Hazardous waste surface water

Waste disposal is a serious problem for many chemical plants. The EPA initiative that has greatly curtailed land disposal has had a great effect on waste disposal. The 1984 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) amendments have also made it more difficult to dispose of solid wastes. In addition, RCRA required all interim status hazardous-waste facilities to meet ground-water monitoring and insurance requirements by late 1985. This included hazardous-waste surface impoundments. Since 1988, a double liner and leachate collection system have also been required. 

Requirements The requirements for a hazardous-waste landfill are detailed in RCRA and the regulations developed to implement the act. From a design standpoint, two of the most important requirements are (1) complete leachate containment, and (2) control of the surface water on and around the site. 

The general purpose of ultimate disposal of hazardous wastes is to prevent the contamination of susceptible environments. Surface water runoff, ground water leaching, atmospheric volatilization, and biological accumulation are processes that should be avoided during the active life of the hazardous waste. As a rule, the more persistent a hazardous waste is (i.e., the greater its resistance to breakdown), the greater the need to isolate it from the environment. If the substance cannot be neutralized by chemical treatment or incineration and still maintains its hazardous qualities, the only alternative is usually to immobilize and bury it in a secure chemical burial site. 

Adsorption — An important physico-chemical phenomenon used in treatment of hazardous wastes or in predicting the behavior of hazardous materials in natural systems is adsorption. Adsorption is the concentration or accumulation of substances at a surface or interface between media. Hazardous materials are often removed from water or air by adsorption onto activated carbon. Adsorption of organic hazardous materials onto soils or sediments is an important factor affecting their mobility in the environment. Adsorption may be predicted by use of a number of equations most commonly relating the concentration of a chemical at the surface or interface to the concentration in air or in solution, at equilibrium. These equations may be solved graphically using laboratory data to plot "isotherms." The most common application of adsorption is for the removal of organic compounds from water by activated carbon. 

Viruses are the 2nd most problematic pathogen, behind protozoa. As with protozoa, most waterborne viral diseases don t present a lethal hazard to a healthy adult. Waterborne pathogenic viruses range in size from 0.020-0.030 jtim, and are too small to be filtered out by a mechanical filter. All waterborne enteric viruses affecting humans occur solely in humans, thus animal waste doesn t present much of a viral threat. At the present viruses don t present a major hazard to people drinking surface water in the U.S., but this could change in a survival situation as the level of human sanitation is reduced. Viruses do tend to show up even in remote areas, so a case can be made for eliminating them now. 

Hazardous Waste Treatment Operations - Tailoring Activated Carbon Surfaces for Water, Wastewater and Hazardous Waste Treatment... 

Under RCRA. each facility must contain a contingency plan designed to minimize hazards to human hetiltli or tlie enviromiient from fires, explosions, or tuiy unplanned sudden or nonsudden release of hazardous w aste or hazardous waste constituent to air. soil, or surface water. The items tliat follow are applicable to each contingency plan. 

Methyl parathion can enter your body if you eat food or drink water containing it if you swim, bathe, or shower in contaminated water if you touch recently sprayed plants or soil if you touch contaminated soil near hazardous waste sites or if you breathe air that contains methyl parathion, such as near factories or recently sprayed farm fields (or in recent accounts of the illegal use of methyl parathion, if you breathe air or touch contaminated surfaces inside homes where methyl parathion has been used to kill insects). By any means of exposure, methyl parathion goes into your body quickly and gets into your blood. From your bloodstream, methyl parathion goes to your liver, brain, and other organs. Your liver changes some of methyl parathion to a more harmful chemical called methyl paraoxon. Both methyl parathion and methyl paraoxon can bind to enzymes of your nerves within minutes or hours. Your liver breaks down methyl parathion and methyl paraoxon into less harmful substances. These less harmful substances leave your body in urine within hours or days. For more information, see Chapter 3. 

Methyl parathion has been released to the environment mainly as a result of its use as an insecticide on crops. It is applied to agricultural crops by aerial or ground spraying equipment. Methyl parathion has been detected in surface waters and sediments, rainwater, aquatic organisms, and food. There are no known natural sources of the compound. Methyl parathion has been identified in at least 16 of the 1,585 hazardous waste sites on the NPL (HazDat 2001). 

