Analysis of Risk of Waste

Output to theSeneca-Babcock

CommunityBy Buffalo Color Corporation TRI

ReleasesA collaboration betweenBy Edward M. Murphy

Dr. Joe Gardella, AdvisorWalter Garrow, Buffalo Color

Corporation

We want to determine the risk.What is risk?

In our case, risk is the determination of whether or not materials released from Buffalo Color may harm the community.

What increases risk?

Risk is determined by the answers to these three questions...

•How much is there of it?•How bad is it for the community?•How likely is it to get to the community?

How much of it is there?

• What is released…• Where it is released…• How much is released...

Buffalo Color is required by law to issue a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

The TRI tells us:

Where is it released?

Buffalo Color releases toxic materials the following way

• Into the air• Into the Buffalo River• Into the sewer system

Since Buffalo Color can only really impactCommunity by air, that is what we will look at...

How hazardous is the material?

0 - Non-hazardous1 - Very minimal chance of hazard2 - Slightly hazardous3 - Moderately toxic4 - Toxic

Materials are rated by hazard from 0-4 based on the following scale:

But… We must be careful.The 0-4 scale can be misleading…

A swimming pool of 0 hazard water can be dangerous…

A can of cola has a significant amount of 3 hazard phosphoric acid, but we drink it...

The reason for this...

The toxic scale from 0-4 accounts for many things…

• If exposed to it, will it suffocate you?• Will it poison you?• Will it corrode your skin?• Could it increase risk for cancer?

However...

The 0-4 scale is a simple and general way to make the analysis.

But does not tell us:

• What is hazardous about it…• How much makes it hazardous• How we need to come in contact to

make it hazardous

How likely am I to be exposed to a certain material?

Picture our air like a bottle of good Italian dressing…

• Some stuff settles out quickly.• Some sinks to the bottom.• Some rises to the top.

Same thing with gases...Some will rise out of the Buffalo

Color smokestack and miss Seneca Babcock.

• Some gases settle out quickly.• Some sinks to the bottom.• Some rises to the top.

The Relative Gas ScaleHow heavy or light the gas coming out of the

smokestack is in comparison to the air.

• Air = 1.0• Something half as heavy as air = 0.5• Something twice as heavy as air = 2.0

The 2.0 will sink, the 0.5 will rise

Some examples...

• Air = 1.0

• Helium = 0.1- (Very Light)

• Sulfur Dioxide = 2.2-(Over twice as heavy as air)

What we get from this...

• The lower the number, the less likely Seneca Babcock is going to be exposed, because the material will rise not sink…

• The higher the number, the more likely Seneca Babcock will be exposed to the material, as it will sink, not rise.

Overall Risk

We have identified and discussed all the components of risk– Amount– Hazard– Chance

Combining Terms

To identify total risk, we multiply the factors.Risk = Amount x Hazard x Chance

• Amount - In Pounds, Out of Smokestack

• Hazard - Scale from 0-4• Chance - How light gas is

What we’ve allbeen waiting for…

The Results...

Hazard Rankings of Emissions from Buffalo Color (1996 TRI)Air Emissions Hazard Level Vapor Density Relative Risk Risk Release

Compounds (lbs) HMIS (0-4) Air = 1 Factor Rank Rank

Ammonia 313,375 3 0.6 564075 1 1Aniline 8893 3 3.2 85373 2 4

Methanol 13862 3 1.11 46160 3 3Ethylene 41,616 1 1.0 41616 4 2

Maleic Anhydride 1880 3 3.4 19176 5 71,3-Butadiene 3547 2 1.9 13479 6 5

N,N-Dimethyl Analine 2034 2 1.47 5980 7 6Xylene 624 2 3.66 4568 8 8

Formaldehyde 241 3 1.3 940 9 9Toluene 104 2 3.1 645 10 12Benzene 113 2 2.77 626 11 11Phenol 44 3 3.2 422 12 13

Ethylbenzene 230 2 0.887 408 13 10Cyanide Compounds 12 3 1.52 55 14 14

Sulfuric Acids 3 3 3.4 31 15 15

Where did we get our numbers…• Emissions Data

– Buffalo Color TRI

• Safety Data– Material Safety Data Sheets– Government Publications

• Air Density Data– Textbooks

However, we must note…

• This only ranks the risks. It does not tell us the risk.

With this we can take our next step...

Air Analysis

• We can, and are, with your help, testing the air to see if any of the risky materials we are concerned about, are there.

Improving Emissions...

• Buffalo Color, since the last TRI, has installed a ‘flare’ on one of it’s emission points.– A flare is a devise that burns

materials, with the intent of burning something hazardous to change it and make it less hazardous.

How much will it help?Air Emissions Hazard Level Vapor Density Relative Risk Risk Release

Compounds (lbs) HMIS (0-4) Air = 1 Factor Rank Rank

Ammonia 313,375 3 0.6 564075 1 1Aniline 8893 3 3.2 85373 2 4

Methanol 13862 3 1.11 46160 3 3Ethylene 41,616 1 1.0 41616 4 2

Maleic Anhydride 1880 3 3.4 19176 5 71,3-Butadiene 3547 2 1.9 13479 6 5

N,N-Dimethyl Analine 2034 2 1.47 5980 7 6Xylene 624 2 3.66 4568 8 8

Formaldehyde 241 3 1.3 940 9 9Toluene 104 2 3.1 645 10 12Benzene 113 2 2.77 626 11 11Phenol 44 3 3.2 422 12 13

Ethylbenzene 230 2 0.887 408 13 10Cyanide Compounds 12 3 1.52 55 14 14

Sulfuric Acids 3 3 3.4 31 15 15

The shaded materials are no longer being released, thanks to flare.

We have shown...

• What materials pose the most risk• Explained the concept of risk• The relative nature of the

assessment• What Buffalo Color has done

What’s next?

• Determine what is in the air• Answer the communities concerns• Work to further the relationship between

Buffalo Color, and Seneca Babcock• Assist Buffalo Color, in making further

environmental improvements, if needed• Assess risk from other companies, in area