UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON. D.Q, .20460
OFFICE OF WATER AND
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
TO: EPA Libraries
The Office of Solid Waste held public hearings during
February and March on proposed hazardous waste regulations,
under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
We advised the public that copies of the transcripts
would be available for review in the EPA libraries.
Enclosed is the transcript from one of those 5 hearings,
(the hearing held in St. Louis in February).
As soon as I have copies of the other four (New York,
Washington, D.C., Denver, and San Francisco), I will forward
them.
Sincerely yours,
Geraldine Wyer
Public Participation Officer
Office of Solid Waste (WH-562)
-------
1 j UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
i
2 j ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
In the Matter of:
Public Meeting on Improving
6 Environmental Regulations
7
Breckenridge Pavilion Hotel,
One Broadway,
9 St. Louis, Missouri,
Wednesday, February 14, 1979.
10
The public hearing in the above-entitled matter
11
was convened, pursuant to notice, at 8:30 o'clock a.m.,
12
Dorochy A. Darrah, presiding.
T?
BEFORE:
14
PANEL
15
DOROTHY A. DARRAH, Office of General Counsel,
16 EPA, Washington, D. C.
17 AMY SCHAFFER, Office of Enforcement, SPA,
Washington, D. C.
18
JOHN P. LEHMAN, Director, Hazardous Waste
19 Management Division, Office of
Solid Waste, EPA, Washington,
20 D. C.
21 ALFRED LINDSEY> Chief, Implementation Branch,
Hazardous Waste Management
22 Division, Office of Solid
Waste, EPA, Washington, D. C.
ALAN CORSON, Chief, Section 3001, Guide-
24 I lines Branch, Hazardous Waste
Management Branch, Office of
25 . Solid Waste, EPA, Washington,
D. C.
-------
. CHET MC LAUGHLIN, Solid Waste Branch, EPA,
Region VII, Kansas City,
2 II Missouri.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20
21
22
23
24 I
CONTENTS
Opening Remarks Page
Carl Blomgren, Director, Air and
Hazardous Materials Diviscn 3A
Opening Remarks
Tom Jorling, Assistant Administrator,
Water and Waste Management 5
Opening Remarks
John Lehman, Director, Hazardous
Waste Management Division 1C
STATEMENTS OF:
Dr. Stacy L. Daniels, Dow Chemical 23
.Dr. -Barry Commoner, Washington University 40
Joe Pound, American Admixtures 57
Kay Drey ','3
Robert M. Robinson, Director of Solid Waste
Management Program for Missouri Department
of Natural Resources 62
Kenneth Smelcer, Executive Vice President,
Industrial Association of Quincy 68
16
Brocks Becker, President ui' Residuals ^Management
17 Tecnnology, Inc. 98
18 Prank Stegbauer, Vice President of Southern
Towing Company llo
19
James A. Kinsey, Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency -d-r
Roland C. Mar quart', Transportation Services 139
Separate Transcript for -^uestion ana answer Session
Pages 151 thru i26
:] nearing .inserts:
-------
2 MR. BLOMGREN: Good morning.
3 I'm Carl Blomgren, director, Air and Hazardous
4 Materials Division, EPA, Region VII, office in Kansas City.
5 I bring you greetings from our regional adminis-
6 trator, Dr. Kathleen Camin, and welcome you to this winter
7 wonderland of the Midwest. We appreciate your interest in
8 these regulations which will shape the implementation of the
9 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's Subtitle C. I am
10 particularly interested in the issues and concerns which you
11 have with these regulations and offer to work with you in
12 developing equitable regulations which provide for adequate
13 controls of hazardous waste.
14 The states in Region VII have built an admirable
15 record of interest and success in striving to implement
16 comparable state hazardous waste management programs. Kan-
17 sas and Missouri have passed new state hazardous waste man-
is agement legislation and are in the process of implementing
19 these statutes. Nebraska is developing regulatory controls
20 without additional legislation, and Iowa has introduced
21 hazardous waste management legislation to their legislature
22 which will provide them with authority to conduct the
23 national program. We are proud of this progress. According
24 to the consultants, WAPORA Study for the Office of Solid
25 Waste, the number of impacted industries in Region VII is ' I
-------
!
ij 8,600 in Missouri, 2,700 in Nebraska, 5,400 in Iowa, and
!j
1 3,000 in Kansas.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to
ii
ij
4 ! Region VII for what I hope will be a fruitful and spirited
discussion of the Section 3001, 3002, and 3004 hazardous
6 !{ waste regulations.
j|
7 ii With that, I will introduce our assistant adrninis-
i
8 ij trator for Water and Waste Management, Tom Jorling.
Tom.
MR. JORLING: Thank you, Carl, and good morning.
I, too, would like to welcome you.
10 i
12
13
14
22
23
24
25
This effort is part of sort of a road show that EFA
has under way in the rule-making process. We initiated the
formal hearings on the R.C.R.A. hazardous waste regs in New
15 ij York last week, move back to Washington next week, and then
I
16 | move back west to Denver and San Francisco in the remaining
•i
i
jl
17 :; two weeks, and the comment period then closes, and the Task
||
18 i sets out to take the proposal from its stage now into the
final rules so that we can bring into being a program of reg-
19
20
21 ' are asking for.
ulation which the statute calls for and the American people j
i
R.C.R.A. was enacted to give the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency authority and the states authority in 1976 in
the area of hazardous waste.
The statute called for, the regulations which we
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2]
22
23
24
25
1 !
3
4
5
6
7
9
are holding these hearings on, to be promulgated to be in
effect by June of 1978. They have an effective date after
promulgation of six months. We are obviously behind that date
We were subject to several complaints in federal court be-
cause we had failed a nondiscretionary duty, and the courts
issued us an order which calls for these regulations to be
promulgated by December of 1979. The effective date would
then be 1980,
1 say that because many have said, "Gee, you're
moving too fast." In fact, we are not moving too fast.
We're probably moving much too slow, at least when we apply
the regulations to the dimensions of the problem; but on our
schedule, which is an ambitious one, we will not have these
regulations into being and have their effect until July of
1980, and that requires everyone then to stick to the rules
we have laid down on the rule-making process so that we can,
in fact, achieve that objective.
Many have asked why hazardous waste has been a
problem which the government is now only responding to. In j
contrast to air and water pollution, which are immedi£tely
obvious to the people, to the public--they see the water,
they breathe the air. Hazardous waste has been a practice
which generally occurs on private property. The disposal
practices have been out of sight and out of mind.
Another difference from the two earlier pollution"-.
-------
7
l |! areas in which there have been aggressive action is that the
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
20
21
22
23
i
24 I
pathways of effects are often very indirect. They are down
through ground waters, migrating ground waters, and then con-
taminating public or private wells, so that the cause-effect
relationship is opened up and spread out; and, as a result,
we have not at the federal level moved in the area of hazard-
ous was te.
I would also like to note that the program we are
holding these hearings on is the one that is directed at
10 ! present and future activities, and that certainly is an ara-
11 M bitious task of itself. We have estimates or our estimates
12 j show that some thirty to thirty-five million tons of waste
13 ; will be classified as hazardous; and of that amount, roughly
14 ! 80 to 90 per cent is at the present time being improperly
15 !j disposed of, and improperly disposed of here means by infer-
16 \\ ence that it does represent threats to public health and the
i
17 .j environment.
I 1
18 j We are also intersecting with this rule-making j
19 j package a business/commercial pattern which is extremely j
complex, and, as a result, the rule-making is itself complex j
j
to match that complexity; but there should be no doubt as to
the need. As we have begun investigating these efforts
seriously and the events have been disclosed, such as Love
Canal in Salsbury Labs in Iowa, the result is an accumula-
25 ;| tion of additional cases across the country of great taagni-
-------
8
tucie, but those kinds of problems will not be addressed
specifically by these regulations. It's another dimension
3 l! of the program or the problem which our statute at present
4 | doesn't give us a great deal of authority, and we are pres-
!|
5 |j ently investigating other types of statutory authority which
ii
<3 !! would help us and the states and local communities address
ii
accumulated abandon problems that exist across the country-
side; but this program is very ambitious. It requires
9 |] "cradle to grave management" of hazardous wastes . There-
i!
10 jj fore, it requires generators, transporters, and storers and
:i
•i
11 1 disposers to undertake certain duties and obligations.
12
There is a manifest system to track the movement
of hazardous waste. There are requirements for issuing
I
14 i| m its to both on- and off-site disposers. All of these are
M
15 p very ambitious tasks that will tax and test our ability as
j!
16 J government both at the federal and state level to carry out.
.'i
17 ;; One of the things we're very interested in are re-
ii
18 || actions with respect to the administrative capability in
ij
19 ! implementing this program.
The purpose of these hearings, as standard rule-
:j
21 ij making hearings, is to hear from the affected public or the
ij
22 i interested public on the regulations which we have proposed.
!
23 | The proposal that we are holding hearings on
24 ! covers many of the provisions in the overall hazardous waste
25 program. There are still some to come, especially in the
-------
9
administrative permit part of activity in the state activity.
Those regulations will also be subject to public hearings be-
ginning in approximately six weeks. I don't know whether
there is any scheduled for St. Louis, but they will be held
5 jj around the country in the permit areas, but it is to hear
H
6
from those who have read these regulations, evaluate how
7 Ii they apply to them if they be in the regulated community; or
I
8 |j if they be in the interested community, whether or not the
jl
9 |j regulations provide the degree of public health and environ-
10 jl mental protection the statute calls for, and people's re-
l!
11 |i action to them with respect to their just general applica-
ji
12 ij tion and whether or not they will achieve the results that
||
13 il are expected.
i
14 || So our purpose is in listening to the reaction of
i
15 ij the proposal that we have made. We look forward to that.
,i
16 ij We find these hearings very, very helpful. Their rule-
17 ij making process is one in which there is tremendous inter-
18 :i action between our agency and the affected community, and we
ii
19 Ij expect these regulations will be improved as a result of
1
20 ! this process.
21 jj So I would like to welcome you and look forward tc
n
22 ji the testimony that you will be giving. I won't be able to
jl
23 ! attend a great deal of the hearings, but it is something that
il
24 jj you can well imagine is a very high priority in our agency.
25 ;| We hope to keep the program on schedule, and we
-------
2
3
4
6
7
8
9 !
15
16
17
13
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
10
will deliver a product which the people can be proud of in
the time frame we have now set forth for ourselves; namely,
by December of this year, so we look forward to your partic,.
pation in that.
Now, Jack, you have some opening remarks that will
help people put the overall set of regulations into con-
text, and then we will move on.
MR. LEHMAN: Thank you, Tom.
My name is John Lehman. I'm the director of the
1
10 i Hazardous Waste Management Division of EPA's Office of Solid
ii
n Waste in Washington.
•i
12 jl For a brief overview of why we are here, the EPA,
13 l| on December 18, 1978, issued proposed rules under Sections
I!
14 ii 3001, 3002, and 3004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act as
substantially amended by the Resource Conservation and Re-
covery Act of 1976, Public Law 94-580, better known by the
acronym of R.C.R.A. or "Ric Ra".
These proposals respectively cover, first, the
criteria for identifying and listing hazardous waste,
identification methods and a hazardous waste license; sec-
ond, standards applicable to generators of such waste for
recordkeeping, labeling, using proper containers and using
a transport manifest; and, third, performance, design, and
operating standards for hazardous waste management facili-
ties.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
16
17
13
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
11
These proposals, together with those already pub-
lished pursuant to Section 3003, on April 28, 1978; Section
3006, on February 1, 1978; Section 3008, on August 4, 1978;
and Section 3010, on July 11, 1978; and that of the Depart-
ment of Transportation pursuant to the Hazardous Materials
Transportation Act proposed on May 25, 1978, along with the
Section 3005, permit regulations, which Tom mentioned earli-
er, constitute the hazardous waste regulatory program under
Subtitle C of the Act.
|0 EPA has chosen to integrate its regulations for
11 facility permits pursuant to Section 3005 and for state
12 I! hazardous waste program authorization pursuant to Section
j!
ij
13 ij 3006 of the Act, with similar proposals under the National
it
!4 |! Pollutant Discharge Elimination System required by Section
ij
15 I 402 of the Clean Water Act and the Underground Injection
Control Program of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
This integration of programs will appear soon
as proposed rules under 40 CFR Parts 122, 123, and 124.
This hearing is being held as part of our public
participation process in the development of this regulatory j
program.
I would like to introduce the panel members who
share the rostrum with me; and from your left to right,
they are: Chet McLaughlin of the Hazardous Waste Manage-
ment Section, Hazardous Materials Branch, in Region VII in
-------
1
2
3
4
9 i
10
11
•i
i
21 i;
:i
24
25
12
Kansas City; next, Amy Schaffer with our Office of Enforce-
ment, headquarters in Washington; next, Dorothy Darrah from
Office of General Counsel in EPA headquarters in Washingto.,,
Fred Lindsey who is chief of the Implementation Branch of
5 l| Hazardous Waste Management Division in Washington; Alan
J!
x ! Corson who is the chief of our Guidelines Branch in the
6 !
7 jj Hazardous Waste Management Division, again in Washington;
jj
8 ;! and, of course, Mr. Jorling whom you have met.
As noted in the Federal Register, our planned
agenda is to cover comments on Section 3001 today, Sections
3002 and 3003 tomorrow, and Section 3004 the next day.
12 i! Also, we have planned an evening session tomorrow night
13 '! covering all four sections, and that session is planned pr*-
14 ;i marily for those who cannot attend during the day.
The comments received at this hearing and the
16 '•> other hearings, as noted in the Federal Register, together
•i
17 : with the comment letters we received, will be a part of the
]g jj official docket in this rule-making process. The comment
||
19 : period closes on March 16 for Sections 3001 through 3004.
!
20 ij This docket may be seen during normal working
!l hours in Room 2111D, Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C.
23 !j In addition, we expect to have transcripts of
each hearing within about two weeks of the close of the
hearing. These transcripts will be available for reading
-------
1
2
i
3 i
4
13
at any of the EPA libraries. A list of these locations is
available at the registration table.
With this as background, I would like to lay the
groundwork and rules for the conduct of this hearing.
As Tom mentioned, the focus of a public hearing is
on the public's response to a regulatory proposal of an agen-
c y* or, in this case, agencies, since both EPA and the De-
partment of Transportation are involved.
I might point out for our hearings tomorrow on
Section 3003, there will be a representative of DOT present.
The purpose of this hearing, as announced in the
si!
12 '] April 28, May 25, and December 18 Federal Registers, is to
i« »'
1 solicit comments on the proposed regs, including any back-
ij ground information used to develop the comment. So this pub-
15 :i lie hearing is being held not primarily to inform the public,
Sj
6 i| nor to defend a proposed regulation, but rather to obtain the
!j public's response to these proposed regulations and there-
18 i!
;
after revise them as may seem appropriate.
! will be addressed during preparation of the final regula-
!
| tions.
i
!
This is not a formal adjudicatory hearing with the
right to cross-examination. The members of the public are to
present their views on the proposed regulation to the panel,
and the panel may ask questions of the people presenting
-------
14
1 statements to clarify any ambiguities in their presenta-
2 tions. Some questions by the panel may be forwarded in
3 writing to the speakers. His or her response, if received
4 within a week of the close of this hearing, will be in-
5 eluded in the transcript. Otherwise we will include it in
6 the docket.
7 The Chairman reserves the right to limit lengthy
8 questions, discussions, or statements. If you have a copy
9 of your statement, please submit to the court reporter.
10 Written statements will be accepted at the end of
11 the hearing; and if you wish to submit a written rather than
12 an oral statement, please make sure that the court reporter
13 has a copy. The written statements will also be included i
14 their entirety in the record.
15 Persons wishing to make an oral statement who have
16 not made an advance request by telephone or in writing
17 should indicate their interest on the registration card. If
18 you have not indicated your intent to give a statement and
19 you later decide to do so, please return to the registration
20 table, fill out another card, and give it to one of the
21 staff.
22 As we call upon an individual to make a statement,
23 he or she should come up to the lee turn and identify him-
24 self or herself for the court reporter and deliver his or
25 her statement.
-------
15
1 At the beginning of the statement, the Chairperson
2 will inquire as to whether the speaker is willing to enter-
3 tain questions from the panel. The speaker is under no ob-
4 ligation to do so. Although within the spirit of this
5 information-sharing hearing, it would be of great assistance
6 to the agency if questions were permitted.
7 Our day's activities, as we currently see them,
8 appear like this. We will break for lunch at about 12 o'clock
9 and reconvene at 2 p.m. Then, depending on our progress, we
10 will either conclude the day's session or break for dinner
11 at about 5 o'clock.
12 Phone calls will be posted on the registration
13 table near the entrance to the hotel, and restrooms are lo-
14 cated immediately outside of this room directly down the
15 hall on your right-hand side.
16 If you wish to be added to our mailing list for
17 future regulations, draft regulations, or proposed regula-
18 tions, please leave your business card or name and address
19 on a three by five card on the registration desk.
20 Now, the regulations under discussion at this
21 hearing are the core elements of a major regulatory program
22 to manage and control the country's hazardous waste from
23 generation to final disposal. The Congress directed this
24 action in recognizing that disposal of hazardous waste is a
25 crucial environmental and health problem which must be con-
-------
16
1 trolled.
2 In our proposal, we have outlined requirements, .
3 which set minimum norms of conduct for those who generate,
4 transport, treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste.
5 These requirements, we believe, will close the circle of en-
6 vironmental control begun earlier of regulatory control of
7 emissions and discharges of contaminants to the air, to the
8 water, and to the oceans.
9 We do not underestimate the complexity and dif-
10 ficulty of our proposed regulations. Rather they reflect ;
11 the large amounts of hazardous waste generated and the com-
12 plexity of the movement of hazardous waste in our diverse
13 society. |
14 These regulations will affect a large number of
15 industries, other nonindustrial sources of hazardous waste,
16 such as laboratories and commercial pesticide applicators,
17 as well as transporters of hazardous waste will also be in-
18 eluded.
19 EPA has information on over 400 cases of the harm-
20 ful consequences of inadequate hazardous waste management.
21 These cases include incidents of surface and ground water
22 contamination, direct contact poisoning, various forms of
23 air pollution, and damage from fires and explosions.
24 Nationwide, half of all drinking water is supplied
25 from ground water sources, and in some areas contamination
-------
17
l of ground water resources currently poses a threat to pub-
2 lie health.
3 EPA studies of a number of generating industries
4 in 1975 show that approximately 90 per cent of the poten-
5 tially hazardous waste generated by those industries was
6 managed by practices which were not adequate for protection
1 of human health and environment.
8 Subtitle C of R.C.R.A. establishes a comprehen-
9 sive program to protect the public health and environment
10 from improper disposal of hazardous waste. Although the
11 program requirements are to be developed by the federal
12 government, the Act provides that states with adequate pro-
13 grams can assume responsibility for regulation of hazardous
14 waste.
15 The basic idea of Subtitle C is that the public
16 health and the environment will be protected if there is
17 careful monitoring of transportation of hazardous waste and
18 assurance that such waste is properly treated, stored, or
19 disposed of, either at the site where it is generated,
20 which we usually refer to as on-site, or after it is car-
21 ried from that site to a special facility or an off-site
22 facility in accordance with certain standards.
23 I'm going to review briefly for you the seven
24 guidelines and regulations which are being developed and
25 either have been or will be proposed under Subtitle C of
-------
l
18
• C» • !& .A •
2 Subtitle C creates a management control system
3 which, for those wastes defined as hazardous, requires a
4 cradte-to-grave cognizance, including appropriate monitoring,
5 recordkeeping, and reporting throughout the system.
6 It is also important to note that the definition
7 of solid wastes in the Act encompasses garbage, refuse,
8 sludges, and other discarded materials, including liquids,
9 semisolid«s and contained gases, with a few exceptions,
10 from both municipal and industrial sources.
11 Hazardous wastes, which are a sub-set of all solid
12 wastes, and which will be identified by regulations proposed
13 under Section 3001, are those which have particularly signi
14 ficant impacts on public health and the environment.
15 Section 3001 is the keystone of Subtitle C. Its
16 purpose is to provide a means for determining whether a
17 waste is hazardous for the purposes of Che Act and, there-
18 fore, whether it must be managed according to the other Sub-
19 title C regulations.
20 Section 3001(b) provides two mechanisms for deter-
21 mining whether a waste is hazardous; first, a set of charac-
22 teristics of hazardous waste and, second, a list of particu-
23 lar hazardous wastes. A waste must be managed according to
24 die Subtitle C regulations if it either exhibits any of the
25 characteristics set out in proposed regulation or if it is
-------
19
1 listed. Also, EPA is directed by Section 3001(a) of the
2 Act to develop criteria for identifying the set of charac-
3 teristics of hazardous waste and for determining which
4 wastes to list. In this proposed rule, EPA sets out these
5 criteria, identifies a set of characteristics of hazardous
6 waste, and establishes a list of particular hazardous waste
7 Also, the proposed regulation provides for demon-
8 stration of non-inclusion in the regulatory program.
9 Section 3002 addresses standards applicable to
10 generators of hazardous waste. A generator is defined as
11 any person whose act or process produces a hazardous waste.
12 Minimum amounts generated and disposed of per month are es-
13 tablished to further define a generator. These standards
14 will exclude household hazardous waste.
15 The generator standards will establish require-
16 ments for: recordkeeping, labeling and marking of con-
17 tainers used for storage, transport, or disposal of hazard-
is ous waste; use of appropriate containers, furnishing infor-
19 mation on the general chemical composition of a hazardous
20 waste; use of a manifest system to assure that a hazardous
21 waste is designated to a permitted treatment, storage, or
22 disposal facility; and submitting reports to the Adminis-
23 trator, or an authorized state agency, setting out the
24 quantity generated and its disposition.
25 Section 3003 requires the development of standards
-------
20
1 applicable to transporters of hazardous waste. These pro-
2 posed standards address identification codes, recordkeeping,
acceptance, and transportation of hazardous wastes, compli-
ance with the manifest system, delivery of the hazardous
waste; spills of hazardous waste and placarding and marking
6
15
of vehicles. The Agency has coordinated closely with pro-
7 posed and current U. S. Department of Transportation regula-
8 tions.
Section 3004 addresses standards affecting owners
and operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and
11 disposal facilities. These standards define the levels of
12 human health and environmental protection to be achieved by
13 these facilities and provide the criteria against which EPA
or state officials will measure applications for permits.
Facilities on a generator's property as well as off-site
16 facilities are covered by these regulations and do require
17 permits. Generators and transporters do not otherwise need
18 permits.
19 Section 3005 regulations set out the scope and
20 coverage of the actual permit-granting process for facility
owners and operators. Requirements for the permit applica-
tion, as well as for the issuance and revocation process,
are defined by regulations to be proposed under 40 CFR Parts
24 122, 123, and 124.
25 Section 3005(e) of the statute provides for in-
-------
21
1 terim status during the time period that the Agency of the
2 states are reviewing the pending permit applications. Speci
3 al regulations under Section 3004 apply to facilities during
4 this interim status period.
5 Section 3006 requires EPA to issue guidelines
6 under which states may seek both full and interim authoriza-
7 tion to carry out the hazardous waste program in lieu of an
8 EPA-administered program. States seeking authorization in
9 accordance with Section 3006 guidelines need to demonstrate
10 that their hazardous waste management regulations are con-
11 sistent with and equivalent, in effect, to EPA regulations
12 under Sections 3001 through 3005.
13 Last but not least, Section 3010 requires any per-
l4 son who generates, transports, or owns or operates a facili-
15 ty for treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste
16 to notify EPA of this activity within 90 days after promul-
17 gation or revision of regulations identifying and listing a
18 hazardous waste pursuant to Section 3001. It is important
19 to note that no hazardous waste subject to Subtitle C regu-
20 lation may be legally transported, treated, stored, or dis-
21 posed of after the 90-day period unless this timely notifi-
22 c ation has been given to EPA or an authorized state during
23 the above 90.-day period. Owners and operators of inactive
24 facilities are not required to notify.
25 As Tom mentioned, EPA intends to promulgate final
-------
22
1 regulations under all sections of Subtitle C by December 31,
2 1979. However, it is important for the regulated communi-
3 ties to understand that the regulations under Section 3001
4 througi 3005 do not take effect until six months after
5 promulgation. That would be approximately June of 1980.
6 With that as a summary of Subtitle C and the pro-
7 posed regulations to be considered at this hearing, I re-
8 turn the meeting to our Chairperson, Dorothy Darrah.
9 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
10 Before we get started, I would like to make a
11 couple of announcements.
12 First of all, there were some corrections to our
13 December 18 proposal. Some of you may have been looking fc |
14 a lost paragraph or two or thought that sane of the numbers
15 didn't quite jibe, and I want to let you know that in to-
16 day's Federal Register our correction notice is being pub-
17 lished which is it's just mainly typographical errors that
18 you're just going to have to go through and change.
19 Secondly, I think you probably realize that the
20 comment period does close March 16. We had announced in
21 the previous preamble for 3003 that the comment period
22 would remain open until 60 days after all the regulations
23 had been proposed. In February 7th's Federal Register
24 there was an announcement which gives you our explanation
25 for the March 16 closing date which is that we are, as Tom
-------
23
1 mentioned, under the court-ordered promulgation schedule, so
2 that the comment period of 3001, 3002, 3003, and 3004 does
3 close on March 16.
4 We do have nine speakers that I have on my list
5 who want to speak this morning. 1 think that probably most
5 of you have kept your remarks fairly limited. I will not be
7 cutting people off unless they go more than 15 minutes or
8 so, and, also,we will probably not cut off questions for the
9 panel unless there seems to be some line of discussion that
10 isn't getting resolved.
]] So with that, let me go ahead and call Dr. Stacy
12 Daniels from Dow Chemical to start off.
13 STATEMENT OF STACY L. DANIELS
14 MR. DANIELS: Good morning, Ms. Chairperson, and
15 Panel.
16 I'm Dr. Stacy L. Daniels, research specialist in
17 environmental sciences of the health and environmental
18 sciences department of Dow Chemical U.S.A.
19 As chairman of our corporate RCRA Task Group, I
20 would wish to summarize our concerns in response to the Agen-
2i cy's solicitation for a comprehensive review of all issues
22 raised by the Agency in the preamble to the Proposed Guide-
23 lines and Regulations for Hazardous Waste, the background
24 documents, and the drafts of the Environmental Impact State-
25 ment and the Economic Impact Analysis.
-------
24
] We have worked closely with the Agency, and with
various trade associations, professional societies, and
2
standard setting groups, over the past two years to help
develop a consistent set of meaningful regulations for
hazardous waste management that will provide adequate bene-
fits in protection to public health and the environment
6
from unreasonable risks while demanding realistic expendi-
tures of resources.
8
Toward this goal, we are providing comments per-
taining to all major aspects of the draft regulations and
10.
those previously proposed. Today we wish to summarize our
major concerns and recommendations in three areas; one, the
12
schedule for promulgation; two, the interpretation of ha-
zard; and, three, the general regulation of hazardous waste
management facilities.
15
In regard to the schedule for promulgation, all
16
regulations for Subtitle C are scheduled for promulgation in
1979, as Jack indicated. We agree that regi lation of hazard-
18
ous waste is a time-consuming and difficult undertaking re-
19
quiring careful assessment of many complex issues. We state
20
for the record that although the regulations for Sections
21
3001, 3002, and 3004 were proposed on December 18, 1978, the
22
4,294 pages of background documents were not available for
23
review until January 8, 1979, and published copies of the
24
draft Environmental Impact Statement were not available for
25 J
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
25
distribution until early February.
The integrated permit regulations pursuant to
Section 3005 of the RCRA and the National Pollutant Dis-
charge Elimination Systems and Underground Injection Con-
trol Programs have yet to be proposed. Regulations for
Sections 3003, 3006, 3010, and 4004 were previously proposed
in mid-1978 before characteristics of hazardous waste were
fully developed and will require modification. This piece-
meal proposal and promulgation has made coherent overall as-
sessment of the kaleidoscopic changes occurring among the
individual sections of the regulations extremely difficult.
We recommend, therefore, that the comments on all
sections of the regulations, the EIS, and the EIA be ac-
cepted until closure of the comment period for the last sec-
tion of Subtitle C to be proposed.
In regard to interpretations of hazard, the inter-
pretation of what actually constitutes a hazardous waste is
the most critical decision in the entire set of regulations.
