United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Hazardous Waste Engineering
Research Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA/600/S9-85/030  Dec. 1985  ''•
Project  Summary
Proceedings:  National
Workshop on  Pesticide Waste
Disposal,   Denver,  Colorado,
January 28-29,   1985
  The National Workshop on Pesticide
Waste Disposal was held in Denver,
Colorado,  on January 28-29,  1985.
This broadly scoped workshop was
jointly sponsored by the  American
Chemical Society's  Division of Pesti-
cide Chemistry, the American Farm
Bureau Federation, the American Soci-
ety of Agricultural Engineers, the As-
sociation of American Pesticide Control
Officials, Inc., the National Alliance of
Independent Crop  Consultants, the
National Forest Products Association,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Office of Research and Devel-
opment  and Office  of Pesticide Pro-
grams. The primary objective of  this
workshop  was to provide  a national
forum for  assembled pesticide users,
pesticide producers, federal and state
agencies, and agricultural and environ-
mental researchers to address collec-
tively the complex issue of pesticide
waste disposal and to serve as a basis
for continued dialogue and interaction.
The proceedings of the workshop reflect
the two primary points of this gathering:
the status of EPA's pesticide and haz-
ardous waste regulations and the efforts
of government, academia, and industry
to address effectively the ramifications
of these regulations. Special sessions of
the workshop were  devoted to appli-
cator disposal needs and to federal/
state pesticide regulatory requirements.
Additional  sessions  were concerned
with vairous disposal technology op-
tions. These proceedings contain 20
papers that report on the problems and
solutions of pesticide waste dispsoal.

  This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Hazardous Waste Engineering
Research Laboratory. Cincinnati. OH.
to announce key findings of the research
project that is fully documented in a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering information at
back).

  After opening remarks and a welcome
from John G. Welles, the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional
Administrator for  Region  VIM, Orlo R.
Ehart of the Wisconsin Department of
Agriculture's Trade and Consumer Pro-
tection Division presented an overview
that set the tone for the day-and-a-half
workshop. Mr. Ehart discussed the need
for a major agreement that balanced both
legal and technical concerns and address-
ed the difficulties and costs of the proper
disposal of pesticide wastes.
  Since  many of  the attendees were
pesticide applicators, the workshop was
structured to give them an opportunity to
express their specific disposal  needs.
William T. Keane,  the  moderator of a
panel of commercial applicators for this
session, described the state-of-the-art of
mechanical technology available to ap-
plicators as being  inadequate for com-
pliance with the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA). Pesticide waste
disposal perspectives were discussed by
commercial aerial and ground applicators
as well as by a private applicator con-
cerned with on-the-farm disposal prob-
lems.
  Raymond F. Krueger of the Office of
Pesticide Programs, U.S. EPA, provided a
brief summary of the federal regulation of
pesticide disposal Mr. Krueger discussed
the two federal laws  administered  by
EPA: the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and  Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

