v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA/540/MR-99/502
July 1999
TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION
Demonstration Bulletin
Envirobond™ Process
Rocky Mountain Remediation Services
Technology Description: Envirobond™ is a proprietary
process that binds with metals in contaminated soils and
other wastes. Rocky Mountain Remediation Services, L.L.C.
(RMRS), claims that the treatment process effectively
prevents metals leaching and can be used with mechanical
compaction to reduce the overall volume of contaminated
media by 30 to 50 percent. The process is designed to treat
soils in situ, thereby reducing handling, transportation, and
disposal costs associated with secondary wastes generated
by many conventional technologies.
Envirobond™ consists of a mixture of additives containing
oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorous; each additive has
an affinity for a specific class of metals. RM RS claims that the
Envirobond™ process converts each metal contaminant
from Its leachableformto an insoluble, stable, nonhazardous
metallic complex. RMRS claims that, by effectively binding
the metals, the process reduces the waste stream's
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Toxicity
Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test results to
less than the RCRA-reguIated levels, subsequently reducing
the risks posed to human health and the environment.
Waste Applicability: RMRS claims metals that can be
stabilized with Envirobond™ include arsenic, barium,
cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver,
and zinc. However, the process is less effective in media
containing more than 30 percent by weight of metals such as
aluminum, magnesium, calcium, and manganese. These
metals may reduce the number of chelating sites available by
preferentially binding with the Envirobond™ agent.
Evaluation Approach: The Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency (Ohio EPA) and U.S. EPA, through a cooperative
agreement, evaluated the Envirobond™ process at the
Crooksville/Roseville Pottery Area of Concern (CRPAC) in
Roseville, Ohio. The Envirobond™ process was evaluated
at CRPAC to determine its ability to reduce the amount of
teachable lead in industrial soils and in residential soils,
as determined by the TCLP. Envirobond™ was concurrently
evaluated for its ability to reduce the relative percent of
bioavailable lead in residential soils by a minimum of 25
percent, as determined by a Physiological-based Extraction
Test (PBET).
The evaluation consisted of treating 10 experimental units in
a residential area, and one experimental unit in an industrial
area. The experimental units in the residential area
measured 5 feet long by 5 feet wide. The experimental unit at
the industrial site measured 6 feet long by 3 feet wide. After
the sod was removed from all of the experimental units, the
contaminated soil was mechanically mixed to a depth of 6
inches. Soil samples were collected before the treatment
process was applied. The experimental units were treated
with Envirobond™ by applying the proprietary mixture to the
surface of the tilled soil using a fertilizer spreader. The soil pH
was adjusted to approximately 7.0 after the application of
Envirobond™, and the experimental unit was tilled.
Some of the experimental units were resampled 24 hours
after application of the Envirobond™ process for TCLP lead.
The original sod cover was returned to nine of the
experimental units; one residential unit was seeded with
fescue to evaluate whether plant uptake of contaminants
occurs following treatment. Lysimeters were installed to a
depth of 6 inches in one unit at the residential site and in the
unit at the industrial site. The water collected in the lysimeters
will be analyzed on a quarterly basis for lead to evaluate the
long-term effectiveness of the treatment.
Preliminary Results: Results of the pre- and post-
treatment TCLP lead analysis from the industrial soils are
presented in Table 1. Results of the TCLP lead analyses for
the residential soils are presented in Table 2. Key findings
from the demonstration, including complete analytical results
and a cost analysis, will be published in a Technology
Capsule and an Innovative Technology Evaluation Report.
Printed on Recycled Paper
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T«b!» 1. TCLP L»ad Results In Industrial Soils
Table 2. TCLP Lead Results n Residential Soils
Sampling
Location
V1
V2
V3
V4
V5
V6
V7
V8
V9
Pretreatment
TCLP Lead
Concentratinn
Cmg/L)
421
563
320
247
358
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Post-treatment
TCLP Lead
concentration
[mg/L)
2.0
1.5
1.4
<0.50
1.5
2.1
0.94
1.7
1.5
Experimental Pretreatment % Post-treatment
Unit TCLP Lead TCLP Lead
Concentration Concentration
(mg/L) (mg/L)
B ND ND
J 0.67 ND
P 0.97 ND
Note:
ND Not detected al the reporting limit of 0,50 mg/L.
Note:
N/A
Statistical design of the experiment only required
ftva pretreatment samples for TCLP analysis.
For Further Information:
EPA SITE Program:
Ed Barth, Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
26 Martin Luther King Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45268
(513) 569-7669; FAX: (513) 569-7571
E-mail: batih.ed® epamail.epa.gov
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