Subsurface
Pollution
Problems
in the
United States
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? U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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I
' UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
v Office Of Water
,Programs Operations
"Subsurface Pollution Problems in the United States" is
a report prepared by the now Water Quality and Non-Point
Source Control Division, Office of Water Programs
Operations, Evironmental Protection Agency. The Water
Quality and Non-Point Source Control Division 3s responsible
for developing and recommending national policy,
regulations, and guidelines for EPA and other authorities
concerned with planning, developing, coordinating, and
administering programs to protect the nations's waters.
This publication presents a resume'' of the problems
affecting the subsurface environment- and suggests actions
designed to alleviate these problems. Additional copies are
available upon request from the Subsurface Pollution Control
Section at the following address:
Water Quality and Non-Point Source Control Division
Office of Water Programs Operations
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D. C. 20^60
Technical Studies Report: TS-00-72-02
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Introduction
Historically ground water in the United States has been
a quantitatively minor water source; its only major
role being domestic water supply for individual homes
or small communities. Today, ground water accounts for
nearly 20 percent of the Nation1s requirements for
water and has been viewed by some as the answer to the
Nation's water supply problem. It has been estimated
that the total useable ground water in storage is
equivalent in volume to the discharge of all the
Nation's rivers for 35 years.1 However, difficulties
in locating, evaluating, developing, and managing
ground water supplies make full use of this enormous
reserve a distant reality.
Estimates of water use in 1954 and projections for 1980
and 2000 suggest the increasing importance of our
ground water resources. Total water use is expected to
increase from an extimated 300 billion gallons per day
(bgd) in 1954, to 599 bgd in 1980 and 888 bgd in 2000;
nearly a 3-fold increase in less than 50 years.
Municipal use is expected to increase by 250 percent,
and manufacturing use by 720 percent in the same time
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period.2 In many areas of the country, surface waters
have already become so degraded that they are unfit for
many uses without extensive and costly treatment. It
must be expected that our ground water reservoirs will
be increasingly used to fulfill our requirements for
high quality water.
Until recently, minimal consideration has been given
to the effects on the subsurface environment as a
result of waste disposal practices. The dimishing
capabilities of surface waters to receive effluents
without violation of water quality standards has made
the direct emplacement of wastes in the subsurface
increasingly more attractive to waste water
dischargers. The effects of subsurface water
pollution, and the fate of pollutants in the subsurface
are not well understood. Insufficient knowledge of the
hydrology and hydro-mechanics of the ground water
region is presently available to confidently manage
this complex system. Other than basic facts concerning
mechanisms of flow due to gravity head differences;
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predictive relationships for ground water velocity,
mixing, dispersion, and stratification still require
refinement. It seems evident, however, that ground
water pollution is essentially irreversible. Once an
aquifer is contaminated by percolation from surface
sources, saltwater intrusion, or from injected wastes,
it is difficult, or in most cases unfeasible, to remove
the contaminants by flushing or pumping and restore the
aquifer to its original condition.
Sources of subsurface water contamination can generally
be assigned to one of three basic categories: 1) The
direct introduction of pollutants deep within the earth
by injection through wells, 2) percolation of
pollutants from surface and near surface sources such
as septic tanks, leaching ponds, sanitary landfills,
and pesticides and fertilizers used in agricultural
practices, and 3) intrusion of salt water into fresh
water aquifers as a result of reductions in fresh water
flow in coastal areas or the breaching of impervious
strata in inland areas.