If characteristics of hazard, specific listings, and testing
protocols are adopted as presently proposed, it will result
in essentially all solid wastes in many industrial and muni-
cipal sectors being classified as hazardous. The total volumj?
of such wastes may exceed the total economically available
U. S. disposal capacity. Inherent in the Agency's interpre-
tation of hazard is the application of the worst possible
-------
26
1 scenario of Improper management to all discarded materials.
2 This approach does not recognize that there are varying de-
3 grees of hazard and that hazard is a function of both ef-
4 feet and exposure. The Agency has confused characteristics
5 of effect with characteristics of exposure. Certain charac-
6 teristics of effect, such as toxicity and mutagenicity, are
7 overemphasized while other characteristics of exposure, such
8 as persistence and degradability, are generally ignored.
9 We recommend that the characteristics of both ex-
10 posure and effect be restructured to recognize the degrees
11 of hazard.
12 The quantity of waste constituting generation has
13 been a major issue. The Agency has proposed a conservative
14 exclusion of 100 kilogram per month or less from these regu-
15 lations. A higher level of 1,000 kilograms per month is
16 considered within die EIS and EIA. The approach of hazard
17 because of quantity alone, however, does not recognize the
18 associated factors of concentration and chemical form; that
19 is, availability, which together quantitate.exppsure..
20 The Agency has attempted to regulate certain
21 large-volume, low-hazard wastes by either specific exclusion
22 such as sludges from publicly-owned treatment works, POTWs,
23 or by creation of six special waste standards within RCRA.
24 We agree with the categorization based on both hazard and
I
^ volume. We do not agree that sludges from non-POTWs are
-------
27
1 categorically more hazardous Chan sludges from POTWs.
2 We recommend that reasonable levels of exclusion
3 be established and the factors of concentration and chemical
4 form as well as quantity be considered.
5 The Agency has proposed a maximum of three months
6 beyond which a discarded material is allowed only in per-
7 mitted storage facilities. This limit is overly stringent
8 and does not recognize many commercial operations of reclama-
9 tion and reuse which occur further in time. The Agency has
10 moderated their original approach and now proposes to allow
11 certain used materials to be reused such as not to constitute
12 disposal. The recovery of energy values from used oils and
13 other materials, an objective of the RCRA, however, has not
14 been accepted.
15 We recommend that the storage period for materials
16 that are used for energy and/or material recovery be extended
17 to one year.
18 A dichotomy exists in the listing and delisting of
19 specific hazardous waste, sources, and processes. Testing
20 for inclusion is restricted to only four characteristics:
21 ignitability, corrosiveness, reactivity, and toxicity, for
22 which specific testing protocols were considered to be avail-
23 able for verification or refutation. Testing for exclusion,
24 however, includes additional characteristics: mutagericity,
25 bioaccumulation, and toxic organic substance, for which
-------
28
1 testing protocols are unavailable and which are still under
2 consideration within the ANPR.
I
3 We recommend that all listings based solely on the
4 characteristics of mutagenicity, bioaccumulation, and toxic
5 organic substance be delayed pending further review.
6 And the third area, hazardous waste management
7 facilities--the Agency has recognized that many operations
8 involving storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous
9 tastes may be fully integrated within the same corporation
10 and conducted entirely at a single site. We encourage this
11 approach which reduces duplicate monitoring and reporting.
12 Sufficient latitude should be given, however, to the inter-
13 pretation of "on-site". This will avoid needless duplicatii
14 of facilities for locations in proximity but not necessarily
15 geographically contiguous.
16 We recommend that "on-site", therefore, be inter-
17 preted to mean on the same or geographically contiguous
18 property, or on adjacent property separated by rights-of-way,
19 or within reasonable proximity.
20 The adequacy of solid waste management facilities
21 (4004 facilities) does not prevent the disposal of low-hazard
22 wastes therein, but rather it is the supposed lack of con-
23 t rol over transport and the potential for mixing with de-
24 gradable, nonhazardous waste which could develop into a
25 hazardous condition. Manifesting could be required, however
-------
29
1 from the generators of all industrial wastes transported off*
2 site while providing the option for segregated disposal of
3 certain low-hazard wastes into solid waste management facili-
4 ties.
5 We recommend that disposal of low-hazard wastes be
6 allowed in segregated solid waste management facilities.
7 Another major concern is the overspecification of
8 design and operational guidelines by the Agency. We be-
9 lieve that the regulations would be greatly streamlined by
10 prescribing what performance is required and allowing flexi-
11 b ility in what procedure be used. Overspecification of pro-
12 cedural guidelines complicates the regulations, restricts
13 flexibility of choice, and demands demonstration of equi-
14 valent performance to obtain variances using alternative
15 procedures. The combined effect is the suppressed develop-
15 ment of new technologies and more cost-effective solutions.
17 Effective destruction of hazardous wastes is ob-
18 viously preferrable to perpetual care. The overly stringent
19 procedural guidelines for incineration, however, may force
20 the disposal of wastes by less desirable modes of disposal.
21 The Agency contends that solid wastes require greater manage -
22 ment than pure materials or the same wastes under existing
23 air, water, wastewater, transport, or occupational safety
24 regulations. Yet the Agency has transferred wholesale lists
25 of hazardous materials, testing protocols, and operating
-------
30
1 standards from regulations developed for pure materials for
2 different reasons.
3 We recommend that all procedural guidelines be
4 deleted and provided in a manual of recommended practices.
5 There are several examples of regulatory overlap
6 in the proposed regulations. We object to the specific in-
7 elusion of surface impoundments and basins, and other
8 facilities which are used exclusively for chemical, physi-
9 cal, or biological treatment of dilute aqueous wastes.
10 Such facilities are already adequately regulated under the
Clean Water Act. We also object to the inclusion of oil
12 production brines as special waste. Such brines are speci-
13 fically cited and are to be regulated within the Under-
14 ground Injection Control program of the Safe Drinking Water
15 Act.
We recommend removal of unwarranted regulatory
overlaps pertaining to wastewater treatment facilities and
18 underground injection control facilities.
The Agency has relied heavily on waste-specific
20 standards of management but applies industry-specific stan-
21 dards to listing of processes by Standard Industrial Code.
22 • The proposed regulations reflect standards that do not vary
23 according to the source and the contention that most hazard-
24 ous wastes require similar management techniques. The Agen-
25 Cy contends, however, that hazard is a result of improper ' *
-------
31
1 management which indeed is dependent upon site-specific
2 disposal operations. We encourage the consideration of
3 waste-specific effects and site-specific exposures.
4 We recommend that waste-specific effects and site-
5 specific exposures be considered in the regulations.
6 The Agency has considered the possible phasing of
7 the Subtitle C program within the EIS by progressively re-
8 ducing the quantity of waste constituting generation and the
9 time of storage over a period of five years, and by peri-
10 odicallyproposing additional characteristics of hazard and
]] new listings of specific wastes. We agree that hazardous
12 waste management is a dynamic situation subject to future
13 assessment of new data and technology. We do not believe,
14 however, that phased implementation of the regulations will
15 serve any useful purpose and will result only in further
15 confusion.
17 We recommend, therefore, that phased implementa-
18 tion be discouraged.
19 We will provide detailed comments on specific
20 sections of the regulations at future hearings, and thank
2i you for the opportunity.
22 This concludes the remarks. I have an attachment
23 to these comments, a bibliography of our papers, comments,
24 testimonies, and previous presentations on solid and hazard-
25 ous wastes.
-------
32
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Or. Daniels, thank you.
2 Would you answer questions from the panel, pleas^ ^
3 OR. DANIELS: Yes, I would.
4 MR. LINDSEY: Dr. Daniels, one of your recommenda-
5 tions which I would like to explore a little further if we
6 could, you say that we recommend that storage period for
7 materials that are used for energy and/or material recovery
8 be extended to one year. It was our intent with the whole
9 90-day storage, I guess you could call it exclusion, the
10 intent here is to allow the accumulation of economic quan-
11 tities for shipment off site without unduly burdening the
12 nation with paperwork that might not be needed. We were
!3 afraid, however, that if the storage goes on too long with-,
14 out, in an uncontrolled manner; that is, without permits
15 and so forth involved, that we would begin to see the de-
16 terioration of drums and other containers in some fashion.
17 Do you think we are off base on that, that we can safely go
18 to a year in that regard?
19 DR. DANIELS: I think the original assumption is
20 flawed partly in that you are assuming that all materials
21 will be going off site for recovery. I am also considering
22 on-site recovery, particularly those plants that generate
23 materials for recovery that are block operated or operated
24 on seasonal products, and these require more extended stor- ^
i
25 age periods or, for example, the dredging of a lagoon once a
-------
33
1 year or something like this for recovery of the material,
2 something that is over a longer time period.
3 MR. CORSON: The last comment that you offered had
4 to do with your concerns about the phased implementation;
5 and in that, you indicated that we do intend to add to the
6 lists, we further intend to possibly add characteristics.
7 Are you suggesting that you think we should either hold up
8 until we have all of the characteristics of concern, all
9 the lists of concern, before we promulgate or propose, or
10 that we should take what we have gotten and quit at that
11 point?
12 DR. DANIELS: I guess that was primarily directed
13 at the phase implementation of the quantity from a million
14 kilograms per month down to 100 kilograms per month within
15 five years or the storage period from twelve months down to
16 three months within a five-year period. I think that's
17 just a target and doesn't serve the purpose.
18 With regards to the list and things like this, I
19 believe that there should be further justification for
20 quite a number of the compounds on the appendicized list
21 because, while the Agency is contending that there may be
22 160 odd processes in hazardous wastes, by the time you add
23 up all the materials in the appendices, this could be
24 several thousand.
25 With regards to the characteristics, I firmly be-
-------
34
1 lieve that there are a number of characteristics which just
2 definitely require further consideration before they are
i
3 promulgated in the form presently proposed.
4 MR. CORSON: One other question area, I think
5 right at the beginning, your concerns about interpretation
6 of hazard, and you have indicated in your comments some de-
7 sire or a need you feel for categorizing certain wastes by
8 degree of hazard. As you are aware, I'm sure, in the pre-
9 amble, we did indicate at least in a discussion with regard
10 to small quantity generation that we are considering or
11 will be considering some relation of that small quantity to
12 degree of hazard. I am wondering whether you can possibly
13 furnish to us in your written comments, if not today, what
14 thoughts you might have on how we might take care of degree
15 of hazard, particularly as we consider the waste movement
16 through its normal pathways from the generator to disposal,
17 recognizing that degree can change at each of the steps
18 along the line.
19 DR. DANIELS: We have that intention, to provide
20 an alternative classification of hazard to the Agency, be-
2i cause we feel that the Agency has already recognized three
22 and possibly four different areas of hazard from the special
23 wastes under the 3004, the 4004 wastes, and also the small
24 generators already, and what we are proposing in addition,
25 that there should be a tiered approach within the 3004, and(
-------
35
l this could result in either an increase or a decrease in the
2 quantity per month that would constitute hazard, but it also
3 should recognize concentration and both effect and expo-
4 sure.
5 MR. JORLING: I have just one question on that
6 theme. Does Dow presently categorize its waste according
7 to relative hazard?
8 DR. DANIELS: Yes, we do.
9 MR. JORLING: Could you make that categorization
10 available for the record?
11 DR. DANIELS: We have already submitted a previous
12 document, about one year ago, to this effect.
13 MS. SCHAFFER: Dr. Daniels, I have a couple of
14 questions, one going back to Fred's question concerning the
15 length of time for storage. If you think we should extend
16 the storage period for energy and material to be recovered,
17 how can we or can you give us some suggestions as to how we
18 can enforce that storage versus storage of other material
19 that is just being sent off site, so that we can tell the
20 difference between what is going to be used as energy and
21 recovered material versus that which is just being gathered
22 for economic transportation?
23 DR. DANIELS: Sometimes it is not easy to separate
24 energy recovery from material recovery. In some cases, you
25 are recovering both energy and material from foe same product
-------
36
1 One of the concerns that is hard for both sides really is
2 the accumulation of a material in a storage tank that is
3 constantly being depleted on the other end for resource re-
4 covery, and this inventory problem is something that should
5 be addressed within the regulations rather than a discreet
6 amount of waste that is being piled up for off-site re-
7 covery.
8 MS.SCHAFFER: One other question concerns your
9 definition of on-site rather. You said that we should ex-
10 tend the definition of on-site to include sites within rea-
11 sonable proximity. Can you give us an example of what you
12 mean by reasonable proximity?
13 DR. DANIELS: Some of the states have had probablW
14 extreme limits of upwards of 50 miles or so. I don't be-
15 lieve that that type of a number is useful; but if there
16 are plants that are across the street from each other but
17 down the road apiece, this should be considered so that you
18 don't have to build a several million dollar incinerator on
19 both sides to take care of essentially the same waste, or
20 possibly two or three plants located in the same town.
2i MS. SCHAFFER: Thank you very much.
22 MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Doctor, one further question.
23 Some of the states have been allowing surface impoundments
24 to go into operation that are designed to leak, and it is
25 my understanding that this regulation is meant as an attempt
-------
37
l
to plug that hole in the regulatory programs of the states
2
that are allowing the discharge, direct discharge, of haz-
3
ardous materials into the ground water, and I don t under-
4
stand your allusion that there is an overlap here.
5
DR. DANIELS: I am thinking specifically of those
6
that are in the train of the waste water treatment plant;
7
the basins,clarifiers, large containments such as that
8
where waste is in a dilute form flowing through, sludge is
9
removed and treated effluent is discharged. This is strict-
10
ly an N.P.D.S. facility.
MR. MC LAUGHLIN: But N.P.D.S. facilities do not
12
cover impoundments that do not have a discharge, and many
13 ,
of these impoundments are built so that they don t have a
14
discharge to avoid an N.ED.S. permit, yet they leak out the
bottom, and they still avoid an N.F.D.S. permit.
16
DR. DANIELS: But that s not entirely clear by the
17
regulations.
18
MR. LEHMAN: Dr. Daniels, I'd like to clarify that
19
if I might, you alluded to the fact that the Agency had pro-
20
vided specific exclusion, for example, sludges from publicly
21
owned treatment works, and then later on you say:
22 ..
Ve do not agree that sludges from non-POTWs are
23
categorically more hazardous than sludges from POTWs.
24
I would like to, just for the record, make it
25
clear that the Agency intends to regulate sludge management
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3d
from POTW's under Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, and,
in effect, the Agency has dual authority under RCRA and
under the Water Act, and we do not intend to allow POTW
sludges to escape any regulatory permit.
OR. DANIELS: Yes, we recognize that, Jack. It's
just that we feel that sanitary sludges from non-POTWg
should be in the same category, realizing that there is some
difficulty in transferring those type of sludges from Sec-
tion 405 of the Clean Water Act.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I just wanted to clarify one
remark you made. When you I think answered Fred's question,
you said that other than the four characteristics for which
we give tests you didn't agree that we should be basing
listings on the mutagenicityy bioaccumulation, and toxic
organic, and then you later said that there were some charac-
teristics that you thought weren't well developed enough.
Were you referring to specifically those characteristics
rather than the four?
DR. DANIELS: Yes, the ones in the AKPR; muta-
genicity, bioaccumulation--that one, incidentally, is the
one with some merit which we will comment on later; but bio-
accumulation by itself should not be a characteristic of
hazard. We feel that this dichotomy of requiring testing
for delisting but not testing for listing indicates that
these petitions to put these compounds on lists should be re
-------
39
1 solved. We don't believe that the methods are currently
2 available for these particular characteristics that are
3 cited within the ANPR at this present time and require
4 further study.
5 MR. LINDSEY: You are referring to the protocols
6 for delisting?
7 DR. DANIELS: Yes, they are required, but yet
8 they are only offered in the ANPR.
9 MR. LINDSEY: You feel that they are not suf-
10 ficiently available or developed to do that?
n DR. DANIELS: No.
12 MR. LINDSEY: As opposed to that, then what al-
13 ternative approach would you recommend for delisting, if
14 you will, if we don't use some sort of testing protocols,
15 and what other option would there be, or are you saying we
16 should not have any means of delisting?
17 DR. DANIELS: Definitely there should be a means
18 for delisting, but they should be limited to the four char-
19 acteristics for which there are tests.
20 MR. LINDSEY: In other words, the only wayto get
21 on the list is by meeting one of the characteristics that's
22 under the previous section, then, right?
23 DR. DANIELS: That has acceptable tests.
24 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
25 (The document referred to follows:
HEARING INSERT
-------
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT
Hazardous Waste Management
General Comments
• 'by
Dow Chemical U.S.A.
to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hazardous Waste Management Division
Office of Solid Waste
Public Hearing
St. Louis, Missour:
-------
Mr. Chairman, I am Dr. Stacy L. Daniels, Research Specialist
in Environmental Sciences in the Health and Environmental
Sciences Department of Dow Chemical U.S.A. As Chairman of
our corporate RCRA Task Force, I wish to summarize our con-
cerns in response to the Agency's solicitation for a compre-
hensive review of all issues raised by the Agency in the pre-
amble of the Proposed Guidelines and Regulations for Hazardous
Waste (43 FR 58946-9, December 18, 1978), the background docu-
ments, and the drafts of the Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and the Economic Impact Analysis (EIA).
We have worked closely with the Agency, and with various trade
associations, professional societies, and standard setting groups,
over the past two years to help develop a consistent set of
meaningful regulations for hazardous waste management that
will provide adequate benefits in protection of public health
and the environment from unreasonable risks while demanding
realistic expenditures of resources. Toward this goal, we have
provided comments pertaining to all major aspects of the draft
regulations and those previously proposed. Today we wish to
summarize our major concerns regarding: (1) the schedule for
promulgation, (2) the interpretation of hazard, and (3) the
general regulation of hazardous waste management facilities.
-------
•2-
(1) Schedule for Promulgation
All regulations for Subtitle C are scheduled for promulgation
in 1979. We agree that regulation of hazardous waste is a
time consuming and difficult undertaking requiring careful
assessment of many complex issues. We state for the record
that although the regulations for Sections 3001, 3002, and
300M- were proposed on December 18, 1978, the 4,294- pages of
background documents were not available for review until
January 8, 1979, and published copies of the draft Environ-
mental Impact Statement (EIS) were not available for distri-
bution until early February. The integrated permit regulations
pursuant to Section 3005 of the RCRA and the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) and Underground Injection
Control (UIC) programs, have yet to be proposed. Regulations
for Sections 3003, 3006, 3010, and 4-OOM- were previously proposed
in mid-1978 before characteristics of hazardous waste were
fully developed and will require modification. This piece-meal
proposal and promulgation has made coherent overall a-ssessment
of the kaleido scopic changes occurring among the individual
Sections of the regulations extremely difficult.
-------
-3-
We recommend that comments on all Sections of the regulations,
the EIS, and the ElA be accepted until closure of the comment
period for the last Section of Subtitle C to be proposed.
-------
(2) Interpretations of Hazard
The interpretation of what actually constitutes a hazardous
waste is the most critical decision in the entire set of
regulations. If characteristics of hazard, specific listings,
and testing protocols are adopted as presently proposed, it will
result in essentially all solid wastes in many industrial and
municipal sectors being classified as hazardous. The total
volume of such wastes may exceed the tot-al economically available
U.S. disposal capacity. . Inherent in the Agency's interpretation
of hazard is' the application of the worst possible scenario
of improper management to all discarded materials". This approach
does not recognize that there are varying degrees of hazard
and that hazard is a function of both effect and exposure.
The Agency has confused characteristics of effect with character-
istics of exposure. Certain characteristics of effect, such
as toxicity and mutagenicity, are overemphasized while other
characteristics of exposure, such as persistence and degrada-
bility, are generally ignored.
We recommend that the characteristics of both exposure and
effect be restructured to recognize degrees of hazard.
"Unsegregated disposal of hazardous and solid wastes in an
unlined landfill and subject to biological degradation
resulting in leachate capable of migrating with only minimal
attenuation directly into an underlying aquifer which is an
immediate source of drinking water.
-------
-5-
The quantity of waste constituting generation has been a major
issue. The Agency has proposed a conservative exclusion of
100 kg/mo or less from these regulations. A higher level of
1000 kg/mo is considered within the EIS and EIA. The approach
of hazard because of quantity alone, however, does not recog-
nize the associated factors of concentration and chemical form
(availability) which together quantitate exposure.
The Agency has attempted to regulate certain large-volume,
low-hazard wastes by either specific exclusion, e.g. sludges
from publically owned treatment works (POTW's), or by creation
of six special waste standards within RCRA. We agree with
categorization based on both hazard and volume (quantity).
We do not agree that slud-ges - f rom non-POTW's are categorially
more hazardous than sludges from POTW's.
We recommend that reasonable levels of exclusion be established
and the factors of concentration and chemical form as well
as quantity be considered.
The Agency has proposed a maximum of three months beyond which
a discarded material is allowed only in permitted storage faci-
lity. This limit is overly stringent and does not recognize many
commerical operations of reclamation and reuse which extend
-------
-6-
further in time. The Agency has -moderated their original
approach and now proposes to allow certain used materials to
be reused such as not to constitute disposal. The recovery
of energy values from used oils and other materials (an
objective of the RCRA), however, has not been accepted.
We-recommend that the storage period for materials that
are used for energy and/or material recovery be extended
to one year.
A dichotomy exists in the listing and delisting of specific
hazardous wastes, sources, and processes. Testing for
inclusion is restricted to only four characteristics [ignita-
bility (I), corrosiveness- (C )•, reactivity (R), and toxicity (T)]
for which specific testing protocols were considered to be
available for verification or refutation. Testing for exclu-
sion, however, includes additional characteristics [mutagenicity
(M), bioaccumulation (B), and toxic organic substance (0)] for
which testing protocols are unavailable and which are still
under consideration within the ANPR.
We recommend that all listings based solely on the character-
istics of mutagenicity, bioaccumulation, and toxic organic
substance (M,B,0) be delayed pending further review.
-------
-7-
(3) Hazardous Waste Management Facilities
The Agency has recognized .that many operations involving
storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes may be
fully integrated within the same corporation and conducted
entirely at a single site. We encourage this approach which
reduces duplicate monitoring and reporting. Sufficient lati-
tude should be given, however, to the interpretation of "on-
site" to avoid needless duplication of facilities for locations
in proximity but not necessary geographically contiguous.
We recommend that "on-site" be interpreted to mean on the
same or geographically contiguous property, or on adjacent
property separated by rights-of-way, or within reasonable
proximity.
The adequacy of solid waste management facilities (M-004 .facili-
ties) does not prevent the disposal of low-hazard wast'es therein,
;TT
but rather/is the supposed lack of control over transport and
th.e potential for mixing with degradable, non-hazardous waste
which could develop into a hazardous condition. Manifesting
could be required, however, from the generators of all indus-
trial wastes transported off-site while providing the option
for segregated disposal of certain low-hazard wastes into solid
waste management facilities.
We recommend that disposal of low-hazard wastes be allowed
in segregated solid waste management facilities.
-------
-8-
Another major concern is the overspecification of design and
operational guidelines by the Agency. We believe that the
regulations would be greatly streamlined by prescribing what
performance is required and allowing flexibility in what
procedure is used. Overspecification of procedural guidelines
complicates the regulations, restricts flexibility of choice,
and demands demonstration of equivalent performance to obtain
variances using alternative.procedures. The combined effect
is the suppressed development of new technologies and more
cost-effective solutions.
Effective destruction of hazardous wastes is obviously pre-
ferrable to perpetual care. The overly stringent procedural
guidelines for incineration,"however, may force the disposal
of wastes by less desirable modes of disposal. The Agency
contends that solid wastes require greater management than pure
materials or the same wastes under existing air, water, waste-
water, transport, or occupational safety regulations. Yet the
Agency has transferred wholesale lists of hazardous materials,
testing protocols, and operating standards from regulations
developed -for pure materials for different reasons.
We recommend that all procedural guidelines be deleted and
provided in a manual of recommended practices.
-------
-9-
There are several examples of regulatory overlap in the proposed
regulations. We object to the specific inclusion of surface
impoundments and basins, and other•facilites which are used
exlusively for chemical, physical, or biological treatment
of dilute aqueous wastes. Such facilities are already adequately
regulated under the Clean Water Act. We also object to the
inclusion of oil production brines as special waste. Such
brines are specifically cited and are to be regulated within
the Underground Injection Control (DIG) program of the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
We recommend removal of unwarranted regulatory overlaps per-
taining to wastewater treatment facilities.
The Agency has relied heavily on waste-specific standards of
management but applies industry-specific standards to listingof
of processes by SIC". The proposed regulations reflect: (a)
standards that do not vary according to the source and (b)
the contention that most hazardous wastes require similar
management techniques. The Agency contends, however, that
hazard is a result of improper management which indeed is
dependent upon site-specific disposal operations. We encourage
the consideration of waste-specific effects and site-specific
exposures.
We recommend that waste-specific effects and - site-specific
exposures be considered in the regulations.
-Standard Industrial Codes
-------
-10-
The Agency has considered the possible phasing of the Subtitle C
program within the EIS by progressively reducing the quantity
of waste constituting generation (1,075,000 to 100 kg/mo)
and the time of storage (12 to 3 mos) over a period of five
years, and by periodically proposing additional characteristics
of hazard and new listings of specific wastes. We agree that
hazardous wastes management is a dynamic situation subject
to future assessment of new data and technologies. We do
not believe, however, that phased implementation of the regula-
tions- will serve any useful purpose and will result only in
further confusion.
We recommend that phased implementation be discouraged.
We will provide detailed comments on specific Sections of the
regulations at future hearings. Thank you for the opportunity
to summarize our general concerns.
ATTACHMENT
Bibliography of papers, comments, testimonies, and presentations
on solid and hazardous wastes by Dow Chemical U.S.A.
-------
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Papers
1. Beale, J. S., Industrial Wastes, Hazardous Waste and Dow
Chemical U.S.A., presented at a meeting of the Illinois
EPA, September 6-7, 1978.
2. Beale, J. S., The Future of the RCRA - Let's Do It Right!,
presented as part of a panel on Managing Hazardous Waste -
What Change Is Ahead, International-Waste Equipment and
Technology Exposition, sponsored by the National Solid
Waste Management Association, San Francisco, California,
September 21, 1978.
3. Daniels, S. L., Product Stewardship for Chemicals Used in
Water and Wastewater Treatment, Proceedings of the 1974
National Conference on Control of Hazardous Materials Spills,
San Francisco, AIChE, New York, 1974, pp. 31-37.
4. Daniels, S. L. , and Beale, J. S., Perspectives of Solid and
Hazardous Waste Management as Impacted by the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, to be presented at the
Symposium on Solid Waste Disposal, AIChE 86th National
Meeting, Houston, TX April 4, 1979.
5. Daniels, S. L., and Conyers, E. S., Land Disposal of
Chemically Treated Waters and Sludges, in Proceedings of
the Second National Conference on Complete WateReuse,
Chicago, Illinois, May 4-8, 1975, pp. 697-704.
-------
-2-
6. Daniels, S. L., The Role' of Producers of Chemical Waste,
presented as part of a panel discussion, Sixth National
Congress on Waste Management Technology and Resource &
Energy Recovery, cosponsored by the National Solid Waste
Management Association and the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, November 14, 1977.
7. Daniels, S. L., The Impact of the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (PL 94-580) on Hazardous Chemical Waste
Management, presented at the Symposium on Land Application
Technology for Industrial Wastes, AIChE 70th Annual Meeting,
New York, November 17, 1977; also presented at the Fall
Scientific Meeting, Midland, Michigna, October 29, 1977.
8. Daniels, S. L., Perspectives of Governmental Impact on
Industry - Environmental Evaluation, presented at the
34th Fall Scientific Meeting, Midland, Michigan, November 4,
1978.
9. Daniels, S. L., Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) and the Management of Hazardous Solid Wastes,
presented at the 34th Fall Scientific Meeting, Midland,
Michigan, November 4, 1978.
10. Hamaker, J. W., Interpretation of Soil Leaching Experiments,
in "Chemicals, Human Health, and the Environment", Vol. I,
pp. 21-30, Form No. 160-592-75.
-------
-3-
11. Moolenaar, R. J., Conyers, E. S., Flynn, J. P., Hyser,
W. D., Matthews, R. E., and Novak, R. G., Land Disposal
of Solid Wastes, in "Chemicals, Human Health and the
Environment", Vol. 2, pp. 156-171, available from Dow
Chemical U.S.A. Form No. 160-801-77
-------
Comments, Testimonies, and Presentations
1. Daniels, S. L., Comments on Hazardous Waste Guidelines
and Regulations, Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
letter to Alan Corson, U.S. EPA July 1, 1977.
