PBS 4-170679
Emergency Response Equipment to Clean Up
Hazardous Chemical Releases at Spills and
Uncontrolled Waste Sites
(U.S.) Municipal Environmental Research Lab,
Cincinnati, Edison, NJ
1982
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Technical Information Service
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EB8U-170679
EPA-600/D-82-348
1982
EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT TO 'CLEAN UP HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL
RELEASES AT SPILLS AND UNCONTROLLED WASTE SITES
by
I. Wilder
Oil and Hazardous Materials Spills Branch
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory-Cincinnati
Edison, NJ 08837
MUNICIPAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
CINCINNATI, OH 45268
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TECHNICAL REPORT DATA
(fit-use retiU /iiUfticrioHS on the reverse buforn completing)
. SLIGHT NO.
EPA-600/D-82-i4JL
2.
3. RECIPIENT'S ACCESSIO.VNO.
4. TI7LE AND SUBTITLE
EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT TO CLEAN UP HAZARDOUS
CHEMICAL RELEASES AT SPILLS AND UNCONTROLLED WASTE SITES
5. REPORT DATE
1982
-170679
i. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE
7. AUTHOR(S)
Ira Wilder
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO.
9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS
Oil & Hazardous Materials Spills Branch
Solid & Hazardous Waste Research Division
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory
Edison, New Jersey 08837
10. PROGRAM ELEMENT NO.
11. CONTRACT/GRANT NO.
12. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS
13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory-Cin., OH
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
14. SPONSORING AGENCY CODE
EPA/600/14
15. SUPPLEMENTARY \OTES
15. ABSTRACT
Tnis paper reviews some of the research activities of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the development of emergency response equipment
to control hazardous chemical releases. Several devices and systems have been
developed by EPA for environmental emergencies involving spills and uncontrolled
waste sites. Many of these have already been made available commercially by
industry, including a mobile physical/ chemical treatment system for processing
contaminated water at hazardous incidents and a mobile laboratory for on-site
chemical analyses. Other operationally-ready devices addressed in this paper
include: a mobile stream diversion system for isolating segments of small streams
to facilitate the removal of contaminated sediments; a portable backpack polyure-
thane foam diking system for the containment of spilled chemicals; and an acoustic
emission-based spill alert device for detecting imminent dike failure at lagoons
containing toxic and hazardous wastes. Prototypical equipment, described in this
paper, which are now undergoing shakedown testing and evaluation include: a
mobile soils wasning system for extracting spilled materials from excavated soils
on site; and a mobile, field-use incineration system for the thermal destruction
of toxic organic compounds.
17.
KEY WORDS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
DESCRIPTORS
b.lDENTIFIERS/OPEN ENDED TERMS C. COSATI Held/Croup
13. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT
19. SECURITY CLASS (ThisReport)
21. NO. OF PAGES
22
20. SECURITY CLASS (This page)
22. PRICE
EPA Form 2220-1 (9-73)
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NOTICE
THIS DOCUM.ENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED
FROM THE BEST COPY FURNISHED US BY
THE SPONSORING AGENCY. ALTHOUGH IT
IS RECOGNIZED THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS
ARE ILLEGIBLE, IT IS BEING RELEASED
IN THE INTEREST OF MAKING AVAILABLE
AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE.
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NOTICE
This document has been reviewed in accordance with
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy and
approved for publication. Mention of trade names
or commercial products does not constitute endorse-
ment or recommendation for use.
