Hazardous waste history

Diisopropyl methylphosphonate has been identified at 2 of the 1,416 hazardous waste sites that have been proposed for inclusion on the EPA National Priorities List (NPL) (HazDat 1997). One site, identified in Figure 5-1, is the RMA located near Denver, Colorado. As diisopropyl methylphosphonate was never made commercially, the EPA neither expects nor routinely looks for this chemical at hazardous waste sites unless site history indicates it might be present. 

Mundell JA, Hill KR, Weaver JW II. 1989. In situ case history Leachable lead required precipitation immobilization. Hazardous Waste Management 23-27. 

CASE HISTORIES OF SUCCESSFUL HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT THROUGH INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION... 

Several successful IE case histories are presented here to demonstrate the advantages of cleaner production for hazardous wastes management [40]. 

The USEPA estimates that over 6000 facilities are currently operated as treatment, storage, or disposal facilities (TSDFs) regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which assigns the responsibility of corrective action to facility owners and operators and authorizes the USEPA to oversee corrective actions. Unlike the Superfund, RCRA responsibility is delegated to states. The USEPA and authorized states have completed initial assessment of potential environmental contamination at over 70% of RCRA facilities, as required by statute to address corrective action. Environmental contamination at many RCRA facilities is expected to be less severe than at Superfund sites however, the total number of RCRA facilities exceeds the number of Superfund sites. The USEPA developed a computer-based system known as the RCRA National Corrective Action Prioritization System (NCAPS) to help establish priorities for corrective action activities. Among the factors considered in NCAPS are the history of hazardous waste releases, the likelihood of human and environmental exposure, and the type and quantity of waste handle at the facility. 

Finally, this effort is not meant to replace those technical studies which have dealt with the analysis and prioritization of known hazardous waste sites where a great deal of specific information is available on site history, contents, and hydrogeology. The present study should reduce the need for expensive drilling and testing programs and provide a means for their rational. implementation. 

In March 1982 the American Chemical Society sponsored a symposium on risk assessments of hazardous chemical waste sites, and the chapters of this volume are the final versions of the papers that were presented and discussed at this symposium. The first chapters present the problem the history of the development of Superfund legislation and the arguments about the most appropriate approaches to risk assessments, specific cases of hazardous waste problems in Louisiana, the problems of Love Canal and their bearing on risk assessment, and the impacts on human health that can result from hazardous waste sites. The next broad topic of the symposium was the central problem of methodology of risk assessment. The practical problems that confront the field teams who examine specific chemical waste sites are what to monitor, how to monitor, and how to have reasonable assurance of the reliability of the results of monitoring. A final chapter considers a problem of central importance to the Superfund effort how to incorporate risk assessment into the regulatory process. 

Not all remedial actions involve excavation and treatment. Generally, engineering controls, such as containment, and restrictions on use and access, as well as continued monitoring, can be used for waste that poses a relatively low long-term threat or where treatment is impracticable.5 For example, cumulatively, through most of FY 2002, EPA selected containment in 43 percent of the CERCLA source control Records of Decision (EPA, 2004). Thus, if the history of hazardous waste cleanup is a guide, there are likely to be circumstances where containment in place of buried CWM is chosen over recovery and treatment of the buried CWM. 

We thank M. McGiffen and L. Case for technical assistance. This research is a contribution from the Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, Univ. of 111. at Urbana-Champaign, and was supported in part by the 111. Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center, project no. HWR 88-042. 

The histories of the stockpile program, the non-stockpile program, and the use of mobile incinerators in hazardous waste site cleanups demonstrate that classical incineration often generates strong public opposition. There are concerns over the impact on local communities of the potential emission of small amounts of chemical agents not destroyed, as well as low concentrations of chemicals that are inevitably formed inside incinerators (e.g., polychlorinated dibenzodioxins) (Greenpeace, 2001 EPA, 1998 Sierra Club, 2001). 

Microscale Distillation. Microscale organic chemistry, with a history that spans more than a century, is not a new concept to research scientists however, the traditional 5- to 100-gram macroscale of student laboratories was reduced one hundred to one thousand times by the introduction of microscale glassware in the 1980 s to reduce the risk of fire and explosion, limit exposure to toxic substances, and minimize hazardous waste. Microscale glassware comes in a variety of configurations, such as Mayo-Pike or Williamson styles. Distillation procedures are especially troublesome in microscale because the ratio of wetted-glass... 

William D. Ruckelshaus, EPA History Program Oral History Interview-i, January 1995, at 18 (quote) Quarles, Gleaning Up America, 51 Joel A. Mintz, Agencies, Congress and Regulatory Enforcement A Review ofEPA s Hazardous Waste Enforcement Effort, 1970-1987, 18 Env. L. 683, 691 (1988) Joel A. Mintz, Some Thoughts on the Interdisciplinary Aspects of Environment Enforcement, 36 ELR 10,495,10,500 (2006). 

Like other industrial waste, secondary wastes from chemical agent disposal facilities are either hazardous or nonlrazardous. A particttlar waste is classified into one or the other of these categories by laboratory analysis or by generator knowledge of the material s source, use, and history of exposure. 

Many countries have established lists with priority pollutants (Ferguson Kasamas 1999 ATSDR 2001) focusing on substances that are hazardous to human health and/or the environment. These lists refer to chemicals with known toxicity at least for particular receptors. If information on the nature of pollution is available, chemical analysis may focus on selected chemicals. In case of waste sites or if data on site history are scarce, comprehensive chemical analysis would be required to reduce the risk of disregarding substantial pollutants. This is expensive. The application of bioassays may circumvent extended routine analysis by indicating toxic samples directly. 

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