2. Daniels, S. L., Comments on Prior Notice of Citizen Suits,
letter to Jeffrey L. Lilliker, U. S. EPA, July 29, 1977.
3. Daniels, S. L., Comments on Solid Waste Planning and Dis-
posal, letter to Kenneth A. Shuster, U.S. EPA, August 5,
1977.
4. Daniels, S. L., Testimony on Draft Proposed Regulations
for Hazardous Waste Management, Public Meeting on PL 94-580
conducted by the U.S. EPA, Rosslyn, Virginia, October 11,
1977.
5. Daniels, S. L., Comments on RCRA Draft REgulations -
Hazardous Waste Management, letter to John P. Lehman,
U.S. EPA, December 23, 1977.
6. Sercu, C. L., Comments on Public Participation in Solid
Waste Management, letter to Steffan Plehn, U.S. EPA,
February 16, 1978.
i
7. Daigre, G. W. , Testimony on State Hazardous Waste Programs
Proposed Guidelines, Public Meeting on PL 94-580, Section 3006,
conducted by the U.S. EPA, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 29, 19'
-------
-6-
15. Daniels, S. L., Testimony on the Proposed Schedule of
Regulations and Guidelines, Public Meeting on PL 94-580,
Washington, D.C., September 15, 1978.
-------
-5-
8. Daniels, S. L., Comments on State Hazardous Waste Programs -
Proposed Guidelines, letter to Steffan Plehn, U.S. EPA,
March 31, 1978.
9. Beale, J. S., Testimony on Solid Waste Disposal Facilities -
Proposed Criteria for Classification, Public Meeting on
PL 94-580, Sections, 1008(a) and 4004(a), conducted by the
U.S. EPA, Kansas City, Missouri, April 24, 1978.
10. Daniels, S. L., and Gledhill, J. R., Dow Concerns on RCRA,
presentation to staff of House Oversight Subcommittee and
General Accoungting Office, May 2, 1978.
11. Daniels, S. L., Proposed Criteria for Classification -
Solid Waste Disposal Facilities, letter to Kenneth A.
Shuster, U.S. EPA, June 12, 1978.
12. Daniels, S. L., Comments on Draft Regulations for-Criteria,
Identification Methods, and Listing of Hazardous Waste
(3/24/78), letter to Alan Corson, U.S. EPA, June 19, 1978.
13. Daniels, S. L., Beale, J. S., and Fagley, R., Dow Concerns
on RCRA, presentation to EPA Office of Solid Waste personnel,
June 21, 1978.
14. Beemer, B., Testimony on Proposed Procedures for Prelimi-
nary Notification of Hazardous Waste Activities, Public
Meeting on PL 94-580, Section 3010, conducted by the U.S.
EPA, San Francisco, California, August 24, 1978.
-------
CD
^u?
a — -4 vy £te<
/
// /
Ccf
7
6/
/
^
*4
*ie<
y
/
-------
,
^0«^,i
•o**-rVod, £
-------
©
j2^-£^^
/
h'
/
* /
(rf
-------
•^£U£^1*-&^:3U~^,
(>^^=^^ C^L^^
* f /
-v ju-i-t' <7
/
A*v^
/•
O-^- '<
~
-------
I
y ?
/ iT
^<^*~-2. >£-<2-z- /?-^'—*-£*-fc-v.
l*~~i
-------
&j2ts^
-------
<
-------
\tu
tL
X /
,
CX
X
/
f
/
/SVis.j -Z^szzf;'. —
.. - fs^^jt* J1.
irt-<.
(fjf
-------
ft-
/
/? tf •—#- ~~
#S2 ^^U_>?x--oa-Ctv^',
/ ^^ :
C-^Kx^-^t^-t*
/T
-------
-------
40
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Is Dr. Barry Commoner here?
2 STATEMENT OF BARRY COMMONER
3 DR. COMMONER: I don't have any written remarks,
4 but I will be glad to take a few minutes to share with'you'
5 some thoughts about the regulations and the problems that
6 lie behind them.
7 First, I am not particularly concerned with the de-
8 tails of the regulations, although I will make a few remarks
9 about that. I think there are general problems that the
10 regulations are going:to run into as they develop, and I
11 want to discuss those.
12 The first question I want to take up is why are.
13 these regulations needed, what is there about the industry
14 that produces these wastes that leads at this late date, be-
15 cause the industry developed very rapidly after World War II
16 why is it that now, 30 years later or more, we suddenly have
17 to have fairly stringent regulations to control the indus-
18 try.
19 For example, when the explosives industry was
20 developed, everyone knew right away that you needed regula-
21 tions. Why the lag in this case? Well, in my opinion, the
22 reason for the lag is that the industry failed to recognize
23 from the beginning that it was dealing with inherently dan-
24 geiDus substances. What I am saying quite specifically is
25 that the post-war development, particularly of the synthetic
-------
41
1 chemical industry, represented the production of very large-
2 amounts of materials, which on their face, simply by their—•
3 chemical composition, needed to be regard as inherently
4 capable of causing serious biological effects.
5 I'll be very bluntf.. Synthetic organic chemicals
6 should be regarded as probably dangerous until proved other-
7 wise, biologically.
8 Now, why do I say that? I say that because bio-
9 logical systems, which goes on in living cells, carry out
10 their basic functions by means of reactions among organic
11 chemicals generally of the type that appear in the industry.
12 There are benzene rings, et cetera, all of these things are
13 there.
14 Now, unlike the petrochemical industry, the living
15 system has had three billion years in which to correct its
16 mistakes. What I mean by that is that the living chemical
17 system has evolved over a three billion year period, and
18 those chemicals which are incompatible with the chemistry of
l9 the cell are rejected during the course of evolution. To
20 put it very simply, my guess is that maybe two billion years
21 ago, some cell took it into his head to synthesize DTT and
22 hasn't been heard from since.
23 What that means practically is this, that an or-
24 ganic chemical that does not occur in living things is very
25 likely to be an evolutionary reject, and, therefore, if syn-
-------
42
1 thetically made and introduced into Che living environment,
2 may well cause trouble. Now, I think there is a good deal
3 of evidence that that is exactly what happened. In other
4 words, you take the Love Canal kind of situation, which ob-
5 viously is going to be reproduced all over the country, it's
6 clear that when that material was dumped, the industry was
7 unaware that it contained materials which would have seri-
8 ous biological effects. At that time, for example, very
9 little was known about the numbers of chemicals that caused
10 mutations and cancer. One of th e interesting things that
11 has been happening is that the numbers of chemicals that we
12 now know cause cancer has been going up year by year. In
13 other words, in the last ten years, the number of new car-
14 cinogens discovered was twice the number discovered in the
15 preceding ten years.
16 Now, there are two reasons for that. One is that
17 the industry keeps making new materials, and the other is
18 that more research is being done to detect these things.
19 So the point I am making is that you are dealing with a situ
20 ation which involves unknown hazards that are built into the
21 structure of the industry.
22 At this point I want to remark about a comment
23 made by the previous witness having to do with the detection
24 of mutagens. As I understood it, the Dow position is that
25 mutagenicity should not be used at this time as an index of
-------
43
1 degree of hazard, and I think that is a very bad idea; that
2 is, the Dow idea, because it so happens that the mutagenicit
3 is probably the easiest and most sensitive way to detect
4 biologically hazardous wastes.
5 As you probably know, there are very rapid met-
6 hods for detecting mutagens. Or I will put it to you again
7 in a very simple, operational way. In my opinion, had muta-
8 genicity; that is, tests of material in the area of Love
9 Canal been used, that area could have been detected years
10 ago. If, for example, seepage into the basements of the
11 people living in that area had simply been collected and
12 tested by the Aims Test, which is a fast way of getting muta-
13 genicity data, in a matter of weeks one would have known
14 biologically active material was leaking into the basements
15 of the people who lived there.
16 In fact, I would suggest, since we now know that
17 there are some hundreds of some similar situations all over
18 the country, I would suggest that the most rapid, effective
19 way of detecting would be the extensive use of the Aims Test
20 on water seepage, on soil. For example, soil samples can
2i very readily be--in four days you can analyze the mutagen
22 content of a soil sample. In work done in our laboratory,
23 for example, we have shown that in the area of the steel
24 mills in Chicago, which put out mutagens and carcinogens,
25 when they fall on the soil, it's very easy to analyze the
~\
-------
44
1 soil and show that it's there. So that I am shocked to find
2 that the Dow Chemical people are proposing that the best
3 tool that you have got to monitor the hazardous waste situ-
4 ation is the one that you shouldn't use. Now, I am also
5 surprised because it is my guess that Dow makes very heavy
6 use of that technique itself, and that leads me to another
7 point because I think this type of measurement is so import-
8 ant.
9 I think it would be very important for Dow and
10 the other chemical firms to release all of the information
11 that they are getting on mutagenicity from different com-
12 pounds. Now, how do I know that they are getting that in-
13 formation? It so happens that the bacteria that are used
14 in this test all come from one place, from the Aims Labora-
15 tory, and I think if you asked Dr. Aims for a list of the
16 chemical companies who have gotten material from them, you
17 will discover, I think, that most of the chemical companies
18 in the United States are doing Aims testing. I have seen
19 very few results from those laboratories. Very often com-
20 mercial laboratories do testing of chemicals, and they do
21 it under a code name and never know the substance that they
22 have been testing. So I happened to seize on this because
23 I think that this is probably the most important way to
24 monitor the situation, and I am rather surprised that the
25 DOW witness chose that particular thing to hold off.
-------
45
1 The last thing I want to say is that it seems to
2 me you're going to run into trouble carrying out these regr .
3 ulations, and I want to talk about some of the trouble that
4 I think you're going to run into.
5 I think it's important to recognize it because of
6 the experience of OSHA, for example, in finding that its
7 attempt to put across regulations based on hazard have been
8 confronted by economic arguments, and I think you're going
9 to run into economic arguments, too.
10 The point I want to make is that since the chemi-
11 cals that are involved here are very largely inherently in-
12 volved in the chemistry of this industry, what you're really
13 talking about is a pattern of the distribution of these I
14 materials throughout the United States. Just stop and think
15 for a moment what happens to the movement of chemicals that
16 are synthesized by the chemical industry. In this room,
17 they are in the plastic soundproofing; they are undoubtedly
18 in the plastic covering of the seats; they're in the syn-
19 thetics that a lot of people are wearing; they're in the
20 frame of my eyeglasses; they're all over. Now, what you are
21 doing is asking where are they being consciously dumped, and
22 it's clear from the experience in the last few years that
23 we don't know where they have been dumped, and what I am
24 saying is that a pattern of the production, voluntary and
25 involuntary movement of these hazardous chemicals is what's
-------
46
1 behind the issue that you are trying to get at. In other
2 words, what we need is a picture of the, so to speak, of
3 the metabolism, the movement of these chemicals throughout
4 the United States. I don't think that the regulations will
produce that.
6 What you have got to do, it seems to me, is to
7 develop information about the whole pattern of movement, and
8 it is going to have a very practical effect on what you are
9 trying to do. For example, one thing that is not clear to
l° me from the regulations is when you ought to move something
and when you ought to keep it where it is and try to deal
12 with it. The reason why I say that is that the shipment of
13 hazardous- wastes is itself hazardous.
One of the reasons why we are seeing more and more
15 chemical accidents on railroads and roads is the simple fact
that the rate of movement and the amount of material moved
has gone up so fast because of the development of the in-
18 dustry.
Now, I don't understand what effect your regula-
20 tions will have on the flow of hazardous material because,
21 for example, if you set up an authorized dump, and there are
22 going to be relatively few of them, that will mean that
23 movement of wastes will have to be carried to that dump.
24 In other words, what I am saying is you need an optimiza-
25 tion study. You have got to figure out the relative value
-------
47
1 of detoxifying or storing a hazardous waste where it exists
2 or where it has been produced and compare it with the haz-
3 ards that are involved in moving it, and I don't know that
4 that has ever been done; and I think until you do that, you
5 don't know the relative value of storage in one place or
6 another.
1 Finally, what that is going to lead to, I think,
8 is a good deal of evidence that certain wastes from certain
9 processes are going to be so difficult to handle that the
10 costs of handling them will outweigh the benefits to be de-
ll rived from the material. In other words, I think you are
12 going to run into very serious cost-benefit problems, and I
13 noticed that the present administration keeps raising econ-' "
14 omic issues about the enforcement of regulations, and I
15 think that you have got to be prepared for the likelihood
16 that what you're going to require the industry to do will,
17 in effect, put certain substances off the market.
18 I want to say, though, that that isn't so bad be-
19 cause practically everything that the petrochemical industry
20 has introduced has replaced something that existed before.
21 You know, 50 years ago, these chairs (indicating) would '
22 have been upholstered, too. They would be here. People
23 would not be sitting on hard chairs. The chairs would be up-
24 holstered in wool or leather, and it isn't as though the
25 world would end if there were no plastics.
-------
43
1 So what I am saying is that I think you are going
2 to run into a very serious economic situation which will re-
3 quire us to examine the benefits of the industry that is
4 causing all this trouble.
5 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
6 Before I see if the panel has any questions,
7 could you identify yourself for the court reporter? I
8 don't believe you did that.
9 DR. COMMONER: Yes. I'm Barry Commoner, director
10 of the Centerfor the Biology of Natural Systems at Washing-
11 ton University, St. Louis.
12 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
13 Would you answer questions for us?
14 DR. COMMONER: Yes, of course.
15 MR. CORSON: Dr. Commoner, I was just wondering
16 whether you had had a chance in your review of our regula-
17 tions to note that in the advance notice of proposed rule-
18 making where we suggest that there are other properties of
19 toxicity which should be considered to further define that
20 characteristic, that probably our major concern in that area
21 was one of the mutagenetic activity, and we are suggesting
22 in that ANPR a battery of at least three tests, one of which
23 would be the Aims Test, and I'm wondering whether you can
24 possibly, either today or in some other comment, provide to
25 us your opinion as to whether or not the battery we have
-------
49
1 suggested would be appropriate for the industries of con-
2 cern or whether you think we could stop with just the Aims A
3 Test as a for example.
4 DR. COMMONER: First let me say I have read that
5 section of the regulation. My remarks were not directed
6 towards your proposed regulations but toward the objection
7 of the previous witness to those sections of the regula-
8 tions.
9 Our group has concentrated on the Aims Test and
10 we have done a good deal of work on environmental materials.
11 I have the distinct impression that where you're interested
12 in a rapid screen; that is, rapidly picking up trouble spots
13 the most efficient way of doing it is to concentrate on the"1
14 ^lote Test. In other words, I would say that the battery
15 ought to have another characteristic; that is, which do you
16 start with. In most cases, if something has been picked up
17 by the J&SBB Test, it is going to be a biological problem of
18 some sort. It may be a carcinogen. It is certainly a mutn-
19 gen, and mutations are serious, and I think that because it
20 is so much easier to do and can give you results so fast, I
21 would prefer to see it as the immediate, in other words, I
22 would use that even if the rest of the battery, for example,
23 isn't ready to be carried through, I would get that infer-
24 mation first; and, then, on that basis, go to other tests,
25 rather than say we're not going to pay any attention to re-
-------
50
1 suits until we have looked at the entire battery.
2 MR. LINDSEY: Can I follow up on the Aims Test a
3 little bit? We have received comments from time to time on
4 the Aims Test that perhaps it's not—it's relatively new and
5 has not been sufficiently verified and may not be sufficient-
6 ly precise in terms of identifying all of the things that
7 may be mutagenic to be used in a regulatory mode and per-
8 haps to be acceptable in a court of law. Do you have any
9 comments on that?
10 DR. COMMONER: Yes, I do. In the first place, on
11 the question of its use, if you could find the legal basis
12 for requiring all laboratories that have done Aims Tests to
13 release their information, my guess is that the amount of
14 information would go up tenfold at least. So the argument
15 which usually comes from people who have been doing results
16 that they haven't reported is, shall we say, in bad taste.
17 Now, the question of what is the meaning of an
18 Aims Test result, yes, it's true that you may miss some
19 mutagens with any test; but the point is that we are ex-
20 posed probably to ten or twenty times more mutagens than we
21 are even aware of because they keep finding new ones, and I
22 fail to see any reason why the fact that a test is not com-
23 plete should be an argument against using it. What it means
24 is that we're not in perfect knowledge of our situation, but
25 that's a lot better than the situation that we're in now,
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
51
and, as I say, I go back to the question of the Love Canal
type of situation. It seems to me that there ought to be
an immediate program. 1 understand that EPA now has some
ideas about where these places are. It seems to me that an
immediate program of soil testing, and, as a matter of fact
it might even be possible to do tests of biological materi-
als as well. An immediate testing with the Aims Test would
probably give you more information about where the worst
situations are than any other way of going about it.
Now, the other side of it is--and it's a very
strange thing--mutagenicity, and by inference, carcinogen-
icity, it's probably the most effective test we have for
biological toxicity now, much more effective than skin
tests of varios kinds and so on. In other words, it hap-
pens to be, I think, that if you look at the battery of
biological problems, neurotoxicity, let's say various sys-
temic effects, if you take into account sensitivity, accur-
acy, and the ease of carrying it out, mutagenicity tests,
and particularly the Aims Test, are far and away the best
tool that we have for picking up something that is bio-
logically active; and I'm amazed to find that this has been
singled out as the thing that we shouldn't do because it
stands-out as being die one thing that will help us straight
en out the situation. ,
It may be that some people are afraid of the inform
-------
52
1 nation because every time we use the Aims Test we keep dis-
2 covering more and more active material, and I know, you
3 know, if you're manufacturing this stuff, you worry about
4 it.
5 MR. LEHMAN: Dr. Commoner, one of your remarks
6 dealt with the, and I believe yourstatement, if I may para-
7 phrase it a little bit, was "Shipment of hazardous waste is
8 in itself hazardous," and I want to just clarify whether
9 by inference you are suggesting that the Agency should en-
10 courage on-site disposal as opposed to off-site disposal in
11 regional facilities?
12 DR. COMMONER: The point of my remark was to say
13 that there is a mathematical relationship between the choice
14 of leaving some-thing where it is and moving it, and, there-
15 fore, you cannot judge which is the least hazardous step
16 unless you take into account the hazards that will arise be-
17 cause of transportation accidents. That has never been
18 done. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been done--I want to
19 make that very clear. What you need is a total pattern of
20 where the products of the chemical industry are and how
21 they move, in what amounts where.
22 Imagine a motion picture going on showing FCB's—
23 well, we're not making them any more as of a couple years
24 ago--but let's say insecticides and the waste product, you
25 want to know where they a re being produced, where they're
-------
53
1 being shipped, in what amounts, where the residues are
2 being stored; and what I am saying is once you've got that,
I
3 you then can optimize for the decision as to whether sorae-
4 thing should be kept where it originated or whether you
5 ought to move it; and that will take into account, for
6 example, the condition of the railroads.
7 You see, one of the outcomes on analysis like
8 that might be that we're going to get into deep trouble be-
9 cause the railroads are deteriorating; and you might, for
10 example, get data that would show that until the railroad
11 tracks are improved, it would be better to leave the waste
12 where it is. That's the kind of information that you're
13 going to have to have before you can make the decision as
14 to whether something should be moved or not; and I think
15 you ought to have a kind of research program attached to
16 this entire program in order to work that out.
17 MR. CORSON: One more question. I would like to
18 follow up with regard to the general area of the Aims Test.
19 To my knowledge, what little bit I know about the Aims Test,
20 most of the work that has been done in the past has essen-
21 tially been done on testing pure substances where a company
22 may be introducing a new product and is concerned about the
23 mutagenicity of that particular product, and, as you are
24 aware, in the proposal which we published on December 18,
?~^ !,.(.'•• V'
25 we are suggesting that for toxicity we would y^-r,; an ex-
-------
54
1 tracted procedure because our concerns are with the toxicant
2 that might be released from the wastes. I am wondering what
3 your feelings are about how effective the Aims Test might be
4 on these undefined mixtures and whether or not you think
5 that its use is suitable as a screen for these combinations
6 of things, taking into account the fact that we have used an
7 extraction procedure to get there with an acetic acid ex-
8 tract.
9 DR. COMMONER: Our laboratory has been doing pre-
10 cisely that, measurements on unknown mixtures for five years
11 now, and, as we have shown, the Aims Test is very effective
12 on urban air particulates. We did an entire study on dust
13 in Chicago, and it very clearly picks up mutagenic material
14 in such a mixture. We have shown that it's effective in
15 analyzing soil. We have shown that it's effective in ana-
16 lyzing foods, again a complex mixture. We have used it on
17 the effluent of a waste treatment plant in the Houston ship
18 canal which is an extraordinarily complex mixture, and we're
19 able to pick out of it two particular substances that were
20 responsible for the mutagenicity. We have used it extensive
21 ly urine of animals that are experimentally exposed to car-
22 cinogens and the urine of people who smoke cigarettes and
23 the urine of workers exposed to mutagens and carcinogens in
24 the workplace, and we can characterize, for example, in the
25 urine of cigarette smokers two characteristic mutagens that
-------
4
55
1 turn up in the urine in the midst of other materials, such
2 of which have effects on the bacteria, for example, toxicitj
3 So that at this point there is, I think, very extensive in-
4 formation on the ability of the Aims Test to deal with mix-
5 tures; and I might say, without getting too technical, one
6 of the best ways of handling this is to use separation
7 techniques together with the Aims Test.
8 What we do typically is to run the chromatogram
9 which separates out different substances. Then we take each
10 section of the chromatogram and run an Aims Test on it. In
11 that way, we can track down biologically and characterize
12 specific ingredients. I think that kind of information,for
13 example, on again soil in a Love Canal type of area would btfL
14 extraordinarily useful; and again, for example, an analysis
15 of soil of that sort, you can have that done in an ordinary
16 laboratory in a week. In other words, you take up the soil
17 sample; and in a week, you would know whether there are
13 agents in it that are active in the Aims Test and roughly
19 how many.
20 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: How much would a test of a
21 soil sample cost if done with your chromatogram?
22 DR. COMMONER: I was afraid you were going to ask
23 me that because--we're a university laboratory, and it's
24 very easy to misjudge. You know, we have to pay for the
25 mowing of the law and so on--that's overhead. I don't know.^P
-------
56
1 I would say, let's say a soil test without chromatography
2 would probably cost in the order of 100, 200 dollars in
3 terms of labor and materials, with chromatography maybe
4 another $100. You're talking about that order.
5 Now, incidentally, one of the things that ought
6 to be done is to automate some of this stuff, and then it
7 could go a lot faster and cheaper.
8 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I wanted to follow up on
9 your comments also about gathering data. We received a
10 lot of comments in Mew York, and I think Dr. Daniels
11 recommends that we characterize wastes by degree of hazard,
12 and I take it that some of the thrust of your remarks is
13 that you would want us keeping particularly hazardous sub-
14 stances on site or—you're worried about transportation.
15 Assume for a minute that we have very limited authority and
16 that the primary aim is to give people performance standards
17 or design standards for disposing of certain materials. Do
18 you have any suggestions as to how we should be, if we de-
19 cide to do it, to characterize by hazard, degree of hazard?
20 DR. COMMONER: That's an almost impossible situ-
21 ation. I think that you have to recognize that you are try-
22 ing to correct a horrendous mistake made by a huge industry
23 many years ago. I mean how are you going to characterize a
24 mixture of materials which may interact chemically, which
25 may interact biologically. For example, as you know, many
-------
57
1 carcinogens are active only in the presence of what's called
2 a promoter or a co-carcinogen. Now, what that means is that
*j
you may have a substance which is a carcinogen that will be
4 relatively harmless because the co-carcinogen isn't in that
drum of junk; but next time it turns up in a drum with a
6 co-carcinogen, now it's become very dangerous; and I don't
know how you are going to be able to do that.
Q
I suppose that it would be useful to develop a
o
kind of concept of genetic toxicants; that is, things which
are capable of causing mutation, birth defects, carcinogens,
11 and I would give those extra weight because of the fact
12
15
20
that we won't see the biological effects for many years,
13
and that would require, in my opinion, at least on moral
grounds, a kind of extra caution; and I, myself, would think
that a high level of mutagens in a drum full of waste would
16 mark it as very hazardous and something that ought to be
handled in a particularly careful way.
18 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., no more questions.
19 Thank you very much.
Next speaker this morning, it would be Mr. Joe
Pound of American Admixtures Corporation.
22 STATEMENT OF JOE POUND
23 MR. POUND: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
My name is Joe Pound. I'm vice president of
25
American Admixtures Corporation in Chicago.
-------
58
1 My purpose today is to present in concise form
2 the position of American Admixtures regarding RCRA and its
2
impact upon our company and industry.
American Admixtures is an experienced, success-
ful marketing and recycling disposal contractor for the by-
6 products of coal-burning electric power plants. For over
7 30 years, we have actively and aggressively promoted the
8 commercial use of fly ash, bar slag, and bottom ash from
9 coal into numerous commercial applications.
10 Our present staff of engineers, chemists, and
11 geologists, we utilize marketing, recycling, and ultimate
12 disposal techniques as they are required and have the capa-
13 bility to plan and design, contruct and operate our own ash
14 removal equipment and disposal sites for the coal-burning
15 utilities.
16 Presently we have marketing contracts with ten
17 different utilities in eight different states in the Mid-
18 west, including three contracts with three different utili-
19 ties for total ash removal combining, marketing, recycling,
20 and disposal.
21 During the course of the past 30 years, we esti-
22 mate we have sold over ten million tons of fly ash c crane r-
23 cially.by incorporating the fly ash into durable concrete
24 of many types, from enormous dams to highways; and during
25 the past 20 years, we have been directly responsible for
-------
59
l the disposal of approximately twenty million tons of coal by.
2 products from seven station locations.
3 Now we would like to list some of the specific
4 concerns we have with RCRA as an impact on our company and
5 the coal ash industry that we are a part of, which is best
6 represented by the National Ash Association in Washington,
7 D. C.
8 No. 1, the proposed special regulations imply by
9 association that fly ash has inherent hazardous character-
10 istics even though these products have been placed in a
11 "special category" awaiting final determination. The fact
12 that we are in the regulation at all builds a case for guilt
13 by association which we consider unfair and inappropriate
14 since the scientific evidence is not present for evaluation.
15 No. 2, the acid extraction procedure, the E.P.,
15 except in cases where the product is placed as a structural
17 fill, co-disposed in a strip mine or sanitary landfill, does
ig not represent in any way a condition typical of disposal
19 techniques as we know them, with which we are responsible or
20 intend to be responsible.
2i These worst case scenarios simply are not real
22 scenarios where segregated and isolated disposal operations
23 are^predetermined, executed, and monitored by a permit sys-
24 tern. We, therefore, strongly urge that acid be changed to
25 water as recommended by AST It, Committee D-1912, when acid
-------
60
1 is predetermined to be present in the segregated disposal
2 site, then use both acid and water to leach.
3 Further, we believe that a sample of less than
4
100 grams, as provided by theEvP., with fly ash, cannot be
5 representative of a large scale reality of 100,000 tons of
6 coal ash per year typical of many coal-burning utility
7 plants.
8 No. 3, the structural integrity test, the S.I.T.,
9 does not offer relief where the utility or the recycling and
10 disposal contractor make the decision to stabilize the fly
11 ash or sludgp waste into a low strength, low permeability,
cemented condition that can prevent it from releasing any
13 potential heavy metals that it might contain in trace
14 amounts.
15 The specifics of the present S.I.T. are best com-
16 pared with the sledge hammer test used as a preparation
17 method before checking the quality of your car windshield.
18 Our company is actively supporting major modifi-
19 cations of the present S.I.T. through efforts of ASTM Com-
20 mittee D-19 as well.
21 No. 4, we are concerned that the time frame in
22 which this act has been required be implemented does not
23 allow an orderly process of engineering technological deve-
24 lopments to speak to the potential dangers that any waste
25 can generate
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
61
With any waste, potential dangers are always real.
if you include the possibility of being buried alive in it.
Therefore, we urgently request that the Agency use maximum
efforts in extending the time required to adequately develop
the technology to both control the release of any potential-
ly dangerous materials from our products and to recognize
that 30 years of commercial application of coal ash could
well be destroyed if a hasty and ill-advised approach is
taken to the implementation of these proposed rules.
Further, we urge that the concept of using worst
case scenarios be modified to reflect reality rather than a
hypothesis that has not been documented or experienced in any
application with; which we are familiar concerning coal ash.
We are reminded of the recent decision of EPA to back off
on too stringent standards on air pollution after experi-
ence indicated that the preliminary regs were too tough and
unnecessary.