-------
(RCRA). Uncertainties of pesticide users
reflect a lack of understanding concerning
these two  legislative acts.  This  lack is
particularly evident with RCRA because
of its comprehensiveness and most recent
amendments. This paper introduced the
pesticide user to those parts of FIFRA and
RCRA relating to  management of pesti-
cide-containing wastes that  might be
generated  during pesticide use. John
Masterman  of the  State  of  California
Department of Health Services explained
how California and  other  states  may
impose  pesticide  waste regulations  in
addition to those  issued by the federal
government. This paper emphasized that
cleanup  costs and  potential civil  and
criminal penalties are  usually so great
that the long-term  cost  of  improper
management far exceeds any short-term
savings that may be realized.
  Dr. PhilipC. Kearney of the Agricultural
Research  Service, U.S. Department  of
Agriculture (USDA), presented a paper
entitled "Pesticide Degradation Proper-
ties." This  paper explained  the large
number of compounds whose persistence
and mobility in the environment are
simultaneously their most useful proper-
ties and those of  greatest concern. Dr.
Kearney concluded the morning's special
sessions with an  expression of concern
for  the economics of disposal, which he
considered to be a  major issue along  with
the persistence and mobility patterns of
the most widely  used herbicides  and
insecticides.
  The workshop continued  with  papers
reviewing the various approaches to the
disposal  of  pesticide wastes with  em-
phasis on  system descriptions, costs,
waste types, environmental and health
considerations, regulatory  constraints,
and the advantages and disadvantages of
each technology option. Various physical,
biological, and chemical technology op-
tions were discussed and compared  with
traditional  treatment and disposal  sce-
narios. Descriptions were made of a  two-
stage adsorption, filtration, and/or co-
agulation treatment system  that  was
developed to remove  pesticides from
contaminated wastewaters, and  of a
treatment system  based on  recirculation
of  pesticide-contaminated  wastewater
through a  bed of  granular activated
carbon. Biological methods  using micro-
organisms to destroy chemicals or metab-
olize pesticides were also discussed along
with  options to  dilute pesticides for
disposal. This treatment technology was
addressed  from the  perspective of the
applicator, whose  needs are to  find
simple, inexpensive, and environmentally
safe methods for pesticide waste disposal
that comply with federal and state regula-
tions. The chemical treatment options
presented for  pesticide waste disposal
addressed detoxification and  chemical
destruction through the use of oxidative,
reductive, hydrolytic, and/or  catalytic
reagents.  Other methods  of degrading
pesticides were microwave plasma  de-
struction,  photolysis, hydrolysis, ozona-
tion, wet-air oxidation, chemical fixation,
and reductive degradation.
  The land application options  available
to pesticide waste generators of a pesti-
cide rinsate  focused on land treatment
units, landfills, and surface impound-
ments. One presentation covered accept-
able disposal techniques, some of RCRA's
related requirements, and reuse of pesti-
cide rinsate. A paper on incineration
options summarized EPA's  tests of high-
temperature incinerators with  an over-
view of their typical waste destruction
performance. Few  technical limitations
are envisioned  in incinerating  most  or-
ganic agricultural   pesticides  or  their
combustible containers  because of  the
successful experience with thermal  de-
struction technologies.
  After the papers on disposal technol-
ogies, a discussion was held on storage,
handling, and shipment of waste pesti-
cides  under  federal law. This  topic  in-
cluded the identification and classifica-
tion of  waste  pesticides, notification
requirements, the pretransport require-
ments, the  Uniform Hazardous Waste
Manifest, recordkeeping, reporting, and
the farmer exemption. The transporter's
perspective  was provided in  a  paper
covering the operation  of the transfer
station,  the type of company that would
be likely to operate the station, and  the
transportation requirements.
  Pesticide container management, which
includes recycling, reuse, and disposal of
empty pesticide containers, was the final
issue' of the workshop. Presentations
included the discussion of the Alberta,
Canada's province-wide container collec-
tion and disposal  system  and Maine's
returnable pesticides container program.
  The workshop concluded with a panel
summarizing the program. Panel mem-
bers  representing   the  USEPA, USDA,
academia, and industry provided remarks
and answers  to  questions through  a
structured system designed to allow their
inclusion in the proceedings.
  These proceedings are  published so
that the material presented at this work-
shop  can benefit  as many people as
possible who  express  an interest in
solutions  to the problems inherent in
pesticide  waste  disposal. Before  the
workshop was concluded, planning began
for a 1986 National Workshop on Pesti-
cide Waste Disposal which will build on
the information contained in the  full
report. These proceedings contain  the
presentations made by representatives of
various EPA regulatory  and research
groups, USDA, academia, and the pesti-
cide industry and thus document the first
venture of  the Workshop Committee in
working toward environmentally sound
and practical solutionsfor pesticide waste
disposal
  The full report was submitted in fulfill-
ment of Contract  68-03-3131 by JACA
Corporation under the sponsorship of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

-------
     This Project  Summary  was prepared by staff of JACA  Corporation,  Fort
      Washington. PA 19034.
    James S. Bridges is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
     The complete report, entitled  Proceedings: National  Workshop on Pesticide
      Waste Disposal, Denver, Colorado, January 28-29, 1985,"(Order No. PB 86-
      119 898/AS; Cost: $16.95, subject to change) will be available only from:
            National Technical Information Service
            5285 Port Royal Road
            Springfield, VA 22161
            Telephone: 703-487-4650
     The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
            Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory
            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
            Cincinnati, OH 45268
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
     BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES
        EPA
   PERMIT No G-3
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300

EPA/600/S9-85/030
                                 0169064   W£RL
                                                          IL   60604

-------