United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-F-96-001
April 1996
&EPA A Citizen's Guide to
Innovative Treatment
Technologies
For Contaminated Soils, Sludges, Sediments, and Debris
Technology Innovation Office
Technology Fact Sheet
What are innovative treatment
technologies?
Treatment technologies are chemical, biological, or
physical processes applied to hazardous waste or contami-
nated materials to permanently change their condition.
This Citizen's Guide focuses on treatment technologies
for soil, sludge, sediment, and debris.
Treatment technologies destroy contaminants or change
them so that they are no longer hazardous or, at least, are
less hazardous. They may reduce the amount of contami-
nated material at a site, remove the component of the
waste that makes it hazardous, or immobilize the contami-
nant within the waste.
Innovative treatment technologies are newly invented
processes that have been tested and used as treatments for
hazardous waste or other contaminated materials, but still
lack enough information about their cost and how well
they work to predict their performance under a variety of
operating conditions.
Why use an innovative technology?
Treatment of contaminated sludges and soils is a field of
technology that has developed and grown since Congress
passed the "Superfund" law for contaminated waste site
cleanup in 1980. An initial approach to eliminate a
hazardous waste from a particular location was to move it
somewhere else, or cover it with a cap. These methods
use land disposal as the solution to the problem. With an
increasing number of cleanups underway, and the passage
of amendments to the Superfund law in 1986 that stated a
preference for treatment, demand developed for alterna-
tives to land disposal that provided more permanent and
less costly solutions for dealing with contaminated
materials. Development and use of more suitable treat-
ment technologies has progressed.
As knowledge about the cleanup of contaminated sites
increases, new methods for more effective, permanent
cleanups will become available. Innovative treatment
technologies, which lack a long history of full-scale use,
do not have the extensive documentation necessary to
make them a standard choice in the engineering/scientific
community. However, many innovative technologies have
been used successfully at contaminated sites in the United
States, Canada, and Europe despite incomplete verifica-
tion of their utility. Some of the technologies were
developed in response to hazardous waste problems and
some have been adapted from other industrial uses.
Developing and perfecting treatment technologies is an
on-going process, as shown in Figure 1 on page 2. The
process begins with a concept — an idea of how to treat a
particular hazardous waste. The concept usually under-
goes a research and evaluation process to prove its
feasibility. If the concept is found to be useful, often the
next step is to undergo bench-scale testing. During bench-
scale testing, a small-scale version of the technology is
Why Use Innovative Treatment Technologies?
They offer cost-effective, long-term solutions to hazardous waste clean-up problems.
They provide alternatives to land disposal or incineration.
They are often more acceptable to surrounding communities than some established treatment technologies.
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Are Innovative Treatment Technologies
Always the Right Choice?
Although innovative treatment technologies may
be less expensive and even more effective than
established technologies, science and
engineering professionals must determine which
technology is most appropriate at a given site.
built and tested in a laboratory. During this testing, it is
considered an emerging technology. If it is successful
during bench-scale testing, it is then demonstrated at
small-scale levels at field sites. If successful at the field
demonstrations, the technology often will be used full-
scale at contaminated waste sites. As the technology is
used and evaluated at different sites, it is continuously
improved.
Only after a technology has been used at many different
types of sites and the results fully documented, is it
considered an established technology. The majority of
technologies in use today are still classified as
innovative.
What types of treatment technologies
are in use?
Established technologies such as incineration and
solidification/stabilization have been the most widely
used at Superfund sites. By 1990, however, 40 percent of
the treatment technologies used were innovative. In 1994
the figure reached almost 60 percent. Table 1 on page 3
describes some of the most frequently used innovative
treatment technologies.
How is a treatment technology selected
for a site?
Before a treatment technology can be selected for a
Superfund site, detailed information about the site
conditions and contaminants must be collected. EPA uses
this information to determine which of the possible
remedies will be capable of meeting the clean-up stan-
dards that EPA has set.
A treatability study is often conducted to assess a treat-
ment technology's potential for success. It is conducted
on contaminated material from the site, either when the
treatment technology is being considered or after selec-
tion of the remedy, in order to collect additional operation
and performance information.
There are three levels of a treatability study. The level
chosen depends on the information available about the
site and technology and the nature of information that is
needed. The quickest, least expensive treatability study is
the laboratory screening. It is done to learn more about
the characteristics of the waste to determine if it would be
treatable by a particular technology. A laboratory screen-
ing test takes a matter of days and generally costs from
$10,000 to $50,000. Successful laboratory screening may
lead to more sophisticated treatability studies.
The next level of a treatability study is the bench-scale
study which provides greater information on the perfor-
mance (and, in some cases, the cost) of a technology by
simulating the treatment process using a very small
quantity of waste. The objective of this type of test is to
determine if the technology can meet the clean-up
standards set for the site. These tests typically cost
between $50,000 and $250,000.
At the highest level, the pilot-scale treatability study is
usually conducted in the field or the laboratory and
requires installation of the treatment technology. This
study is used to provide performance, cost, and design
objectives for the treatment technology. Due to the cost of
this type of study—generally more than $250,000—it is
used almost exclusively to fine-tune the design of the
technology following other treatability studies.
What happens if a technology does not
work?
There is always a possibility that a treatment technology,
established or innovative, may not work once it is in full-
scale operation in spite of the best engineering design.
Site conditions that could not be predicted from the
smaller-scale studies are often to blame. Natural condi-
tions are far more complex than laboratory conditions.
