Mustard waste disposal

DRES Historical Activities The public raised concerns regarding potential health and environmental impacts from previous mustard and nerve agent destruction operations and waste disposal activities. There was speculation that military activities and DRES research and development programs might be responsible for certain illnesses or diseases in the district communities. 

Releases of thiocyanate to soil result from anthropogenic and natural sources. Anthropogenic releases occur primarily from direct application in herbicidal formulations (e.g., amitrol-T, a mixture of ammonium thiocyanate and amino-1,2,4-triazole) and from disposal as byproducts from industrial processes. Nonanthropogenic sources include damaged or decaying tissues of plants from the family Brassica (e.g., mustard, rape) (Brown and Morra 1993). Thiocyanate has been detected in soil samples collected at 2 of the 8 hazardous waste sites, and in sediment samples at 3 of the 8 hazardous waste sites where thiocyanate has been detected in some medium (HazDat 1996). The HazDat information used includes data from both NPL and other Superfund sites. 

The mercury contamination of significant amounts of mustard agent stockpiled at TOCDF is another factor influencing potential carbon disposition. TOCDF is implementing a pollution abatement system filtration system (PFS) that will trap mercury on carbon. The resulting secondary waste stream consisting of carbon with adsorbed mercury will present a unique disposal problem.14... 

SDS at all sites in this study is characterized and managed according to the hazardous waste limits for chemical agents (mustard, GB, VX), as well as other hazardous waste characteristics. The SDS is containerized and stored in a permitted storage area prior to treatment and disposal. 

The anticipated closure wastes are summarized in Table 4-6. These are estimates based on the wastes generated during closure of the Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, which used the same neutralization process to destroy HD mustard agent stored in bulk. Estimates were made of the additional waste from the closure of the bioreactors, which were not a part of the process at Aberdeen, where the hydrolysate was sent to a commercial TSDF. 

The Army has been disposing of secondary wastes to offsite facilities from all of tire currently operating chemical agent disposal facilities and continues to do so. Of particular interest are tire experience at the ABCDF in Maryland with mustard agent hydrolysate and the experience at the NECDF in Indiana with VX hydrolysate. 

The contractor, Western Research Partnerships, Calgary, AB (Chem-Security Ltd. and Western Research Ltd. Both companies are now a part of BOVAR Inc., Calgary) supplied and operated a transportable incinerator which was used to thermally treat the scrap waste and emptied, decontaminated ordnance items and to bum mustard. Lewisite was chemically destroyed by peroxide oxidation in a transportable facility and the arsenic salt by-products were stabilized in concrete for on-site disposal in a marked landfill. 

Overview Chemical agents other than mustard were destroyed by neutralization prior to incinerating or otherwise disposing of the generated secondary waste. Mustard in all forms was destroyed by direct incineration. This was the only practical choice where the agent had aged to an intractable solid or had been thickened with polymers. 

UX refers to the level at which sohds are decontaminated to the point that agent concentration in the headspace above the encapsulated solid does not exceed the health-based, 8-hour, time-weighted average limit for worker exposure. The level for mustard agent is 3.0 mg/m in air. Materials classified as 3X may be handled by qualified plant workers using appropriate procedures but are not releasable to the environment or for general public reuse. In specific cases in which approval has been granted, a 3X material may be shipped to an approved hazardous waste treatment facility for disposal in a landfill or for further treatment. 

As discussed in NRC 1999a, this conclusion is based on the fact that CAIS sets contain no explosives and relatively small quantities of agent, and that the hazards of the chemical agents in CAIS (mustard and lewisite) fall within the range of the hazards presented by industrial chemicals ordinarily disposed of according to U.S. hazardous waste regulations. 

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