Endosulfan enters air, water, and soil when it is manufactured or used as a pesticide. Endosulfan is often applied to crops using sprayers. Some endosulfan in the air may travel long distances before it lands on crops, soil, or water. Endosulfan on crops usually breaks down within a few weeks. Endosulfan released to soil attaches to soil particles. Endosulfan found near hazardous waste sites is usually found in soil. Some endosulfan in soil evaporates into air, and some endosulfan in soil breaks down. However, it may stay in soil for several years before it all breaks down. Rainwater can wash endosulfan that is attached to soil particles into surface water. Endosulfan does not dissolve easily in water. Most endosulfan in surface water is attached to soil particles floating in the water or attached to soil at the bottom. The small amounts of endosulfan that dissolve in water break down over time. Depending on the conditions in the water, endosulfan may break down within 1 day or it may take several months. Some endosulfan in surface water evaporates into air and breaks down. Because it does not dissolve easily in water, only very small amounts of endosulfan are found in groundwater (water below the soil surface for example, well water). Animals that live in endosulfan-contaminated waters can build up endosulfan in their bodies. The amount of endosulfan in their bodies may be several times greater than in the surrounding water. More information on the chemical and physical properties of endosulfan can be found in Chapter 3. More information on its occurrence and fate in the environment can be found in Chapter 5. 

Endosulfan (one or both of its isomers) has been identified in a variety of environmental media (air, surface water, groundwater, soil, and sediment) collected at 164 of the 1,577 NPL hazardous waste sites (HazDat 2000). 

Americium has been identified in 25 groundwater samples but was not detected in any surface water samples collected from 1,585 NPL hazardous waste sites, where it was detected in some environmental media (HazDat 2001). 

Organophosphate ester hydraulic fluid components have also been detected in groundwater near a hazardous waste site (1.7 pg/L tributyl phosphate) (Sawhney 1989) and in surface water from a radioactive waste disposal site (triphenyl phosphate and tributyl phosphate) (Francis et al. 1980). Organophosphate... 

The processes used in the primary production of lead produce several wastestreams of concern under different regulatory scenarios. The listed RCRA hazardous wastes include smelting plant wastes that are sent to surface impoundments to settle. The impoundments are used to collect solids from miscellaneous slurries, such as acid plant blowdown, slag granulation water, and plant... 

For off-site land disposal of wastes resulting from a CERCLA activity, the program contains two additional requirements. First, the unit in which the wastes are to be disposed must not be releasing hazardous wastes or constituents into groundwater, surface water, or soil. Second, any releases from other units of the facility must be under an approved RCRA corrective action program. This policy assures that wastes shipped off-site from CERCLA sites are sent to environmentally sound waste management facilities. 

Oil, gas, and geothermal wastes. Certain wastes from the exploration and production of oil, gas, and geothermal energy are excluded from the definition of hazardous waste. These wastes include those that have been brought to the surface during oil and gas exploration and production operations, and other wastes that have come into contact with the oil and gas production stream (e.g., during removal of waters injected into the drill well to cool the drill bit). 

Revegetation is a cost-effective method to stabilize the surface of hazardous waste disposal sites, especially when preceded by capping and grading. Revegetation decreases erosion by wind and water and contributes to the development of a naturally fertile and stable surface environment. It may be part of a long-term site reclamation project, or it may be used on a temporary or seasonal basis to stabilize intermediate cover surfaces at waste disposal sites. 

The technology of deep-well injection has been around for more than 70 years. Most Americans would be surprised to know that there is a waste management system already in operation in the U.S. that has no emissions into the air, no discharges to surface water, and no off-site transfers, and exposes people and the environment to virtually no hazards. 1 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has stated that Class 1 wells are safer than virtually all other waste disposal practices for many chemical industry wastes. 

Alternative final cover systems, such as the innovative evapotranspiration (ET) cover systems, are increasingly being considered for use at waste disposal sites, including municipal solid waste (MSW) and hazardous waste landfills when equivalent performance to conventional final cover systems can be demonstrated. Unlike conventional cover system designs that use materials with low hydraulic permeability (barrier layers) to minimize the downward migration of water from the cover to the waste (percolation), ET cover systems use water balance components to minimize percolation. These cover systems rely on the properties of soil to store water until it is either transpired through vegetation or evaporated from the soil surface. 

Filter layers, frost penetration, and cap-liner connections are other factors to consider in designing the closure system for a hazardous waste landfill. Before using geotextiles for filter layers in closures, one should conduct pressure tests and clogging tests on the material. Freeze-thaw cycles probably have little effect on membranes, but their impact on clay is still not known. Because of this lack of knowledge, membrane and clay layers should be placed below the frost penetration layer. Finally, a cap membrane should not be welded to the primary FML. Differential settlement in the cap can put tension on the cap membrane. In such a situation, the seam could separate and increase the potential for integration of the surface water collection system into the LDS. 

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