The evolution of refuse collection and disposal (now solid waste management) in the United States is tied to two important movements: the protection of public health and the protection of the environment. Although they are inextricably intertwined, the public-health movement came long before the environmental movement. Many environmentalists think that the environmental movement began on the first Earth Day in 1970. They could not be more wrong. Many who work in the field think that solid waste management began with the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. They couldn’t be more wrong either.
The environmental movement began in the 1800s when the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) was charged with eradicating from the US a number of communicable diseases - notably typhoid, diphtheria, and yellow fever. With that effort was born a campaign that still goes on today to eliminate those agents that, through communicable means, affect human health. This campaign was appropriately named public health. As our knowledge grew, a second campaign to control the release of chemicals into our environment was joined with the communicable-disease campaign. The result was the creation of a comprehensive effort to protect human health and the environment.
The change from refuse collection and disposal to solid waste management, as we know it today, began before World War II and accelerated rapidly after the end of the war. It was not through US federal regulatory action or large infusions of federal moneys that a movement to change the way refuse was managed began. Rather, it was the personal commitment of individual sanitation professionals and two organizations that recognized that the then-existing refuse collection and disposal practices represented both actual and potential threats to the health of the citizens of the US. From the late 1930s through the early 1970s, this group of pioneers and their organizations laid the foundation for what is now the field of solid waste management (see Note 1).
The Pioneers
Pioneers, in the purest sense, are individuals who are first, or among the first, in any field of inquiry. The pioneers discussed here set out to establish and document a process of refuse collection and disposal which would give those working in the field the tools to improve refuse collection and disposal services. To those pioneers, improvement meant the protection of the public health as well as the provision of efficient and economic services. The most notable pioneering organizations during the formative years of solid waste management (beginning in the late 1930s through 1970) were the American Public Works Associations (APWA) and the USPHS’s Division of Sanitation and Communicable Disease Center (CDC).
The American Public Works Association
APWA was formed in 1937 with the merger of the American Society of Municipal Engineers and the International Association of Public Works Officials. Within these two organizations and their newly merged association, a program to develop manuals of practice in the field of public works began. One of the first manuals developed was devoted to the practice of refuse collection.1 Published in 1941, Refuse Collection Practice represented the first serious effort in the US to consider both the basic collection requirements and the economic considerations in establishing a foundation of best practice in the refuse field.
Developed under the leadership of APWA's Committee on Refuse Collection and Disposal, a two-year development effort encompassed correspondence and field studies of 190 cities in the US and Canada. The book describes what was considered to be the range of practices at the time of its writing and is clearly an excellent snapshot of that era in the history of refuse collection. The pioneering members of this committee included Stuart Weaver of Montclair, NJ; William Galligan, Chicago, IL; David Godat, New Orleans, LA; John Lewis, Rochester, NY; Carl Schneider, New Orleans, LA; Ralph Taylor, Cincinnati, OH; and Jean Vincenz, Fresno, CA. (All but Schneider, a consulting engineer, held prominent public works and sanitation positions in local governments. See Note 2.)
A review of this 650-page groundbreaking publication reveals the foresight of this group and its views of refuse collection. The subjects addressed in the book are much the same ones that we address today in collection, including the composition of refuse, storage, and collection methods; collection equipment; transfer; replacement of horses with trucks (not a problem of today); public and private collection approaches; financing; organization; personnel; budgeting; and public relations.
The war years and postwar demobilization obviously caused the committee to delay the planned companion document on refuse disposal. During this interval, the Committee on Refuse Collection and Disposal was divided into two committees - one each for collection and disposal. In 1961, after five years of effort, APWA's Committee on Refuse Disposal, with the assistance of the USPHS, published the manual of practice, Municipal Refuse Disposal.2 The foreword of that publication noted "the growing importance of solid waste disposal and the increasing demand for an authoritative manual on the subject" and reflected the increased investment in improving refuse management practices by both pioneer organizations. The date of the emergence of the term solid waste is lost in the mists of the past, but by this document’s publication date (1961), the term solid waste had entered our terminology.
In 1961 the term disposal was used much more broadly than now. The book clearly indicates that and offers another snapshot of our history. Subjects included refuse composition, disposal methods such as sanitary landfills (the term had crept into our terminology by that time), onsite and central incineration, grinding foodwastes, composting, swine feeding, salvage and reclamation, and management practices.
The Committee on Refuse Disposal consisted of Casimir Rogus of New York City; Abraham Michaels, Philadelphia, PA; Ed Williams, USPHS; Bernard Geisheker, Milwaukee, WI; Carl Schneider, New Orleans, LA; John Snell (consulting engineer) Lansing, MI; Jean Vincenz, now moved to San Diego County, CA; Leo Weaver, USPHS; Theodore Winkler, Detroit, MI; and William Xanten, Washington, DC.
It was immediately after WWII that a partnership began between APWA and the USPHS. The reasons for this are not clearly defined, but for the USPHS, it offered an opportunity to leverage its limited financial resources to the maximum by having the ability to reach public works people through the membership of APWA. From an APWA viewpoint, partnering with the USPHS offered access to some of its limited funds to help carry out APWA programs, and the reputation of the USPHS as a provider of scientific and technical resources surely added credence to the endeavor. This partnership can be credited with the development of many publications and conferences over the years. A number of those publications will be reviewed in other parts of this series. The importance of the contributions of APWA during these early years cannot be overstated. APWA provided the initial energies to establish a national movement in solid waste management.
