Findings from a Cooperative Study
of Phenol Waste Treatment
EDWARD   J.   CLEARY AND  JOHN   E.   KINNEY
Executive Director and Sanitary Engineer
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
Cincinnati, Ohio
These remarks are intended to portray the background and to serve as
the preface, for discussion of a project relating to phenol destruction by
chemical oxidation.
You will note that the title of this presentation is "Findings From A
Cooperative Study of Phenol Waste Treatment." The title was care¬
fully chosen to provide latitude for something more than a report on
technical developments affecting treatment of a troublesome industrial
waste. Not the least of the "findings" from this project is the demon¬
strated value of cooperative effort in seeking a solution to a problem of
mutual concern to industry and to regulatory agencies.
This report is the outcome of some unusually effective and unselfish
teamwork in which the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commis¬
sion served in the role of coordinator. Principal participants on the
team were the Armco Steel Corporation, the Wallace and Tiernan
Company, the Ozone Processes Division of the Welsbach Corporation,
the Mathieson Chemical Corporation and the sanitary engineering
division of the Ohio State Health Department. Assisting the team were
a host of others, notably the U.S. Public Health Service laboratories in
Cincinnati, the Dow Chemical Company and various coke-producing
plants.
Quite aside from practical merits of technical information originating
from this project, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
takes great satisfaction from the manner in which the work was
carried out.
This finding, that the Commission can perform a useful service in
inspiring and coordinating action on industrial waste treatment, compels
attention. It does so because it lends validity to a basic concept held by
the Commission: With a mandate and the legal powers for curbing
pollution, the Commission also recognizes that issuance of a court order
is not necessarily the quickest or most effective way to secure action.
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