Industrial waste disposal injection wells

FIGURE 20.4 Site suitability for deep-well injection and locations of industrial waste disposal wells. (From U.S. EPA, Assessing the Geochemical Fate of Deep-Well-Injected Hazardous Waste A Reference Guide, EPA/625/6-89/025a, U.S. EPA, Cincinnati, OH, June 1990.)... 

The injection of produced water and other oil held fluids into wells started as early as 1928. In 1976, more than 300 industrial waste disposal sites were in operation throughout the country. By 1986, approximately 60 million barrels of oil held fluids were injected through 166,000 injection wells within the conterminous United States. These volumes are anticipated to increase significantly in the future as producing helds continue to be depleted. Thus, construction requirements as listed in 40 CFR 146.22 are an essential prerequisite to the safe disposal/injechon of fluids and the prevention of contamination of USDW. 

FIG. 25-78 Schematic diagram of an industrial-waste injection well completed in competent sandstone. (From Vreeman, H M, Standard Handbook of Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal, McGraw-Hill, 1988.)... 

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. 

The sources, amounts, and composition of injected hazardous wastes are a matter of record, because the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)5,14 requires hazardous waste to be manifested (i.e., a record noting the generator of the waste, its composition or characteristics, and its volume must follow the waste load from its source to its ultimate disposal site). The sources and amounts of injected hazardous waste can be determined, therefore, based on these records. Table 20.2 shows the estimated volume of deep-well-injected wastes by industrial category.3 More than 11 billion gallons of hazardous waste were injected in 1983. Organic chemicals (51%) and petroleum-refining and petrochemical products (25%) accounted for three-quarters of the volume of injected wastes that... 

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 ... 

Oberacker, D.A. Incineration options for disposal of waste pesticides. In Pesticide Waste Disposal Technology Bridges, J.S., Dempsey, C.R., Eds. Noyes Data Corporation Park Ridge, NJ, 1988. Eckenfelder, W.W., Jr. Industrial Water Pollution Control, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill New York, 1989. McNally, R. Tougher rules challenge future for injection wells. Petrol. Eng. Int. 1987, July, 28-30. Zimpro, Inc. Report on Wet Air Oxidation for Pesticide Chemical Manufacturing Wastes, prepared for G. M. Jett, USEPA Rothchild Wisconsin, 1980. 

This book contains (Mated analysis of the sources of ground water contamination. Specific topics Include liquid waste disposal systems, industrial waste, municipal waste, oil field wastes, agricultural wastes, injection wells, underground tanks and pipelines, surface waters, and atmospheric deposition. The book also discusses contamination movement and interaction, detection, risk assessment, prevention, and management... 

Deep well disposal. Injection of tritium-containing liquid into isolated aquifers or depleted oil horizons is the most interesting option. This technique has been used increasingly for almost 20 years to dispose of industrial wastes. In the United States, for instance, some hundred injection wells have been drilled and are actually in operation at depths between 60 m and 3600 m. Although there are still licensing problems, this is a safe and economic way to dispose of tritiated water. 

The pesticide industry generates many concentrated wastes that are considered hazardous wastes. These wastes must be detoxified, pretreated, or disposed of safely in approved facilities. Incineration is a common waste destruction method. Deep well injection is a common disposal method. Other technologies such as wet air oxidation, solvent extraction, molten-salt combustion, and microwave plasma destmction have been investigated for pesticide waste applications. 

As described in an earlier problem, deep-well injection is an ultimate disposal method that transfers liquid wastes far underground and away ifom freshwater sources. Like landfarming, this disposal process has been used for many years by the petroleum industry. It is also used to dispose of saltwater in oil fields. When the method first came into use, the injected brine would often eventually contaminate groundwater and freshwater sands because the site was poorly chosen. The process has since been improved, and laws such as the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 ensure that sites for potential wells are better surveyed. 

Much less information is available on industrial practices in processing solid-waste material. Although it is generally suspected that most waste material is incinerated or disposed of through deep-well injection or dump sites, the practice varies widely and no current data base exists on individual practice. Such a data base, however, could be developed as a manifest system for hazardous materials and implemented under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act. 

---