Figure 1
Developing Treatment Technologies
Concept
•Idea
• Research
• Laboratory
Screening
Emerging
• Bench-Scale Study
Innovative
•Pilot-Scale 'Chosen for • Limited Full-
Study or Field Cleanup Scale Use
Demonstration
Established
•Common Full-Scale
Use
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Table 1
Descriptions of Some Innovative Treatment Technologies
Soil Vapor Extraction removes contaminant vapors from soil (without having to dig it up) through the use
of vacuum extraction wells placed in the ground. Contaminants are collected for further treatment.
Air Sparging injects air into the ground below the contaminated area, forming bubbles that rise and carry
trapped and dissolved contaminants to the surface where they are captured by a soil vapor extraction
system.
Bioremediation uses microorganisms, such as bacteria in engineered processes, to break down organic
contaminants into harmless substances.
Thermal Desorption heats soil at relatively low temperatures to vaporize contaminants with low boiling
points. Vaporized contaminants then are captured and removed for further treatment or destruction.
Soil Washing uses water or a washing solution and mechanical processes to scrub excavated soils and
remove hazardous contaminants.
Chemical Dehalogenation converts contaminants that contain halogens (chlorine and fluorine, for
example) to less toxic substances through controlled chemical reactions that remove or replace halogen
atoms.
Solvent Extraction separates hazardous organic contaminants from oily-type wastes, soils, sludges, and
sediments, reducing the volume of hazardous waste that must be treated.
In Situ Soil Flushing floods contaminated soils beneath the ground surface with a solution that flushes the
contaminants to an area where they can be extracted.
A technology may be adapted or redesigned to treat
targeted waste, despite initial failures. In some rare cases
a different technology may have to be designed and
installed. Experience with and increasing use of innova-
tive treatment technologies will lead to better and faster
ways to clean up the environment.
Where are innovative treatment
technologies being selected?
Industry is using technologies labeled as "innovative" by
EPA for containing and treating the hazardous wastes
generated during manufacturing processes. Innovative
technologies also are being used under many federal and
state clean-up programs to treat hazardous wastes that
have been improperly released on the land. For example,
innovative technologies are being selected to manage
contamination (primarily petroleum) at some leaking
underground tank sites. They also are being selected to
clean up contamination that resulted from past disposal
practices at industrial sites regulated under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, and to clean up
contamination at uncontrolled hazardous wastes sites,
known as Superfund sites. One innovative treatment
technology, soil vapor extraction, is now routinely used in
federal and state clean-up programs. As more cost and
performance data are documented, innovative treatment
technologies will be increasingly recognized for their
effectiveness.
Why is EPA encouraging the use of
innovative treatment technologies?
The Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging the
selection of innovative treatment technologies for site
remedies because they have the potential to be more cost-
effective and to provide better and more efficient
cleanups. In addition, they are often more acceptable to
surrounding communities than established treatment
technologies.
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EPA Supports the Use of Innovative Treatment Technologies
The mission of EPA's Technology Innovation Office (TIO) is to increase government and industry use of
innovative treatment technologies at contaminated waste sites.
Numerous other efforts to increase the use of innovative technologies are described in the EPA fact
sheet entitled Progress in Reducing Impediments to the Use of Innovative Remediation Technology.
(The document number is EPA 542-F-95-008 and can be ordered from NCEPI at the address given
below.)
For More Information
The U.S. EPA's Technology Innovation Office has produced a series of Citizen's Guides, including this one, on topics
relating to innovative treatment technologies:
• A Citizen's Guide to Soil Washing, EPA 542-F-96-002
• A Citizen's Guide to Solvent Extraction, EPA 542-F-96-003
• A Citizen's Guide to Chemical Dehalogenation, EPA 542-F-96-004
• A Citizen's Guide to Thermal Desorption, EPA 542-F-96-005
• A Citizen's Guide to In Situ Soil Flushing, EPA 542-F-96-006
• A Citizen's Guide to Bioremediation, EPA 542-F-96-007
• A Citizen's Guide to Soil Vapor Extraction and Air Sparging, EPA 542-F-96-008
• A Citizen's Guide to Phytoremediation, EPA 542-F-96-014
• A Citizen's Guide to Natural Attenuation, EPA 542-F-96-015
- A Citizen's Guide to Treatment Walls, EPA 542-F-96-016
Some other publications of interest include:
Selected Alternative and Innovative Treatment Technologies for Corrective Action and Site Remediation: A
Bibliography of EPA Resources, EPA 542-B-95-001. A bibliography of EPA publications about innovative
treatment technologies.
• Innovative Treatment Technologies: Annual Status Report (7th Ed.), EPA 542-R-95-008. A description of
sites at which innovative treatment technologies have been used or selected for use.
Innovative Treatment Technologies: Annual Status Report Database. An automated computer database of
descriptions of sites at which innovative treatment technologies have been used or selected for use. The
database can be downloaded free of charge from EPA's Cleanup Information bulletin board (CLU-IN). Call CLU-
IN at 301-589-8366 (modem). CLU-IN's help line is 301-589-8368. The database also is available for purchase
on diskettes. Contact NCEPI for details.
Copies of the items listed above are available from:
National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI)
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242
Fax your order request to 513-489-8695 or call 513-489-8190
If these documents are out of stock, you may be directed to other sources. In this case, there may be a charge for
some of these documents.
NOTICE: This fact sheet is intended solely as general guidance and information. It is not intended, nor can it be relied upon, to create any rights enforceable by any
party in litigation with the United States. The Agency also reserves the right to change this guidance at any time without public notice.
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