Dangers of E-cycling revealed

Did you know Americans throw away 120 thousand computers a day?

Here in Hampton Roads the EPA estimates 13 thousand tons of computers are tossed in the SPSA landfill every year. Electronic or E-cyling is a booming business, but it's mostly unregulated which creates environmental problems of toxic waste.

On January 17th, Norfolk hosted an E-cycling event. 60 thousand pounds of computers, TVs, and household electronics dropped off and loaded up. 10 On Your Side followed the truck holding the electronics that contain toxic materials. That truck got onto route 58 heading west 242 miles across Virginia into North Carolina to this tucked away warehouse in Mayodan - home of Synergy Recycling.

"What separates us from the bad guys is we separate, and dismantle, and break everything down into commodities," says Synergy's Director of Sales Virginia, Dave Dibean. Dibean says the bad guys would sell computers and TVs to Asian markets, as profiled on CBS's "60 Minutes." They exploit cheap labor that extracts the valuable metals leaving behind hazards that form rivers of toxic waste.

Even here in Hampton Roads, thousands of Cathode Ray Tubes or (CRTS) in TVs and computer monitors containing 6 to 8 pounds of toxic lead each end up in the SPSA landfill. That lead can seep into groundwater contaminating the water supply.

Synergy's part owner and director of operations Brian Beinarauskas told WAVY.com, "He was breaking the glass like this and particles were coming up." After watching a Synergy worker bang the CRTS with a hammer, Beinarauskas told WAVY.com, "That is not a problem. That is not a problem."

"It is completely not a safe practice to do this in the open," says Jim Puckett with the international environmental hazard watchdog group called Basel Action Network. "This is not the way to manage CRTs. You don't take a hammer to them and smash them. By doing that you release the toxic phosphors," Puckett said.

10 On Your Side asked Synergy about that, Beinarauskas said, "We've had a consultant come here and do air testing and the air is clean. It is fine. They are in no danger."

Puckett, however, argues most standard air tests miss what is most dangerous, " Looking at the glass shards, and we don't realize it's actually creating a silica that can be inhaled like asbestos and ends up in the lungs and that's called silicosis."

Synergy claims it meets OSHA standards, but admits it is looking at better ways to handle the glass.

Puckett says Synergy needs CRT crushers that are affordable and don't expose workers to the toxins as Synergy breaks down computers and TVs to bare elements. The crushers break everything down and put the remnants in bins for recycling. Trucks then take all the broken down elements to Synergy's partners who then melt down the elements so they can be recycled.

"The big misconception is that this only happens in Asia, but it happens in America also," says Dibean.

He points to Advanced Technology Processing that operated out of a Richmond warehouse until Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality sent notices of violations because of dangerously high levels of mercury.

William Hayden with DEQ told WAVY.com, "You must be filtering most of it out. Our investigation showed there were several areas with dust that could contain mercury and could be affecting people."

One other thing you should know about Synergy. In tough economic times, Synergy is in an expanding business. It recently hired 10 more workers for a total of 65. It is now one of the major employers in Mayodan, North Carolina.

Click HERE for More on E-cycling from E-cycling Central .