Mo. 5, we believe fly ash, as we have known it for
30 years, can best be called a valuable natural resource as
the States of Maryland and Massachusetts have declared by
law. The best way to control indiscriminate disposal is to
first provide every possible freedom and incentive to market
it into its numerous commercial uses.
Fly ash is not a hazardous waste as we sell or
dispose of it and never will be unless you make it so by
-------
62
1 tests that do not reflect any reality with which we are
2 familiar. Therefore, we urge you to consider your decision
3 in the context of a valuable natural resource, of energy
4 conservation through recycling of byproducts, and land
5 reclamation and conservation. Making it hazardous "des-
6 troys" these advantages.
7 Next, we see our future task as the following:
8 Mo. 1, continue to develop meaningful, scientific
9 data to support and encourage commercial uses and recycling
10 of coal ash.
11 No. 2, continue to develop stabilization techni-
12 ques for recycling and disposal toward the goal of assuring
13 that our coal ash is never judged to be hazardous.
14 Three, continue to encourage and execute good
15 management techniques regarding coal ash collection, re-
16 cycling, and disposal operations.
17 And as a corollary, we see your challenge as foi-
ls lows:
19 Strive for an optimum balance between environ-
20 mental protection and the encouragement of recycling using
21 industrial byproducts such as coal ash.
22 Two, special care in evaluating the microscopic
23 test procedures for determining toxicity of coal ash within
24 the context of the microscopic quantities of coal ash pro-
25 duced, which today in the United States amount to about 70
-------
63
1 million tons annually, while our industry is currently mar-
2 keting about 25 per cent of that total, or 17 million tons.
3 according to recent information I obtained from John Faber
4 at National Ash Association.
5 In conclusion, we reiterate our desire to support
6 the technological developments you require. That support
7 includes full fly ash testing laboratory facilities located
8 in Chicago. Our technical staff will be pleased to advise
9 and support the ongoing educational requirements that are
10 necessary to reach an intelligent and rational solution to
11 the opportunities that exist for marketing and correct re-
12 cycling disposal of coal ash.
13 For example, our company has developed informa-
14 tion on the radioactive characteristics of most of the fly
15 ash sources with which we are familiar and work with regu-
16 larly. We are reporting on this subject as well as new
17 developments in our fly ash marketing and recycling dis-
18 posal efforts at the Fifth International Symposium of
19 National Ash Association to be held February 26 and 27 in
20 Atlanta.
21 We will mail you a copy of our remarks, along
22 with these published technical reports that we feel support
23 our arguments, and we thank you for this opportunity.
24 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
25 Will you answer questions if there are any?
-------
reoruary j.<4 , ±y / y
Joe Pound, Vice Presiden
American Admixtures Corp
FINAL DRAFT
TO: U.S.E.P.A., Office of Solid Waste Management
FROM: AAC
SUBJECT: Position Paper for St. Louis Hearings on Proposed RCRA
Regulations, February 14, 1979
Ladies and Gentlemen, my purpose today is to present in concise
form the position of American Admixtures Corporation regarding RCRA
and its impact upon our company and industry. American Admixtures
is an experienced and successful marketing and recycling disposal
contractor for the by-products of coal burning electric power plants.
For over 30 years, we have actively and aggressively promoted the
commerical use of fly ash, boiler slag and bottom ash from coal into
numerous commerical applications. With our present staff of sales
and technical engineers, chemists and geologists, we utilize marketing,
recycling and ultimate disposal techniques as they are required and
have the capability to plan, design, construct and operate our own
ash removal equipment and disposal sites for the coal burning utilities.
Presently, we have marketing contracts with 10 different utilities in
8 different states of the midwest including 3 contracts with 3 different
utilities for total ash removal, combining marketing, recycling and
disposal. During the course of the past 30 years we estimate that
we have sold over 10 million tons of fly ash commerically, (primarily
by incorporating the fly ash into durable concrete mixes of many types
from enormous dams to highways.), and during the past 20 years have
been directly responsible for the disposal of approximately 20 million
tons of coal by-products from 7 station locations.
Now, we would like to list some of the specific concerns we have
with RCRA as it can impact on our company and the coal ash industry
that we are part of and is best represented by the National Ash in
Washington, D.C.
(1) Your proposed special regulations imply by association
that fly ash has inherent hazardous characteristics, even
though these products have been placed in a "special category"
waiting final determination. The fact that we are in the regu-
lations at all builds a case for "guilt by association" which
-------
- 2 -
we consider unfair and inappropriate since the scientific
evidence is not present for evaluation.
(2) The acid extraction procedure (EP), except in cases where
the product is placed as a structural fill co-disposed in a
strip mine or sanitary landfill, does not represent in any way
a condition typical of disposal techniques as we know them with
which we are responsible or intend to be responsible. These
"worse case scenarios" simply are not "real" scenarios where
segregated and isolated disposal operations are predetermined,
executed and monitored by a permit system. We, therefore,
t
strongly urge the "acid" be changed to "water"as recommended
by ASTM D 19.12. When "acid"j.s predetermined to be present
in the disposal site then use both acid and water to leach.
Further, we believe that a sample of less than 100 grams,
as provided by the EP with fly ash, cannot be representative
of the large scale reality of 100,000 tons of coal ash per
year, typical of many coal burning utility plants.
(3) The structural integrity test (SIT) does not offer
relief where the utility or recycling/disposal contractor
makes the decision to stabilize the fly ash or sludge waste
into a low strength, low permeability cemented condition
that can prevent it from releasing any potential heavy metals
that it might contain in trace amounts. The specifics of
the present SIT are best compared with-a "sledge hammer" used
as a preparation method before checking the quality of your
car windshield. Our company is actively supporting major
modification of the present SIT through efforts of ASTM
Committee D 19.12 as well.
(4) We are concerned that the time frame in which this act
has been required to be implemented does not allow an orderly
process of engineering technological development to speak to
the potential dangers that any waste can generate. With any
waste the potential dangers are always real, if you include
the possibility of being buried of alive in it. Therefore,
we urgently request that the Agency use maximum efforts in
extending the time required to adequately develop the technology
-------
- 3 -
to both control the release of any potential dangerous
materials from our products and to recognize that 30 years
of commerical application of coal ash could well be de-
stroyed if a hasty and ill advised approach is taken to
the implementation of these proposed rules. Further, we
urge that the concept of using "worst case scenarios" be
modified to reflect reality rather than a hypothesis that
has not been documented or experienced in any application
with which we are familiar concerning coal ash. We are
reminded of the.recent decision of EPA to back off on "too
stringent" standards on air pollution after experience indi-
cated that preliminary conclusions wjare too tough and un-
necessary.
(5) We believe fly ash as we have know it for 30 years can
best be called a "valuable natural resource" as the States
of Maryland and Massachusettes have declared by law. The
best way to control indiscriminate disposal is to first
provide every possible freedom and incentive to market it into
its numerous commerical uses. Fly ash is not a "hazardous
waste" as we sell or dispose of it, and never will be unless
you make it so by using tests that do not reflect any reality
with which we are familiar. Therefore, we urge you to consider
your decision in the context of a valuable natural resource
of energy conservation through recycling of by-products and
land reclamation and conservation. Making it "hazardous"
destroys these advantages. Next we see our future taks as the
following:
1. Continue to develop meaningful scientific data to
support and encourage commerical uses and recycling of
coal ash.
2. Continue to develop stabilization techniques for re-
cycling and disposal toward the goal of assuring that
our coal ash is never judged to be hazardous.
3. Continue to encourage and^execute good management
techniques regarding coal ash collection, recycling
and disposal operations.
As a corollary, we see your challenges as follows:
-------
- 4 -
1. Strive for an optimum balance between environ-
mental protection and the encouragement of recycling
using industrial by-products, such as coal ash.
2. Special care in evaluating the microscopic test
procedures for determining toxicity of coal ash within
the context of the macroscopic quantities of coal
ash produced, which today in the United States amount
to about 70 million tons annually while our industry
is currently marketing about 25% of that total or
17 million tons, according to recent information I
obtained from John Faber at National Ash Association.
In conclusion, we reiterate our desire to support the techno-
logical developments you require. That support includes full fly
ash testing laboratory facilities located in Chicago. Our techni-
cal staff will be pleased to advise and support the on-going edu-
cational requirements that are necessary to reach an intelligent
and rational solution to the opportunities that exist for both
marketing and correct recycling/disposal of coal ash. For example,
our company has developed information on the radioactive character-
istics of most of the fly ash source with which we are familiar
and work with regularly. We are reporting on the subject as well
as new developments in our fly ash marketing and recycling/disposal
efforts at the 5th International Symposium of the NAA to be held
February 26th and 27th in Atlanta.
We will mail you a copy of our remarks along with published
technical reports that support our arguments. We thank you for
the opportunity to present our case.
-------
64
1 MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Pound, I wanted to explore with
2 you some of your earlier remarks. You indicated that the
3 inclusion of utility wastes as in a special waste category
4 under Section 3004, if I remember your remarks, "established
5 guilt by association", or words to that effect. First of
6 , all, I think it's important for the record, for further
7 clarification hers, to realize that nowhere in our proposal
8 do we list fly ash as a hazardous waste, and you do under-
9 stand that?
10 MR. POUND: I do. I am referring back, of coarse,
11 to the title of the document.
12 MR. LEHMAN: The situation is under Section 3004
13 that if a waste is found to be hazardous, the utility waste
14 is found to be hazardous, then it is subject not to the full
!5 range of Section 3004 regulations but to somewhat more
16 limited requirements under the special waste category. Are
17 you suggesting that we remove utility wastes from the speci-
18 ai wastes category?
19 MR. POUND: No. Allan and I talked about this at
20 some length, and really you are dealing with a semantic
21 problem in part, but you are also dealing with the question
22 of who were the brilliant ones who figured out that any-
23 thing in that document ought to be called hazardous as con-
24 trasted with degree of hazard or control or nonerous other
25 words that could be used in lieu of hazard, because there's
-------
65
1 enormous implication that, just the fact that the word
2 comes out in the document, that John and Mary Q. Public
3 might feel that somehow you are a hazard; and if you want
4 to carry it to extremes, it's certainly possible. Certain-
5 ly something alive in it is a hazard. That's the problem
6 that we have, and we've heard people say that, therefore,
7 aren't you suspect before you begin, and I'd have to say
8 it depends on your reading; and the reading that most are
9 getting is that somehow we're hazardous because we all
10 breathe air. Publish this, and all of the sudden we've got
11 a labeling. It may be gray, it may be almost white, but
12 you've still got the attempt.
13 MR. LINDSEY: Let me follow up on that, then.
14 Presumably, what you are saying is that you would like to
15 have fly ash exempted in some fashion completely; and our
16 information indicates that sometimes fly ash fails the
17 characteristics test under, what is that, 250.13 of our
18 Act; and the question is then if it fails those characteris-
19 tics, and assuming, and which was our intent, that those
20 characteristics were developed so as identify the materials
21 which are hazardous, then are you saying that the charac-
22 teristics are too strict and that we ought to make those
23 more lenient in some manner so that materials like fly ash
24 and things that may be similar to that do not ever fit into
25 the picture?
-------
66
1 MR. POUND: I think the difficulty we have is the
2 fact that the scientific evidence and the scientific com-
3 munity have no basis at this time to make a judgment that
4 we're hazardous to any degree in relation to the proposed
5 standards; and I guess I would conclude that they are too
6 strict at this point if they are applied carte blanche.
7 Theoretically, the special category puts us into a special
8 determination category as well; but the implication and the
9 time frame—and remember, I'm combining the two--are that
10 we will never be able to find the adequate amount of infor-
11 mation prior to the time of implementation. So, therefore,
12 one will conclude we'll be in limbo at the very best for
13 quite some period of time.
14 MR. CORSON: 1 have a couple questions, Joe. One
15 has to do with sampling.
16 One of your comments indicated that you thought
17 that a 100-gram sample was inadequate, and 1 think what we
18 are trying to do in our regulation--and perhaps you can
19 help us with that--is to suggest that they take a repre-
20 sentative sample. We have referenced where we knew them,
2i certain ASTM sampling procedures, and obviously that in-
22 eludes all this standard business of quartering and quar-
23 taring and quartering, but eventually you end up with some
24 small size sample. Do you have a feel for what size that
25 has to be? This quartering, if you use this to represent,
-------
67
1 in essence, the equivalency of thousands or millions of
2 tons, why cannot we get down to 100-gram sample for running
3 the extraction procedure?
4 MR. FOUND: Alan, to reflect on that 100-gram
5 point, this was under the S.I.T. comments, and so I am re-
6 ferring to that sample of 1.3 inches by 2.8 inches that
7 represents a small representative sample of stabilized ash,
3 so-called, or stabilized waste, so-called, and the difficult;
9 there is you are not going to be quartering and all that
10 routine. That comes with the dust, and that is a possibili-
11 ty, but that's one of the serious questions we want to
12 raise, as the point of the test or the timing of the test
13 in the so-called pattern of flow of the product from the
14 coal in the ground to the ash in its disposal site or, hope-
15 fully, commercial application. Where you make the test and
16 when you make the test is, of course, critical, but the
17 S.I.T. does give us a theoretical advantage in that it is
18 encouraging, as the Act states, stabilization to prevent any
19 possible undefined hazard from leaking out; but when you end
20 up with a sample that weighs 100 grams to represent literal-
21 ly hundreds of thousands of tons, and nationwide millions,
22 those are the kinds of relationships that I think are poorly
23 understood, and I'm not sure that we understand it. It just
24 seems that you are dealing with a fantastically small amount
25 when you deal with thousands of tons.
-------
68
1 MR. CORSON: Following up on the S.I.T. question
2 again, the structural integrity test, what we have done, for
3 clarification of those who may not be aware of the approach
4 that we called for in the regulation, we originally looked
5 at taking a sample of waste and somehow reducing its size
6 or the pieces in size so it could go through a three-
7 eighth inch screen. The comment was given to us in our
8 development process that this was penalizing those who
9 stabilize wastes, and we felt, in our minds at least, that
10 the question of crushing to three-eighth inch size was
11 really not crushing but was allowing for the kinds of, do
12 we say degradation of the structural integrity of the waste
13 that could occur in a land disposal operation or through
14 freeze/thaw cycles of the ground, and, therefore, we tried
15 to develop something like what we call the structural in-
16 tegrity of test as an alternative to grinding, and we would
17 appreciate it if you can provide, if you are running it in
18 your lab, some data that you think is more representative,
19 recognizing again that our goal is to replicate what could
20 happen in that sort of disposal environment.
21 MR. POUND: I agree, and we certainly will try to
22 get that kind of--that's primarily why we are involved in
23 ASTM; but S.I.T., a structural integrity test, is really a
24 misnomer of first order. It's much more of a structural
25 destruction test and not structural integrity.
-------
69
1 MR. CORSON: Maybe we're victims of an acronym
2 problem.
3 MR. POUND: In more ways than six.
4 MR. CORSON: One further question I would like to
5 explore with you with regard to the extraction procedure.
6 Somewhere in your comments I think you indicated that you
7 felt that where there might be a co-disposal operation or
8 where the waste might go to a site where acid might be
9 available, that an acetic extraction might be appropriate,
10 and 1 am wondering whether you have any thoughts as to how
11 we segregate those wastes at the generator's station.
12 MR. POUND: We have two possibilities ourselves
13 right now, one of where we are proposing to co-dispose in
14 a sanitary landfill simply because of the geography, the
15 sort distance from the generator's location, of the utility
16 plant location; and because that is, you know, a thoroughly
17 approved sanitary landfill under the present environmental
18 regs, one could quickly argue that the possibility of co-
19 disposal and acid infiltration or permeation is possible,
20 that it would simply be handled in a conventional way be-
21 cause it's confined to the clay liners that are required
22 under the present regs.
23 The second location is a proposal to take coal ash
24 as a matter of disposal and put it into the very exception
25 I mentioned in my paper about strip mining areas where acid
-------
70
1 mine draining is a very serious reality. There again I
2 think you are facing two operations. One is that the
3 utility is hopeful that they can do that simply because the;
4 can moderate the acid toxicity of the acid mine drainage
5 using the very fly ash that they are attempting to dispose
6 of; but there's a serious problem in terms of interaction
7 which you're concerned about in co-disposal techniques, and
8 our conclusion is at this sitting that the co-disposal
9 element there will be the overriding consideration, and,
10 therefore, the utility may decide no, we choose not to do
11 that, simply because a marginal hazard at best, and maybe
12 nonhazard as a possibility, could be jeopardized, that
13 category could be jeopardized by going into that codisposal
14 operation because fly ash does have some acid neutralizing
15 effects potential.
16 Does that deal with your question?
17 MR. CORSON: I'm still confused a little bit as
18 to how we would develop some enforceable regulation that
19 allows us to make the distinction of those which are going
20 to Place A versus those which are going to Place B, because
21 from the point you have made, Place A is O.K. and water
22 extract might work, and Place B it will not. Now, this is
23 the flexibility that we have provided through the 3004,
24 3005 process rather than 3001. Site specific, waste speci-
25 fie interactions are accommodated in the facility permit
-------
71
l combination. We have chosen Co make a definition distinc-
2 tion at 3001 level. 1 am wondering what your thoughts are
3 as to how we might mechanize in terms of making sure we are
4 aware, transportation and what else make that distinction
5 so the ones go where they have to go.
6 MR. FOUND: It seems to me that the performance
7 standard is the way to go in general, Alan, that the ulti-
8 mate disposal must reflect particular performance require-
9 ments; but in the interim, until we get to the point we
10 understand what the performance requirements will be--and
11 I'm convinced that EPA still has only a drop of information
12 as to what those performance standards should be, that you
13 just simply say that if there is a co-disposal operation
14 proposed, that the greater hazard shall dictate. I don't
15 know any other possible way to do that, and we recognize
16 that. All I am saying is that the utility generator, or we
17 as a contractor, must make the decision that is co-disposal
18 economically and environmentally sound, and it may not be--
19 that isolated, segregated single site, single-source waste
20 products may be the only logical answer because we are
21 jeopardizing our category by co-disposal.
22 MR. LINDSEY: You indicated sometime back that you
23 felt that our regulations, the stances that have been taken
24 in these regulations, would, in fact, prevent, would cut off
25 the use of fly ash in some fashion. Let me just indicate
-------
72
1 that it is not our intent to cut off the acceptable use, or
2 disposal for that matter, of any material; and, as Alan
3 pointed out, that's taken care of in the regulations under
4 3004 and -5. On the other hand, I guess my question is did
5 you come to that conclusion, that we were going to cut off
6 in some fashion the use of these materials in an acceptable
7 manner based on the regulations say. In other words, is
8 there something in there that you have interpreted that
9 would prevent this, or is it a matter of this guilt by
10 association kind of thing that you mentioned earlier which
11 would have the effect of cutting off the demand?
12 MR. POUND: Correct, the latter. It's the problem
13 of being just a little bit pregnant.
14 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I hate to end on that note,
15 but we'll end on that note.
16 We're going to take about a 15-minute break and
17 reconvene promptly at 10:43.
18 Off the record.
19 (A short recess was taken.)
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
5'
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ments.
73
CHAIRPERSON DARKAH: A couple of quick announce-
First of all, we are not trying to wear you down.
We are trying to make them turn down the heat in this room.
Secondly, for tomorrow's meeting and for the final
day's meetings, we will not be meeting in this room. We will
be in the Ball Room rather than here.
Lastly, the background documents were mentioned, I
guess, by Dr. Stacy and, as mentioned in the Federal Register,
those are available in the libraries in the Regional Offices
of EPA for, and I guess you probably have loan copies as well
as copies to read in the library.
MR. MC LAUGHLIN: We have one copy available in our
Regional Office library. The other one should be reproduced
so that we have three copies available for loan and anyone
wishing to borrow them, ve will be glad to talk to them and
make arrangements.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
Back to comments to us on-the regulations.
Is Ms. Kay Drey here?
STATEMENT OF KAY DREY
MS. DREY: My name is Kay Drey and I live in St.
Louis.
When I first started reading about nuclear power,
over four years ago, I was constantly amazed by the seemingly^
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
74
infinite number of ways in which men and machines could func-
tion contrary to plan. I was also amazed by the quantity of
potentially hazardous situations for which no plan even ex-
isted. The fact that no one knows yet how or where to dis-
pose of the hazardous wastes from the very first successful
atomic chain reaction 36 years ago, becomes all the more in-
credible when we realize that this ignorance has not de-
terred our nation's government or industries from bringing
additional millions of tons of radioactive wastes into our
planet's only biosphere.
I am appearing before you today as a concerned
housewife, mother and citizen to thank you for your efforts
to try to find solutions to the fact that our nation is
generating, according to your own EPA figures, some 35
million metric tons of hazardous wastes, plus another several
hundred million tons of lower risk, but also dangerous,
wastes every year. Since we cannot allow these wastes to be
released into the air, onto the soil or into the irreplaceable
surface or ground waters., we must have to survive, your op-
tions seem to be mutually exclusive. Are we to store in-
creasing amounts of these wastes in 55-gallon drums or .
canisters pretending, then, that they have been isolated
when we have actually merely delayed finding a solution?
Perhaps the only permanent answers are to support the efforts
of the EPA's Office of Toxic Substances to reduce the amount
-------
75
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
of wastes we create.
At the now closed Maxey Flats, Kentucky, NRC-
licensed burial site a few years ago, it was found that the
exceedingly hazardous substance, plutonium, had migrated not
an inch in a quarter million years as expected but several
hundred feet or more in a decade.
I would like to submit an article from Science
Magazine of June 1978, if I may, about a group of chemicals
which may not themselves be hazardous but which increase the
potential health impact of certain hazardous wastes. In this
article geochemists from Princeton and Battelle-Columbus sub-
mit that the reason -.radioactive wastes buried in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, had migrated far more rapidly than anticipated
was due to the presence in the waste materials of certain
chemicals which had been used to solubilize and therefore
remove radioactive corrosion products and other wastes from
nQclear facilities. The class of compounds is called
chelating agents and has the property of tightly binding
certain metallic elements, including radioactive ones. The
encrusted insoluble radioactive materials become soluble by
binding to the chelating agents and can thereby be removed.
The resulting complex, however, consisting of radio-
active metals entrapped in chelating agents, can spread.
readily through ground water and be taken up by the plant and
animal links in the human food chain if it leaks or is re-
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
76
1 leased. Furthermore, the chelating agents have been found to
be surprisingly persistent in the environment. I would like
to urge the EPA to consider adding a class of compounds that
could perhaps be called promoters or additives which have the
potential to act synergistically to Increase the hazard of
environmental .contamination. While this article from Science
Magazine deals with the rapid migration of radioactive sub-
stances, this same synergistic action could conceivably occur
with other hazardous wastes as well.
I would like to suggest that consideration be given
to changing the text in Section 15* Paragraph (a)(5)j in some
way so that a radioactive waste not be defined as being'"non-
hazardous" if it emits the amounts you presently propose,
that is five picocuries per gram for solids or fifty
piocuries per liter for liquids when radium 226 and radium 228
are both present or if the wastes contain a concentration of
ten microcuries per, I don't know what measure, of radium 226
alone.
According to the EPA's "Statement of Basis and Pur-
pose" for the Safe Drinking Water Act's radioactivity regula-
tions dated August 15, 1975, which, in turn, were based on
the estimates of the 1972 3EIR Committee report, consumption
by the population of two liters of drinking water per day
contaminated with five picocuries per liter of either radium
226 or 223 "may cause between 0.7 and 3 cancers per year per
-------
77
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
J8
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
million exposed persons. Almost all of these cancers would
probably be fatal." That is, if America's 200 -.million citi-
zens were to be exposed to radium in a concentration of five
picocuries per liter or ten picocuries per day, the incidence
of cancer could increase by as many as 600 per year. If we
accept the EPA's linear hypothesis of an increased radiation
dose leading to an increase in health efforts, a hypothesis
which, by the way, I think underestimates the risk, your
proposal to exclude liquids with as much as forty to fifty
picocuries per liter could cause an increase of some six
thousand cancer deaths per year.
I believe it is absolutely misleading for the EPA
to define or describe such levels as "non-hazardous" thresh-
olds as you have in the proposed regulations. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission gets around this problem by describing
such concentrations as being "permissible" rather than "non-
hazardous". Unfortunately, most radiation workers, employers
and even government officials have been led to believe that
the NRC's permissible levels are safe, which they are not„
Epidemiological evidence to the contrary is at last beginning
to be made public.
As an example of inadequate data upon which the
original estimates of toxicity were based, even radium, whose
radioactivity and carcinogenicity were recognized and have
been studied for many more years than any other element, evenJ
-------
6
78
radium has taken scientists by surprise recently. Whereas in
the 1950's, when today's radiation standards were initially
recommended and published, the International Commission on
Radiological Protection had assumed that radium 226 posed a
far greater health risk than radium 228. Studies published
in 1972, however, indicate that the opposite may well be the
case. I would suggest that more than likely, no one knows,
radium 228 has a half life of about six years and radium 226
has a half life of about sixteen hundred years and, personally
10 I don't want to drink either of them.
ll Mistakes on estimates of the toxicity of virtually
12 permanent toxins are irreversible mistakes. At the least, I
13 believe that EPA should not tell the public and industry that
14 there is a threshold of exposure or concentration below which
15 there is no hazard. If you have decided that testing below a
16 given level would be either technologically or economically
17 infeasible, then I think you should say that and not use the
18 description "non-hazardous" .
19 While I spend my full time working toward a mora-
20 torium on the generation of man-made radioactive materials,
21 except as needed for medicine, I know that virtually every
22 one of our nation's industries and all of our personal lives
23 rely upon processes involving the creation and, therefore,
24 potential dispersal of other toxic substances, many of which
25 are as hazardous, if not as persistent or long lived, as the
-------
1
2
3
4
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
79
radioactive ones.
I would urge you to listen critically to industry's
well-financed campaign calling for deregulation. Americans
are being overwhelmed right now by a barrage of propaganda
focused on regulatory and administrative agencies like yours,
but I believe that, if anything, we need more protection from
the government, not less. The costs of health care, evacua-
tion of carelessly contaminated communities and of trying to
remove toxins released to our air and waterways, will far ex-
ceed the costs of regulatory permit programs, government
monitoring, and the enforcement efforts designed to detect
and isolate hazardous wastes. I wish you success in your
objective to regulate wisely on behalf of the health of our
nation's citizens of today and of the future.
Thank you.
I would also like to submit an editorial cartoon,
if I may, by Tom Engelhardt which appeared in the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch on February 2, 1979.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: That should brighten up the
record.
Would you answer questions for us?
MS. DREY: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: And also let me remind you and
Mr. Pounds that if you do have copies of your statement, if
you could submit them to our court reporter before you begin
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
80
speaking, that would be most helpful. If you don't have more
than one copy, if you could give us another copy later, that
would also, be helpful.
MS. DREY: I have an illegible copy. After I type
it, where may I send it, where 1 wrote initially?
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Yes, you can address it to us
in Washington.
Any questions?
MR. LEHMAN: Ms. Drey, the substance of your remarks
I believe, was that our standard, proposed standard under
Section250.15 (a)(5), regarding radways thresholds was
basically too high in that you would recommend we either
lower that threshold or make it clear why it is we're setting
that threshold and not imply that something below that thresh-
old is non-hazardous .
Do you have any suggestions, if you believe it is
too high, as to what the appropriate level should be?
MS. DREY: Zero but I think that it is accepted
nationwide, worldwide, there is no threshold below which an
exposure to radiation is safe. And--I don't think anyone even
uses that term any more, even the NRC. Everyone has accepted
the fact that there is no non-hazardous level of radiation
exposure. It really is unfortunate, the NRC and before it the
Environmental Protection Agency, the National Council on
Radiation Protection and the International Commission of
-------
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
81
Radiological Protection, they've all used the term permissibl
maximum permissible concentrations in air and water. But in,
the media and in material given to workers and everywhere,
people think it's safe. Here you all aren't even saying
permissible. You're saying non-hazardous. And I think
that's extremely misleading.
As I tried to indicate, I was using figures from the
EPA which is based on the Beir Commission, the Beir Committee
and those .are, I think, far too conservative of the potential
risk. That's like 6,000 cancer deaths a year if you say that
there's a threshold of 50 picocuries per liter. And I know,
I guess, the EPA for the Safe Drinking Water Act has
promulgated a level of five picocuries per liter which they
say will lead to 0.3 or 7 or 6, I can't remember, cancer
deaths per million people.
