Data Home | Math Topics | Environment Topics | Topics Matrix | Master List | Help

Download the Data

PDF

Excel File
(for state-by-state Excel data, see About the Data below)

Text File

Minitab File

Data Set #003
About the Data
View the Data
Help with Using Data

  Go to Top  

About the Data

About Hazardous Waste
     Hazardous waste is any waste that may be considered toxic, flammable (i.e. burns readily), corrosive, reactive or explosive.  Many types of businesses produce hazardous waste.  Some are small companies such as dry cleaners, auto repair shops, hospitals, and photo processing centers.  Others are larger firms which may generate large quantities of hazardous waste, such as chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies, and petroleum refineries.

      The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the main Federal law that regulates hazardous and other wastes to ensure that they are managed properly.  RCRA waste is solid waste assigned a federal hazardous waste code and regulated by RCRA either because it was managed subject to RCRA permitting standards or because it was shipped subject to RCRA hazardous transportation requirements.  EPA has a list of specific hazardous wastes, defined by 504 different waste codes.  Not all hazardous waste is RCRA waste.

     Information on hazardous wastes comes from the EPA's Biennial Reporting System (BRS).  BRS contains data from Hazardous Waste Report Forms submitted by regulated hazardous waste generators and handlers.   BRS represents the only nationally consistent reporting of information on hazardous waste generation and management activities in the United States. Although the information collected is not designed to measure environmental impact, it is the most comprehensive source available for information on the management and generation of hazardous wastes.  The data are collected every other year.

     Some hazardous wastes are not picked up in the BRS database.  Hazardous wastes that are generated in the home, like mineral spirits and old paint, are not regulated by the federal RCRA program.  In addition, not all hazardous waste generators are required to report, some waste is exempted from regulation, and some waste is regulated under other environmental statutes (particularly at the state level).  Some facilities may fail to report.
 

About this data set
 The data in this set are means of RCRA waste produced in years 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997 from the 30 most populous counties in the 12 most populous states. The data were collected from the BRS database at the US EPA's web site, and then later from the Right-to Know web site, by students at Seattle Central Community College. State-by-state and yearly breakdowns of the data are provided in Excel format in the table below.

California.xls Florida.xls Georgia.xls Illinois.xls
Indiana.xls Michigan.xls New York.xls North Carolina.xls
Ohio.xls Pennsylvania.xls Texas.xls Virginia.xls

As with all data, the reliability and meaning of the RCRA waste production values should be questioned immediately.  In Madison County, IL, waste generated increased from 48 kilotons in 1989 to 9.5 Megatons in 1991, a factor of 200.

The aggregate data from all 12 states have an extreme positive skew (i.e., skew to the right). Students should investigate what type of function best transforms the data into a normal or bell-shaped distribution. How can summary statistics of the transformed sample data be used to make inferences about the population (all similarly populated states)?
     
  Go to Top  

View the Data

County and State

Mean RCRA waste per person (lbs/yr)