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Deep. Well Injection
Deep well injection is the emplacement of wastes within
the earth, usually below the water table and beneath a
confining strata which serves to isolate the wastes
from potable water supplies or other valuable or
potentially valuable resources (figure 1). The
feasibility of injection of liquid wastes deep within
the earth is suggested by the enormous capacity of
subsurface fluid storage space. The earth, however,
contains few empty spaces and waste liquids can only be
accomodated by compressing or displacing existing
fluids or by compressing or deforming the surrounding
strata. The possible consequences of high pressure
waste injection include the displacement of saline
waters quite distant from the injection site, the
fracturing of geologic strata that could result in
pollution of high quality aquifers, the migration of
wastes and native fluids along existing or created
fractures or faults, the upward transfer of pollutants
along well casings and even the gross readjustment of
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WELLHEAD
CEMENT
WELL CASING
R SPACE
INJECTIONTUBTNG
CEMENT
ZONE OF
DISPOSAL
SHALE
ERFORATIONS
SCREEN
GRAVEL PACK
Figure 1
Typical Waste Injection Well System
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the surrounding strata. An example of the latter is
the now infamous Denver Arsenal injection well where
the injection of wastes is believed to have triggered a
series of minor earthquakes. The injection of fluids,
within the earth, is not a problem confined to
hydrostatics. Included is the distribution of the
initial pressure increases and their effects on the
surrounding rock matrix. Radioactive and chemically
unstable wastes may produce heat and pressure after
they have been injected. It is possible that injected
wastes will react with the fluids and minerals of the
injection horizon changing the permeability or strength
of the surrounding strata. Determining the
compatibility of the waste solution and the fluids and
minerals of the injection horizon on the basis of pH or
specified salt concentrations is risky. The
identification of strata where injection is feasible is
not difficult, this however, must not be construed to
imply an adequate understanding of the effects of
injection of a given amount of fluid.
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Currently, there are two distinct types of deep well
injection practiced in the United States. The first,
and by far the largest in terms of number of wells and
volume of fluids injected, is the return of brines or
other fluids to the aquifers from which they were
extracted. This is a very common practice in the oil
and gas industry where approximately 10,000 acre-feet
of wastes are injected yearly through many thousands of
wells in the oil producing States3. The second type is
the injection of liquid industrial, municipal, or low
level radioactive wastes. Currently a minor practice
compared to the reinjection of brines, the number of
industrial and municipal injection wells has increased
from approximately 125 in 1968 to over 270 at present.
This practice can be expected to continue to increase
as surface disposal becomes more controlled and more
costly (figure 2) .
Brine reinjection has been practiced by the petroleum
industry for over 50 years, both in water flooding for
the secondary recovery of oil, and as a means of
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Figure 2
Increase in the Use of Waste Disposal Wells Between 1950 and 1972
300-
280 H
z
o
H260H
oc
Ul
0.240-
O
~220-
INDUSTRIAL WASTE DISPOSAL
WELLS IN OPERATION
INDUSTRIAL WASTE DISPOSAL
WELLS ESTIMATED TO BE IN OPERATION
NUMBER OF NEW WASTE INJECTION WELLS
PLACED IN OPERATION PER YEAR
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF NEW WASTE
INJECTION WELLS PLACED IN OPERATION
BETWEEN I968ond I972
Adapted from American Association of
Petroleum Geologists Memoir 10
"Subsurface Disposal in Geologic Basins" 1968
/
/
1950
1970
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disposal of the brines associated with the production
of oil. Ideally , the brines are reinjected into the
strata from which they were produced, not only
disposing of great volumes of liquid material but also
preventing land subsidence and facilitating greater oil
production. In the reinjection of oil field brines,
the most difficult problems of where the fluids go are
usually solved or assumed to be solved. A great deal
of exploration and documentation of the geologic and
hydrologic situation has been made and is available for
areas where reinjection is practiced. Unfortunately,
the wastes are not always as well confined or as
accurately emplaced as would be desired. The
contamination of shallow ground water around oil fields
is widespread and well recognized. The major area for
concern in the reinjection of brines is engineering
safeguards. Injection wells must be constructed and
operated to guarantee that the brines are entering and
being contained in the desired strata.
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Industrial and municipal wastes disposed of by deep
well injection are generally highly noxious and
difficult to treat. There have been accidents,
including the now famous earthquakes near the Denver
Arsenal injection well, and the blowup of the
Hammermill Paper company injection well in 1968.
Approximately 150,000 gallons per day of wastes spewed
from the Hammermill well into Lake Erie. This waste
contained spent sulfite liquor, titanium dioxide, clay,
and lignin-like compounds*.