I sort of think the public should be given the facts
and told, is it O.K. if we put this amount of flop in
your drinking water, you're going to have this many cancers
and you agree to that. We haven't been told it in that many
words, but I certainly don't think it's right to imply that
the government, at.this point, is accepting a threshold level.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
(The documents referred to follow.);;;
HEARING- -INSERT
-------
"?
^
t'.< C
o-^.
2s^a~ £•<*
—-^
.«-v-w
-------
.Sf.Cou.es /krr—ki
Technological Boomerang
-------
Reports
Migration of Radioactive Wastes:
Radionuclide Mobilization by Complexing Agents
Abstract. Ion exchange, xel filtration chromatoi;ruphy,.ajid gas chromtito^rapliv-
IIKISS spectrometry analyses have demonstrated that ethylenediaminetetraacetic
ticiii lEDTA), an extremely strong completing hili:.ation of these rad'ionuclides Jrom various terrestrial raditiactive waste
hurial v//c.v around the country. •-—
From 1951 through 1965. intermediate-
level radioactive liquid waste at Oak
Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was disposed of
in seven different seepage pits and
trenches (/). Since 1944, solid waste at
ORNI. has routinely been buried in shal-
low trenches in six different burial
fjunds (J). Ground hurial of radioactive
iste is an effective means of disposal if
the radionuclide can be confined to the
geologic column through geochcmieal
processes. Although the Conasauga
shale, the predominant bedrock of the
ORNL burial grounds, has an extremely
high adsorption capacity for most fission
by-products, trace quantities of certain
radionuelides are migrating from both
solid and liquid waste disposal sites (.?).
Several factors have contributed to the
radionuclide mobilization. One is that
Ihe atu.ual precipitation at ORNL. over
127 cm, is greater than at any other ra-
dioactive waste burial site in the country
(2). As a result, water infiltrates into
trenches at a faster rate than it can be
dissipated and mixes with the waste. In
addition, ground water levels are com-
paratively shallow and a high-density
surface drainage network is present.
There is also an abundance of fractures
in the underlying rock, which diminishes
the rock's sorptive capacity because the
exchange sites adjacent to thQ fissures
are saturated with the exchangeable ions
in the waste (2). Finally, the presence in
. the waste of complexing agents such as
•anic chelates used in decontamina-
i operations and natural organic acids
from ihe soil promotes the formation of
'strong complexes with certain radio-
nucliJes that reduce -the adsorption ca-
•:. VOL. :oo. jo JUNK ivrx
• pacity of the shale and soil for the radio-
nuclide.
It is this last factor that is of principal
concern in this report. The isotope ""Co
has been found in concentrations up to
!()•"' dpm/g in the soil and up to I0:i dpm/
ml (450 pCi/ml) in the water in areas ad-
jacent to seepage trench 7 and in lesser
concentrations in the vicinity of trench 5
and pit 4 (Fig. I). Traces of various al-
pha-emitters such as isotooos of II, Pu'.
Cm. Th. and Ra have also been detected
jn_wj^ej^pL sojl_ from the area around
trench 1 (2-4). We show here that ''"'Co is
transported in the groundwater from ihe
trenches and pits as organic complexes.
A portion of the migrating ""Co is ad-
sorbed by oxides of Mn in the shale and
soil (4-6). Additional evidence suggests
that some U is migrating by the same
mechanism.
The following experimentally mea-
sured distribution coefficients (A',,) illus-
trate the pronounced effects that organic
ligands have on the adsorption capacity
of sediment for trace metals. We deter-
mined that the A',, values for ""Co in
weathered Conasauga shale at />H 6.7
and 12.0 were approximately 7.0 x K)1
and 0.12 x |(I*, respectively. In the pres-
ence of ll)":'A/ ethylenediaminctctra-
acetic acid (EDTA) the AT,, values were
reduced to 2.9 and'O.K (7).
The actual A',, values calculated from
""Co concentrations in soil and water
from various wells in the ORNL burial
grounds are similar (8). The A",, values for
""Co from wells in the vicinity of trench 7
range from approximately 7 to 70. aver-
aging about 35 (see Table 1). The p\\ of
well water ranges from 6.0 to 8.5 (4). am!
the KDTA concentrations urc appro*»-,v
-
mately 3.4 x 10~7/W (this study). Actual
A',, values for ""Co in burial ground wa-
ters are therefore significantly lower than
the theoretical value for neutral systems
containing no EDTA and arc somewhat
greater than the experimental value
for neutral systems containing 10~aA-/
EDTA.
The importance of sediment sorption
capacity (or A'^) on radionuclide migra-
tion rates within geologic substrates has
been modeled by Marsily et at. (9). Us-
ing variables such as A',,, rock per-
meability, and hydraulic gradient, they
calculated the migration rates of -:l''Pu
buried at the bottom of geologic forma-
tions 500 m thick. The results -show.tbatv
-•'"'Pu with a A',, of 2 x 10'', typical of a
chemical setting devoid of complexing
agents, rock fractures, and similar fac-
tors tending to reduce sediment adsorp-
tion, will not migrate to ground level un-
til more than 10" years after burial, the
migration rates being slowest in those
geologic formations with lowest per-
meability. With a half-life of 24,400
years. Pu would essentially be complete-
ly decayed by the time of contact with
the surface environment. At the other
extreme, in a chemical setting character-
ised by no sorption (A,, = 0), f'u would
reach the environment in 6 to 14,500
years, depending on the permeability of
the geologic formation (^1. That is, in the
most confining formation Pu would have
decayed about only one-half of one half-
life before it reached the surface. In for-
mations of low to moderate permeabil-
ity, migration of Pu over 500 m would
have occurred in only tens to several
hundreds o.' years, the movement being
four to live orders of magnitude more
rapid than in the situation A',, = 2 x IO'1.
In the Oak Ridge setting, the adsorp-
tion capacity of the Conasauga shale t'or
inorganic forms of Co is very high.
Hence, mobilization of this radionuclide
in the absence of strong complexing
agents. rockJ'rac.Uires. and other factors
teiKlint; to reduce sormjon would be neg-
ligible. However, in the presence of
strong chelales. rock fractures, and oth-
er factors tending to decrease sorption,
the A',, is drastically reduced and mobili-
zation rates may be accelerated by sev-
eral orders of magnitude.
A compilation of selected radionuclide
analyses for tillered water, weathered
Conasauga .shale, and soil .samples col-
lected beiween June 1974 and June L975
from wells in seeps adjacent to pit 4.
trench 5. and trench 7 is gi\en m Table I
(/('). I ocatinns of pits trenches, itnd
sampling SIICN arc \hown in Fiji. J.
., A mfntiMitg toiiiai
" ~ ~
-------
made hy F. A. UondiellL was lhal ''"Co
in groundwater did not readily exchange
wiih cation-exchange resins (Kexyn 101.
N:r-t\>rm). Data from several samples
show thai only about 5 to 10 percent of
the ""'Co could he adsorbed hy the resin.
the other 90 to 95 percent being retained
in solution as a tightly bonded complex.
It seemed apparent that whatever agent
was responsible for this clVect was also
preventing complete adsorption ol" cer-
tain radionuelides by ihe Conasauga
shale and soil.
Subsequent ion-exchange' analyses
that we carried out demonstrated that
the strength of ""Co complexes with pos-
sible jjnoj^ajijejzjvundjvajej^
such as sulfatc. nitrate, bicarbonate, car-
bonate, chloride, orthophosphate. and
even stronger ligands such as pyrophos-
phate and metaphosphale was in-
suHicicnt lo produce the ion-exchange
clulion behavior of ""Co observed in the
samples (//). However, in the presence
ol" very low concentrations (10 KM and
less) of multidentate chelajing agents
such as dielhylenctriaminepentaacetic
acid (D'l'l'A). cyclohexanediaminetelra-
acelic acid (CI)TA). HITI'A. and also
natural organic* such as humic and lulvic
acids. '"'Co resisted adsorption hy the
resin.
Table I. Selected radionuclide analyses of weathered Conasauga shale and soil and filtered
water samples (0.22 jim) and corresponding H,, values from wells in the vicinity ol' pit 4. trench
5. and trench 7.
Well
code
R.S.I
KS5
KS7
T7-1IS
T7-12
T7- 1-3
T7-14
T7-I5
RS9
Date
24 June 1975
25 June 1975
26 June 1974
31 July 1974
31 July 1974
S August 1974
31 Julv 1974
31 July 1974
24 June 1975
Aqueous
:'H
(dpm/ml)
I2SO
129()
3050
3930
3450
3740
1900
2090
3 1 30
Aqueous
'•"Co
(dpm/ml)
90.11
39.0
669.0$
5 IS. I)
547.0
SIM)
227.0
153.0
S0.9
Adsorbed
""Co
(dpm/ml)
NAt
NAt
43.700
16.900
2S.6UO
24.500
6. MX)
1 .060
N.-\T
/v',,
('•"Col*
65.3
32.6
52.3
30.0
29.1
6.9
*See I* I. *Nol analyzed, i Water from KS7 also contains 7.5 parts per billion ol" U ("W..1 percent 'a"(J
and 0.7 percent -:':'U). SWells T7-I.I through T7-I5 are not depicted in Hiy. 1. These nulls are located
within approximately .10 feel (V ml of well KS7 (•/. 3).
l:ig. 1. Location of small seeps associated with pits 1. 2. 3. and 4 and trenches 5. 6. and 7.
Contours are in feel |IYom (4)\. (Courtesy of Oak Kidge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge. "I en-
In order to differentiate between the
ny]i>nm^d^rn^i]|/.ing_ej]"ect2>_ of .iyjv_
ihelic chelaies of low molecular weight
anil those of humic substances of higher
molecular weight. we fractionated
groundwater samples, using gel filtration
chromatography (GFC). a process which
separates solutes according to size (12).
Since most weak inorganic, metallic
complexes are sorhed during the GFC
process, ihe presence of trace metals in a
given fraction of an elution profile dem-
onstrates an association helween the
trace metal and a ligand in that fraction
(/.?. 14).
Hlution profiles of a concentrated
groundwater sample from location RS7
near trench 7 for Sephadex gels G-H). G-
15. and G-25 arc illustrated in Fig. 2.
F.ach of these elution profiles coniains
three fractions decreasing in molecular
weight to the right. The blue dextran
peak coincides with the fraction of the
sample having molecular weights above
700. Metween 90 and 95 percent of the
""Co and 70 percent of the U present in
the sample are correlated with the
middle fraction, which represents a
group of organic* with molecular weights
less ihan 700 plus the Na'-salts of sever-
al polyvalent anions. Between 5 and 10
percent of the ''"Co and 30 percent of the
V are associated with the fraction having
molecular weights above 7(X). and no
j;"Co or U are observed with the smallest
molecular weight peak, \\hich through
infrared spectrophotometry was deter-
mined to be comprised principally of
NaNO, and NaCI. Reliable Pu analyses
of the GFC fractions could not he ob-
tained.
Infrared spectrophotometric data in-
dicate that the large molecular weight
tractions associated with minor''"Co and
U transport are humic substances, lie-
cause groundwater in and very close to
the trenches is typically low in humic
content, we believe that humics are not
major contributors to radionuclide trans-
port from the trenches. On the contrary,
we believe that humics become associat-
ed with radionuelides some distance
from the trenches, particularly in the
seeps, \\heiv groundwater humic con-
centrations are the greatest.
After we had completed the GFC frac-
tionations. the identities of complexing
agents in ihe major radionuclide-bearing
fractions were still unknown. We sus-
pected lhal these materials werc^y-ntbel-
ie chelales, hut humic substances of
lower molecular weight could not be
completely ruled out, particularly in
view of iheir greater acidity and rnetal-
complexing capaciiy relative to the spe-
.SCIKNCK. VOL. :<»>•
-------
.:cs ol mailer molecular weight (/.5).
We extracted the middle (iF'C frac-
tion, which contained the largest radio-
nuclide concentrations, with chloroform
to remove compounds that would inter-
fere in tiie .subsequent analysis. All the
radiumiclide remained in the aqueous
Ria.se after the chloroform extraction.
ie aqueous layers were then evapo-
rated to dryness and methylated to facili-
tate j^as chroinalouraphy-iTiajia—ipoci
jjXimelrv (CiC-MS) analysis (16).
The GC profile for the methylated
fraction is illustrated in Fig. 3. We used
MS to demonstrate that the" dominant
peak represents the tetramethy! ester of
KD I' A. an extremely strong clielale
commonly used in deciiniammalij.)n_op-
eraliuns at nuclear facilities (17).
Through use of an internal COT A stan-
dard, the HDTA concentration of this
sample has heen calculated to be ap-
proximately .1.4 x 10 ~~M; EDTA has also
been detected in samples KS3 obtained
near pit 4 and RS9 near trench 5 (18).
Other constituents detected in trench
Sample CS-1
Jeavhales include palmitic acid, phthalic
acid (IV). and other mono- and dicarbox-
>lic acids, which are much weaker com-
plexing agents than EDTA. The concen-
"trations of strong clielates similar to
KDTA. such as nitrilotriacetic acid
(NTA) and DTPA, are below the detec-
hon limit of this analysis, which is ap-
ly.vl) x |()-!'A/. Hecause NTA_
adable. it would not be ex-
Nil)
pected in significant concentrations in
the groundwater even if it had been origi-
nally present in the waste (20). Moth
DTPA and other multidentate chelates
were used only sparingly in decontami-
nation at ORNL during the I950's and
1%0's and consequently do not appear
to be significant in the radionuclide mo-
bilisation at this site.
We thus reasoned that JIDTA is the
dominajiL-mobilJ7.ini; agent in samples
R.S7. K.S3. and RS9. A minor portion of
the migrating ""Co and U is associated
with natural organics. Ligands such as
phthalic. palmitic, and other carboxylic
acids may also be contributing to ""Co
and U mobilisation to a small extent.
The identification of EOT A as a radio-
nuclide mohili/er in the OKNI. disposal
area raises a question about Llic_Miit-.
ability of this clieiale in decontamination
operations. Although 1-DTA is used in
decontamination because of its powerful
-t-U--T.^U^—
metal-l:Mnum£j£ron££tjes_. this same char-
acteristic also leads to radionuclide mo:
bilix.ation. The radionuclide mobilisation
caused by KDTA'in the OKNL. burial
u^Bds probably does not at present im-
pose a health hazard. However. itN con-
JUNh I9'X
.
• A
. / \
' i.
•' .
~ / r™
'JJrl
T
\
~"
v
V
_
.
^
x
>
,"x Organic carbon
/ \
G.IQ ' v Blue dextran
/ t
/ \
' \
~~ V^ ' ^
1 T4TTTTT=>T=-rx %"~
/ 1
1 1
1 1
1 '
1 '
. \
\
G-15
1
\
' \
/ \
v^ """>._ -^ N
• A
\
- / \
: ./' \
" ' ' N V —
j
t \
1 \
\
\
^
,'"-
' \ ^
i ^
/ \
/ \
' \
\
\
\
40
50
60
90
100
110
70 80
v Elution volume (ml)
Fijj. 2. The GFC elution profiles of groiiiulwater from KS7. a small seep cast of trench 7 (trom
. (Courtesy of Limitolnxy tiiul ()cci;riii>liy. Scatllel
Tetramethyl ester
of EDTA
Tetramethyl ester of
CDTA added as
internal standard
Unknown, probably the dimethyl
ester of a dicarboxylic acid
Methyl ester of small-
molecular-weight car-
boxylic acid
Methyl ester of
palmitic acid
\
24
21
18
-f-
Time (minutes)
15 12 9
—I 1 f-
290
260
230
110
80
200 170 140
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 3. The GC profile of GFC-purilieJ and methylated uroundwater .sample RS7.
i-179
50
-------
. tinncJ use in dccontaminalion opera-
tions around the country, and therefore
ils presence in low- and intermediale-
|evcl waste, consliuilcs a putcnlial for
the release of undesirable amounts of ra_-
dionuclides. Because EDTA is resistant
to decomposition by radiation (21). ther-
mally very stable (22), and only slowly
biodegradable (2.?). it is extremely per-
_ sistent in the natural environment. In-
deed, the presence of significant concen-
trations of EDTA in waste 12 to 15 years
ojd attests to its persistence. Therefore.
wherever EDTA and similar compounds
have been introduced into terrestrial dis-
posal sites_. the 'jqiieousininsporj of.
transition metals, rare earths, and trans-
uranics. which characteristically form
the most stable complexes with chelales.
may be augmented.
There can be no question about the
strong complexing capacity of EDTA
and similar chelales for certain radio-
nuclides including the rare earths and ac-
tinides. For example, all of the trivalenl
rare earths along with Am:'^, Cnr'1*. Pir"",
Pu". Pu"+, and Th'* possess at least as
high or higher complexity constants. A',.
for KDTA as CV (24). Both EDTA and
DTPA are used in the tjTej^igeiUK: remov-
al of transuranics ingested by humans
because of the strong complexes formed
with these elements (25). Our evidence
suggests hut does not prove that EDT A
is also contributing to t.he migration of
trace levels of Pu. Am. Cm, Th. and Ra.
which have been detected in the soil
from seep RS7 approximately 100 yards
(90 m) east of trench 7.'For example; ac-
tinides were found in concentrations of
43 - 8 dpm/g of--''"Pu. 110 ± 7 dpm/g of
j"'Am. and 495 ± 20 dpm/g of-"Cm in a
weathered shale sample collected at a
depth of 71 cm in well T7-12, which is
adjacent to well RS7 (4. 5). In addition.
chejatcs increase Jhe uptake of numer-
_ou.s fpice elements bv__plants_ Con-
of certain radionuclides such as 'n!'Pu and
-•"Am. and therefore' the possibility of'
their entering human J'ood chains^, in-
creases in the presence of complexing
agents (26). " ' — .
... In the' United States, there are sis
commercial and fiv_e. Eneruv Research
and Development Administration terres-
maj. radioactive waste htiri;tLsiles which
have in the past received or are currently
rec£ixjni; low- andjnlermediale-level ra-
dioactive wastes (27). Varying levels of
radionuclide migration from original dis-
posal sites haveTieijn observedja j'yur of
these wasie burial sites othej-
'NIU)
ORNI.. including ihe Savannah River
Laboratory. South Carolina (2iS'): ihe
• 1480
? Hanford, Washington, facilities (29);
- West Valley. New York (JO. .?/): and
Maxey Flats. Kenlucky (31). The Chalk
• River facility in Canada has experienced
• similar migration problems (J2). Actual
• migration of Pu. the presence of Pu in the
dissolved fraction of leachates, and the
existence of mobile Pu-contaminated
leachates in waste pits have been report-
ed at the Hanford. West Valley, and
.' Maxey Flats facilities, respectively (29-
31). Complexing agents arc either pres-
ent or suspected to be present in waste at
Chalk River. West Valley, and Maxey
Flats (31732).
The use of EDTA and similar com-
• pounds in decontamination operaiions.
and therefore their presence in low- and
intermediate-level waste in the United
States and the rest of the world, is wide-
spread (2/). Throughout the world, low-
and intermediate-level radioactive waste
is being buried along with chemicals that
are likely to cause the migration of
hazardous isotopes such as Pu over the
long term. Indeed, Jl".;ice_l£vejs of ra-
_d i on uclides are being released by
uroundwaler transport al many radior
active waste disposal sites in' this coun-
try, and migration of radioactive transi-
tion metals, rare earths, and transuranics
. is probably being ajded_bv_chelaU;s such
as EDTA. Consequently, if the use of
EDTA and similar compounds is to con-
. tinue, waste solutions should be treated
for the removal or destruction of the che-
lyj.es f>rioi- to fjnal disposal in the {-round.
• Another alternative would be lo use stiit-
able substitutes, compounds that are ef-
fective in decontamination but do not fa-
cilitate radionuclide mobili/ation.
One such useful substitute may he
NTA. which is a potential replacement
for phosphates in detergents. This com-
pound is rapidly biodegradable (20) and
• is a strong ligand. although slightly
. weaker in complexing capacity than
• EDTA.
The^_{^^jinAdj]_bilijv of other chelates
• such as trieihyleneietraaminehexaaceiie
acid (TTHA), hydroxyeih) lenediamine-
triacelic acid (HHDTA). ,V-(2-hydro\y-
ethyD-ethylenediaminetriacetic acid
(HEEDTA), ethylenediaminc di-((Miy-
droxyphenylacetate) (KI)DHA). and
DTPA is apparently not well known.
-•• »_—— *-,i—^_—-_ -\_-~. —.,.-— . —.. - - •- --* •• '- —
Some of these compounds are stronger
ligands than KDTA and therefore would
be more effective in decontamination.
However, the use of such compounds, if
• nonbiodegradable. could Jead lo e.yeq
moi'e mi'-M~iiioa from disposal sites than
that caused by EDTA.
Numerous other alternatives to Ihe
use of EDTA and related compounds are
available. Hoi cells, nuclear equipment.
and reactors have been decontaminated
by means of a wide variety of reagents
including strong acids, bases, or oxidiz-
ing agents, which can be neutralized^
fore final burial, or relatively mild
plexing agents such as citrate, tartrale,
oxalate. gluconate, phosphate, bisulfate,
and fluoride, which will contribute to ra-
dionuclide mobility in the environment
to a much lesser extent than EDTA.
Excellent reviews, of different decon-
tamination solutions and techniques arc
available (21). Many of these reagents
used either alone, in combination, or in
successive treatments have been shown
to be extremely effective alternatives to
EDTA.
JEFFREY L. Mr-lANS
DAVID A. CRI-:RAR
Department ofCieolo^icul and
(ieopliysicul Sciences,
Princeton University.
Princeton. Ne \\- Jersey 08540
JAMES O. DUGUID
Energy and Environmental Systems
Axxexxineiit Section.
Haiii'lle-Coliimhiix Laboratory,
Columbus. Ohio 43201
References and Notes
I. I-:. Ci. Siruxnexs. Oak Hiilite Null. l.uh. Rep.
ORNl.-IM-.<2.< (1%:); W. de Laguna,
(.'ow-icr. K. I.. I'arker. St-iimd UN C4
Conf. \,-sv. C-21 /'/.'.«.?/ (I95»), p. 101.
2. I). A. Wchsicr. C..V. (.icul. Sun: Open File Rep.
7A-7J7 (IS»7hl.
.1. I'. I-'. l.tuiK-niirk. Health l'h\-\. ». 8J5 (I%1V.
.- . 15. Ci. Jacobs, h. ti. Struxnos. ihiJ. U.
XV7 11967); A. S. Rii(!tiwski anJ T. Tamura. ihiJ.
IN. 4<>7 (19701: T. K. Lomcnick anJ D. A. (Jardi-
ncr. ihiit. II. 5h7 (ISKi.S); I. H. Luinenick and I'.
'[ amura. Mail \ci. .Voc. .-\m. I'ntc. 29. .1K111%5|;
I'. H. farnj;.in. Jr., 1/..V. Gcol. Sun-. I'rnf. /'»/'.
I; R. J. Pickering. C/..V. liriil. Surr.
VtWl; f.'..V. C.ext. Sun-, f'r,,/'.
... . P. H.Carrigan. Jr.. f.
'I'amura. ti. H. AK-e.J. H. Hi-vcraj;i:. K. W. An-
drew, Jr.. in />i'.v<».v. OK.\l.-MI7 (1975); Oak KiJ>;e Null. l.uh.
«.•/'. OK.\l.-fHI (I97M.
4. J. I . Means. I). A. Crerai. J. IV Dusuid. Oak
Kiilge \\iil. l.,,h. K,-;.. ORSI.ITM-U48 (197M.
5. J. I.. Means. II. A. (.'reiar. M. P. Uoresik. J. (>.
Ou^uid. in prep.iration.
6. K. \. Jennc and. J. S. Wahlbcrg. Trans. Am.
/iv<. L'niim 46. 170(1*51.
7. A'i - l""l'o (dpm t;) in xcdimcnl] •< [*"Co (dpm/
mil in 0.22-nm tillered aqueous phasel"'. l.aho-
ral»r\ K,, values were delermined hy (he
"Kiieh" process. Unirealed soil and weathered
shale samples \veie shaken \\ith sululiitns ofap-
pn»pi'iale chenncal composition until equilihn-
um between adsorbed and dissolved ""Co had
been reached.
8. We cakulaied Ihe actual \', values from envi-
ronmental soil and associated interstitial water
samples, usinc [he same delinilion as m (7|.
9. Ci. dcM.usily. I-;. I.edtiux. A. Uaibieau.J. Mar-
(;al. \i-irnci- 197. M9 (1977).
10. (innindw.iier s.unples weiecollecled in polyelh-
\leue boides and (hen immediately tittered
ihiouch a^hless Whatman fillei paper of moder-
aie leientiun and then thri^uyh 0."-pm Milli-
pore membranes. *"•*. .,
It. In the ion-..-\chanj;e analyses we eluled
hundred nnlliliiei's ol the desired sample thil _
a column 2 by 50 em filled to 25 em with Rexyn
lot. Na'-lorm cation-c.xchangc resin, at a How
r.ite ot' approximately 5 ml nun,
12. 'Ihe ^cnciat Cd'i. procedure is described else-
where (/.'I. In the present application, we mon-
SCIENCE. VOL. 2U>
-------
n» i -i -r£~^-£^2j£g?^£:~-
i.
\
J
\_
iiored the eluted fractions for radionuclidc con-
tent and absorhanee ;it 254 nm. using an in-line
ultraviolet spectrophotomeler. We analy/cd
""Co using a multichannel analyzer, and U was
determined by MS, with isotope dilution.
13. J. L. Means. D. A. Crerar. J. L. Amstcr, Um-
nnl. Oceanogr. 22. 957 (1977).
14. H. R. Plumb and G. F. Lee. Water Res. 7. 581
(1973).
15. K. C. Beck. J. H. Keuter. E. M. Perdue. C.eo-
iliim. Cosinvchim. Acln 38. 341 (1974); M. A.
Kashid. Snil .SYi. III. 298 (1971).
16. We methylated organic acids in GFC fractions
using 10 percent HP, in methanol. as proposed
hy L. R. Rudling (Water Res. 6. 871 (I972>|.
17. J. A. Ayres. Decontamination o) Nuclear Hear-
tors and Equipment (Konald. New York. 1970).
18. H. A. Bondietti of OKNL was the first to suggest
that ""Co was transported as a complex with
EDTA (4). His suggestion was based largely on
ion exchange, dialysis, and paper chromatogra-
phy analyses, and the knowledge that HDI'A
was commonly used in decontamination opera-
tions at the laboratory.
19. The dimethyl ester of phthalic acid (probably
mem or para) appears in the GC profile of a dif-
ferent sample from seep RS7.
20. R. D. Swisner. T. A. Taulli. F.. J. Maiec. in
Trace Metals and Meiul-Orniino Interactions in
Natural Waters. P. C. Singer, F.d. (Ann Arbor
Science, Ann Arbor. 1974), pp. 237-264; C. B.
Warren, in Survival in 7V>.riV Environments I Ac-
ademic Press, New York. 1975), pp. 473-4%;
M. K. Firestone and J. M. Tiedje, Appl. Micro-
hinl. 29. 758(1975).
21. J. A. Ayres, Baltelle-Northvest Hep. BNWL-B-
W (1971); A. B. Meservey. Proa. Hud. Knew
Ser. 4 4. 377(1961).
'22. A. E. Marteil. R. J. Molekaitis. A. R. Fried. J.
S. Wilson. D. T. MacMillan. Can. J. Chem. S3.
3471 (1975).
23. T. M. Tiedje, Appl. Microhiol. 30. 327 (1975): J.
Environ. Qual. 6, 21 (1977).
24. L. U. Sillcn and A. E. Marteil. Stabilirv Can-
slants of Metal-Ion Complexes (Special Pub-
lication No. 17. Chemical Society, London,
1964).
25. A. C. James and D. M. Taylor. Health Phys. 21.
31 H97I): V. H. Smith./M. 22.765(1972).
26. A. Wallace. /«rs and Po.\t-h'is\itm Opertttionx in the l.WH
IU,vht-Watrr Heactiir/ l-'uel Cycle (Publication
76-43. Energy Research and IJevelopmcnt Ad-
ministration, Washington, D.C.. 1976). vol. 4,
section 24.1.
28. S. (). Kcichert. J. Geonhrs. Res. 67, 4363
(1%2).
29. S. M. Price and I.. I.. Ames, in Transuranium
Nudities in the Environment (Publication SM-
199/87, International Atomic F.nergy Agency,
Vienna. 1976). p. 191.
30. R. Deer and P. Biskind..SVr<-n Days 1.3 (1977).
31. (i. 1.. Myycr, in Transuranium Nudities in the
Environment (Publication SM-199/105. Inter-
national Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. 1976).
