wastes. Then,

5. we further segregate by type: (inorganics)
acid wastes, alkaline wastes, and other inorganic wastes;
(organics) concentrated liquids, dilute aqueous
solutions, organic solids, and organic gases/vapors. Everything
else not falling in either of these categories
(such as biological wastes, explosives, strong oxidizers, and
strong reducers) is considered a special waste
(Haas & Vamos, 1995).These chemical and physical attributes
are recognized only through chemical and
physical laboratory testing with Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) approved test methods.
Finally, we must consider the relevant laws, standards, and best
practices related to managing these wastes.
While there are local municipal and state laws governing
specific aspects of waste management and disposal
(often termed local limits), the EPA ultimately governs the most
contemporary and best practices through
several laws (e.g., Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource
Conservation & Recovery Act [RCRA]).
Additionally, the EPA governs with the Code of Federal
Regulation (CFR) (specifically 40 CFR Part 261 for
RCRA hazardous waste identification and 40 CFR Part 503 for
sewage sludge) (Haas & Vamos, 1995).
As we progress through this class, we are going to be designing
a waste management system within the
context of a course project. This course project will be a
proposed industrial and hazardous waste treatment
facility that we will individually engineer, complete with
wastewater, solid, and gas treatment and control
technologies. As such, we will draw heavily upon each chapter
of Bahadori’s (2014) textbook as we engineer
one aspect of the facility design proposal in each unit.
This may be your first opportunity to design as an

6. environmental engineer. Take in everything that you can in
this class and think like a designing environmental engineer!
This is what we are called to do as
scholar-practitioners of environmental management.
References
Bahadori, A. (2014). Waste management in the chemical and
petroleum industries. West Sussex, United
Kingdom: Wiley.
Haas, C., & Vamos, R. (1995). Hazardous and industrial waste
treatment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-
Hall.
Hickman, H. L. (2003). American alchemy: The history of solid
waste management in the United States.
Santa Barbara, CA: Forester Press.
MEE 5801, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title

7. Suggested Reading
The suggested reading will give you additional resources related
to wastewater management planning. The
article can be found using the Academic Search Complete
database in the CSU library.
Hashemi, H., Pourzamani, H., & Samani, B. R. (2014).
Comprehensive planning for classification and
disposal of solid waste at the industrial parks regarding health
and environmental impacts.
Journal Of Environmental & Public Health, 1-6.
Comparison-Contrast Essay
Comparison-Contrast Essay is Due ________________. It is to
meet the following criteria:
1. 2-3 pages in length; not including the Works Cited page
2. Follow MLA formatting and provide both in-text citing and a
Works Cited page. Refer to the printed MLA Mini-Manual for
help or any of the online sources on the handout for using
sources.
3. A clear thesis statement is required – for help with thesis
statements refer to the handout on creating them.
4. Use a minimum of two outside sources for support – refer to
source handout for help. Be very careful to use reputable
sources as outlined in the handout.
5. NEVER use Wikipedia – self policed websites cannot be
counted on for truthful and credible information.
6. A clean, printed, hard copy is to be turned in to the professor
in class.

8. 7. The essays are due on the assigned day (on the syllabus) and
will be docked one letter grade per day that they are late. That
means EVERY day, not just class days.
Purpose: Comparison-Contrast is a good choice ifthe goal of the
essay is to demonstrate: one thing is better than another (an
Android cell phone is better/worse than an iPhone), things that
seem different are actually more alike than they seem (the
appeals of baseball, soccer and football), or things that are
seemingly alike are more different than they appear (parents and
children in their views toward success). Sometimes the
comparison is needed and sometimes the contrast is needed, but
there are also times when both are needed (have movies in the
21st century become only copies of the movies of previous
millennia or do they offer new plot and characteristics?)
When taking the purpose into account, it is imperative that the
purpose be kept in mind so that the essay stays focused on the
stated thesis.
Audience: The goal of comparison-contrast writing is not
simply to show how two things differ or are alike, comparison-
contrast is a strategy for making a point or arguing for one
position or another, evaluating the validity or lack thereof for
one thing or another, clearing up misconceptions by revealing
similarities or differences, or drawing an analogy between two
seemingly different things. As always, the audience for college
essays should be inclusionary and be for all to read and written
at an adult level.
Organization and Development: A solid thesis is imperative for
a comparison-contrast essay (as with all essays). The thesis
could: name the subjects being compared and contrasted,
indicate whether the focus will be on similarities, differences or
both, or state the main objective of the essay. Brainstorming
for the pros, cons, differences, similarities, etc. is helpful so