Deep well injection of wastes is currently being
practiced often without adequate controls. Only about
one half of the states have regulations concerning
waste injection wells and few distinguish between the
reinjection of oil field brines and the injection of
municipal and industrial wastes. In general the
information for proper site selection and well design
is not available to controlling authorities. In an
attempt to avoid further degradation of the subsurface
environment by waste injection the Federal Water
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Quality Administration, in October 1970, established a
policy (Appendix A) on disposal of wastes by subsurface
injection. This policy opposes the subsurface
injection of wastes without strict controls and a clear
demonstration that no damage to present or potential
subsurfaces resources will result from the waste
injection. Many of the problems of deep well injection
could be eliminated or avoided if it were possible to
monitor the fate of wastes that have been injected.
The problems associated with monitoring, however, are
legion: What is to be monitored, how, and for how long?
Certainly the pressures and flows in the injecting
wells must be known, but monitoring must also be done
at some distance from the injecting well and must
supply information that could be used to halt the
contamination of adjacent fresh water supplies, or
other environmental hazards.
The problems that must be solved to ensure adequate
control of deep well injection are: Identifying and
classifying areas safe for injection, determining what
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volumes of waste can be safely injected, establishing
chemical standards for wastes to minimize the dangers
of incompatibility with the minerals and fluids of the
injection horizon, and development of methods for
monitoring and recording deep well injections to ensure
the engineering standards of their operation.
Percolation f_rom Surface Sources
By far the major source of contamination of ground
water is the wastes which percolate down through the
soil to reach the water table. When a contaminant is
introduced at or just below the ground surface, it
begins to slowly percolate down toward the water table.
In the percolation process, the soil acts as a filter
and some of the contaminants are removed. The zone
above the water table commonly contains air, and
aerobic biological degradation can take place. A
further process is chemical adsorption. Many
substances, and in particular phosphates, will be
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adsorbed by or ionexchanged with the soils. Under
normal conditions all of these processes; filtration,
bi©degradation, and adsorption serve to reduce the
waste load which reaches the water table. These
processes, however, are not effective in removing
contaminants such as chlorides, nitrates or pesticides
and other non-degradable organic materials. Once the
contaminants reach the water table, biodegradation of
organics changes from aerobic to anaerobic because of
the lack of available oxygen. The adsorption and ion-
exchange of minerals have not been thoroughly studied,
but it seems reasonable that the soil's capacity for
these processes can be exhausted, and that efficiency
will decrease with time.
Urban and suburban waste disposal by septic tanks is
still very common in the United States (figure 3).
Approximately 13 million private septic tank systems
serving an estimated 50 million people are in use in
the United States today.s Tremendous waste loads can
filter into the ground water from septic tanks where
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'-/-i* f c_, rrri-
/ [ SEPTIC ! >
/ | TANK
..JOSE SEWER
PERFORATED
PIPE
ABSORPTION
FIELD
BLE
Figure 3
SEPTIC TANK SEWAGE-DISPOSAL SYSTEM
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inadequate absorption fields exist and there is a
growing tendency to believe that distance of travel
implies a delay in the discovery of pollution rather
than the removal of wastes. There have been outbreaks
of hepatitis in communities which have contaminated the
ground water with septic tank effluents.5 The problem
of detergent contamination of ground water is now well
known and has been particularly severe in California
and New York. Even biodegradable detergents are not
degraded once they have entered the ground water where
very little oxygen is available.
Seepage or evaporation ponds as waste treatment devices
have historically been used by municipalities and
industries when surface disposal of waste water into
natural water courses was undersirable or unavailable.
The use of such methods by industry is becoming more
common as disposal to surface water becomes more
controlled. Operation of seepage and evaporation ponds
permits the percolation of dissolved wastes into the
ground water flow.
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Refuse dumps and landfills also frequently introduce
contamination to the ground water. Since sanitary
landfills and dumps are often located in
topographically low areas, much of the refuse is often
situated very close to or even below the water table.
Subsequent decomposition of the wastes or deterioration
of sealed containers can introduce contaminants to the
ground water supply either by direct contact or by
percolation through a short distance in the zone of
aeration.