P. 231.
32. P. J. Parsons, in Second Conf. Proc. Chalk Kiv-
cr. Canada TID-762/i (1962). p. 16; Health
Phys. 9. 33 (19631.
33. This project was funded by F.nergy Research
and Development Administration subcontract S-
4228 We thank O. M. Sealand of ORNI. who
was of invaluable assistance in Ihe collection
and analysis of samples. We thank B. F. Jones
and I. A. Breger of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Reston. Va.. and T. Tamuraand E. A. Hondictli
of OKNL. who offered constructive suggestions.
The GC and MS analyses were done with the
assistance of W. T. Kaincy.-C.'A. 1'rilchard. and
D. C. Canada of ORNI.. We thank R. 1.. Walker
of ORNI. who did the U analyses, and T. G.
Scott of ORNL who did the I'll. Am. and Cu
analyses.
8 December 1977: revised 8 March 1978
^-''*-
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
82
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next person on the list thi
morning is a representative from the St. Louis Regional
Commerce and Growth Association.
Hearing no answer, Mr. Robert Robinson, Director,
Missouri Solid Waste Management,
STATEMENT OF ROBERT M. ROBINSON
MR. ROBINSON: I'm Robert M. Robinson, Director of
the Solid Waste Management Program for the Missouri Department
of Natural Resources.
We want to commend EPA for moving towards develop-
ment and implementation of these hazardous waste regulations.
We also want to commend EPA for the outstanding effort they
are making 'to obtain public comment on the regulations.
The Department has a few comments to make regard-
ing the regulations and will provide written comments and
details at a later date.
The regulations exclude sewage sludge from these
regulations on the basis of public ownership of the generating
facilities. It is our opinion that this is contrary to
EPA's defined criteria for identifying the-characteristics of
hazardous-waste, the-, criteria for listing hazardous waste,
the integrated permit approach under Section 3006 of the Act
and the others, which they are incorporating, and is dis-
criminatory towards privately owned treatment works.
We recommend that EPA drop this special exclusion
-------
10
11
12
13
14
. 15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
83
and return to defining hazardous waste on the basis of
characteristics of the waste or exclude all sewage sludge,
except for industrial treatment plant sludges.
The waste from health care facilities have require-
ments under these regulations for segregating,containerizing
and handling infectious waste from their facilities which
take into account its infectious nature. Yet household
solid waste will contain infectious agents comparable to
these listed in this section from health care facilities.
Therefore, we recommend, that EPA provide a broader exemption
for health care facilities than the practices of autoclaving
and incineration such as special packaging for the disposal
in a sanitary landfill in readily identifiable bags for the'
facility to enable immediate identification and covering.
Another alternative which we would.prefer would be
to delay the effective date of the implementation of the
infectious criteria for health care facility in order to give
such facilities more time to install necessary incinerators
and autoclaves and, therefore, not interfere with implement-
ing controls of the more serious waste types. These health
care facilities are already under some type of state regu-
latory control that addresses waste storage and disposal,
and we do not believe present a serious problem at this time.
The background-document for-,this regulation states
that EPA has determined it has no legal basis for issuing any
-------
84
state authority to receive notification from persons Identified
by this identification and listing as they are required to
notify EPA within 90 days of promulgation of Sub-part (a).
It is our opinion that EPA is instructed under the Act to
make every effort to issue states., at least interim authori-
zation, if not full authorization.
If the EPA meets its court order for implementing
Section 3005 and 3006 by October 31, 1979, then states such
as Missouri, with statutory author! ty, a manifest system, a
10 permit process and a comparable identification and listing
11 of hazardous waste, could be issued interim authorization and
12 be authorized to receive the notification. This would
13 eliminate confusion, duplication and efforts on the part of
14 persons affected. We recommend that EPA make every effort
15 to concentrate on issuing states, at least interim authoriza-
16 tion, so that they may receive the notification required by
17 the Act. Otherwise, generators of hazardous waste will be
18 required to comply with notification twice, both EPA and the
19 state. I have serious doubt that EPA can implement these
20 hazardous waste regulations in a timely manner. Therefore,
2i the state should be included in the implementation process
22 such as the notification and not confuse the generator and the
23 public relative to what agency, state or federal, is re-
24 sponsible in an individual state for implementing the regu-
25 lations.
-------
13
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
85
Relative to an earlier concern about the hazards of
transporting hazardous waste,. I would point out that with few
exceptions the railroad and truck spills we read about, all
are involved with the transportation of hazardous materials
and not hazardous waste. I recall of only one situation in the
state of Missouri where a spill..-.actually involved a hazardous
waste.
Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank'you.
MR. LINDSEY; One of the.points which you made, Mr.
Robinson, regarded health care facilities, as I recall, and
urged that there be some sort of special consideration, either
in terms of the time for implementing regulations, which refer
then to something more similar to that. I think it was
indicated a little earlier that, I guess Jack Lehman mentioned
it in his opening remarks, that the regulations for Section
3005, which is the regulations which set out the procedural
requirements for receiving a permit, are not yet proposed and
they will be proposed within the next four to six weeks, we
hope should be.
I should point out I think we're going to make you
happy there in that regard. If a hospital's facilities are
covered now by a rather intensive or a state regulatory pro-
gram which addresses the waste from that hospital, even in
states where EFA may be running the program, there will be a
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
86
special, rather less burdensome, I guess is the word which
I'm being coached on here, set of controls which will recog-
nize the degree of state controls that are involved. In
other words, it will be relatively, administratively more
easy to get a R.C.R.A permit. And I think, if I'm not mis-
taken, thatfs the kind of thing you were getting at, is that
right? Would that solve your problems?
MR. ROBINSON: Well, I'm not sure that they need a
permit. But one thing that concerns me, there are so many
of these facilities, and you so broadly defined the amount of
waste that's included in these facilities, that we could
essentially bog down the state program or the federal pro-
gram, whichever it might be, just in taking care of those
facilities. I don't think that we've seen the incidents of
hazard although in some cases they may not be handled in quite
a completely satisfactory manner that you and I might like
to see.
V/e have talked to some of these people and I don't
think they fully realize as to how much waste that you
brought under this regulation,and many of them already have
incinerators or they have autoclaves and they think they're
covered so that they're going to take care of it. But their
facilities are relatively small and they're really handling
the real bad waste which they are more able to identify,
I think, than EPA or the state and they're properly handling
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
87
those which you're bringing such a volume of waste under
these regulations, that they're going to be overwhelmed and
going to have to install much larger facilitie is the view
that we have.
MR. LINDSEY: So your problem then goes to Section
250.l4(b)(l) which is the health care facilities and is
basically, then, a list of sources of materials which,if
waste comes from that source, then it's presumed to be
hazardous, and you think that that's too extensive and should
be modified in some manner?
MR. ROBINSON: I've made that point in several other
meetings, in fact, recommended the whole section be dropped on
previous occasions to EPA.
MR. LINDSEY-. You think we should drop this whole
section relative to health care waste?
MR. ROBINSON: I would for a couple of years until
we know what we're doing and are able to implement a hazardous
waste management program on what I consider to be really a
serious waste element.
MR. LINDSEY: Following on, then, from your comment,
would there be any benefit, in your mind, to considering
these kinds of wastes which are listed in Section 3001,
that's Section 250.1^(b)(l), considering the disposal of them
as special waste while we presumably gather more information
on to specify how they should be controlled?
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
88
P.. ROBINSON: I think that will be very helpful,
but I would reserve my approval of that approach until I see
the regulations.
MR. CORSON: I think following up on that, I do want
to point out that in"the 3004 regulations, the preamble does
indicate that we have received some information along that
line from the U. A. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency and that
we are considering and will be in-house studies but you have
the possibility of creating a special waste category for
these wastes.
MR. ROBINSON: Very good.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I guess we have no more ques-
tions. Thank you very much.
The next speaker this morning should be Robert
Plank from City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri.
No answer.
Is Kenneth Smelcer from Quincy, Illinois, here?
MR. SMELCER: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We'll wait for you.
MR. SMELCER: I'm not sure I'm off to a good start,
They told us they didn't have a room ready and I'm on already
STATEMENT OP KENNETH SMELCER
MR. SMELCER: My name is Kenneth Smelcer. I'm the
Executive Vice-President, Industrial Association of Quincy.
Quincy is about 45,000 people,/about 100 miles
-------
17
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
89
north of St. Louis, 100 miles west of Springfield, Illinois,
and 100 miles south of Peoria. Sometimes we're called
Forgotonie in Illinois. But in some ways it does help, when
we try to make a statement of this nature, that we're some-
tiling of an isolated area and some of the things that happen
to us are the same that happen to many of the other areas
but it's so much easier for us to see because there is a
hundred miles between us and anywhere else.
The association that I represent has about 50 member
and they run everywhere from the small assembly kind of
operation to the large metal working. We have livestock,
feed type operations and this sort of thing. And we have a
new $37 million sewage treatment plant that we refer to as the
white elephant. And now we have a new Adams County landfill
that's brand new, we thought was going to be a real answer
and last year,we've been waiting for about a year to be able
to dump some of our industrial waste in, nothing very
hazardous in our opinion, and we've had troubles getting our
permits and so on which is really an, argument with the state o:
Illinois rather than federal. But not knowing what was going
to happen at the federal level, we've been kept waiting. Nov;
we do get a chance to see it and we're quite concerned because
we feel that we've been put in a box, and I won't try to be
too technical in this. If we get technical, I'm going to
have to call on a couple of my cohorts back there.
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
90
Basically one of our problems boils down to paint
sludge. A lot of our companies are doing painting and when
i
they're through, they have a paint sludge. They're using the
water pipe boots and so on, but we're not allowed to take
these materials and it looks like under the regulations, we're
not going to be allowed to take them out to our new landfill-.
site-either.
Now, for us, in our particular area, this seems to
be a real injustice because our landfill is really a clay
type landfill and very little is going to escape from the site
We will have people here on Friday talking about the landfill
situation from Quincy. But it is an excellent landfill.
But we're having trouble with this paint sludge, and it's not
unusual for our companies to have a hundred barrels, a hundred
and fifty barrels stacked some place waiting to try to get
in. We knoxv we're going to get a little relief for a year.
But the way the regulations are written, it doesn't appear
we're going to be able to make it after that. There are some
things that may be in the generator portion but exactly what
we're at is about, it says 200,000 but my secretary made a
mistake, that's about 150,000 gallons per year of industrial
sludges .that "are being classified as hazardous.
One of the remedies that we see for things like the
paint sludges is break this down, most hazardous, very little
hazardous or whatever you want to call it, mildly hazardous,
-------
19
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
' 91
so that some of these things can go into the type of landfill
we have. Our landfill people feel they have no problem what-'
soever handling it. We do know that we have solvent problems
from our machining areas and so on that we're going to have to
talk about recycling and doing these things and most of them
are already doing
Our big problem right now is what are
we going to do with things like the paint sludge which comes
in volume but yet do not really qualify as very hazardous
material.
We understand that we're going to get caught in a
further box with this in that, due to the air standards, we
understand we may have to get rid of the water, well, not
necessarily the water but the solvent based paints and go to
the water based paints, and our.people are telling us once we
do that we're going to really be in trouble because then when
we try to take that to the landfill site, leachability of this
is going to be quite high and we could be in-worse trouble.
So we're going to be dead whichevervay we go. This is the
Catch 22 part that we're hoping that you will listen to and
do something about.
I think the other thing i s • taking a look at some
of the landfills and what they are like. For example, if it ..
was sand, I could see a different story. But with the clay,
we really don't have a problem. And, in our case, again we're
not asking for the very hazardous material.
-------
92
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
One of the things that we have in our statement is
raising the amount that you could put into the landfill.
We're raising it from the hundred, we felt, to a thousand
but that may be a topic for tomorrow.
This is basically the problem we're having, the
economic problem is going to be, frankly, some of the people
in our smaller companies are going to take the lav; in their .
own hands and they're going to send it home with their
employees, and I'm not sure it's beingdone now, but at some
point it's going to happen. It's been pointed out to us by
some of our people with 150 barrels, in 90 days they're going
to be in violation of another standard. They proposed to us
that maybe we can cheat, maybe we can out some emulsifiers
i
in it and hold some water or something and we can get it out
that way. But I don't think that's going to fool anybody for
very long. These are the kinds of problems we're having.
There's going to be an economic problem to us because again
we are so far from anywhere, although I think that with these
regulations, we're going to find very few sites in the
country that are going to be eligible for these things, it is
going to be a large transportation problem.
Our people are saying, maybe you're trying to tell
us we're going to have to set up burning sites or furnaces to
get rid of it this way.
Recycling the paint sludge, for example, is not
-------
93
going to work for us because we have no place to put it.
We've been able to do things -with some of our sawdust, things
like this, trying to use from our airniture people, but we
can't see where we can get rid of the recycled paint sludge.
For primary paint too much of it is left over.
So our recommendations are that you take a careful
look at the classification that everything is not just
classified hazardous. That you have maybe most hazardous,
least hazardous kind of thing and that some of these things
10 can be handled in a Class Cllandfill.
11 I think that's probably the extent of remarks !•
12 want to make now. They are different than the written
13 comments, but we tried to be specific there. I tried to tell
14 you about the situation we 're facing in a small town without
15 the real answer to us that is going to be readily available
16 other than long-distance hauling or setting up burning sites,
17 it's going to be very expensive for us when we could see a
18 little more leniency on the standards in some areas as far as
19 hazardous could eliminate a lot of our problems.
20 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
2i Any questions?
22 MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Smelcer, I think you've hit on
23 one of the dilemmas that we had to:face or trying to face in
24 developing these regulations and that is if the regulations
25 become too stringent, then we, in effect, encourage illicit
-------
disposal. I think that's one of the points you made.
The other side of that dilemma is the fact that
if the public is going to accept facilities which receive
these kinds of waste, then they need to be assured that their
safety is adequately protected and so we-, end up with: sort of
a dilemma, in that situation.
Let me ask you a question if I could. You indicated
that your new landfill with its fortunate location and
probably good design is satisfactory for handling a great
10 many wastes as far as you can tell. What is it, then, about
11 the regulations which would cause that facility not to be
12 permitted, permittable? I understand that maybe there are
13 some things in the regulations which would require some, per-
14 haps, modifications in operation or something of that nature,
15 but if it's a well designed, well located operation, maybe
16 it would fit the bill.
17 MR. SMELCER: Again we're speaking to this on
18 Friday with the people..from the city and county being here.
19 But it's the cost of qualifying as a hazardous
20 landfill that's going to really drive us out because we don't
2i have that many industries. We're an industrial town, about
22 45,000, and this is the part, we really aren't saying we
23 want to put everything we've got coming out of our companies
24 there, it's clay, it won't make any difference, we're not
25 saying that. Really our engineers are saying some of these (
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
95
things like the paint sludge are so close that something like
making a separate classification for something that's mildly
hazardous, if you didn't handle it right, it could probably
be a problem, but willing to handle it right and our landfill
is willing to handle it and they see no problem with it at all
and it's not going anywhere, it's in barrels and so on and,
frankly, a lot of the stuff, we've even thought about this,
just let it harden, get solid like a rock and then take it
out. But, again, these things seem to be trying to get
around the rules when we really should be speaking to the
rule and if it's a little excessive, then trying to back off
from it.
That's going to be our problem. If we try to
qualify as a hazardous landfill and that's one of the things
that our engineers are saying is there really isn't any
difference between something that they wouldn't want in
there either, they wouldn't want to live there if you put it
there,versus something like paint sludge which really is not
going to make any difference. And, frankly, the amount of
our hazardous material which we tried to count up and the way
we're handling it right now for this year, they put a barrel
here, they put another barrel there. They're so far away from
each other, that it really doesn't make any difference.' .In
some of the cases, you're talking about hauling things out
there like whey almost, you know, grain derivatives that dump
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
96
a little more water in it and it meets the pH factors. But
again we don't feel that's the way to handle it. Number one,.
it's going to cost you money when you dump that water irK.there
when we're talking about something that's really not what
this should probably be designed for.
MR. CORSON: I guess I just want to focus a little
bit on the point that Fred made, Mr. Smelcer, and even though
I do know you are making comments on Friday, I think it's
important to note at this time that the 3004 regulations
really provide for an infinite amount of flexibility in terms
of the specifics which a land disposal site might be used.
So that if you are only putting paint sludges in and our
toxicity definition is based on what would be leached from
those sludges, not the content of the waste itself, if you
could show that that specific waste disposed in -that site
would not present a problem, we see no readon why there would
be any difficulty in getting a permit.
Looking at the comments in your letter which was
presented to me, you point out one of"the case examples, I
believe, that someone has in their sludge 120 milligrams per
liter of chromium where our standard is 5* and I guess we
don't see how that leach, the mere fact it comes from paint
sludge, would be reason to exclude it.
Similarly you point out in one of your earlier
comments in the letter that there may be facilities that don'1
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
•:
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
97'
want to take on the record, keeping and monitoring and so on,
and I think that our problem has been we're net sure how we
provide for the requisite protection of public health in-the
environment without getting that kind of data from facilities
that are used to dispose of waste which many have these
toxicants ifi-them. And if you're not going to provide that
kind, that's exactly the reason why we need the permanent
facilities to assure that we can get that.data so that if
for any reason in the future we find, as a result of monitor-
ing, that something has gone wrong, we can try to take the
necessary corrective action without having to wait for the
groundwork perhaps to be so contaminated that it's beyond
reclamation.
MR. SMELCER: Some of my comments are coming from
small companies, on the back here where I say "here are some
of our comments", but the companies are worried about the
record keeping because of the small amount of people they
have and we're talking about the hauling and a lot of other
things that enter into it.
But I think basically they're not objecting, most
of our companies are not objecting to saying what's going out
there. We're willing to say and do what we have to to get it
out there. But it is some of the things like the testing
facilities, I'm not that well acquainted with it, but our
testing now versus what it would have to be in the hazardous
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
22
23
98
waste of digging underneath and make the monitoring areas for
20 years out and so on, they're just going to make it abso-
lutely prohibitive for us if we have to go that far. I'm
sure our county and city are just not going to go for that
kind of reconstruction at this point almost to be able to take
it. We don't have a lot and I'm sure they're not going to
want to spend these huge amounts of monies to us to be able to
do that .
But really in some of these things, we know we're
going to have problems with but whenothey are hazardous, we
know we're going to have to deal with them, and cur really
big problem right now is these barrels and barrels sitting in
back of the plant that they can't do anything with filled wit|
paint sludge and this sort of thing.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: No more questions. Thank you
very much.
Dr. Robert Poston, Carmel Energy, Incorporated.
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Dr. Brooks Becker, Residuals
Management Technology.
21 STATEMENT OF BROOKS BECKER
MR. BECKER: My name is Brooks Becker. I am presi-
dent of Residuals Management Technology,Incorporated. We're
a solid waste management, hazardous waste consulting firm in
25
24
Madison, Wisconsin. I want to tell you a little bit about t
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
99
background because, my background particularly because I think
it applies to talking about .some of the regulations.
I hold a Ph.D. in chemistry and:.for the last eight
years prior to starting consulting firm, I was director of
Wisconsin's Air and Solid Waste Management Programs and
helped initiate those regulations up there. Our consulting
firm has, as the two other principals, John Reinhardt and Tom
Kunes, who may be in the audience and you have met and know.
As chief of the Wisconsin regulatory program in waste manage-
ment, I had the job of not only developing the state regula-
tions but implementing them also in the field. One of the
things 1 learned is if you want to have a regulatory program
succeed, you have to pay very close attention to how it works
in practice. I think that's a lesson that we have to pay
attention to here for these regulations being proposed.
One can over-regulate and by doing that minimize the amount of
implementation that is accomplished in the field.
I am going to talk today about just some very narrow
areas in the regulations and not try to cover the whole
thing.
As consultants, we have had a good deal of practical
experience in industrial hazardous waste problems and working
with leaching tests in particular. .In fact, we're going to
be presenting a paper on the subject shortly based on some of
the data we've collected,,
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
100
I would just like to share with you some of our
experiences and focus on a couple of points as they apply to
the regulations. First, I think SPA should seriously con-
sider an alternative approach to their single acid leach
test for defining toxicity and thus hazard of a waste. We
believe an alternative approach is needed, not just a differ-
ent test.
Second, the definition of "waste stream" needs
considerably more thought in order to avoid much expensive
but useless testing by affected industries.
We believe EPA should consider an alternate leach
test protocol with more steps which begins with a neutral
leach test. There are several reasons for this. Clearly a
single acid leach test,as proposed, will define many low risk
wastes as hazardous primarily because of the heavy metal
content . Other speakers this morning have alluded to that.
These low risk wastes do not justify the strict criteria
called for under Subtitle C.
In their introductory discussion, EPA points out
that there are mechanisms for getting .approval for disposal
of these low risk wastes under Subtitle D criteria or special
disposal criteria under Subtitle C in Sections 3004 and 3005
that have been referred to. The only new requirement, be-
cause of their definition as a hazardous waste, would be the
transoortation manifest system to define where - the waste g
«i
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
101
While, in theory, this is the case, and although the
mechanism is cumbersome, I would have,to-say in practice it's
more than that, the mechanism simply will not work. I would
submit that once a waste has been classified as hazardous, no
amount of further assurances or technical data or discussion
is going to change that classification in the minds of the
public. And in establishing a place to dispose of waste,
you have to deal with'the local public emotional situation.
EPA has a clear example of that within 15 miles of here, the
Wilsonville situation, where SPA came in on the side of the
Wilsonville site to try to keep it open as a hazardous waste
site and was unable to do so because of the emotional,
political, social connotations of being a hazardous waste
site.
We feel, from our experience..as regulators and our
experience as consultants, that once a waste, is-classified as
hazardous, the public will demand, in fact, that full Sub-
title C disposal protection be given to the waste regardless
of any data that we produced to the contrary. Remember, I'm
talking here about low risk wastes, things like the power
plant ash that was referred to this morning, f oundry vaste,
some paper'mill sludges, a lot of high volume, low risk waste
that exists around the countryside. I'm not'-talking about
the ones that are clearly high risk, high hazard waste.
I might just cite one case we had in.Wisconsin, to
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
102
emphasize the point, some years ago. At one of our landfill
sites people were disposing of a low level nuclear waste from
dismantling of an experimental reactor. What it was was con-
crete from the surrounding building, not the reactor shell,
but the surrounding building that contained.the facility. The
radioactivity'was hardly detectable above background but
because it was labeled as radioactive waste, there was great
hue and cry and finally the waste had to be removed from the
facility and taken to an AEG approved site, even though, in
any technical sense, there was, in-'fact, no hazard associated
with it.
As a result of defining almost everything hazardous
through an acid leach test, now I'm again thinking of heavy
i
metal, the central purpose of controlling disposal of the
major hazardous wastes whichu-create the environmental or
health problems that the Act was intended to solve, we think
will be lost and dissipated. Instead much effort andmoney
will be spent both by industry and government in trying to
solve the problem that we create ourselves by defining too
many things as hazardous, which really has nothing to do with
protecting the environment and health. The problem of how to
dispose of low risk, often high volume waste, defined as
hazardous is the one we have to face.
Fortunately, a different protocol may be able to
solve this problem. If one begins with a, and I'd like to
-------
31
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
103
suggest that one might begin with the neutral leach test, if
one does that, somevaste will be classified as hazardous any-
way and we would suggest that those are the more hazardous
materials and should proceed on through the Subtitle C con-
trols. Those wastes producing no hazardous leachates from
the neutral test will then be addressed by the disposal
techniques to be used. If the waste rare destined for a
municipal site, or another acid environmentilike is created
in a municipal site of the acid test is supposed to simulate,
then an acid leach test could be applied and if the waste is
found to be hazardous for that disposal environment would be
treated under Subtitle C. On the other,hand, if the waste
passed the neutral test andvwas scheduled for disposal in a
segregated site for that waste only, approval would proceed
according to the requirements under Subtitle D and that waste
would not be designated as hazardous and would not carry the
stigma of the hazardous regulations. This approach solves the
problem of disposal of high volume, low riskvastes in an en-
vironmentally safe manner while avoiding most of the problems
cited earlier. We think it is a practical alternative based
on our experience. It appears to be the next best thing to
defining levels of hazard, which .has been suggested by a
number of people and would probably be a good idea but EPA
has chosen not to follow except in a few exceptions.
One subsidiary question should be dealt with. EPA
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
104
states that since they have no way of knowing if a waste
actually goes to an approved .facility without bringing it
under themanifest system, therefore, low risk wastes should be
defined as hazardous that come under the manifest system and
be handled under exceptions under 3004 and 3005 as has been
pointed out earlier. On the other hand, they propose rules
to exclude waste from coverage that go to reprocessors or for,
I guess, we feel combustion also. I would submit in the real
world that those wastes, many of-.them,can be hazardous also
and there is no way of knowing if those wastes ever go to
reprocessors or, in fact, are even processed by reprocessors.
We had a case some years ago, again I'll refer to a Wisconsin
experience, where a reprocessor took in' several barrels of
PCB's and, of course, he'didn't reprocess them, he Just got
rid of them and there was a problem, first of all, they should
never have gone there and, second of all, he should never have
disposed of them that way. So this seems to be, to me, to be
an inconsistency in EPA's approach. They are willing to over-
look the control of the transportation and so forth of v/aste
that go for reprocessing, but they say that they have to do
it from, have to control the low risk waste that are going
to a segregated disposal facility or whatever in order not to
miss something.
I would suggest to you that any regulation cannot
cover everything no matter how desirable that might be. The
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
105
real world situation is that there is not enough regulatory
staff in the state, there is not enough regulatory staff in
EPA to physically do it even if .it's desirable. What we
would prefer to do, what I think makes a lot more sense is to
focus on the real health and environmental hazards, the major
ones, and write the regulations focusing on those through
some sort of a screening process that we suggest.
I would like to turn Just for.a minute before clos-
ing to the need for defining the term "waste stream" and
clarifying the question of sampling procedures. Here I
simply want to raise some questions that I think EPA need
to answer. For example, where wastes from several collection
systems from the plant feed into the same hopper, does one
sample each collection system, does one sample the hopper, or
the mixed load as it goes to the disposal? That is not de-
fined anywhere in the regulations. I think our experience
shows in our work with, industry that this is going to happen
in man?/, many places where you have, because most industries
do not segregate their waste streams and it's going to be a
question of what do you define as a waste, where do you sample
it. As it goes further down the line, you get more and more
dilution* in effect, if you are only generating one small
segment of waste that is "defined as hazardous",by itself it
may not be hazardous later on.
In most industries small amounts of many wastes are
-------
106
1 put into containers of one sort or another. 3y the time they
2 get out of the plant, mixture is very heterogeneous. What
3 is the waste stream here and how is that kind of a hetero-
4 geneous waste to be sampled?
5 Is the waste stream to be defined within a plant
6 or as it comes out of the plant? These are all questions, I
7 think, that need answering. Practical experience dictates
8 to us that the place to start sampling is where the waste
9 leaves the property or enters the disposal area, not back in
10 the plant looking at individual streams from each individual
11 collector or whatever.
12 Those are all the comments I want tonake. I would
13 be happy to answer any questions the panel may have. We wil^
14 be submitting a more detailed written exhibit later.
15 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you, Dr. Becker.
16 MR. LINDSEY: Getting back-to your concept, Dr.
17 Becker, of the neutral-.leach test as opposed to the acid
18 leach test, presumably, then, I gather from what you're saying
19 that those materials which, let's say, pass the neutral leach
20 test but would have failed the acid leach test would then go
2i to a Subtitle C facility. In your opinion, then, I guess
22 what we're saying is that, what you're saying is that the
23 Subtitle 3 facilities and the designed criteria under which
24 those have been proposed, at least at this point, and the
25 controls under them, which_-really are relatively limited,
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
i
25
10?
they're limited only to EPA developing a list of which ones.-.
pass and fail are sufficient for these wastes?
DR. BECKER: Yes, I think that's true. But you're
not quite correct in your assumption, those that v/oald pass
the neutral leach test, if they are to go to a segregated dis-
posal site for that waste only would then go under Subtitle D
as opposed to those who might be putting that waste in a
municipal facility, it would still then have to follow the
acid leach test.
MR. LINDSEY: Oh, I see, if a waste which would fail
the neutral test, no, fail the acid test,pass the neutral
test, if it were to go 'to a municipal landfill or seme other
landfill presumably which had an acid environment, then that
would be subject to the Subtitle C operation, right?
DR. BECKER: Right.
