PCB remediation waste

In 40 CRF Section 761 Subpart O, the TSCA specifically addresses the requirements for verification of self-implementing cleanup by defining the numbers and locations of samples to be collected from bulk PCB remediation waste and porous surfaces. Section 761 Subpart P specifies the requirements for non-porous surfaces cleanup verification. These regulation-prescribed sampling designs are discussed in detail in Chapter 3.5.2. 

As a general TSCA rule, at each separate cleanup site we must take a minimum of three samples for each type of bulk PCB remediation waste or porous surface. There is no upper limit on the number of samples. Bulk PCB remediation waste includes, but is not limited to the following non-liquid PCB-contaminated media soil, sediments, dredged materials, mud, sewage sludge, and industrial sludge. Example 3.1 illustrates the application of this rule. 

A project consists of the removal of PCB-contaminated media at three different cleanup sites a loading dock, a transformer storage lot, and a disposal pit. There are several different types of bulk PCB remediation wastes at the three sites that must be identified and sampled separately as follows ... 

Either field or laboratory personnel prepare composite samples by mixing equal aliquots of grab samples and taking an aliquot of a well-mixed composite of sufficient weight for laboratory analysis. Grab samples selected for compositing must be of the same type of bulk PCB remediation waste the TSCA does not allow compositing of different types of PCB waste. 

Continue to select coordinate pairs until a minimum of three random sampling points are located for each type of bulk PCB remediation waste. 

The amendments contained in the final rule will be codified in the CER at 40 CFR 750 and 40 CER 761. The final rule authorizes certain uses of PCBs and materials contaminated with PCBs to continue if exposures can be controlled, and if removal and disposal of the material would be costly or impractical. More flexibility in selecting disposal technologies for PCBs is also allowed, and the list of available decontamination procedures has been expanded. The final rule allows disposal of PCBs from decontamination activities, but does not require previously needed disposal approval (EPA 1998a). The amendments add provisions for disposing of PCB remediation waste and certain products containing PCBs. TSCA does not allow state disposal rules for PCBs to be preempted, particularly if the method of disposal is described. 

Although there are exceptions, such as waste oils used for energy recovery, PCB wastes are generally regulated for disposal under TSCA at concentrations of 50 ppm. The requirements for the disposal of PCB liquids and PCB items will be codified at 40 CFR 761.60. Disposal requirements for PCB remediation waste or PCB bulk product waste will be codified in 40 CFR 761.61 and 761.62, respectively. When the components of a waste are PCBs and non-PCB contaminants, and the PCB component is approved for disposal, the non-PCB component must meet the requirements of all other applicable statues or regulatory authorities prior to disposal (EPA 1998a). 

PCBs in detergent bars leaving the manufacturing site or imported into the United States at concentrations equal to or greater than 5 ppm ° PCB remediation waste at any concentration if resulting from a spill or release of PCBs greater than or equal to 50 ppm after July 2,1979, or > 500 ppm after April 19,1978 but prior to July 2,1979 and remediation wastes which are at any concentration of PCBs if the PCBs are from a source not authorized under Part 761. 

Bulk PCB remediation waste (soils, sediments, dredged materials, mud, PCB sewage sludge, industrial sludge, debris)... 

Depending on the date of the release and nature of contaminated media, EPA provides several cleanup and disposal options. Any party may proceed to clean up any PCB remediation waste based on the concentration of PCBs found, and may do so either (i) as a self-implementing on-site cleanup and disposal (ii) consistent with performance-based disposal standards or (iii) pursuant to a risk-based cleanup and disposal approval received from the Administration. In addition, and with regard to a more limited class of PCB spills and releases, a party may proceed with cleanup and disposal under the EPA s PCB Spill Cleanup Policy. ... 

The cleanup levels applicable in a self-implemented cleanup depend upon the category of remediation waste, i.e., bulk PCB remediation waste, non-porous surfaces, porous surfaces, and liquids, whether the location of the waste is a high occupancy area or low occupancy area, and whether an engineered control, such as a cap, is installed. For bulk remediation materials, such as soils and sediments, EPA allows self-implementing cleanup levels of 1 ppm in high occupancy areas and 25 ppm in low occupancy areas. ... 