Agriculture is perhaps the major contributor of
percolating ground water contaminants. Intensive
agricultural practices include the addition of
fertilizers, the confined feeding of livestock and the
application of large amounts of pesticides. In areas
of intensive land use tremendous quantities of
nutrients, salts, and organic wastes enter the ground
water and degrade its quality. In an attempt to avoid
further contamination of both surface and ground waters
by agricultural practices, the Environmental Protection
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Agency, in January 1972, established a policy (Appendix
B) on the control of nutrient runoff from agricultural
lands.
In Illinois, thirty percent of all wells less than 25
feet deep contain nitrate (NO^ ) concentrations in
excess of the 45 mg/1 Public Health Service Drinking
Water Standards recommended limit.5 The problem of
agricultural contamination of ground water can be
intensified in arid areas where ground water is used
for irrigation. As the water is applied, some is
absorbed by the plants, but the salts are retained in
the remaining water. The water that filters back to
the ground water has an increased salt concentration.
If the ground water is recycled, the concentration
process can continue until the soil and ground water
are too salty to permit the growth of crops. This
situation has occurred many times in the past and once
fertile areas have become useless. The situation is
now occurring in the Southwest.
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All of the sources of surface water contamination also
affect the ground water. Ground and surface waters are
very closely connected and many rivers and lakes
discharge to the ground water during all or part of the
year. Such waters carry any pollutants they may
contain down to the water table.
The build-up of contaminants in ground waters from
percolating pollutants is seldom dramatic, and sources
of percolating pollutants are both diffuse and diverse,
all of which compounds the problems of control and
abatement. In the area of percolating pollutants,
however, at least two needs warrant immediate research:
a) The control and prevention of increased ground water
salinity through its use for crop irrigation and return
to the water table; and b) the effects of septic tank
effluents on ground water, particularly the detergents,
pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers they contain.
A better understanding is required of the stratified,
laminar flow, and lack of disperison mechanisms in
aquifers. Knowledge of constituent removals and
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changes affected in the unsaturated and saturaed zones
is needed.
Salt Water Intrusion
In many areas of the United States, saline and fresh
subsurface waters occur in close proximity. This
condition is prevalent in inland areas and ubiquitous
in coastal regions. Proximity implies an inherent
danger of saline contamination of fresh water
resources. In many localities such contamination is a
reality.
Salt water intrusion is very rarely a mixing process.
Ground water flow is laminar and salt water and fresh
water are of different densities. Diffusion processes
can therefore be ignored. Intrusion is the process of
replacing fresh water with salt water. In theory there
is no difference between the process whereby the sea
replaces fresh water and other density-caused
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processes. The problems of coastal and inland
intrusion, if not differing in kind, differ in
magnitude, and it is in the coastal areas where the
critical and massive intrusion problems usually occur.
If saline and fresh water are in contact, the frontal
surface will move in response to changes in the
pressure head of either system. Under natural
conditions in ground water basins there is a balance
between inflow and outflow. In the case of an aquifer
in hydraulic continuity with the ocean or other large
saline body, there is sufficient pressure and flow to
counteract the tendency for the heavier sea water to
move inland. When fresh water is removed from the
aquifer for use, or when recharge of the aquifer is
decreased, the water level is lowered. The lower
pressure permits salt water to move into the fresh
water zone (figure 4). Intrusion caused in this way is
said to result from a reversal or a reduction in the
pressure gradient. Parts of Long Island Sound and
mainland New York provide a typical example,. These
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-PUMPING WELL
AQUIFER
Fresh Water
Figure 4
COASTAL SALTWATER INTRUSION CAUSED BY
REDUCTION IN FRESH WATER FLOW.
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areas are underlain by a wedge shaped mass of
unconsolidated sediments that extend to a depth of more
than 2,000 feet. Major intrusion has occurred as a
result of ground water withdrawal and the decrease in
aquifer recharge caused by improved drainage and sewer
systems. By the mid 1930's, water levels in parts of
Kings and Queens Counties were lowered to as much as 35
feet below sea level.6 Sea water intrusion resulted.
Ground water supplies in the most highly urbanized
areas of these counties have been abandoned and water
is supplied from the New York City water system.