9. that the writer can then decide which of those should have the
focus. The two common organizational approaches for
comparison-contrast essays are one-side-at-a-time, which
explores all about one subject first and then explores the other
one, and point-by-point where the writer alternates from one
aspect of the first subject and then the same aspect of the
second subject.
Ex. One-side-at-a-time: All of the points such as cost,
application variety and quality, and user friendliness of the
Android and then all of the points about cost, application
variety and quality, and user friendliness for the iPhone.
Ex. Point-by-point: 1. The cost of the Android; the cost of
the iPhone.
2. The application variety and quality of the Android; the
application variety and quality of the iPhone.
3. The user friendliness of the Android; the user friendliness of
the iPhone.
When doing any college essay, clear transitions are needed, but
for comparison-contrast essays, it is important to focus on
transitions that indicate similarities and differences, such as:
also, in the same way, likewise, similarly, as opposed, etc.
Criteria for Evaluation: 100 points
30 points: Development
1. Has clear introduction and thesis statement.
2. Follows clear organizational pattern
3. Has appropriate title in the correct placement
4. Type of audience is considered
5. Tone is appropriate for the topic
6. Topic is supported fully
7. Has clear transitions from point and paragraph to point and
paragraph
8. Style of conclusion is both suited to the topic and logical
without adding new information
9. Stays on topic and does not veer off in unnecessary directions

10. 35 points: Grammar
1. Has no comma splices
2. Has no run-ons or fragments
3. Uses correct pronoun agreement
4. Uses varied sentence structure
5. Spelling is carefully checked
6. Word choice is clear and appropriate
7. There is no faulty subject or verb agreement
8. All sentences are parallel
9. Commas and apostrophes are used correctly
10. Underlining, italics, capital letters, etc. are correct
35 points: Proper Use of MLA
1. Spacing is correct; without extra spaces used unnecessarily
(2.0)
2. Proper information is listed at the top and left (Name, Class,
Assignment Type/#, Date)
3. Name and page #’s are at the top right ½ inch from the top
4. In-text citations are correct and in the right place
5. Is the correct length with the correct number of sources
6. The Works Cited page has the proper format and correct
heading
7. Information is properly credited to sources
8. Has proper margins and fonts
Unit I Project
Over the course of these eight units, we will be developing a
course project. We will do a single section of the course project
in every unit by completing one section of the course project,
and then adding to it with the subsequent work in the following
unit. This unit work will be in the form of unit projects.
In following units (Units II, III, V, VI, and VIII), the Unit
Lesson will contain an interactive model that will enable you to
effectively select the most appropriate equipment and
technology to engineer into your waste management system
design for the facility. It is imperative that you read the Unit
Lessons within the study guide in each unit, use the interactive

11. model, and consider the current (as well as previous) material
from Bahadori’s (2014) textbook in every unit. This project will
serve as a comprehensive demonstration of your applied
learning of engineering industrial and hazardous waste
treatment systems.
Your course project will be to develop a document titled “A
Proposal for an Industrial Waste Treatment Facility” and will
serve as a simulation of your work as a contract environmental
engineer for a small, rural town in the United States.
The Scenario:
You have contracted with the city named Small Town, USA, to
design and engineer a municipal industrial waste pre-treatment
facility. The city currently accepts liquid wastes from three
significant industrial users (SIU): (a) a petroleum refinery, (b)
an animal rendering plant, and (c) a tanker truck washout. In an
effort to capture revenue, the city is currently accepting the
liquid waste physically hauled by tanker truck from all three
SIU members and is subsequently collecting the liquid wastes
into a 300,000 gallon storage tank, pending your facility
design.
The city wants to be able to effectively treat and neutralize the
liquid waste, landfill or reuse the sludge in an agriculture
application, and discharge the neutralized treatment plant
effluent water to the existing municipal (residential) wastewater
plant for final treatment after successfully meeting the local
limits for each analyte.
The current waste profile has been analyzed at a local
environmental chemical testing laboratory. This is the lab report
at 30ºC:
Analyte
Concentration (mg/L or ppm)
Local Limits (mg/L or ppm)

12. BOD
4200
1300
COD
6000
2400
TSS
800
160
pH
5.5
6.0-9.0
TDS
5000
200
TOC
1300
150
Cyanides
3
0.5
Phenols
15
12
Cadmium
15
2
Chromium (trivalent)
5
0.25
Iron
800
50

13. H2S (hydrogen sulfide)
6
0.5
TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbons)
1600
640
All response should be at least 200 words in length
Question 1
Refer to the Unit I Study Guide. Identify the relevant
laws and standards that are used to ensure best practices in
industrial and hazardous waste management. Discuss how these
standards prescribe the laboratory testing to differentiate
different key attributes of waste types.
Question 2
Refer to the Unit I Study Guide. Explain the impact
of industrial and hazardous waste on human populations.
Question 3
List each priority pollutant category, with one
constituent of concern for each category. Discuss the concerns
associated with each constituent you have listed
Question 4
Identify the terms biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
and suspended solids, and discuss the relationship between the
two metrics as they relate to wastewater treatment.