STATE OF DELAWARE
LEGISLATIVE HALL
DOVER, DELAWARE 19901

Kowalko Proposes Hazardous Waste Management Law
Would Ensure Responsible Storage, Disposal of Existing Toxic Pollutants

Dover, Del.—Rep. John A. Kowalko, D-Newark South, on Tuesday introduced legislation that will ensure all hazardous waste generated in Delaware is treated, stored and disposed of in a safe and responsible manner. Under a current exemption, existing piles of waste may be buried in place instead of receive more strict treatment requirements for new waste.

"The waste treatment standards were created for a reason—to protect human health and the environment,” Kowalko said. “We cannot allow our safety standards to be lowered because of a legal exemption.”

Recently, a hazardous waste pile containing Dioxins built by DuPont in Edge Moor between 1997 and 2001 has come under scrutiny from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. If the Dioxin pile were created in 2007, DNREC enforcement standards would require the wastes be treated as hazardous and be properly disposed of at a hazardous waste treatment facility.

“The fact is that if these materials were dumped today, they would be treated as extremely dangerous,” Kowalko said. “Why should these toxins be allowed to contaminate our land just because they were put in the ground a long time ago?”

An existing legal exemption would allow the piles of waste to be buried in place so long as the waste is not removed from the land and actively managed. The proposed House Bill 252 would amend Title 7 of the Delaware Code and treat alike kinds of hazardous waste uniformly regardless of when it was created.