11
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EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT TO CLEAN UP HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL
RELEASES AT SPILLS AND UNCONTROLLED WASTE SITES
I. Wilder
Chief, Oil and Hazardous Materials Spills Branch
Solid and Hazardous Waste Research Division
Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Edison, New Jersey 08837
ABSTRACT
This paper reviews some of the research activities
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-
garding the development of emergency response equipment
to control hazardous chemical releases. Several devices
and systems have been developed by EPA for environmen-
tal emergencies involving spills and uncontrolled waste
sites. Many of these have already been made available
commercially by industry, including a mobile physical/
chemical treatment system for processing contaminated
water at hazardous incidents and a mobile laboratory
for on-site chemical analyses. Other operationally-
ready devices addressed in this paper include: a mobile
stream diversion system for isolating segments of small
streams to facilitate the removal of contaminated sedi-
ments; a portable back-pack polyurethane foam diking
system for the containment of spilled chemicals; and an
acoustic emission-based spill alert device for detect-
ing imminent dike failure at lagoons containing toxic
and hazardous wastes. Prototypical equipment, described
in this paper, which are now undergoing shakedown test-
ing and evaluation include: a mobile soils washing
system for extracting spilled materials from excavated
soils on site; and a mobile, field-use incineration
system for the thermal destruction of toxic organic
compounds.
INTRODUCTION
Problem
Billions of metric tons of oils and hazardous chemicals are produced and
handled annually in the United States. These materials range from gasoline.
and fuel oils, to vegetable oils, sulfuric acid, lye, chlorine and chlorin-
ated compounds, cyanides and isocyanates, and include hundreds of millions of
kilograms of toxic pesticides and Pharmaceuticals. Millions of metric tons
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are released into the water, land, and air environment each year—often with
catastrophic consequences—due to spills resulting from ship, truck and train
accidents, equipment malfunction, transfer line failure, broken pipelines,
lagoon dike rupture, overfilling, leaking storage tanks, container puncture,
flood, earthquake, fire and explosion.
Similarly, millions of metric tons of hazardous wastes are generated in
this country each year from manufacturing, processing, and other industrial
operations. Disposal of this substantive quantity of waste is a matter of
great public concern in the wake of numerous case histories involving negli-
gent dumping practices resulting in several instances of contamination that
have severely damaged the environment and threatened human life. Perhaps the
most dramatic example of inadequate disposal of hazardous chemical wastes
occurred near Niagara Falls, New York, where hundreds of families living
along an abandoned waste disposal site, known as Love Canal, had to perman-
ently evacuate their homes when the toxic chemicals migrated from the site
and seeped through the ground into their basements.
Legislative Background
The U.S. Congress addressed the problem of oil and hazardous material
spills in Public Law 95-217, the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1977, and its pre-
decessor statute, Public Law 92-500, the Water Quality Improvement Act of
1972, which authorize the Federal Government to take emergency response
action when oils and specially designated hazardous substances are dis-
charged into navigable waters (1). These statutes, however, are seriously
limited in their authority to deal with the variety of problems caused by
releases of hazardous substances onto land or into groundwater and air.
Public Law 9*4-580, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of
1976, was the first comprehensive Federal legislation to deal with the haz-
ardous waste issue. RCRA establishes a regulatory system to track hazardous
wastes from the time of generation to disposal. It requires safe and secure
procedures to be used in treating, storing, and disposing of hazardous wastes
and is designed to prevent the creation of new Love Canals in the future.
RCRA, however, does not permit the government to respond directly to the
problems caused by improper (uncontrolled) hazardous waste disposal sites
already in existence.
Legal authority to overcome the limitations of both CWA and RCRA was
provided in 1980 by the enactment of Public Law 96-510, the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (commonly known as
Superfund) (2) which authorizes federal emergency response to any hazardous
substance release into the environment which endangers public health and
welfare—including the cleanup of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and the
mitigation of spills not only in navigable waters, but also in groundwaters,
soils, sediments, and the atmosphere.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Successful implementation of the Superfund legislation, as well as the
Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, requires major
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research and development efforts. Controlling and cleaning up hazardous sub-
stances is a relatively complex field. Specialized equipment and techniques
are needed in order to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies and to
dispose of the materials in an environmentally safe manner. Both industry
and the government are working diligently to learn more about controlling
these materials and to develop appropriate cleanup devices and equipment.
Within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Municipal Environ-
mental Research Laboratory (MERL) has the lead role for research and develop-
ment related to hazardous waste environmental emergencies. Through a program
at its Oil and Hazardous Materials Spills Branch in Edison, New Jersey, MERL
is developing prototype equipment and experimental techniques for the preven-
tion, control, and abatement of multi-media pollution from hazardous chemical
spills and mismanaged hazardous waste disposal sites.