Alameda County, CA

183.6

Butte County, CA

29.0

Contra Costa County, CA

17981.1

El Dorado County, CA

1.4

Fresno County, CA

134.2

Kern County, CA

883.5

Los Angeles County, CA

969.0

Marin County, CA

1.0

Merced County, CA

18.1

Monterey County, CA

871.4

Orange County, CA

336.6

Placer County, CA

2578.0

Riverside County, CA

13.0

Sacramento County, CA

106.1

San Bernardino County, CA

128.0

San Diego County, CA

373.9

San Francisco County, CA

48.4

San Joaquin County, CA

1285.2

San Luis Obispo County, CA

118.4

San Mateo County, CA

270.2

Santa Barbara County, CA

28.1

Santa Clara County, CA

2867.0

Santa Cruz County, CA

178.3

Shasta County, CA

1.5

Solano County, CA

258.4

Sonoma County, CA

43.9

Stanislaus County, CA

643.6

Tulare County, CA

79.6

Ventura County, CA

55.3

Yolo County, CA

13.2

Alachua County, FL

50.1

Bay County, FL

304.8

Brevard County, FL

42.3

Broward County, FL

43.0

Citrus County, FL

729.4

Clay County, FL

40.9

Dade County, FL

34.2

Duval County, FL

96.9

Escambia County, FL

747.3

Hernando County, FL

2.0

Hillsborough County, FL

69.8

Indian River County, FL

1.4

Lake County, FL

0.7

Lee County, FL

236.4

Leon County, FL

24.4

Manatee County, FL

80.2

Marion County, FL

36.7

Martin County, FL

11.6

Okaloosa County, FL

7.3

Orange County, FL

10.8

Palm Beach County, FL

37.1

Pasco County, FL

49.0

Pinellas County, FL

78.0

Polk County, FL

719.9

St. Johns County, FL

211.9

St. Lucie County, FL

0.7

Santa Rosa County, FL

155.1

Sarasota County, FL

0.3

Seminole County, FL

14.8

Volusia County, FL

14.4

Bartow County, GA

1079.5

Bibb County, GA

117.0

Carroll County, GA

62.5

Chatham County, GA

369.3

Cherokee County, GA

3.9

Clarke County, GA

47.0

Clayton County, GA

530.5

Cobb County, GA

52.1

Columbia County, GA

7.1

Coweta County, GA

1920.9

De Kalb County, GA

81.3

Douglas County, GA

36.1

Fayette County, GA

103.7

Floyd County, GA

2645.2

Forsyth County, GA

24.1

Fulton County, GA

104.7

Glynn County, GA

831.9

Gwinnett County, GA

12.0

Hall County, GA

143.7

Houston County, GA

2040.5

Liberty County, GA

5.4

Lowndes County, GA

6039.4

Muscogee County, GA

197.1

Richmond County, GA

15374.4

Rockdale County, GA

6.6

Troup County, GA

39.1

Walker County, GA

2.0

Whitfield County, GA

859.4

Adams County, IL

239.1

Champaign County, IL

13.9

Coles County, IL

11.2

Cook County, IL

441.1

DeKalb County, IL

53.4

Du Page County, IL

54.3

Henry County, IL

52.3

Jackson County, IL

38.0

Kane County, IL

81.8

Kankakee County, IL

482.3

Knox County, IL

108.1

Lake County, IL

124.1

La Salle County, IL

102.5

McHenry County, IL

63.7

McLean County, IL

288.0

Macon County, IL

39.8

Madison County, IL

58870.2

Marion County, IL

71.3

Ogle County, IL

421.8

Peoria County, IL

1234.3

Rock Island County, IL

180.2

St. Clair County, IL

269.3

Sangamon County, IL

20.8

Stephenson County, IL

6968.9

Tazewell County, IL

8.4

Vermilion County, IL

557.0

Whiteside County, IL

1976.2

Will County, IL

2703.9

Williamson County, IL

64.7

Winnebago County, IL

1171.6

Allen County, IN

428.6

Bartholomew County, IN

147.7

Clark County, IN

11.7

Delaware County, IN

809.8

Elkhart County, IN

340.3

Floyd County, IN

244.2

Grant County, IN

120.9

Hamilton County, IN

37.4

Hancock County, IN

170.1

Hendricks County, IN

5.7

Henry County, IN

268.4

Howard County, IN

3702.6

Johnson County, IN

15.3

Knox County, IN

9.3

Kosciusko County, IN

153.6

Lake County, IN

1867.1

La Porte County, IN

48.9

Madison County, IN

1250.6

Marion County, IN

957.9

Marshall County, IN

29.8

Monroe County, IN

25.9

Morgan County, IN

320.0

Porter County, IN

8271.3

St. Joseph County, IN

31052.8

Shelby County, IN

1157.8

Tippecanoe County, IN

3058.9

Vanderburgh County, IN

467.5

Vigo County, IN

184.9

Warrick County, IN

644.6

Wayne County, IN

273.2

Allegan County, MI

31.7

Bay County, MI

442.0

Berrien County, MI

1236.2

Calhoun County, MI

1075.2

Clinton County, MI

438.0

Eaton County, MI

3.5

Genesee County, MI

431.6

Ingham County, MI

62.3

Ionia County, MI

6190.0

Isabella County, MI

4.4

Jackson County, MI

64.7

Kalamazoo County, MI

478.5

Kent County, MI

1033.5

Lapeer County, MI

386.6

Lenawee County, MI

99.3

Livingston County, MI

14.5

Macomb County, MI

384.8

Marquette County, MI

4.0

Midland County, MI

524205.0

Monroe County, MI

261.6

Muskegon County, MI

2459.1

Oakland County, MI

819.8

Ottawa County, MI

1888.8

Saginaw County, MI

47.3

St. Clair County, MI

941.3

St. Joseph County, MI

188.8

Shiawassee County, MI

47.3

Van Buren County, MI

212.6

Washtenaw County, MI

1296.7

Wayne County, MI

1440.1

Albany County, NY

1597.1

Bronx County, NY

8.1

Broome County, NY

2843.6

Chautauqua County, NY

553.3

Chemung County, NY

444.7

Dutchess County, NY

580.6

