Environmental Science, 10th Edition (Cunningham)

Chapter 21: Solid, Toxic, and Hazardous Waste

GE Exercise: Alang Beach Shipbreakers, India

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Overview: Alang Beach Shipbreakers, India, p. 479

This remote beach in India is the world's largest shipbreaking yard. Decommissioning ships has become too expensive in most developed countries. The work is dangerous and old ships often are full of toxic and hazardous materials, such as oil, diesel fuel, asbestos, and heavy metals. No one wants to do this work, and no state or province will allow it to be done in its territory. In the developing world, however, environmental regulations often are lax and desperate workers will take any job available. On this 6 km stretch of hulk-littered coast, more than 40,000 workers tear apart obsolete oceangoing vessels using crowbars, cutting torches, and even their bare hands. Every year about 400 tankers, container vessels, and bulk carriers—roughly half of all the world's scrapped vessels—end up on the oil-stained sands of Alang, stranded and doomed like so many beached whales.

A shallow, gently sloping bottom and unusually high tides allow the ships to be driven up onto the beach and then winched into position, where an army of laborers swarms over them like ants dismembering a dead beetle. Metal is dragged away and sold for recycling. Organic waste is often simply burned on the beach, where ashes and oily residue wash back into the water. Typically, it takes only about two months to completely dismantle and recycle a large tanker. Accidents among the workers are common. Almost no one has protective clothing—often not even shoes. Gangs of men cutting apart huge pieces of steel and hauling them ashore by hand frequently are injured. And even when they go home at night, workers and their families are only a few meters away from the toxic mess on the beach. Notice the shantytowns adjacent to the breaking yards.

1
Why is the sand black around the beached ships?
A)The sand is discolored by rust from the ships.
B)The sand was discolored by unrestrained campfires during very high tides.
C)The sand and water are black from oil and other waste residues.
D)The sand and water are infested with tiny black crabs that are displacing indigent crab species.
E)For stability reasons the ships are only landed on black pebble beaches on this coastline.
2
How far is it from the closest of the ships to the workers' shacks?
A)About 5 m
B)About 10 m
C)About 50 m
D)About 100 m
E)About 500 m
3
About 260 km southeast of Alang Beach is India's largest city. What is the name of this city?
A)Mumbai
B)Talaja Hill
C)Palitana
D)Bhavnagar
E)Surat
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