Tne main thrust of the program centers around emergency response research
to develop the tools to remove the immediate threat of a hazardous material
Figure 1. Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank
(OHMSETT), the world's largest facility for the environmen-
tally safe testing of spill cleanup methods and technologies.
Reproduced from
best available copy.
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Incident in order to control the emergency and protect human health and the
environment. A major testing facility of the program is the Oil and Hazard-
ous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT), which consists
chiefly of a 9.8 million liter (2.6 million gallon) concrete tank with mobile
bridges, a wave generator, and a simulated beach (Figure 1). OHMSETT is the
only facility in the world of its kind for the testing, evaluation, and devel-
opment of full-scale spill cleanup equipment, devices, and systems under
controlled, environmentally safe and reproducible conditions (3,4).
Development of hardware and techniques is carried out from the concept
stage through the prototype stage to field testing and demonstration. A
major objective of the program is to demonstrate the applicability of the
prototypical equipment at spills and waste sites throughout the country,
thereby stimulating the commercial adoption or adaptation of the devices and
encouraging private firms to manufacture or use similar equipment*
Equipment or Systems Currently Field Ready
Several prototypical emergency response devices have been developed,
tested, evaluated, and demonstrated to the point where they are fully opera-
tional (5). Examples of some of these field-ready devices follow:
Mobile Physical/Chemical Treatment System
This device (Figure 2) is designed to remove hazardous chemicals from
water by a variety of physical/chemical treatment steps employed in the
Figure 2. Mobile physical/chemical treatment system for processing con-
taminated water.
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field. It contains equipment for coagulating and settling suspended solids,
filtering very fine particulates, and adsorbing dissolved organic contamin-
ents using granular activated carbon. Mounted on a 13.7-m (45-ft) drop deck
trailer, the system (6) incorporates three mixed-media filters, three pressure
carbon columns (which may be used in parallel or in series), pumps, piping
controls, and a 100-KW diesel generator. A support trailer is equipped with
additional pumps and several collapsible rubber tanks which serve as sedimen-
tation, chemical reaction, and storage containers. Contaminated water can be
processed at flow rates between 379 and 2270-1iters (100 to 600-gallons) per
minute. The system has been used at more than 30 cleanups of uncontrolled
hazardous waste sites and spills of hazardous materials around the country.
Commercial units patterned after the EPA system are now routinely employed.
Mobile Decontamination Station
This 12.2-m (40-ft) trailer (Figure 3) is engineered to provide on-site
safety support for emergency response personnel. It is intended to ensure
that exposed personnel do not leave the site without a proper washdown and
clothing change. The unit is placed at the boundary of a cleanup site, and all
personnel are required to pass through it when entering and leaving the site.
The trailer is divided into three compartments: [1] a "clean" room with
lockers for storing street clothing; [2] a shower room; and [3] a "contamin-
ated" room with lockers for work clothing. This room also includes a clothes
washer and dryer. The decontamination station is equipped with a fresh water
supply and holding tanks for waste water which must be processed prior to dis-
charge. The unit has already been used in the field in support of cleanup
activities, and has been duplicated by a commercial spill cleanup contractor.
Figure 3. Mobile decontamination station for use of field personnel at
cleanup activities involving toxic materials.
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Mobile Laboratory
This unit, contained within a 10.7-m (35-ft) semi-trai1er (Figure 4), is
designed to provide analytical services during the cleanup of hazardous mate-
rials at spills and uncontrolled waste sites (7). Having analytical capabili-
ties at the field site avoids delays inherent in shipping samples to a central
laboratory. The mobile laboratory contains a broad range of sophisticated
instrumentation, including a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), com-
puterized gas chromatographs, an atomic absorption spectrometer, infrared and
fluorescence spectrometers, and other highly sensitive analytical tools.
