Hazardous waste sites cleanup actions

A Sampling Strategy for Remedial Action at Hazardous Waste Sites Cleanup of Soil Contaminated by Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins," Chapter 10 in Chlorinated Dioxins and Dibenzofurans in Perspective" C. Rappe, G. Choudhary, and L. H. Keith, Eds (Chelsa, MI Lewis Publishers, Inc., 1986). 

The use of a drain system permits the quick construction of a collection/removal system which also serves as a barrier for leachate from large, shallow sites. At the Sylvester hazardous waste site in Nashua, New Hampshire, a groundwater interception and recirculation system was installed as a method to retard further spread of the leachate plume until a remedial cleanup action could be implemented. The system was operated for 1 year until a containment wall and cap were constructed over the 20-acre site (McAneny, 1985). 

Hatch, J. and E. Hayes. "State-of-the-Art Remedial Action Technologies Used for the Sydney Mine Waste Disposal Site Cleanups," In Management of Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites Proceedings, Washington, D.C., 1985, pp. 285. 

In the past the presence of hazardous substances in soils was not a major public concern. In spite of the large number of documented hazardous waste sites in the United States, relatively few sites liave been cleaned up widi specific redevelopment in mind. Remedial actions usually are undertaken to contain or remove chemical contaminants little or no consideration is given to the ultimate use of the site. If land reuse is decided before the cleanup there may be an opportunity to tailor the cleanup acti ities to best suit the site rcde elopment. 

With the recent Increase In activity at hazardous waste sites where cleanup and remedial action are underway, there has emerged a need for rapid analytical methods for assessing contamination in water, sediment, and soil. Of special Interest, because of widespread use and disposal. Is the group of materials known as PCB s (polychlorinated biphenyls). 

In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Commonly known as Superfund, the program under this law is focused on the remediation of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Since 1980, Superfund has assessed nearly 44,400 sites. To date, 33,100 sites have been removed from the Superfund inventory to aid their economic redevelopment, and 11,300 sites remain active with the site assessment program or are included in the National Priorities List (NPL) for the implementation of remedial actions. By September 2000, 1509 sites were included in the NPL with ongoing or completed cleanup activities. 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This is an attempt to deal with the many waste sites that exist across the nation. It covers remedial action, including the establishment of a National Priorities List to identify those sites that should have a high priority for remediation. This act authorizes the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, including those containing pesticides, that threaten human health or the environment. If they can be identified, the US EPA is authorized to recover cleanup costs from those parties responsible for the contamination. CERCLA provides a fund to pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites when no other parties are able to conduct the cleanup. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) (1986) is an amendment to CERCLA that enables the US EPA to identify and cleanup inactive hazardous waste sites and to recover reimbursement of cleanup costs. One section of CERCLA authorizes the EPA to act whenever there is a release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous substance or any pollutant or contaminant that may present an imminent or substantial danger to the public health or welfare into the environment. 

Location of buried materials at a hazardous waste site is usually for the purpose of remedial action l.e., excavating these materials and ultimately disposing of them. The key unknowns are type (bulk-dumped or packaged in drums or other containers), quantity (volume of waste number of drums), and location, particularly depth of burial. The concerns are for safe excavation without puncturing containers or breaching any existing trench liners and thus aggravating the cleanup problems. 

Panaro JM. 1984. Air monitoring and data interpretation during remedial action at a hazardous waste site. Hazardous wastes and environmental emergency Management, prevention, cleanup and control. Hazardous Materials Control Research Institute, Silver Spring, MD, 160-164. 

CERCLA s purpose is to authorize the federal government to respond swiftly to hazardous substance emergencies and to protect public health and the environment by cleaning up the nation s worst hazardous waste sites (Reisch and Bearden, 1997). The law seeks to make those responsible for the improper disposal of hazardous waste bear the costs and accept responsibility for their actions with a retroactive liability regime, and established the Hazardous Substance Superfund Trust Fund to finance response actions where a liable party cannot be found or is incapable of paying cleanup costs. The Superfund program is the principal federal effort to clean up inactive hazardous waste sites. 

T vo types of remediation activities are possible under CERCLA removal and remedial actions. Remedial actions are longer-term permanent solutions to hazardous waste contamination. Removal actions are short-term cleanup actions that address immediate threats at a site. They are conducted in response to an emergency situation (e.g. to avert an explosion, to clean up a hazardous waste spill, or to stabilize a site until a permanent solution can be found). Electrokinetic remediation technologies are likely to be part of a CERCLA remedial action. There are nine general criteria that must be addressed by those wishing to implement electrokinetic technologies as part of CERCLA remedial actions ... 

The principal regulatory considerations for the deployment of electrokinetics at hazardous waste sites are CERCLA and RCRA. CERCLA hazardous substances encompass RCRA hazardous wastes as well as other toxic pollutants regulated by the CAA, CWA, and the TSCA. Electrokinetic treatment is most likely to be part of a remedial action and must address the criteria associated with such cleanups. 

Trust fund A fund set up under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (or equivalent state Superfund law) to help pay for cleanup of hazardous waste sites and for legal action to force those responsible for them to clean them up. 

Enacted as Title III of the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act ( SARA ), the Act mandates the ERA to monitor and protect communities regarding releases of chemicals into the environment. It requires states to establish emergency planning districts with local committees to devise plans for preventing and responding to chemical spills and releases. [ Superfimd is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 that gives the U.S. ERA authority to force those responsible for hazardous waste sites or other releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants to conduct cleanup or other effective response actions.]... 

The problems of hazardous waste extend back many years. What to do with waste already disposed of also became a national issue. The result was the development of a Superfund. Contributions by both government and private industry created a source to cover the cost of cleaning up the worst of the many hazardous waste sites of the past. Industry contributed 75% of the initial 1.6 billion fund. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), passed in late 1980, took action to clean up some hazardous waste sites. The act also addressed liability. It stated that those causing or contributing to a release or threatened release from an inactive hazardous waste site shall have strict, joint, and several liability for cleanup, containment and emergency response activities at the site. Liable parties included generators and transporters of the waste and owners and operators of the disposal site. 

This section provides an overview of the engineering technologies and applications that are currently applicable to the study and remediation of releases of hazardous wastes and constituents from RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) facilities and those sites which parallel Superfund sites. Activities which would be termed removal actions or expedited response actions under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Recovery-Cleanup and Liability Act) are also covered in this section. Information presented in this section represent excerpts from document EPA/625/4-89/020 (September 1989). 

The cleanup of a site with hazardous waste contamination may be handled under either CERCLA, as described above, or RCRA. RCRA authorizes U.S. EPA to require corrective action (under an enforcement order or as part of a permit) whenever there is, or has been, a release of hazardous waste or constituents at TSDFs. The RCRA statute also provides similar corrective action authority in response to releases at interim status facilities. Further, RCRA allows U.S. EPA to require corrective action beyond the facility boundary. U.S. EPA interprets the term corrective action to cover the full range of possible actions, from studies and interim measures to full cleanups. Anyone who violates a corrective action order can be fined up to 27,500/d of noncompliance and runs the risk of having their permit or interim status suspended or revoked. 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S. Code 9601 et seq.) Known as Superfund , gives the EPA power to recover costs for containment, other response actions, and cleanup of hazardous waste disposal sites and other hazardous substance releases. 

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