The scenario in the case study presents several unlawful environmental health risks and activities which are punishable according to laws and policies in effect in Queensland geared at protecting the environment. “Protection of the environment policies on air, water, and noise pollution management are in place in Queensland (Tooma, 2008, p 91). ” The unlawful environmental health risks and activities should be identified, described and discussed. At the same time there are also potential environmental health risks presented in this particular situation.
Some of what can be considered as unlawful environmental health risks based on the scenario include (1) the presence of large waste piles situated inside a place which may not be legally mandated to undertake such operations, and inside a place designed to be residential and not as dump site for potential toxic waste materials; (2) the threat of having the quality of land, air and water in and around the place where the dump site was found affected because of what the dump site and the dumping processes have been doing to the natural environment (i. e. how the heavily-loaded trucks destroy the make-up, design and characteristics of the land, how the water that remains stagnant and the water that mixes with other toxic chemicals can create potentially dangerous chemicals and fluids that can harm the soil, air and water, etc); (3)
The chemical content in the air which is an unlawful environmental health risk, content which maybe originating from the dump site; (4) the threat to the plants, trees and other living creatures maintaining a particular local ecosystem in the area prior to the creation of the dump site of the toxic and other chemicals and dangerous materials coming out or found in the dump site and its contents, may it be liquid or solid; and lastly, (5) the threat of toxicity and poisoning, disease and even death to the humans living in and around the dump site who maybe in potential danger because the dump site may poison or put toxic content on the air that the humans breathe and on the water that humans use in different aspects of their everyday life.
Possible unlawful activities that endanger environmental health include the presence of waste materials in a location which is not a designated dump site by the national or local government and is against the zoning regulations. This activity acts as the main source of several different kinds of environmental health problems, like incorrect waste management and disposal, noise pollution, harm to the natural environmental make up of the vicinity and the threat it poses to living and non living features of the location. The presence of the dump site provides potential environmental health risks.
There is the risk of water contamination; there is the risk of soil quality and air quality being severely affected by the products and by-products of the toxic waste dump; there is the risk of outbreak of diseases caused by the dumpsite; there is the potential death, destruction and possible irreparable damage to the natural ecosystem especially the possible and undetected, unseen ecological impact brought about by this particular situation.
After the identification of what can be considered as unlawful environmental health risks and activities, it is also important to discuss how these risks and these activities may affect public health or environment protection or both. These features of the dumpsite threaten to impact public health. Some of its features, like its odor, can trigger different kinds of ailments and disease or it can worsen health situations among individuals who have medical conditions that can be aggravated by the chemicals and toxic materials that are derived from or originating from this particular dumpsite.