Special sample processing techniques and glove boxes permit safe handling of
high concentrations of toxic chemicals. During the past few years, the
mobile laboratory has been used to perform several thousand sample analyses
in a variety of emergency response situations. The laboratory has been used
as a model by a number of spill cleanup contractors who have built similar
mobile units for commercial application.
Figure 4. Mobile laboratory to provide analytical services at emergency
incidents involving hazardous chemicals.
Acoustic Emission Monitoring Device
This device (Figure 5) 15 derigned to provide an early warning of poten-
tial failure to earthen-dams containing hazardous materials (8). Earthen-dam
ponds can be found at almost any hazardous waste site in the United States.
Many of these impoundments are unstable and, with slight overstressing (such
as from heavy rains), may collapse and spill their contents into the environ-
ment with potentially drastic consequences. The acoustic emission monitoring
device detects instability in earthen dikes by measuring noises generated by
soil particle movement. The intensity and frequency of these sounds (acous-
tic emissions) has been correlated with stress levels for various soils and,
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therefore, can be used to indicate stability of dike structures. Acoustic
emissions are transmitted to the surface of the dike through metal rods (wave-
guides) inserted into the impoundment wall. These sounds are converted to
electrical signals which are amplified and recorded for analyses. The device,
which has been commercialized in at least three versions, has received wide
recognition as a simple, portable, inexpensive tool for assessing impoundment
stability and preventing spills.
•V
Figure 5.
Acoustic emission monitoring device for detecting imminent
dike failure at lagoons containing toxic and hazardous wastes.
Foam Dike System
This system (Figure 6) is designed to provide a rapid response method for
containing or diverting the flow of many spilled hazardous chemicals (9,10).
The diking unit consists of an 18-kg (40-lb) back-pack device that generates
approximately 0.8-m3 (30-ft3) of two-component, very rapid set-up polyure-
thane foam. Larger sized commercially available units are capable of deliver-
ing 1.8-nP (65-ft3) of foam which provides sufficient material to construct
a barrier 0.3-m (1-ft) high by 0.3-m (1-ft) wide by 6-m (20-ft) in diameter
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which could impound approximately 7570-liters (2000-gallons) of spilled hazard-
ous liquid. The polyurethane foam adheres well to most dry surfaces (pavement,
earth, etc.) for making stable dikes, and can also be used to plug storm drains
on streets to prevent spilled hazardous materials from entering sewer systems.
The diking unit has been designed as a compact, portable device to be carried
by individual operators such as truck drivers or railroad train personnel.
Several fire departments in this country have already used the foam diking
system in emergency response operations involving hazardous substance releases.
Figure 6. Foam dike system for the emergency containment of spilled
hazardous chemicals.
Mobile Stream Diversion System
The system (Figure 7) is intended to isolate segments of small streams so
that contaminated sediments can be removed easily with mechanical earthmoving
equipment (11). This approaches an alternative to dredging which typically
requires extensive water treatment to remove contaminants that become sus-
pended or dissolved.during the pumping operation. Dredging also often leads
to the downstream spread of the contaminant as a result of resuspension of
bottom muds and silts. Isolation of a contaminated stream is accomplished by
damming the stream above the impacted area and bypassing the normal stream
flow. The stream diversion technique permits the spill-impacted segment to
dry, thus facilitating mechanical cleanup. The major components of the sys-
tem are booster pumps, submersible pumps, generators, a crane, and aluminum
irrigation pipe. The system is designed to bypass the flow (up to 0.37-m3/s
[13-ft3/s]) of a small stream for distances up to 914-m (3000-ft). An
alternative use of the mobile stream diversion system is to divert or reroute
surface runoff water around a highly contaminated hazardous waste site and
prevent the spread of contamination to areas down gradient of the site.
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Figure 7. Mobile stream diversion system for isolating segments of small
streams to facilitate the removal of contaminated sediments.
Hazardous Materials Spill Warning System
This in-stream system (12), which is capable of detecting a variety of
spilled hazardous materials in waterways, is housed in an air-conditioned
Figure 8. Hazardous materials spill warning system for the continuous
in-stream detection of a broad variety of spilled hazardous
chemicals in water.
