Hazardous industrial waste defined

NCRP believes that different classes of waste should be defined in relation to general types of disposal systems that presently exist or are likely to be developed in the future. In accordance with current waste disposal practices, the exempt class of waste (essentially non-hazardous) thus is defined as any waste containing sufficiently small amounts of hazardous substances that the waste would be generally acceptable for disposal in a municipal/industrial landfill (or equivalent) for nonhazardous materials. This type of disposal facility is regulated under Subtitle D of RCRA (1976). 

The U.S. Army s chemical agent disposal facilities, like many industrial facilities, produce wastes in the course of plant operations. For the purposes of this report, secondary waste is defined as any waste associated with the storage or destruction of chemical agent. Like other industrial waste, these wastes are either hazardous or nonhazardous. A particular waste is classified into one or the other of these categories by either laboratory analysis or generator knowledge of material source, use, and exposure (Box 1-1). The wastes discussed in this report are called secondary wastes to distinguish them from the chemical munitions that are... 

Wastes defined as hazardous under RCRA include characteristic and listed wastes. An RCRA-defined hazardous waste is a waste that appears on one of four lists (F list, K list, U list, or P list) or exhibits at least one of four characteristics (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity). Criteria for identifying characteristic hazardous wastes are included in Title 40, CFR part 261, subpart C. Listed wastes from industrial sources are itemized in 40 CFR part 261, subpart D. Other regulations that are relevant to the technology include the requirement to characterize the waste for a hazardous waste generator (40 CFR part 262.11), the requirement to determine if the hazardous waste is restricted from land disposal [40 CFR 268.7(a)], requirements for on-site storage of waste for up to 90 days [40 CFR 262.34(a)], or 40 CFR 264.553 for storage of waste in a temporary unit for up to 1 year prior to disposal. 

Other less hazardous waste referred to in EPA as controlled waste is defined in the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 as domestic and commercial waste with some industrial waste. 

The RCRA regulations broadly define the term generator to include any person, by site, who first creates or produces a hazardous waste (e.g., from an industrial process) or first brings a hazardous waste into the RCRA system (e.g., imports a hazardous waste into the United States). 

There are five classes of injection wells (Class I through V). Class I disposal wells are used for the disposal of industrial and hazardous waste streams, and may also be subject to certain RCRA, Subtitle C hazardous waste management regulations. Class II wells are defined as those wells used in conjunction with oil and gas production activities. Class III wells are defined as those wells that inject fluids ... 

Because each state has its own criteria for defining hazardous wastes, the plant manager of an industrial site having hazardous substances should contact the local state environmental protection agency for the details. 

Federal and State laws define waste as hazardous if it is ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic. Other wastes are listed by name. These may differ from lists of hazardous materials, which are regulated by OSHA and Right-to-Know. The Standard Industrial Classifications (SICs) of a physician s medical office and a dentist s office are 8011 and 8021, respectively. 

Exposure Levels in Humans. Silver has been detected in the blood, tissues, urine, and feces of humans. The only biological monitoring studies located consisted of small numbers of worker populations in chemical manufacturing industries. Studies that better characterize important sources of general population exposure and define populations with potentially high exposure, such as those located near hazardous waste sites, would be helpful. More specific information concerning the chemical from of silver present at hazardous waste sites would also be useful. These data would assist in developing a more accurate estimate of the potential for silver exposure from hazardous waste sites contaminated with the metal. 

NCRP recommends that risks to hypothetical individuals at waste disposal sites should be evaluated in classifying waste, as described in the following section, and that the risk to an individual that arises from disposal of any hazardous substance be expressed in the form of a dimensionless risk index (RI). The risk index for the ith hazardous substance (Rid is defined in terms of the risk that arises from disposal of that substance relative to a specified allowable risk for an assumed type of disposal system (e.g., municipal/industrial landfill for disposal of exempt waste) as ... 

Despite the paucity and uncertainty of existing data, some states and industries recognized early on that not all hazardous waste facilities pose the same t> pe or level of risk to the environment. California, lexas, Michigan, and Washington State have developed wastes into specific categories to acliieve appropriate levels of regulation. Information on the toxicity and health effects of wastes (or their major components), for example, has been used to define waste categories. Similarly, it is possible to divide up facilities and then match classes of wastes to types of facilities. 

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