Because of the high rates of pumping and the extension
of sewer systems removing a recharge source, the
hydraulic imbalance persists and the threat of
intrusion increases.
Salt water intrusion almost always has been the
inadvertent result of some activity of man as he alters
his environment. An even better demonstration of this
often results from waterway construction. When natural
waterways are deepened or widened, there is the
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possibility that materials which have acted as an
impermeable blanket between saline waters and
underlying fresh waters may be removed. When new
waterways which connect inland areas with the sea are
constructed, permeable layers may be exposed to saline
water, or sea water may be conducted past existing
barriers. In either case, a channel for the movement
of salt water into fresh water aquifers is created.
On the highly populated Atlantic coast, between
Massachusetts and Florida, each of the states is having
problems with sea water intrusion.6 The seriousness of
the problems is usually dependent on the intensity of
urban and industrial development with its associated
extraction and non-return of water. On the West Coast,
California has had many problems with sea water
intrusion and has spent considerable effort to try to
solve or ameliorate the problems. In several places it
is now common practice to recharge the ground water
with fresh water or treated wastes so that a mound is
created between the ground water basin and the salt
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water (figure 5). A series of recharge mounds then act
as a barrier and allow the ground water basin to be
pumped down below sea level. To date, the recharge
mound seems to be the only effective method of
combating sea water intrusion.
In inland areas, salinity problems are surprisingly
widespread. In geologic history, precipitation has
washed soluble salts from the soils. These salts moved
with the fluids until they arrived in large basins
where they were concentrated by evaporation.
Approximately two thirds of the conterminous United
States is underlain by saline waters containing more
than 1,000 mg/1 dissolved solids.6 The problem of salt
water intrusion in inland aquifers can be the same as
in coastal areas, however, in inland areas there is
more likely to be a physical barrier separating salt
water and fresh water aquifers. Care must be taken
that these barriers are not ruptured. A major source
of contamination is the breaching of confining layers
by drilling or mining. In such instances, the salt
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PIEZOMETRICt
-RECHARGE WELL
AQUIFER
Fresh Water
Figure 5
CONTROL OF SALT WATER INTRUSION BY USE
OF A RECHARGE MOUND
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water can move along the channels which are created and
flow into fresh water aquifers.
In the area of salt water intrusion, additional
research is needed to develop new methods for
prevention and correction of coastal salt water
intrusion. Present methods incorporating artifically
recharged domes of fresh water may become increasingly
less desirable as fresh water volume requirements
increase causing increased ground water extraction to
serve the needs of increased population.
Controls
An additional measure needed for the protection of
subsurface waters is a waste effluent permit system
similar to that currently applicable to to surface
waters under the 1899 Refuse Act. Deep well disposal
of wastes must be controlled by laws or regulations
requiring the issuance of permits based on information
about the disposal site and the wastes to be injected.
Surface and near surface disposal regulations, usually
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designed to prohibit surface nuisances, must be
reevaluated in terms of protection of water quality in
the subsurface.
Currently, the authority of the Federal Government in
the control of subsurface pollution is ill-defined.
Federal legislation now being considered in the
Congress, however, would provide for an expanded
government role at both the Federal and State levels
for the protection of the subsurface environment.
Provisions of the proposed legislation include: The
development of state laws and regulations, pursuant to
Federal guidelines, for subsurface water protection;
development of guidelines, information and criteria for
subsurface disposal standards; increased research
activity in the scientific factors affecting subsurface
waste disposal; development of a subsurface pollution
surveillance and monitoring program; development of a
state enforcement system which must include a permit
system for subsurface waste disposal; development of
subsurface disposal site criteria; development of
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injection well construction and operation standards;
increased state program grants for implementing
subsurface pollution control programs; and development
of a nationwide program administered by the states
pursuant to Federal guidelines to regulate land and
underground disposal of wastes toxic to human health.
A comprehensive approach to the protection of
subsurface waters will require a concerted, unified
effort at the Federal, State, and local levels of
government. If we are to consistently produce the
enormous quantities of high quality water that the
future will demand and if we are to avoid the same
degradation of our ground water resources that our
surface water resources have undergone, management of
withdrawal and recharge must be instituted. Research
and technology must combine efforts to fill the basic
knowledge gaps in the earth sciences that allow
understanding of the causes and permit prediction of
the effects of subsurface water pollution.