MR. LINDSEY: Let me ask you this, then, with re-
gard to that. Do you have any idea, an estimate or anything,
on the volume of wastes which would exit the detail controls •
under Subtitle C if that change were made? Are' we talking
about a big percentage of the wastes which are in the system
new that would not be in the Subtitle C system later, in your
opinion?
DR. BECKER: In my opinion, I think, it depends on
how you define big percentage. I think you would find tonnage
wise a fairly large percentage, yes, because you're talking
-------
108
about things like plant ash and some paper mill sludges and a
variety of very large quantity, low hazard waste. On the
other hand, if you're talking about the amount based on a
hazard factor of some sort,I would say: it would not miss very
much because you will catch many, in fact, most of the
hazard waste through a neutral leach test.
MR. CORSON: I guess.'just following up again for a
moment on Fred's question, this kind of implies that you have
some data available that indicates the amount of waste that
10 would, after extraction and analysis, would flunk the present
11 EP with the acid?.
12 DR. BECKER: I have no data available that repre-
13 sents a survey of one or more industries and detailed tonnages
14 or all that sort of thing. We were just talking about the
15 impression I have from our knowledge of the various types of
16 waste and with waste, many of them that we're dealing with,
17 have very large volume, high tonnage waste, but relatively low
18 risk or no risk waste.
19 • MR. CORSON: The main reason I was asking is we
20 have done so far, we have sampled some paper sludges, some
21 fly ashes, not many yet, and some foundry sands and found none
22 of these yet to fail the test after we run the EP. So I was
23 just wondering.
24 DR. BECKER: You mean fail the acid test.
25 MR. CORSON: That's correct.
-------
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
109
DR. BECKER: Our experience, we have some data that
we would be happyvto share with you and we will be putting in
our written comments that show that there are, indeed, some
of these wastes that will flunk an acid test.
MR. CORSON: I'm sure there are.
I was also wondering from your comments,you raised
the point which I think was sort of reflected by one of the
earlier speakers this morning. It would appear that you're
probably at least as much concerned by the, what I call, the
red fjlag word hazardous as you are by anything else. You do
recognize that there are some wastes that may require some-
thing other than the routine care of a Subtitle D facility
which does not involve any record keeping, any monitoring by
way of a requirement, but yet the concerns you've expressed,
once we use this word, then we run into the community problem
regardless of how good the site may be.
DR. BECKER: I think that can't be overemphasized
at all because that is an extremely important thing in this
whole hazardous waste question, as you undoubtedly know better
than I, because having dealt" with' many of the facilities like
Wilsonville. My practical experience, both from the regu-
latory standpoint and as a consultant, shows that that often
becomes the overriding concern rather than actual data on the
way the actual site specifications and all of that. It's
just so critical in this program, I think that the whole thing
-------
110
1
2
3
4
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
if you don't recognize that early on and take account of it
in the regulations, the whole program is going to falter be-
cause there is no place to take all the stuff defined as
hazardous.
MR. CORSON: Let me just follow up a little bit, if
I may. Do I interpret that your definition of low risk would
be based on using the neutral extraction procedure and then
some analysis from constituents and things which did not
fail, would they be considered either low or no risk or what
is your evaluation of low risk?
DR. BECKER: Basically the neutral extraction pro-
cedure .
MR. CORSON: ,Are you—
DR. BECKER.(interrupting): I would not sugges
that something that flunks the neutral extraction procedure
and would be defined as hazardous under that should be de-
fined as non-hazardous or whatever. But I would suggest that
anything that flunks that procedure, if you want, to look at
it that way, would follow through Subtitle C procedure and be
declared as a hazardous waste.
Now, this still doesn't get you away from the need
to look at levels of hazard,if you will, that other people
have alluded to, but this is a way of at least skimming off
some of the low, the really low hazard waste without going to
a full system of levels of hazardous.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
111
MR. CORSON: You also made a distinction, I believe,
in your comments that if the waste were going to be mixed with
municipal waste, then we shouB use the acid extract. I am
wondering whether there might be other industrial waste with
which it might be mixed that would also suggest that we should
use an acid extract.
DR. BECKER: Yes, that's right, and I suggested that
municipal waste or a similar environment such as the acid
leach test would apply to it.
In other words, all I'm saying is that the differ-
ence in approaching, you have to consider the disposal
alternative that's going to be used. If it does not flunk
the neutral leach test, now you go to look at the disposal
scenario that's going to be used on waste' and exclude it, if
you can, based on that. Now, the thing that this doesn't do
for you that you are trying to do in the"current regulations
is follow every single waste that has any very slight poten-
tial of being hazardous. But Irsubmit, as I pointed out, that
you don't do that anyhow because,..of the process or exemption,
so forth. Nor probably do you want to because you simply
aren't going to have the mechanism' to do that.
I could submit another example from EPA programs,
if you're familiar with the pesticide program and the vast
amount of material they collected early on in the regulatory
process, which for all I know is still sitting in the basement
-------
112
of Waterside Mall and has never been looked at since. All
I'm saying is you don't want to get into a paper program
that is meaningless because you have:too much material to
worry about .
MR. LINDSEY: O.K., I guess I.have one last thing.
You discussed at some length the apparent paradox between the
fact that we say we need to use the manifest system to con-
trol the movement of what you term low-risk kind of hazardous
waste in order to be sure they get from A to B. Yet, on the
10 other hand, the other part of this.paradox, that we do not
11 require the manifest to move with- waste which are going to
12 reprocessors
13 I have one comment on that and then I've got one
14 question. Basically our rationale with regard to that is
15 that the materials which are moving to these processors by and
16 large have a, our thinking is that they have an economic
17 value and are less likely to be simply dumped. On the other
18 hand, that's not true of the low-risk materials. On the
19 other hand, you did point out, and.this, I guess, is my ques-
20 tion that you knew of some problem areas that had occurred
21 with waste which were moving to reprocessors and then for
22 some reason got dumped and maybe your argument here is more
23 an argument that we require the manifest for waste, moving
24 to reprocessors rather than eliminating the manifest for low
25 risk. If you have information like that in your written
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
113
comments, examples or things like that,it might be helpf.ul to
us in making final determination along these lines.
DR. BECKER: I'm really not trying to make that
argument.
MR. LIND3EY: I'm sorry if I read that in. But I
could maybe make that argument from'..what you said.
DR. BECKER: You could make that argument, but I
think it's contrary to—what I'm trying to get at is that you
don't want to take on too much. I think-that's not what you
have proposed for reprocessors. It's not unreasonable at all
even though it's quite true that, I believe, you will lose
some of the waste that never gets to-reprocessors. But I
think that's a risk you have to take because you simply can't
be 100 per cent sure of things and I'm saying the similar
things should hold for a low risk waste, too, so it's not,
I think that's a little different.
MR. LINDSEY: Nevertheless., either way, any prob-
lems that you have specific cognizance of that have occurred
because of this would be halpful to us in making a decision
one way or the other.
DR. BECKER: I certainly would be glad to provide
that.
MR. CORSON: Dr. Becker, you asked where the
sampling should be done. I think you ended up with the way
you're disposing, actually it's an off-site, you're shipping
-------
114
off, that's the waste that you sample. You don't consistently
go back into the process and-pick it up from each line.
The trouble will occur, we see from our own point of vie?/ and
probably from an enforcement point of view, and the real
problem is that if you should have one of the listed waste
streams, you now mix that with everything else coming out of
the plant, what I think you have done is you've created a
larger set of hazardous waste because we probably wouldn't
include all of it as the listed waste. What we think will
10 happen and we think should happen probably as a result of
11 the listing of waste streams, is that plants should begin to
12 segregate some of their waste so they're not by nature mixing
13 causing a larger volume to be in total hazardous waste and
14 only manage the hazardous waste in the right fashion, then
15 the non-hazardous portion^- There is nothing that says by our
16 regulations all the wast in a'specific plant must go to a
17 single facility. You can send the office waste one place,
18 the hazardous waste some place else. Even though that may not
19 sound practical, we think that makes eminently good sense.
20 We also think the segregation of waste may, segre-
2i gation and concentration may, also lead to enhance the re-
22 source recovery Just by nature of the segregation and con-
23 cent rat ion.
24 But the other thing it does bring to mind is another
25 question as to your comments for low-risk waste, and that is
-------
115
the problem that the more stuff you mix, the more difficult it
becomes to define a representative sample from that plant to
make the determination as to what you're going to do with it,
whether it belongs in the system or not as opposed to single
waste stream.
DR. BECKER: Let me comment that I think your
points are well made that this will lead to more segregation
of waste streams. On the other hand, there is a great deal-df
uncertainty, I believe, from our experience from industrial
10 clients right now as to the fact that that is going to be
ll EP&IS position that you don't have to look at each stream.
12 In many of those cases, you have a very, very heterogeneous
13 mixture coming out and sampling is going to be a representa-
14 tive sampling. It's going to be very, very difficult because
15 you have some floor sweepings in this load and none in the
16 next load and you have air pollution control equipment, dust
17 in one load and you have water treatment sludge in.another
18 load all; mixed with various things. So the representative
19 sampling will be very difficult. The farther from the
20 source of the waste you get, the harder it is to find a repre-
21 sentative sampling procedure that does what you want it to do
22 and clearly you don't want to sample every load that goes
23 out.
0. MR. CORSON: Just one last comment. I would
24
25
appreciate, based on the industrial experience you have had,
-------
• 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
116
anything you could provide to us to help us define a repre-
sentative sample. It will greatly help. As you are aware, w
did try, in the regulations, to suggest methods,calling from
ASTM those we thought might be appropriate. We will probably
in the final promulgation be adding more ASTM methods that are
appropriate for sampling. Vie do reference a document which we
had produced under study to-Cincinnati which does talk about
how we sample things out of a tank"truck in the middle of a
lagoon and we'll start with a bulldozer.
But we would appreciate it if you can give us any
thoughts on what makes a representative sample and particularly
if you have any idea as to how we might solve the problem of a
representative sample every time. It would be greatly appre-
ciated.
DR. BECKER: I think just one comment on that. The
difficult balance here is between really an economic one, that
the cost versus the need for your information. Obviously you
can sample every load. That's the most costly approach and the
most costly extreme and that's not acceptable 'to anyone
On
the other hand, making a sample once every five years probably
doesn't tell you much. I would just say we. have some ideas
and it's a very difficult problem and I don't think there's any
clear cut one answer.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I guess we have no more questions
Thank you.
-------
117
We'll break for lunch now and reconvene the hearing
at 1:30 in this room.
3 (Whereupon, at 12:10 o'clock p.m., the hearing was
4 recessed to reconvene at 1:30 o'clock p.m, the same day.)
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
118
AFTERNOON SESSION 1:30 p.m
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We would like to reconvene,
please.
I do have the names of additional people who weren't
on our original list who do want to speak-and I'm going to
go ahead and ask them to give us their comments and then we'll
go back to the people who weren't here this morning and if
there is anyone else who would like to offer comments on the
record on 3001, you can indicate to the people at the regis-
tration desk and they will bring up your name to us.
The next person I have is Frank Stegbauer from
Southern Towing Company.
STATEMENT OF FRANK STEGBAUER
MR. STEGBAUER:• Good afternoon, Madam Chairperson
and members of the panel. My name is Frank Stegbauer, I'm
vice-president of Southern Towing Company of Memphis,
Tennessee. I operate boats on the navigable'. waters ofv-the
U.S. I'm also representing American Waterways Operators,
which is a trade association of shallow draft towing in-
dustry with some 232 members in the towing industry.
I think our basic concern over these regulations
is how to comply with them and where we fit in the scheme of
your system to collect hazardous waste. It seems like with
so many regulations that we get drawn into that seern to be to
us basically oriented to industrial plants and not oriented
to the parameters or constraints we found ourselves operating
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
119
under in the marine environment.
The one thing that particularly concerns us is the
determination of used lubricating oil as a hazardous waste.
The thousands, and if you include the pleasure boat owners
it probably gets up into maybe millions, I don't know, of
people that will generate used lube oil. We probably, in the
marine boat, are different from the land modes in that people
in the automobiles drop their used lube oil drippings in the
street which, in turn, go down the storm sewers into our
navigable waters and the railroads,and trucks drop it on the
highways and the railroads probably on the roadbeds, I guess.
We can't drop it even if we wanted".to. We're forbidden by the
Clean Water Act. So many of us have installed oil separators
on cur vessels and separate our bilge slops or bilge accumu-
lation, water from oil of which probably 95 per cent of it is
water, and then the used lube oil we transfer to our fuel
bunker tanks and use it for fuel. This arrangement has met
with approval of the Coast Guard on the philosophy that that's
better than trying to pump it ashore'.because every time you
go into a transfer operation, you increase the risk of probabl
a spill of some of these oily materials.
Of course we have no trouble in determining where - .
we stand on the Clean Water Act. It's very clear .as to our
obligations not to put oil and soon it will' tee, as scon as you
put out your new hazardous material regulations, it will be
-------
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
120
very clear what new obligations we have under that provision
of Section 311 of the Public.Law 92-500. But we do have som
concerns in the fact that we don't generate a lot of used lube
oil. I'm sure that, I know our vessels in my own company, we
would generate far less than 220 pounds of used lube oil per
month, except every two years when we overhaul our engines and
change oil in them, we will be faced with the disposition of
probably four to five drums cf used lube oil. Ordinarily we
will not be. I would say the majority of the people on the
river are separating their slops and putting the used oil in
their bunkers and using it for fuel.
We are concerned about some comments in here where
there is some detrimental effect on the incineration.of used
lube oil. We are concerned when the regulation says persons
may not generate over 220 pounds and, still be exempt. When
you say persons, does that mean the whole corporation as a
whole or does that mean each vessel that we operate? My
company operates fourteen vessels and it is strung out from
one end of the river system to the other end of the river
system. Collectively with those 14 vessels, we probably
will generate more than 220 pounds. Singly.we would be
considerably below that. We are wondering what definition you
apply on that.
We are wondering whether, because of the fact that
we mio-.ht accumulate some used lube oil aboard, do we then b
-------
121
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
come a generator and since we are moving from, say, Houston
to Pittsburgh, do we then'-become a transporter? I guess what
we're really looking for is some clarification and if you
people have any of these answers, a number of our people are
here today and we would be most interested in hearing what -
your proposal means when it comes to U.S. documented vessels
operating on the navigable waters of the United States.
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Stegbauer, I think your comments
are well made. The basic thrust of'the regulatory program is
toward land transport. You're pointing out some aspects of
the regulations which I think perhaps we have not adequately
considered as to what the impact of these regulations would
be for barge traffic or any type of river traffic.
We did consider the interaction between this law
and the ocean disposal law. So we*ve got a pretty good inter-
face between those two laws. But I must say some of the
points that you raised here Just now are new to us, and I
think we*re going to have to think about what you've brought
up here and see which way we can go.on some of these points.
I think I could reply to one of the points that
you brought up, an interpretation of the word person with
respect to a vessel such as yourself or a corporation or each
vessel. The basic intent there of what we were trying to do
was to have that conditional exemption apply to each facili-
tv within a corporation, assuming they were land based. The
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
122
analogy, in your case, I think would be that it would apply
to each vessel as opposed to the total corporation. But 1
can see where you had some trouble interpreting this.
MR. STEGBAUSR: If that be true, it would be a much
more livable situation with us. I. don't think that we have a
problem with disposing .of the waste unless you have some
objection to us using at as fuel. Our position is that in the
spirit of the law for recovery of energy, we are recovering
this as energy form by using it as fuel and: it does very well
in our engines. It doesn't have a detrimental effect on
t hem.
Probably 220 pounds is not a lot of oil. I think at
lunch we were figuring that and, incidentally, we will have
comments to file before the March deadline, but I think if .a
service station services and changes oil at approximately 17
automobiles a month, he is over the 220-pound limit. So I
don't know whether you all have considered how many people
are going to be affected by this, individuals, people with
particularly inboard pleasure boats, which there are thousands,
many more of those than there are tow boats, mariners of all
kinds. When you say used lube oil, you've just about got
everybody that drives an automobile or anything else. It's
going to be pretty wide spread.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We thank you 'for your comments
and we'll certainly consider them.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
123
Next this afternoon, Harold Muth from the American
Waterways Operations.
MR. MUTH: Mr. Stegbauer covered all. my points with
the exception of the fact that under these rules, I think the
United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard would, be
considered generators of waste every time they changed oil in
their engines also.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
MR. STEGBAUER: Could I ask you one more thing?
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: If you will come to the micro-
phone. We will probably at the end of this time for comments
take written questions which will be off •the"-record so if
it's a question, you might prefer to.hold it until then.
MR. STEGBAUER: Well, I've just got one question.
What is the philosophy on declaring used lubricating oil a
hazardous material? The reason I ask this is because we were
jprobably sitting back fat, dumb and happy and thinking that
we were so regulated by the Coast Guard and all, thinking
these regulations wouldn't bother us and .then you threw this
used lubricating oil in there and we find ourselves in the
soup.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Would you mind if we deferred
that ~o the question and answer period?
MR. STEGBAUER: O.K.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K. You can be first in the
-------
4
5
124
Qiaestion and answer period.
All right, James Kinsey from Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency.
STATEMENT OF JAMES KINSEY
MR. KINSEY: Good afternoon. My name is Jim Kinsey.
I'm with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. I'm chief of
the Hazardous Waste Management Section in Minnesota.
In 197^ the Minnesota legislature passed some en-
abling legislation in the Minnesota Hazardous Waste Act which
10 parallels in many ways the U. S. Conservation Recovery Act.
11 We have been developing rules in Minnesota since^then and
12 still are trying to get them on the books.
13 A lot of our work-was shared with the SPA when they_
14 began developing their rules and have been involved in
15 watching the drafts as they come through and. I have been most
16 pleased with how they've been improving.
17 There are a number- of things about this particular
18 proposal that I think are finally beginning to take shape.
19 You have got some clear criteria for establishing characteris-
20 tics and for adding materials on to the lists and concurring
2i with those and I'm glad to see that kind of a process actually
22 in the rules themselves.
23 We heard a number of comments today from people who
24 would like to—we disagree with the approach that the EPA is
25 taking with respect to classifying wastes as to the degree ol
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
125
hazard. I concur with the approach whereby./ 3001 criteria are
used kind of as a tool or as a screening mechanism to get
wastes into the system and then the degree of hazard is taken
into account in the 3004, 3005 portion of the rules with re-
spect to matching it up with the proper management.
The thing most of the comments against that particu-
lar scenario seem to have in common or at their case is sort
of a basic distrust or basic belief, perhaps, that environ-
mentalists tend to be fanatical and general public tends to
be irrational when
comes to hazardous waste and their way
of wanting to deal with that situation seems to be to not to
bring things out in front of the public, to keep things, to
find ways of not calling things hazardous, to zero in on the
definition of hazardous and not so much on the nature of the
relationship they've got with the environmentalists and the
general public, and I think that the long range solution to
that kind of an issue lies more in trying to address the re-
lationship the industry has got with the general public and
with the environmentalists by starting out to recognize that
both of them do have valid concerns and in attending various
conferences and such, I hear an awful lot of woe is me type
stories where, gee, everything was technically O.K. but it
was the irrationality of the system or the lack of some sort
of mechanism which meant that we couldn't use this ideal
facility, some little lady in the corner with her dog and she
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
126
stopped us all and bringing it.to a standstill. And I don't
see a recognition or a willingness on the part of industry
to recognize the validity of a lot of the concerns that are
being raised there. And I would rather see public information
type programs. I would rather see efforts made to make the
facilities more attractive to the public.
For instance, we recently had the rather disastrous
experience in attempting to cite a hazardous waste demon-
stration project in Minnesota. One of the reasons why we
were having so much difficulty was that there really wasn't
a demonstratable advantage to having the particular.-facility
located in any one person's backyard or in their area. The
local residents got nothing at all except for an increased
risk, and often the land is taken off the tax rolls. There
is no money' coming in from that type of facility. Those types
of concerns aren't being dealt with.
I do have some problems, though, with other portions
of 3001, in particular the toxicity characteristics. One
comment has to do with the extraction procedure. I really
don't understand what it is. I don't know where it came from.
I don't know what it's going to do. I don't know what wastes
will be hazardous and what wastes.won't be hazardous. The
equipment that it takes to run the extraction procedure, my
understanding, it is not available or if it is available, it
has just recently been made available. I'm not aware of any
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
12?
work that's been done to look at the, at exactly how this test
is going to go about and what kinds of wastes are going to be
classified as hazardous as a result of its use and what kinds
aren't.
It is, from my point of view, an unproven, untried
test that is being used in preference to a system of. de-
termining toxicity within waste that is used by state govern-
ments for many years now, that of utilizing direct toxicity
data, either the testing or the use of existing literature. .
data.
I also have difficulty, with the ten times the
drinking water standards that you're applying it to as was
discussed earlier today, the maximum permissible levels of
radioactive materials don't necessarily mean that you've got
a safe level, and I think much the same controversy spills
over on to the drinking water standards. Many of them have
their origin and levels of detection. In other words, at the
time when they came up with them were looked at as being al-
most zero. Ten times zero is still zero. I don't see as to
where you end up with any sort of validity based upon them
trying to make an approach through the EP.'.as, I don't see as
to where you can say that it follows, bears on any reality,
let's put it that way.
I guess the final comment with respect to the
toxicity characteristic is that it's very limited in its
-------
57
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
128
scope. Toxicity is a very broad term and yet the EPA looks
at it from an extremely limited view that attempts to evalu-
ate the risk of exposure through ground water contamination
routes. You're not taking into account the fact that a lot
of the wastes which are going to be called not hazardous are
going to be picked up by commercial haulers and they will end
up in packer trucks, they'll end up being compacted, they'll
end up—transportation personnel in our area, ' it*s-not-.at--, all
uncommon for them to get a face full of mist or dust or gasses
from the truck itself, and the toxicity characteristic
doesn't take into account the broader range of possible ex-
posures during routine waste management.
My final comment has to do with the way that the
term discarded is being interpreted. I understand that it
would greatly simplify the administration of the program by
not taking into account all materials that are being destined
for recovery. But we have examples in our own state of re-
source recovery firms that are operated in many ways like a
treatment facility which are coverecV.-under the rules, and
where we've had a great deal of difficulty in terms of how
they store the material on site, ground water contamination as
a result of that facility being in existence, and the use of
poor operational standards in both their operation and in
their storage. I would oppose a categorical kind of an ex-
emption for recycled materials. I think at a minimum we wou
-------
3
4
5
129
at least want to get the commercial recycling facilities
and that would include the barrel reclaimers also.
us?
CHAIRPERSON DARK AH: Would you answer questions for
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Kinsey, you mentioned that with
respect to the toxicity characteristics that you believe we
should use a direct toxicity data as you implied many states
do . Could you amplify and -expand on that as to what- do you
mean by that in a little more detail?
10 MR. KINSEY: Well, most states that have an ongoing
11 hazardous waste or solid waste management program make de-
12 terminations as to the kinds of management that's appropriate
13 for a waste by looking at the characteristics of the waste
14 itself. They want to have information on the waste. I've
15 been with the Minnesota Pollution Control. Agency for the last
16 three years and people that have" been there before me say
17 that they have been looking at toxicity data as an important
18 step in determining what's appropriate management for a given
19 waste. The acute toxicity data, the direct tcxicity data is
20 used because it's available. There is a lot of it cut there.
21 It's kind of an approach, in my view, it is sort of a standard
22 for the regulatory industry right now, the regulatory people,
23 the regulatory program. It makes mere sense to me. to try and
24 bring the states up to a common, standard or common level in
25 terms of how it is they address hazardous waste and kinds of
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
130
tools that they use than it does to establish a test that has
no background, that has no experience with it, that we don't
know how it's going to handle, try to:.take us to an imaginary
point which is several steps beyond which most of the regu-
latory agencies are now.
MR. LEHMAN: If I understood your remarks correctly,
you're basically suggesting that we go back to acute
toxicity information on pure substances that you find in
waste. In other words, there is no such thing, to my knowledg^,
at least, on waste by waste basis of toxicity of waste.
You're talking in terms of a toxicity of components of that
waste for which there may or may not be data. So going one
step further from that, the implication, if I'm correct, I
want you to comment, if you would, the implication is that if
you were going to draw, then, a line between hazardous and
non-hazardous based on these toxicity characteristics is that
you would not only have to draw a line with respect to, say,
LD-50 or some other toxological number, but you would also
have to draw a line with respect to concentration of that
particular constituent in the waste, is that not true?
MR. KINSEY: I think that if you were to try to
relate that standard to the characteristics of waste and not
to the characteristics of the individuals-components, that that
would not be true.
What you're trying to evaluate is the characteristiJ
-------
131
1 of the waste. You could utilize purer component toxicity
2 data in doing that evaluation, but that wouldn't be the point
3 at which you could regulate it. You would be regulating it
4 from the point of view of the characteristic of the waste.
5 MR. LINDSEY: That would require in every individual
6 case that the toxological characteristics of each waste be
7 determined on the case by case basis, right, specifically if
8 you're going to regulate that way?
9 MR. KINSEY: If you mean tested, no, I don't think
10 that means tested. I think that the listing that you've got
11 of hazardous wastes, according to hazardous properties, a good
12 deal of those processes have been identified as a result of
13 acute toxicity data and that data was used, I think, pretty
14 extensively in coming up with the list of hazardous materials
15 that you have. If it was good enough for that, I submit that
16 it is good enough to try and formalize that process through
17 the criteria to provide a minimum evaluation of each individual
18 waste.
19 MR. CORSON: I guess I'm still a little bit con-
20 fused, Jim. I wonder if you could go through for me one more
2i time how you. would evaluate specifically the hazards or the
22 toxicity of a waste. Can you have a sample of the way you
23 assess its toxicity?
24 MR. KINSEY: What you're attempting to do is
25 evaluate the toxological, the toxicity properties of a given
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
132
waste, you've got three different ways in which you can do
that. You can test the waste itself. You can take a look at
the existing .data either on the pure compounds that are in
the waste or on the existing data of similar types of waste,
or you could use some sort of experiential type of data re-
lating exposures to some descriptive standard,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAK: Let me try.and clarify one
thing. You complimented us on having these four characteris-
tics but what you're essentially saying is get rid of the
toxicity characteristic and Just put things on the list?
MR. KINSEY: No, I complimented you on having
criteria for coming up with your characteristics:..and your
lists. The compliment kind of fell off there, how you apply
those criteria to toxicity.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I Just..wanted to clarify that.
MR. KINSEY: I think you kind of fell apart there a
little.
MR. CORSON: Let me follow up a little if I may,
Jim. If we were to go back, let me again Just try to do this
to get a further amplification of this approach that you're
referring to, if I were, for the moment, to leave out the
extraction procedure, I had some technique which would allow
me to analyze the waste, reevaluate the waste, and that
technique would allow me to include the things that we now
have in the proposal, which is" the drinking water metals regu.
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
133
lated, I would include in it the ANPR which again uses all the
toxicity data that exists, that we're aware of, is that':the
kind of approach you're recommending, just evaluate the
toxicity of components as one approach? One you have a
specific incident from :that waste, which we know has caused
damage,which is another approach. And the third one, I think
if I heard you correctly, would be to draw the analogy be-
tween this waste and another waste which is very similar.
Do you feel that would be a proper thing?
MR. KINSEY: From what I understand of what you're
saying, yes. Similarly my analogy there was, my comment there
was referring to the possibility of industries, for instance,
the metal plating industry being able to collectively address
the types of waste that they offer and to be able to do a
study of the waste industry wide as opposed to each individual
industry studying its own individual waste.
What I'm looking for is more flexibility in in-
terpretation of what is hazardous.
MR. CORSON: . Let me ask another question. We try--
at least part of our approach with using an EP, forgetting for
the moment the specifics of the individual EP,was to show
concern for contaminants that might be released from the waste
as opposed to those contaminants which might be bound up.
I'm wondering whether in your system you would have some con-
ceot;
t which would allow out those things which while analysis
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
might show that there's arsenic there, we still want to give
credit to the fact that it's bound up and not released from
that waste in the present form of the waste.
MR. KINSEY: well, first of all, the biological tests],
to some extent, account for that type of thing in that in
order for a chemical which is in a waste, say arsenic, to
come in to exert its toxic property, it has to come into con-
tact with the, it has to actually be absorbed into the
organism and there you're taking into account some not only
acquatic solubilities but also liquid solubilities. So the
test animal itself does, to some extent, account for some
of that. But beyond that point, I would like to see that
be able to be part of the thing, part of the evaluation. . But
i
other than on a case by case basis,I'm not sure how you're
going to establish standards,to do that.