The PCB regulations include requirements for disposal of remediation wastes generated in cleanups that are not conducted under the selfimplementation option. Liquid PCB remediation wastes are to be... 

Any persons wishing to sample, cleanup, or dispose of PCB remediation waste in a manner other than pursuant to the self-implementation procedure or the performance-based option must apply in writing to the EPA Regional Administrator in the region where the cleanup activities will take place, or to the Director of the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, should the application involve more than one site in multiple regions. EPA will issue a written decision on each application, approving the application if it finds that the proposed method will not pose an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. ... 

The PCB Spill Cleanup Policy provides a presumption against enforcement penalties for the unauthorized disposal of the original spill, in exchange for quick and effective cleanup of the spill. If the waste resulting from the spill were regulated for disposal at its as-found concentration (as is PCB remediation waste), there would no disincentive for owners of PCBs to dilute them to less... 

Example 3.1 Samples of bulk remediation waste for PCB analysis... 

Processes can be modified to deliver targeted remediation levels. Many different soil contaminants have been treated. These include PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated solvents, dioxins, furans, pesticides, hexachlorobenzenes, BTXs, volatiles, and semi volatiles. After treatment, the soils pass all toxicity characterization leachate procedure (TCLP) criteria for replacement or nonhazardous waste landfill disposal. Specific examples of soil and sludge treatment will now be given. Table 3 contains data from several PCB remediation projects. 

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). 

HCZyme has been demonstrated in bench-scale tests and at field remediations to be effective on benzene, toluene, ethylene, and xylene (BTEX), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), trichloroethylene (TCE), dichloroethylene (DCE), mineral spirits, fuel oils, motor oils, and hydraulic fluids. The vendor claims that HCZyme has been tested and used on over 2 million tons of petroleum-contaminated soils and is effective in breaking down petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), creosote, sludges, waste oils, free product, tank bottoms, and other chlorinated compounds (D18208L, p. 15). 

According to DTC, typical operating costs range from 50 to 100 per feed ton (0.91 metric tons) for refinery-type wastes, and 100 to 200 per feed ton for soil remediation. DTC notes that estimates are feed and product quality sensitive and site specific. Remediation of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil must also take into account the cost of destroying the concentrated PCB product (D110410, p. 7). 

The IT Corporation thermal destruction unit is a mobile unit that uses infrared incineration technology. The main objective of this process is to transform the feedstock into another form (an ash acceptable for delisting) while assuring safe discharge of exhaust gas products to the environment. The unit is capable of on-site remediation of wastes and soils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other organics. This technology is based on a conveyor belt furnace process. 

Decontamination of soils using supercritical fluids is an attractive process compared to extraction with liquid solvents because no toxic residue is left in the remediated soil and, in contrast to thermal desorption, the soils are not burned. In particular, typical industrial wastes such as PAHs, PCBs, and fuels can be removed easily [7 to 21]. The main applications are in preparation for analytical purposes, where supercritical fluid extraction acts as a concentration step which is much faster and cheaper than solvent-extraction. The main parameters for successful extraction are the water content of the soil, the type of soil, and the contaminating substances, the available particle-size distribution, and the content of plant material, which can act as adsorbent material and therefore prolong the extraction time. For industrial regeneration, further the amount of soil to be treated has to taken into account, because there exists, so far, no possibility of continuous input and output of solid material for high pressure extraction plants, so that the process has to be run discontinuously. 

Rogers CJ, Komel A, Peterson RL. 1987. Mobile KPEG destruction unit for PCBs, dioxins and furans in contaminated waste. Presented at the 13th Annual Research Symposium Land disposal, remedial action Incineration and treatment of hazardous wastes, Cincinnati, Ohio. May 6-8, 1987, 361-365. 

The electrolytic displacement of the chlorines of polychlorobiphenyl molecules (PCBs) has been demonstrated as effective technology for hazardous waste remediation,8 for example... 

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