The US Public Health Service
In 1798, the USPHS was formed as the Marine Hospital Service. Its mission was to provide health care for the sailors of the US merchant marine fleets. The Marine Hospital Service was organized along military lines to allow the mobility necessary to quickly move personnel to areas requiring immediate health services. Its technical personnel were commissioned officers in their own commissioned corps. When the surgeon general tells you that smoking is harmful to your health, it is the surgeon general of the USPHS speaking.
National epidemics of diphtheria and yellow and typhoid fevers during the 1800s, notably along the Mississippi and Ohio river basins, resulted in the mission of the USPHS being broadened to fight these epidemics. The medical practitioners who responded to these events became concerned that their patients were exposed to diseases that were spread by water, insects, rodents, and other sources of unsanitary conditions. This expansion of their mission called for talent beyond the existing corps of medical practitioners. Sanitary engineers and sanitarians, with design, construction, operation, and management skills to deal with community needs (not unlike environmental issues of today), were added to the USPHS Commissioned Corps to address sanitation issues.
Unlike its descendent, USEPA, the USPHS was not a federal enforcement organization. Rather, the USPHS delivered health care (to the merchant marines and later the federal prison system, immigration service, and Native Americans reservations), provided assistance to state and local governments on public-health practices, promoted training, and supported research and development. Sanitation efforts in the USPHS were initiated with this same approach. In time, the cadre of USPHS sanitary engineering officers in particular assumed major responsibilities over a number of communicable disease and sanitation activities within the USPHS. From this group and their activities began the environmental movement of today.
The Beginnings of the Federal Environmental Effort
Two groups of sanitary engineers and sanitarians in the USPHS can be credited with the creation of the federal environmental effort including solid waste management: the Division of Sanitation and the Communicable Disease Center, known today as the Centers for Disease Control. In 1948, the USPHS Division of Sanitation, under the command of C.H. "Slim" Atkins, contained a number of programs, including air quality, water supply, sewage/wastewater, and radiation. These programs were the mothers of the air pollution, water pollution, water supply, and radiation programs that were moved from the USPHS in 1970 to form USEPA.
Early efforts by the Division of Sanitation, particularly in the areas of sewage and air pollution, led to the establishment of separate divisions in the USPHS: one for air pollution and one for water pollution. These programs were ultimately strengthened by specific legislation in the two areas: the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.3,4 Well into the 1970s, the sanitary engineers of the USPHS provided the leadership for the growth of these two significant environmental movements. It was assumed that a program for solid waste disposal/management would follow this same development pattern. The Division of Sanitation was eventually reorganized to form a number of divisions, including the divisions of Air Pollution, Water Pollution Control, Radiological Health, and Environmental Engineering and Food Protection. Solid waste was included in this latter division.
When Leo Weaver, straight out of New York University in 1948, entered the USPHS as a sanitary engineering officer, there was no USPHS refuse program (see Note 3).5 While Weaver became the first full-time individual whose service was dedicated to refuse-related projects, a specific refused-focused entity did not emerge in the USPHS until 1957.
The open-burning dump was considered a major potential agent for communicable diseases. In 1948, national concern about the spread of poliomyelitis (polio) prompted the USPHS to try to stem the spread of this disease. Under the authorities of the USPHS, efforts were begun both in the Division of Sanitation and the CDC to eliminate potential communicable agents - including open-burning dumps - that might cause polio. Weaver’s first assignment was to find alternative approaches to the open-burning dumps of that time; a rather awesome task for one person.5 Building on Weaver’s early work, the USPHS eventually initiated a national drive to close open dumps and establish sanitary landfills as the disposal method of choice. At the same time, the CDC implemented a program to improve operational practices at open dumps through direct assistance with state agencies, usually departments of health/vector-control programs. The combined efforts of the Division of Sanitation and the CDC eventually lead to a national investment in closing open dumps and the birth of the federal solid waste program.
Notes
1. In this series, the term "field of solid waste management" rather than "solid waste management industry" is used. This is based on the difference in the definitions of "field" and "industry." "Field" is defined as a branch of activity or interest, and "industry" is defined as any general business activity. The term "field" seems more appropriate to describe the broad areas of activities necessary to provide solid waste management services to a nation.
2. In the years after 1941, these pioneers’ careers are unknown. However, Carl Schneider appears as a member of the Committee on Refuse Disposal in 1961. In addition, Jean Vincenz, commissioner of public works and engineering from Fresno, CA, was also active on the Committee on Refuse Disposal. There is more history about Vincenz, who will be discussed in future parts of this series.
3. Leo Weaver was interviewed in February 1999 by the author. Weaver entered the USPHS in 1948 and worked on a number of refuse management issues. He later became the director of the Office of Solid Waste, USPHS, shortly after the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965. His work during the years 1948-1967 within the USPHS and then on the staff of APWA directly led to the establishment of the sanitary landfill and the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act in 1965.
References- 1 American Public Works Association, Refuse Collection Practice, APWA, Chicago, IL, 1941.
- 2 American Public Works Association, Municipal Refuse Disposal, APWA, Chicago, IL, 1961.
- 3 Congress, The Clean Air Act (PL 80-159), Washington, DC, 1955.
- 4 Congress, The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (PL 95-976), Washington, DC, 1952. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was eventually amended to become the Clean Water Act.
- 5 Interview of Leo Weaver by H. Lanier Hickman Jr., February 18, 1999.
H. Lanier Hickman Jr., P.E., is a member of MSW Management’s Editorial Advisory Board, and Richard W. Eldredge, P.E., has worked for USEPA, for the USPHS, and as a consulting engineer.
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