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8.2-m (27-ft) automotive trailer (Figure 8). The system operates continu-
ously at an unattended station, without maintenance, for a period of 14
days. A submersible pump in the watercourse supplies uninterrupted water
samples to instrument consoles in the trailer. The consoles contain the fol-
lowing: [1] pH, electrical conductivity and oxidation-reduction potential
sensors for the detection of acids and bases, ionic compounds, and oxidizing
and reducing substances, respectively; [2] a total organic carbon analyzer
with a built-in recorder for the detection of organic compounds; [3] a dif-
ferential ultraviolet absorptimeter for the detection of aromatic compounds;
and [4] a control console with strip chart recorders. The hazardous materials
spill warning system has already been demonstrated in the field to monitor
discharges from uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
Equipment or Systems Currently Under Test and Evaluation
A number of prototypical emergency response systems are now undergoing
final shakedown testing and evaluation prior to full-scale field trials.
Examples of some of these systems follow:
Mobile Incineration System
This system (13) was developed for field use to destroy hazardous organic
substances collected from cleanup operations at spills and uncontrolled haz-
ardous waste sites. The unit is designed to EPA's PCB destruction specifica-
tions (under Public Law 94-469, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976) to
provide state-of-the-art thermal detoxification of long-lived, refractory
organic compounds. Hazardous substances that can be incinerated, for exam-
ple, include compounds containing chlorine and phosphorus (such as PCB's,
kepone, dioxins, and organophosphate pesticides) which may be in pure form,
in solution, in sludges, or in soils.
The mobile incinerator consists of four over-the-road trailers (Figure 9)
with specialized combustion equipment, air pollution control devices, and
monitoring instrumentation. Organic wastes are fully vaporized and com-
pletely or partially oxidized at 982°C (1800°F) in a refractory lined
rotary kiln. Off-gases are passed through a secondary combustion chamber at
1204°C (2200°F) where thermal decomposition of the contaminants is com-
pleted. Acid gases and particulates generated by the combustion process are
removed in the system's sophisticated air pollution control apparatus. A
comprehensive monitoring system is used to analyze the flue and stack gases
for combustion and emission components and is designed to automatically halt
the feeding of waste to the incinerator if gas emissions exceed acceptable
levels. Design processing rates for the incinerator are 4080-kg/hr (9000-
Ib/hr) of contaminated dry sand, or 680-kg/hr (1500-lb/hr) of contaminated
water, or 284-1/hr (75-gal/hr) of contaminated fuel oil.
A series of test burns with fuel oil has already been completed. In
order to systematically evaluate the equipment, PCB trial burns are currently
underway. These trials are intended to demonstrate the incinerator's ability
to meet or exceed the performance requirements established by Federal, State,
and municipal regulations. After the trials, the system will be demonstrated
at several hazardous waste sites- around the country.
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Figure 9. Mobile incineration system for the on-site destruction of
refractory organic compounds.
Mobile Carbon Regeneration System
Waters contaminated with hazardous substances can now be cleaned with
water purification equipment such as the EPA mobile physical/chemical treat-
ment system (discussed above). Systems of this nature, which utilize granu-
lar activated carbon to adsorb the organic contaminants from the water, can
be made more cost-effective with on-site regeneration of the spent carbon—
thereby eliminating the problems associated with the transportation of contam-
inated carbon to a secure landfill or an off-site regeneration facility.
The mobile carbon regeneration system (Figure 10) provides a safe and
effective method for detoxifying/regenerating contaminated carbon at the
cleanup site. The system (14), mounted on a 13.7-m (45-ft) semi-trailer, con-
tains a rotary kiln that heats the carbon in a slightly reducing atmosphere
to about 982°C (1800°F) and releases the adsorbed contaminants as a vapor.
(The atmosphere in the kiln is conditioned with water to enhance reactivation
of the carbon.) The vapor passes into a secondary combustion chamber where
it is totally decomposed. The flue gases are quenched with water sprays and
scrubbed with alkaline solution to neutralize acids and remove particulates
before venting to the atmosphere. Once the carbon is cooled with water, it
is ready for reuse. The design processing rate for the carbon regenerator is
45.4-kg/hr (100-lb/hr) of dry granular activated carbon with 90% of the
carbon's adsorption capacity restored after regeneration.