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References Cited
1. Piper, A.M., "Subsurface Facilities of Water Management
and Patterns of Supply - Type Area Studies", The
Physical and Economic Foundations of Natural
Resources, Vol. 4, 1953.
2. McGuinness, C.L., "The Role of Ground Water in the
National Water Situation", U.S.G.S. Water Supply
Paper 1800, 1963.
3. Piper, A.M., "Disposal of Liquid Wastes by Injection
Underground - Neither Myth nor Millennium",
U.S.G.S. Circular 631, 1969.
4. Sheldrick, M.G., "Deep Well Disposal: Are Safeguards
Being Ignored?" Chemical Engineering, PP. 74-78,
April, 1969.
5. Patterson, J.W. et al, "Septic Tanks and the Environ-
ment", State of Illinois Institute for Environmen-
tal Quality, 1971.
6. "Salt Water Intrusion in the United States", Task Committee
on Salt Water Intrusion, Journal of the Hydraulics
Division, ASCE, Vol. 95, HY5, PP. 1651-1669,
Sept. 1969.
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Appendix A
-"• —- COM 5040. 10
October 15, 1970
SUBJECT: Policy on Disposal of "Wastes by Subsurface Injection
1. PURPOSE. This order establishes FWQA policy on the dis-
posal of v/astes by subsurface injections.
Z. BACKGROUND.
a. The disposal and storage of liquid v/astes by subsurface
injections are being increasingly considered, especially by indus-
tries facing enforcement of water quality standards. This is
because of the diminishing capabilities of surface waters to receive
effluents withoiit violation of standards, and the apparent lower
costs of this method of disposal over conventional and advanced
waste treatment techniques.
b. The effects of underground pollution and the fate of
injected materials are uncertain with today's knowledge. These
wastes could-well result in serious pollution damage and require a
more complex and costly solution on a long-term basis.
c. Improper Injection of municipal or industrial wastes to
the subsurface could result in serious pollution of water supplies or
other environmental hazards.
3. POLICY.
a. FWQA is opposed to the disposal or storage of wastes by
subsurface Injection without strict controls and a clear demonstra-
tion that such v/astes will not interfere with present or potential use
of subsurface water supplies, contaminate interconnected surface
waters, or otherwise daiTiage the environment.
b. All proposals for subsurface injection of v/astes shall
be critically cvaluc-t e.d to
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COM 5040. 10 October 15, 1970
(Z) Appropriate preinjection tests have been made to
allow prediction of the fate of wastes to be injected;
(3) There is adequate evidence to demonstrate that
such injection will not interfere with present or potential use of
wa-ter resources nor result in other environmental hazards;
(4) Best practical measures for pretreatment of
wastes have been applied;
(5) The subsurface injection system, has been designed
and constructed using the best available techniques, equipment, and
design criteria;
(6) Provisions for adequate and continuous monitoring
of the injection operation and resulting effects of the injection on
the environment hax^e been made; and
(7) Appropriate provision will be made for plugging
such wells at horizons below present or potential sources of water
supply when their use for disposal is discontinued.
c. \Yhcre subsurface injection of wastes is practiced, it
v/ill be: recognized as a temporary means of ultimate disposal to
be discontinued when alternatives enabling greater environmental
orotection become available.
j-
4- IMP LEMENTATIQN. FWQA will apply this policy to the extent
of its authorities in conducting ail program activities, including
regulatory activities, research and development, control of pollution
from Federal installations, technical assistance to the States, and
tb-? admlmstralion of the cons true lion grants, Slate program grants,
g^YX,;:^
0>C,-'J" ^ -' - •"'<•>"'
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Appendix B
Policy on Control of_ :'utrient Runoff from.
Ay ric a11ura1 La n ds " '
1, PURPOSE. To establish EPA policy on the control, of
nutrients from agricultural lands.
