ABSTRACT
In the epilogue to the original edition of Dangerous Ground, illegal hazardous waste disposal was described as a variation of one long game of “hot potato.” That feature of illegal hazardous waste disposal remains the same to this day. In this toxic gambit, the criminal goal is to make as much profit as one can by being the temporary possessor of the “hot potato” before unloading it on some other person, organization, or place. In the end, the final recipient is the loser. It may turn out to be the new owner of a single-family dwelling, a business that has moved to a new location contaminated by the previous owner, or, ironically, the enforcement agency investigating environmental crimes. Ultimately, some entity pays the final price of being the eventual direct “victim” of wastes that are usually generated through a legal manufacturing process; a process that often produces consumer-related products that are in high demand. Frequently, the destinations of these wastes become those states that are willing to accept burgeoning waste volumes from other states not fully equipped to handle them. During the period of the original publication of this book, the exportation of New Jersey hazardous wastes destined for out-of-state treatment met with a public backlash in several Midwestern states, and some popular “waste destination” states were battling in the courts to erect barriers against the flagrant importation of hazardous wastes.