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The mobile carbon regeneration system is now undergoing comprehensive
shakedown testing and evaluation, and is expected to be ready for field
demonstration during 1983.
Figure 10. Mobile carbon regeneration system for field use in
reactivating spent granular activated carbon used in
spill or waste site cleanup operations.
Mobile Soils Washing System
This system (currently under development) is being designed for on-site
removal of a broad range of hazardous materials from excavated soils (15).
The soils washer is expected to be an economical alternative to the current
practice of hauling contaminated soils off site to a landfill, and replacing
the excavated volume with fresh soil on site. The system will be capable of
extracting contaminants from soils—"artificially leaching" the soil using a
water-based cleaning agent—and thereby enabling operators to leave the
treated soil on site. To accomplish this, the soil is passed through a rota-
ting drum screen water knife soil scrubber where soil lumps are broken apart
by intense jets of water, and dtemicals are stripped from soil particles.
The resulting soil slurry is fed into a 4-stage counter-current chemical
extractor (Figure 11). Each stage consists of a mixing, froth-flotation cell
connected in series with hydrocjclones which centrifugally separate solids
from liquids. The soil particles are agitated repeatedly in washing fluid
and are progressively decontaminated as they flow through each stage. The
cleansed soil is then returned to the site. The extracted hazardous contam-
inants are separated from the washing fluid using physical/chemical treatment
procedures (flocculation, sedimentation, carbon adsorption, etc.). The
cleaned washing fluid is recircalated while the separated and concentrated
contaminants are disposed of by appropriate means.
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The prototype soils washing system will be capable of processing 3 to
14-ir»3 (4 to 18-yd3) of contaminated soil per hour, depending on the soil
particle size and the nature of the contaminant. The device is expected to
be ready for shakedown testing and field trials in 1983.
Figure 11. Chemical extractor for separating spilled materials from
excavated soils on site.
Mobile In-Situ Soils Treatment System
Where large volumes of subsurface soils are contaminated at spills or haz-
ardous waste sites, excavation of the soil is not economically feasible. A
commercially available alternative approach is to flush the soil in place
with water. The mobile in-situ soils treatment system (16) offers an innova-
tive, improved technique for treating contaminated subsurface soils in place
at reduced costs, in terms of dollars per kilogram of contaminant removed.
The technique employs water flushing with additives, and detoxification by
chemical reaction.
The system (Figure 12} is mounted on a 13.1-m (43-ft) drop deck trailer
and consists mainly of mixing, piping, and pumping equipment. In-situ con-
tainment can be accomplished with this system through direct injection of
grouting material into the soil around the contaminated area, thereby isola-
ting the area. The contaminants are then treated in place by water-flushing
with additives or by other methods such as oxidation/reduction, neutraliza-
tion or precipitation. Specially prepared solutions of wash water can be
delivered into highly contaminated soil through 16 injectors (slotted or per-
forated pipes which are inserted into a series of holes drilled into the
impacted area). A vacuum well-point withdrawal system creates an artificial
hydraulic gradient which draws the wash solution from the injectors through
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the contaminated soil thereby speeding up the natural groundwater leaching
process. The now chemically contaminated wash solution is processed through
a mobile water treatment unit where contaminants are. removed. Chemical
additives are then introduced into the cleansed wash solution which is
reinjected into the contaminated area for further treatment.
Preliminary testing of the mobile in-situ soils treatment system has been
completed and shakedown testing is now underway. The unit is scheduled for
field evaluation in 1983.
Figure 12. Mobile in-situ soils treatment system for cleaning and
detoxifying subsurface contaminatetd soils in place by
water-flushing with additives, or by chemical reaction.