Erie County, NY

195.7

Jefferson County, NY

23.3

Kings County, NY

27.6

Monroe County, NY

24910.5

Nassau County, NY

334.5

New York County, NY

133.6

Niagara County, NY

9181.0

Oneida County, NY

270.0

Onondaga County, NY

841.9

Ontario County, NY

30.0

Orange County, NY

426.9

Oswego County, NY

30.9

Queens County, NY

30.4

Rensselaer County, NY

1413.2

Richmond County, NY

18.8

Rockland County, NY

3146.4

St. Lawrence County, NY

1563.9

Saratoga County, NY

21042.0

Schenectady County, NY

276.7

Steuben County, NY

86.5

Suffolk County, NY

26.4

Tompkins County, NY

516.8

Ulster County, NY

326.8

Westchester County, NY

135.5

Alamance County, NC

126.3

Buncombe County, NC

229.3

Burke County, NC

30.4

Cabarrus County, NC

17.6

Caldwell County, NC

219.0

Catawba County, NC

437.3

Cleveland County, NC

165.5

Craven County, NC

223.9

Cumberland County, NC

5.8

Davidson County, NC

217.0

Durham County, NC

125.3

Forsyth County, NC

150.3

Gaston County, NC

701.7

Guilford County, NC

68.7

Henderson County, NC

15.4

Iredell County, NC

618.0

Johnston County, NC

33.3

Mecklenburg County, NC

430.5

Nash County, NC

296.7

New Hanover County, NC

2706.6

Onslow County, NC

4.9

Orange County, NC

156.6

Pitt County, NC

143.4

Randolph County, NC

424.6

Robeson County, NC

126.8

Rockingham County, NC

54.6

Rowan County, NC

31.5

Union County, NC

17.5

Wake County, NC

954.8

Wayne County, NC

97.2

Allen County, OH

16379.4

Ashtabula County, OH

1010.9

Butler County, OH

395.5

Clark County, OH

36.6

Clermont County, OH

182.9

Columbiana County, OH

237.4

Cuyahoga County, OH

194.8

Fairfield County, OH

39.7

Franklin County, OH

49.9

Geauga County, OH

90.4

Greene County, OH

32.2

Hamilton County, OH

50.5

Lake County, OH

136.9

Licking County, OH

183.3

Lorain County, OH

193.3

Lucas County, OH

157.1

Mahoning County, OH

95.3

Medina County, OH

36.6

Miami County, OH

71.4

Montgomery County, OH

124.4

Muskingum County, OH

376.4

Portage County, OH

577.8

Richland County, OH

392.6

Scioto County, OH

3538.5

Stark County, OH

435.0

Summit County, OH

34.5

Trumbull County, OH

137.4

Tuscarawas County, OH

255.3

Warren County, OH

32.7

Wood County, OH

35.4

Allegheny County, PA

273.8

Beaver County, PA

4259.8

Berks County, PA

3550.4

Blair County, PA

207.9

Bucks County, PA

1705.8

Butler County, PA

10543.3

Cambria County, PA

1866.1

Centre County, PA

998.8

Chester County, PA

329.5

Cumberland County, PA

95.7

Dauphin County, PA

405.6

Delaware County, PA

19012.0

Erie County, PA

887.1

Fayette County, PA

32.2

Franklin County, PA

62.8

Lackawanna County, PA

245.9

Lancaster County, PA

512.3

Lebanon County, PA

17.8

Lehigh County, PA

170.7

Luzerne County, PA

146.9

Lycoming County, PA

170.4

Mercer County, PA

528.0

Montgomery County, PA

2262.2

Northampton County, PA

154.4

Northumberland County, PA

10389.6

Philadelphia County, PA

4569.5

Schuylkill County, PA

144.6

Washington County, PA

2388.4

Westmoreland County, PA

1685.4

York County, PA

505.1

Bell County, TX

8.6

Bexar County, TX

913.0

Brazoria County, TX

153064.9

Brazos County, TX

72.1

Cameron County, TX

6.1

Collin County, TX

68.6

Dallas County, TX

873.0

Denton County, TX

342.9

Ector County, TX

6211.7

El Paso County, TX

1404.1

Fort Bend County, TX

499.8

Galveston County, TX

126785.1

Gregg County, TX

17236.8

Harris County, TX

13012.5

Hidalgo County, TX

4.7

Jefferson County, TX

35730.9

Lubbock County, TX

61.2

McLennan County, TX

139.0

Midland County, TX

43.2

Montgomery County, TX

207.0

Nueces County, TX

17666.9

Potter County, TX

1881.6

Smith County, TX

3138.0

Tarrant County, TX

69.7

Taylor County, TX

23.9

Tom Green County, TX

3.4

Travis County, TX

1659.0

Webb County, TX

1.2

Wichita County, TX

157.0

Williamson County, TX

149.7

Accomack County, VA

14.9

Albemarle County, VA

357.4

Arlington County, VA

0.7

Campbell County, VA

867.8

Chesterfield County, VA

2320.4

Culpeper County, VA

2665.6

Frederick County, VA

224.4

Halifax County, VA

14.0

Hanover County, VA

46.0

Henrico County, VA

3721.3

Henry County, VA

66.1

Isle of Wight County, VA

80.1

James City County, VA

255.5

Loudoun County, VA

34.5

Mecklenburg County, VA

220.8

Montgomery County, VA

17603.8

Page County, VA

818.0

Pittsylvania County, VA

211.5

Prince George County, VA

12.8

Prince William County, VA

39.4

Pulaski County, VA

49.4

Rockingham County, VA

672.9

Shenandoah County, VA

6.4

Smyth County, VA

30.0

Spotsylvania County, VA

5.5

Stafford County, VA

1.6

Warren County, VA

284.6

Washington County, VA

16.2

Wythe County, VA

18.8

York County, VA

5344.7

Bin

Frequency

0-1000

287

1000-2000

25

2000-3000

12

3000-4000

7

4000-5000

2

5000-6000

1

6000-7000

4

7000-8000

0

8000-9000

1

9000-10000

1

>10000

18

  Go to Top