2. BACKGROUND.
a. The streams, lakes and estuaries of any area reach an
equilibrium under the natural conditions of the area. This
applies to the nutrients reaching these waters and the
utilization of the nutrients by the aquatic biota that
inhabit the waters. Man's activities tend to upset this
equilibrium and generally result in increased nutrients and
other pollutants reaching the waters. The increased water
nutrient levels lead to problems that include excessive
aquatic plant growths with the attendant oxygen problems
that are associated with decomposition processes, and to an
acceleration in the aging of the water body.
b. Along with industrial and municipal sources, man's
agricultural activities contribute nutrients to the
waterways. If the quality of the surface and ground waters
of the nation is to be improved/ and further degradation
prevented, the nutrients resulting from agricultural
activities must be controlled along with those from
municipal and industrial sources.
c. Nutrients from agricultural activities, either
carried by dislodged sediments or dissolved in the drainage
water include: those from native soils; decaying crop
residues; fertilizers applied to the land, both organic and
inorganic; and animal wastes.
3. POLICY.
a. The management of agricultural nutrients will
require: appropriate limitation of erosion and sediment
runoff; the efficient use of applied fertilizers by the
plants; tha application of fertilizers under the right
climatic and crop growth conditions; and tha retention of
animal wastes on the land. Management programs should be
planned and implemented for complete drainage basins.
However, maximum use should be made now of existing programs
^hat are available to individual farms or groups of farms.
b. Existing rederal, State, and local programs for
control of erosion and sedimant runoff should be implemented
on ~\n accelerated basis, and, where applicable, the upper
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roaches of watersheds should be attached first while
att-uking critical problems in other areas chat are amenable
';o oarly solutions. Projects designed for erosion and
oodiripnt control should include nutrient runoff control
Measures» The inclusion of such measures and acceleration
of the implementation of erosion and sediment control
projects v;ill result in reductions of the nutrients reaching
the streams while at the same time retaining the soils on
the agricultural lands.
c. The development of fertiliser application management
plans will require full evaluation of the nutrient
availablility and retention capability of various soil types
of the appropriate agricultural area. The capability of
existing programs/ such as those of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and State and local Agricultural Agencies should
be brought to bear toward developing the essential
information for complete watersheds and soil structure types
at an early date. Starting now with available information,
guidelines for fertilizer application, including maximum
recommended rates, should be developed. The voluntary use
of the guidelines in the fertilizer program for individual
farms should be encouraged through a strong effort by the
presently available educational programs of Federal, Stata,
and local agencies and educational institutions, and through
technical assistance. Success of the educational approach
must be adequately monitored in critical areas to determine
the needs for other approaches to achieving necessary levels
of nutrient control. Consideration should be given to
requiring adherence to certain fertiliser application
guidelines as a condition of eligibility for selected forms
of governmental assistance.
d. Animal wastes, principally manures, serve as both a
source of nutrients and as a soil builder when applied to
agricultural lands. Programs to retain the manures on the
land, and incorporate them into the soil should be developed
and implemented as part of the overall nutrient management
program of a watershed while greatly increasing the use of
already proven animal waste control programs for individual
farms or animal feeding operations.
(1) Animal v/astes should not be applied to farm lands
under adverse soil or weather conditions except when planned
methods will insure that they remain on the land. Storage
of the v/astes in designed structures until they can be
incorporated into the soil should be used.
(2) Watering and feeding points should be established
away from waterways along with the establishment of runoff
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a;; vrosion co.i'r.roi measures to prevent the concentration of
a.j-'il wastes in the vici.nity of the streams, "j"hcn a high
tl'^sity of anirials is created through confinement/ fencing
of the streams traversing such areas should be used as a
;. cans of preventing water pollution by the v/astes of the
crn.ined animals and the physical destruction of the
streambeds and banks.
4. IMPLEMENTATION. EPA will apply this policy to the extent
of its authorities in conducting all program activities,
including regulatory activities, research and development,
technical assistance, control of pollution from Federal
institutions, and the administration of the construction
grants, State program grants, and basin planning grants
programs.
William D. Ruckelshaus
DATE: January lU, 1972 Administrator
L. S, GOVKHNuriW PRKVTOlfi OFHC C 1972 — 514-145 (16)
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