Other Technologies
The devices described in the preceding paragraphs are but a few of the
items of emergency response hardware developed under the EPA Oil and Hazard
ous Materials Spills (QMS) Branch research program. Other outputs of the
program worthy of mention include the following:
- A trailer-mounted multi-purpose gelling agent system for solidifying and
immobilizing spilled hazardous liquids and preventing their penetration
through the soil into groundwater supplies (17,18).
- A pallet-mounted emergency collection bag and pumping system, consisting
of a 26,500-liter (7000-gallon) furled Teflon-coated urethane bag and
battery-powered or explosion-proof gasoline motor-driven pumps, for
temporarily storing spilled hazardous chemicals (10).
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Portable field kits for use by spill response personnel to detect and
identify a wide variety of spilled chemicals in waterbodies (19,20).
Enzyme-based systems for detecting the presence of spilled organophos-
phate and carbamate pesticides in water (21,22,23).
A cyclic colorimeter—a device capable of performing opacity-sensitive
determinations for the detection of spilled heavy metals in water (24).
A field test kit for screening the contents of chemical waste drums at
uncontrolled disposal sites for the presence of strong oxidizing and
reducing agents (25).
An ultrasonic device for locating sunken insoluble hazardous materials on
the bottoms of waterbodies (26).
A computerized file of case history information which documents past
field experiences of actual hazardous material incidents and provides
easy retrieval of lessons learned (27).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The development of effective emergency response technologies to control
hazardous chemical releases at spills or waste sites is critical to EPA's
mission to guarantee the protection of public health and the environment from
the adverse effects of such chemical releases. A point has now been reached
where several devices have been designed, constructed, and field tested.
More will soon be available for actual use. As new equipment is developed,
the OHMS Branch will continue to (a) conduct comprehensive shakedown testing
to assure field readiness and reliable performance on a rapid response basis;
(b) conduct field trials to demonstrate operational capability and usefulness
of the equipment in "real world" emergency situations; and (c) actively
encourage commercialization of the new technology by making detailed plans,
specifications, and design drawings available to the private sector.
Although the OHMS Branch research program is predominantly hardware
oriented, its outputs also consist of technical reports, handbooks, guidance
documents, and user manuals on a variety of emergency response-related areas
including: protocols for ensuring personnel safety at waste sites and spills;
practices for reducing the frequency and severity of spills; techniques for
halting the release and spread of contamination to the surrounding water, air,
soil and sediments; methods for congealing spilled hazardous liquids and con-
tents of damaged drums; procedures for characterizing the extent of hazardous
material releases and for locating subsurface spills; techniques for control-
ling spillage from impoundments and waste lagoons; methodology for determining
cleanup priorities and for evaluating alternative removal techniques; strate-
gies for emergency contingency planning; methods for on-site encapsulation or
destruction of hazardous substances recovered at spills or waste sites; and
rapid emergency procedures for chemical analyses aboard mobile laboratories.
The technology developed under this program is transferred to the general
public via the above documents as well as the biennial National Conferences
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on Control of Hazardous Material Spills. EPA takes a lead role in organizing
and promoting these conferences which are co-sponsored by other Federal agen-
cies and private industrial organizations such as the U.S. Coast Guard and
the Chemical Manufacturers Association, respectively. The Proceedings of
these conferences are an excellent means of communicating the developments of
the EPA emergency response research program to the user community (23-33).
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REFERENCES
1. Bennett, G. F., and Wilder, I., "Evolution of Hazardous Material Spills
Regulations in the United States," Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol
4, No. 3, January 1931, pp 257-269.
2. Bennett, G. F., Feates, F. S., and Wilder, I., "Hazardous Materials
Spills Handbook," McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY, 1982, pp 2-2
through 2-9.
3. "Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT)
Capability," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Municipal Environ-
mental Research Laboratory, Oil and Hazardous Materials Spills Branch,
Edison, NJ.
4. Smith, G. F., and Lichte, H. W., "Summary of U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency's OHMSETT Testing, 1974-1979," EPA Report No. 600/9-81-007,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, February 1981.
5. "Environmental Emergency Response Unit (EERU) Capability," U.S. Environ-
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