Question

A steel mill located along a river. Its production pollutes the river and damages some fishermen downstream.

i. Draw a graph of the market for steel that illustrates this situation

ii. Discuss two solutions with the help of your graph

Answer 1

ndustry shares of emissions of organic water pollutants refer to emissions from manufacturing activities as defined by two-digit divisions of the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 2: primary metals (ISIC division 37). Emissions of organic water pollutants are measured by biochemical oxygen demand, which refers to the amount of oxygen that bacteria in water will consume in breaking down waste. This is a standard water-treatment test for the presence of organic pollutants.

During the last ten years or so, a number of statutory provisions have been enacted with the eventual object of controlling and restricting the amount of pollution which can be permitted or tolerated in the water systems of the European Continent.

Repressive and preventive measures Several acts empower the Administration to penalize, forbid and prevent water pollution. For example, the Act relating to the classified plants, of August 2, 1961, states that the opening of a polluting plant is liable to a licence or, as the case may be, to a mere preliminary notification, coupled with conditions imposed on the wastes. The Classified Plants Department responsible for the application of that Act is, moreover, charged with the task of ensuring its implementation (police responsibility). The statutory powers given the Administration did not prevent the situation from growing worse and worse. It was therefore thought advisable to 'update' those measures while reinforcing them. Such is one of the objectives of the December 16, 1964 Act about 'water policy and distribution, and pollution control'. Some of its enforcement decrees are already issued. Others are being prepared.

Fully aware of the pollution problems, the iron and steel industry works in close cooperation with the pollution control organizations. Within the Association Technique de la Sidérurgie there is a Committee (Water and Atmospheric Pollution Committee) which is responsible for surveying the pollution problems and for finding solutions to them. As a matter of fact, its members are the engineers who, in each plant or firm, are entrusted with the implementation of this pollution control. However, in practice it is very difficult to separate 'pollution control' from 'water management' in the plant: undoubtedly, good water management leads to a decrease in pollution and pollution control requires good water management