The thing that bothers me most about the way that
you've gone is that I would rather see you wait on that type
of a standard where you're looking at that kind of an issue
because you don't even have the piece of equipment that it
takes to do the test,available. We haven't done that much in
the way of trying to determine what waste will or will not be
hazardous as a result of that test, and I'm kind of at a loss
as to how to really comment about that EP without knowing
what it's going to do. I understand that a year from now, you
may have an awful lot of testing done utilising the SP, but
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
135
that doesn't help me today.
MR. CORSON: I guess one of the things that I find
here is a problem for me, at least, our extractor is a very
sirrple piece of equipment, which I guess we think ought to be
made in any garage shop. From the drawing that's available
in the proposal itself, someone could make it. I think that
all the industry has is that they are concerned if they make
one themselves, will we consider that to be an equivalent
piece of equipment. I think that's a different valid ques-
tion. It has nothing to do with whether or; not we can make an
extractor.
MR. KINSEY: My issue isn't whether or not they can
make it. But my issue is that the extractor itself just
showed up in the Federal Register in December, and I myself
haven't seen any picture of it prior to that. And even if I
wanted to make it and even if I had the money and the re-
sources to start testing to find out how this extractor works
and how this particular procedure with the specified
dilution . and under the specified acidic conditions, if I
knew what waste would and would not be hazardous under that
type of a system, but there's been no, virtually, testing
done. And yet it's being proposed as a standard. It would
seem to me that what we would want to do at this point is
put that off for a year or so until you come up with a
standard. In the meantime look at toxicity from a point of
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
136
view where it is being looked at today by regulatory agencies
that are actually doing it. .In other words, they are taking
into account existing toxological data and they're doing it
in a number of different mechanisms. They do it either by
requiring testing on particular wastes. They do it by uti-
lizing j?inney»s equations and similar types of things or
calculating the toxicity of a given waste, or they utilize
some sort of a, there's actually been a problem, some kind of
experience with the waste that demonstrates that toxiGolbgieal
property or the lack of it.
MR. CORSON: One last one if 1 may. Would you
estimate, if you can, whether you thinkve have mere wastes
currently that would come into the system if we used the
approach that you're suggesting as opposed .to whatever estimate
you may have on what would come, in using the tcxicity defini-
tion as included in the regulation?
MR. KINSEY: I wish I could, but that's my comment,
I can't. I have no idea. The approach that I'm suggesting is
the continuation of the one that's being used today with re-
spect to toxlcdlogLcal evaluation in those states that have got
ongoing programs . And it would seem to me to make, more sense
to upgrade the nation to those minimal standards and to at a
later date introduce the leachate test or the extraction pro-
cedure when we've got a better idea as to how that really re-
lates to the hazard we're trying to control. }
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
137
MR. LINDSEY: To change the subject a little bit to
one of your other comments, you had some problem', with our
definition of discarded materials which would let wastes
which are being recovered in some manner into products which
don't constitute disposal,would let them, would identify them
as non-hazardous waste or non 'waste, I guess. The problem
which we come into here, one of the problems associated with
that whole area is that we have trouble identifying where a
material is a legitimate by-product which is manufactured .Qr
the myriad by-products which come out of the manufacturing
industries today which are used as intermediate and as final
products all over the country and the entire economy. And
those things which seem to worry you and which worry us, to
some extent, that may be presented as being recovered but in
actuality are not recovered and we have trouble drawing that
line.
The way in which we haveochosen to do it is to say
that, look, anything which has a value and which is going to a
resource recovery facility is not as likely to get lost.
But, on the other hand, it was pointed out to us earlier that
occasionally something will get lost, somebody will simply
foul up the law and that will happen in. any event I suspect.
But assuming you don't like our approach.to the
thing, how else would we draw that line between what we'll
call legitimate byproducts and things which are waste which
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
138
would be in the system? I don't think it's practical to get
all byproducts into the system.
MR. KINSEY: In Minnesota, we have the same problem
because our definition of what waste is is also tied to the
word discarded, and I recognize that as a problem.
I think my understanding of the, situation is that
because it is a, in our case, a.Megislative definition, the
court may be the only ones :that are going to be able to de-
termine whether or not that particular facility is handling
waste or if it is handling some kind of a raw material. A
byproduct is not a waste and, to me, there are situations out
there that are under the guise, there are resource recovery
situations out there that are definitely recovery of waste.
And I would think that rather than closing the door to the
possibility of your taking some action against that kind of
a situation, you would want to go and keep that open. You're
not going to resolve that difference, I don't think. I don't
think you can because the difficulty, the lack of clarity
comes from the Congress itself when ;they said something was
discarded. But in your interpretation of that, I don't 'under-
stand why you want to preclude some action in an area where
you're actually needed.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We don't have any more ques-
tions. Thank you.
Back to our original list. Is the representative (
-------
69
3
4
5
6
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
139
from the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association
here?
MR. MARQUART:. Yes.
STATEMENT OF ROLAND C. MARQUART
MR. MARQUART: Thank you.
I'm not a technical person per se. I have a
peripheral knowledge of environmental matters so I can.'.t tell
you anything here that Chet wouldn't—Chet knows how much I
don't know.
I am Roland C. Marquart, manager of Transportation
Services and secretary of the Environmental Committee of the
St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association.
The St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth
Association is an organization of over 3.,000 members., repre-
senting businesses and labor, in an area having a population
of over two and a half million on both, sides of the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers. Our organization,also known as RCGA,
has its focus on the bi-state, metropolitan St. Louis region.
Our primary emphasis is the economic development of that
entire area.
.The basic statement I'm presenting here was pre-
pared by a subcommittee of our Environmental Committee. The
St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association--!'m
skipping a couple of paragraphs there that aren't pertinent
per se or pertinent but not essential. The many tragic in-
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
140
cidents ' associated with the improper handling and disposal
of hazardous wastes have emphasized the need to develop con-
trol measures. Hopefully, the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, Hazardous Waste Regulations coupled with the
Toxic Substances Control "Act and the Clean Water Act Pre-
treatment Regulations will enable our society to preserve
human health and the environment for ourselves and our de-
scendants .
The St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Associa-
tion does not take issue with the intent of the proposed
Hazardous Waste Regulations„ We do, however, wish to em-
phasize the need for moderation during development of such
regulations to insure against over-regulation. So often we
i
are witness to growth stagnation from policies that jeopar-
dize the very existence of businesses which! have been the
building blocks of our great nation, providing our people
with the products and services we demand, and are the life-
blood of our free enterprise system. We are particularly
concerned with the impact of hazardous waste and other sister
regulations on small and medium sized businesses. Large
corporations have been forced to develop staffs specifically
assigned to handle increased administrative burdens, but the
smaller company has been pushed to the limit of motivation
and lacks the resources necessary to handle the numerous and
voluminous federal regulations promulgated within the past tgM
-------
1
2
3
4
5
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
141
years.
We are concerned also that portions of the proposed
hazardous waste regulations relating to intrastate controls on
transportation, handling, and storing may be unconstitutionally
intruding on state sovereign functions. We trust that ade-
quate importance will be given to this possibility and that
the implication of such deviation from the basic rights of
local and state governments will be thoroughly evaluated.
As the time allows, we wish to address specific
provisions and requirements presented in the proposed hazardous
waste regulations as follows:
Section 250.13(d), we consider the definition of a
toxic waste as related to the extraction procedure to be
arbitrary and a fantastic notion. The EPA has taken an ex-
tremely ultraconservative position in considering a waste
hazardous if its EP extract shows more than ten times the
levels of contaminants allowed by the National-.Interim
Primary Drinking Water Standards. Using such criteria, every-
thing but drinking water will be considered hazardous. The
main purpose of hazardous waste regulations is to control the
entry of truly hazardous substances into the environment and
thereby protect the public health. The leaching of hazardous
wastes into ground water should be prevented. The assumption,
therefore, that hazardous wastes will enter the ground water
and receive a tenfold dilution does not appear valid and
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
142
certainly should not be used as the" basis for establishing the
toxicity of all hazardous waste components.
Section 250.14(b)(ill), we do; not understand the
reasoning underlying the separation of publicly-owned and
)rivately-owned treatment works which would, if treating
lomestic sewage, produce essentially identical sludges. If the
purpose of such a provision is to control industrial treatment
>lant sludges, the intent could be better stated so as not to
)lace an undue burden upon those private companies producing
and treating municipal sludge under contract as a business
enture. The intent and expanse of this provision is unclear.
Section 250.15(f), authority is given to the Ad-
inistrator to approve or disapprove a demonstration and also
the power to grant or not grant a public hearing if he solely
considers there are or are not genuine and relevant factual
issues to be resolved by such a hearing. We consider a provi-
sion such as this gives too much power arid authority to one
individual who may or may not be qualified to make such deci-
sions and rulings.
Section 250.22, we agree wholeheartedly with the
concept of the manifest system as long as sufficient care is
taken in defining hazardous waste and the administrative
burden is minimized. The manifest system, if adhered to, will
enable tracking of hazardous waste from its conception to dis-
posal and insure adequate protection for the public and the
-------
143
environment. We recommend, however, that each load of hazard-
ous waste, meaning each economically transportable quantity,
have a separate manifest accompanying it on its journey.
If several separate shipments are -covered under one manifest,
the potential for the probability of..error exists and keeping
track of each shipment becomes more difficult.
Section 250.29(a), we do not consider a waste, if
truly hazardous and the> degree of: hazard being adequately
9 defined, should be allowed to be discharged into a facility
10 not specifically designed and...operated to handle and contain
11 hazardous waste no matter what the weight or volume.
12 Numerous generators of small "quantities of hazardous wastes
13 using the same facility for disposal can, by their aggregate
14 contributions, create the potential for a public health or
15 environmental hazard. More emphasis should' be placed on de-
16 fining what is actually hazardous rather than arbitrarily
17 selecting a 100 kilograms per month or even a thousand
18 kilograms per month exemption. The degree of toxicity is the
19 most important consideration and should be specified.
20 Section 250.43-9, we are cognizant of the financial
21 problems associated with assuring proper closure and post-
22 closure of hazardous waste facilities and ascribe to the need
23 for such procedures. Monies earmarked for closure.and post-
24 closure operations deposited initially in a trust fund is one
25 way of providing future funds for- proper closure and post-
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
144
closure of existing hazardous facilities. Such a requirement
may, however, place a burden on the smaller operator who
wishes to comply with hazardous waste facility regulations but
does not have adequate capital. We are encouraged to see a
provision included in the regulations which would allow the
Regional Administrator to consider the financial status of the
facility and provide for partial compliance and relief for
the financial responsibility associated with closure and
post-closure. For new facilities placed in operation after
the effective date of the hazardous waste regulations, a
schedule of charges, based on. hazard category and weight or
volume, could be developed which would enable the operator of
a hazardous disposal facility to allocate a certain percentag
of his disposal fee for closure and post-closure costs. The
portion of the disposal fee allocated for such closure
operations could be placed in a controlled interest-bearing
fund. The administration of the fund could be.similar to sales
tax collections with any left-over portion after satisfactory
closure assigned to the state government for use in other
environmental protection activities associated with the con-
trol and disposal of hazardous wastes or to establish a
disaster fund.
We are concerned that only the large companies with
extensive capital reserves will be able to construct and
operate hazardous waste disposal facilities if initial de-
-------
75
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
145
posits for closure and post-closure operations are required.
The potential for price fixing becomes apparent. Whatever
system is ultimately chosen to insure, proper closure, we trust
that some means will be employed to prevent exorbitant dis-
posal charges being assessed on those companies who must com-
ply with hazardous waste regulations and dispose of their
wastes at such facilities.
We have selected for comment today those concepts
and requirements which wecconsider have the greatest impact
on the various commercial and industrial establishments we
represent. A more detailed evaluation of ;the various tech-
nical aspects of the regulations by qualified individuals
within our organization will be prepared and submitted at a
later date.
We thank you for^the opportunity to voice our con-
cerns and comments and trust that great care will be exercised
in preparing the final;.hazardous waste regulations which we
deem to have greater impact on our nation's business community
than the Clean 'Water Act, and respectfully submit it.
CHAIRPERSON DARKAH: Thank you.
I realize you did tell us that this was written by
one of your subcommittees. I wonder if we. might ask you some
questions.
MR. MARQUART: Certainly.
MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Marquart, one of the problems you
-------
4
5
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
146
addressed in the last set of points had to do with the small
facilities meeting the financial requirement. Was the thrust
of that that they would not be able to meet the upfront—
MR. MARQUART (interrupting): Essentially, yes.
MR. LINDSEY: Therefore, I gather you would—let me
make one point. The provision which you alluded to that allows
the Regional Administrator to make a determination if a
facility couldn't meet that has only to do with the position
of that requirement during the interim status period?
MR. MARQUART: Not starting the new one.
MR. LINDSEY: And not after the facility has re-
ceived a full permit. In other words, when he receives the
full permit, he will have to have it all upfront.
MR. MARQUART: Yes.
MR. LINDSEY: Then are you saying that we should,
as an alternative, then, that we should, in some way, expand
that so that the Regional Administrator could take such
problems, financial problems* into account?
MR. MARQUART: A part of it, of course, was in
this, providing for the charges that',.would be used to pay
this off, I think.
MR. LINDSEY: In other words, over a period of time-
MR. MARQUART (interrupting): Yes. You said it
would be upfront. It's a question of accumulating the money
over a period of time is what our recommendation is aimed at
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
147
MR. LINDSEY: Let me just raise one of the problems
that we considered that as an approach at one point and, as
a matter of fact, if you've seen some of the preliminary
drafts which have been floating around, you. probably would
have seen that provision in there. But', the trouble is with
regard to closure requirements, which is^the only thing, if
I'm not mistaken, it is the only thing that requires up-front
money is that we have too. many instances of facilities, new
facilities, if you will, or existing facilities which simply
go under. If they go under before that money is built up
over a number of years, as I think your suggestion would be,
then there is no money available or insufficient amount of
money available to close the facility out properly which is
the most important thing when a facility is abandoned.
MR. MARQUART: I recognize that problem and realize
there must be a provision for proper closure, you can't get
away from that.
MR. LINDSEY: Then I would submit that your approach
of allowing this money to be built.up over a period of years
might not adequately provide that protection, there wouldn't
be funds available.
MR. MARQUART: Well, if you're talking about for
one single unit or whether you're talking about units as a
group.
MR. LINDSEY: Well, the regulations, as they're
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1.3
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
written now, apply to each specific —
MR. MARQUART (interrupting): When you're talking
about trust funds, you're talking about something, like you hav<
highway trust fund and other things like that where monies
are collected and put into a trust fund which is used over a
variety of things and allocated. As you.say, the practicality
of that for an individual thing would be questionable but an
overall industry wide trust fund is really what we're talking
about, the possibility should be considered. We're not
attempting to say here today that that absolutely is what
should be done. It's just a suggestion as a possibility that
we would present for your consideration.
MR. LIMDSEY: So as another option, we would perhaps
thenr-let!s see if I understand what you're saying, as another
option, then, we would then perhaps consider requiring a state-
wide or perhaps even nation-wide trust fund to be built up
for closure?
MR. MARQUART: Yes, I think on a state basis, yes.
MR. CORSON: I have,-a couple of points, Mr. Marquart.
One is a'"question. Earlier in your testimony you indicated
that you felt that we were being ultraconservative with our
ten times standard for defining hazardous waste due to
toxicity and later on you indicated you do not feel we should
allow any hazardous waste to leach at all or leach into the
system. I'm wondering whether your technical people may hav
«
-------
79
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
some guidance or advice to us as to—
MR. MARQUART (interrupting): That would be a question
I would ask them to present additional material before the
March deadline in writing on that.
MR. CORSON: Two other points I'd like just for
clarification. In your point two that, you raised with regard •
our separation of POT// sludge and others, that category is
what was raised this morning, all POTW sludge will be managed
under Section 405(d) of the Clean Water Act and the reason we
are excluding it is because there is overlapping coverage. We
don't have the authority under that section of the Act to
regulate or to let out nor.-POTW sludge because that Act does
not cover non-POTW sludge.
MR. MARQUART: O.K., sir, thank you.
MR. CORSON: The next clarifying point, and I'm just
wondering which direction you're coming from, that was in
your point three, Paragraph 215(f), which relates to a test
that someone might do to demonstrate that their waste does not
oelong in the system and the purpose of that particular sec-
tion is essentially to avoid what I call nuisance type public
hearings where someone felt that that', was the case. In other
vords, this is a case where an industry can submit data to
show their waste does not belong in the system. If an in-
terested person, let me just say somebody that probably be-
lieves that industry is trying to get- away with bloody murder
-------
30
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
149-A
here, they just can't demand a public hearing on the basis
they want to hear the record. They've got to have, as it
indicates there, genuine and relevant factual information to
indicate that should come to a public hearing. ,If, on the
other hand, the demonstration has been turned down, the data
provided in the demonstration has been turned down by the
Administrator, then the person submitting it may request that
public hearing.
MR. MARQUART: I think, maybe there was a misinter-
pretation of the language there it sounds to me like. Thank
you very much.
MR. CORSON: I felt'that just from what you said
there was.
MR. MARQUART: I would presume because I think what
you're saying is really what it was directed to.
MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Roland,I'm kind of curious. You
alluded to the possibility of potential price fixing. How
would you suggest that we might approach .this?
MR. MARQUART: Well, I think that was all tied in
with this question of the trust fund type of thing and all.
In other words, having provisions that would permit smaller
companies to get in business. So there was no thought that the
EPA should be a Federal Trade Commission at any place along
the line but rather that the concern with these regulations
as they might prevent some smaller companies.from getting into,
-------
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
150
competition, that was the only thought there.
Marquart.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH:. Thank you very much, Mr.
Is Robert Plank from Springfield, Missouri, here or
someone else from City Utilities of Springfield?
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Is Dr. Robert Poston here?
(No response.)
- CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., that's the end of my
list of people who asked to g±.ve us their comments. Is there
someone else who would like to speak on Section 3001?
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K. We will officially close
the hearing record now on 3001 and we will, I believe, pass
out three-by-five cards and if any of you would like to give
us written questions, if you could keep it to 3001, we would
certainly prefer that because we are going to be discussing
two, three and four in the next couple of days,we will attempt
to answer your questions. I guess we already have one from
Mr. Stegbauer and we'll start off with that.
We'll take five minutes.'
(A short recess was taken.)
(See separate transcript for Question and Answer
Session.)
25
-------
SEPARATE TRANSCRIPT FOR QUESTION AND
ANSWER SESSION
St. Louis, Missouri
February 14, 1979
-------
151
:l:jp 1 MR, LEHMAN: I'll start off the question and
2 answer session of our meeting.
3 Mr. Stegbauer asked the question, basically
4 why was waste oil considered to be not a—well, I guess
5 the gist of it was why was it singled out for special
6 treatment under the regulations,
7 The answer is that we know that the use of
8 waste oils for suppression purposes, road oiling, use
9 of the incineration of these oils has been known to cause
10 serious environmental effects. A very famous case occurred
11 right here in Missouri, Verona, Missouri, for example
12 where a waste oil collector collected not only waste oil
13 but other things and sprayed a horse arena with that
14 material and a lot of other roads in the area, and
15 there were some very severe environmental effects in-
16 volving the health of children and the death of animals
17 in that area,
18 With respect to the incineration of waste oils,
19 we are particularly concerned with the heavy metal con-
20 tent of lubricating, in particular automotive lubricating
2i oils. We have some data that indicates it's as high
22 as about 8,000 parts of lead in certain automotive oils
23 as a result of capture of the lead from leaded gasoline
24 in the crankcase oil. We feel that the incineration of
25 such oils could very easily, if it was done in uncontrol-
led manner, result in some serious environmental problems.
-------
5:2:jp
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
152
So, for all of these reasons, we have tended to believe
that waste oils, in particular automotive crankcase
oils, but also I might add certain other types of
cutting oils, industrial cutting oils and so on, which
do include among them heavy metal shavings and so forth,
do deserve some special treatment under these regula-
tions o That's the basic rationale behind treating
waste oil as we have0
Now, I have another question here relating to
waste oil0 It says, "Waste oils which are generated
within a facility and then burned on site for fuel, heat
value, why are these considered hazardous and fall under
Subtitle C regulations?"
Well, here again the waste oils that we are
talking about here, depending on what kind of oils
you're referring to, we are specific in Section 250,10-(b)
when it's saying, "Using lubricating hydraulic, trans-
former, transmission or cutting oil"; if it's those
types of oils then they do fall into our definition of
discarded materials. Other types of oils would not
necessarily, I might comment on transformer oils,that
the obvious problem we foresee there is the possibility
that transformer oils might contain PCB's, or even if
they were substituted into any kind of transformer oper-
ation which was drained of PCBfe and and then substituted
-------
153
i other mineral oils could pick up other contamination
2 with PCBfeo So, we're concerned about those particular
^
3 types of waste oil, and so it's a little difficult to
4 answer this question without knowing explicitly what type
5 of waste oil is being discussed here; but I think the
6 basic point is that while we recognize that we want to
7 encourage energy conservation where possible, that's
8 also one of the goals of the Resource Conservation
9 Recovery Act, it's not only public health and environ-
10 mental protection but it is also recovery and reuse of
11 materials for energy. We recognize that, but we're
12 in essence trading off these two goals at this point
13 with respect to waste oil0
14 I might also point out that it does not, these
15 regulations do not preclude the use of waste oil as
16 a fuel, heat value source,. All we're saying is that
17 if the type of waste oil that I've just discussed is to
18 be used for fuel purposes then it requires a permit,,
19 In other words, we want to know about it and we want
20 to have some control over the type of oil that goes in,
2i the burning conditions under which it Is burned, and so
22 forth. So, that's that0
23 All right, let's go on to some other questions,
24 MR, LINDSEY: I have a couple here:
25 "Will the EPA and the states be able to process
-------
5:4:jp
154
1 disposable facility permit applications fast enough to
2 accommodate the thousands of newly-designated genera-
3 tors of hazardous waste as a result of these proposals?"
4 First of all, the first point I want to bring
5 out is the generators do not need permits, unless they
6 treat, store and dispose on site0 Now, Congress recog-
7 nized the fact that it would take some time for EPA
8 and the states to process- permit applications, and that's
9 why the provision in the Act for interim status is
10 there. If someone has notified us under Section 3010,
11 and has applied for a permit—in this case we1!! have
12 a two-part permit—has submitted Fart A, then they are
13 considered as having a permit for purposes of continuing
14 to operate until EPA acts on the permit,
15 There are two reasons for that: Number ore is
16 because Congress realizes it takes time to go through
17 a backlog of permits, and another reason is because--
18 it has been mentioned earlier here today I think-that
19 there is a problem with the capacity of facilities,
20 That is, there is not now sufficient acceptable capacity
2i available for permitting right off the top. We expect
22 to use this mechanism of interim status to help us time
23 the permitting activity to correspond insofar as we're
24 able with the availability of acceptable capacity,
25 . The second question is: "Is it the Agency's
-------
5:5:jp
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
155
intent to include normal silvicultural management in
harvesting wastes which are usually left in the forest
as erosion control and game management aids under the
agricultural exemption, and if not, why not?"
First of all, I doubt that those "materials would
be hazardous under the definition of 3001; however,
insomuch as timber is a crop, I'll have to admit that
it rs not something which I personally have thought
about and I don't know whether the rest of our staff
has thought about it. Should those kinds of materials
turn out to be hazardous, I would think that we xvould
look favorably upon them in the sense that they might
be covered in the same way as farm waste insofar as they
ara a crop, but I can't imagine them being hazardous»
If somebody has information that indicates they are
hazardous, where it would fail our definition here,
maybe we would want to rethink that,
MR, CORSON: I have a couple of questions here:
"In the seminar in Houston last year, a re-
presentative Hawaii Conversion Incorporated reported
that the company used EPA's proposed construction pro=
cedure on a sample of concrete,containing a level of
.12 parts per million of cadmium. Two questions: One,
do you know about this and if yes, how valid is the
claim; Number two, if the claim is valid this sample would
-------
5:6:jp
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
156
make the weigh station hazardous waste, and do we
want that?"
I guess I have heard thac same report and I cannot
assess the validity of the claima I'm sure if they
recorded it, than in their conduct of the test that's
what they found„ There have been changes made to the
extraction procedure since that time. At that point
we were using a buffered—a method of continuously
adding acid to maintain a pH of 5 at the end of two 24- --..
hour period, so in 48 hours it always had enough acid
in it with a final pH of five0 As a result of comcients
we got at that point in time we have modified the
extraction procedure so we now have a maximum amount
of acid that we add for the given sample, and I'm
confident that at this point in time concrete would not
fail—let me change the wording—that analyzing the
extract from subjecting concrete to the extraction
procedures in the analysis, that would not fai!0 Just
as a matter of semantics, you don't fail or pass an
E.P. The E.Po is a method for extracting releasable
contaminants through a solubility test for the waste
and we then do evaluate it according to the standard
shown for toxicity under the proposal.
Another question related to "When does a
waste become a waste? 3y way of description presently
-------
5:
1 used, sodium hydroxide to chemically metal aluminum.
2 We discard it now, but in the future we will recover
3 some of the spent hydroxide and reuse it. What cannot
4 be recovered will be disposed of. Will then this
5 sodium hydroxide solution be considered a waste before
6 or after recovery?" The answer is it will be considered
7 waste when you get rid of it. The recovered part is
8 not a waste0 When you're through with the spent part
9 and you're not using it anymore, then it is a waste
10 and subject to evaluation according to our character-
ll istics,
12 Question: "With regard to the ignitable waste
13 definition as now written, any waste which ignites at
14 140F, or burns air, burns vigorously or persistently
15 when ignited, is ignitable regardless of ignition
16 temperatures. Was this the intent of this section
17 or should the word 'or1 really be 'and'?"
18 By way of explanation we're using 130 degree
19 flash point for liquids. We share with the rest of the
20 people out there the difficulty for determining a de-
21 finitive test for solids in terms of ignitability. So,
22 we have tried to describe those things which might
23 cause, or which could define an ignitable solid. One
24 of them is something which will burn vigorously when
25 ignitedo The major reason for including it—and it is
-------
158
5:8:jp 1 meant to be 'or1 as it now reads—is we would like to
2 make sure, and 3004 deems it so, that those kinds of
3 materials are kept out of the landfill environment
4 where fires are more likely to occur. We really
5 recommend that some other method of disposal or final
6 disposition be used for ignitables.
7 A question: "How are the compounds listed
8 in the priority pollutants list to be used in clas-
9 sifying a waste as hazardous?"
10 That gives me a chance to offer an explanation
11 for three of the appendices that are listed. These are
12 the appendices which have the selected cancelled and
13 Arfar pesticides, the D.00T0 Poison A, Poison B, A
14 list and the selected list of priority pollutantsa
15 Because of the limited definition we have for hazar-
16 dous waste, we felt there were certain of these, to
17 use the word, pure materials, which if the material were
18 disposed of does require some special attention,, And
19 there are four categories that we mentioned, material
20 which is a discarded material but if it were shipped
21 would be defined by any of the names listed on any of
22 those three appendices, the pesticides, the D,O.T,
23 priority pollutant, spill cleanup residues from those
24 same materials, off-spec materials if it's a discarded
25 material, and containers which are going to disposition,
-------
5:S:jp
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
159
unless they have been triple-rinsed. So, a container—
just let me amplify the last one—container which is
going to a reclaimer is not another discarded material,
it is not a solid waste, it is out of the system in total.
Now, a container from one of these materials which has
been emptied, the container is going to disposition,
you're going to bury it or whatever, that container
has not been triple-rinsed, it is a hazardous waste.
The other point that I should indicate at this
time, though, is that there is nothing about—even though
it's part of tomorrow's discussion—you may still ship
those empty containers using a manifest, or a shipping
paper, rather, because they may still fit in the D.O.T.
standards as a hazardous material, even the ones that
we have left out of the system.
Another question: "Are hazardous washes destined
for recovery or reclamation which do not have a value
to the generator, are they considered hazardous and
subject to 3001; the generator pays to have it hauled
off, it does not have a value, it's a reclaimer?"
After many discussions and deliberations we
took out of our definition of discarded material any
association with value, because itrs been very difficult
to say how much this had to be worth, trying to put an
economic value on it. We really are looking at it only
-------
5:10:jp
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
160
if it is being reused in a manner which does not con-
stitute disposal, and is not a used oil as defined,
In chose cases it is not a waste, it's going to a re-
claimer which is out of the system.*
Now, as indicated earlier as a result of one
of our comments, we have made some of these decisions
leaning in the direction of fostering and sponsoring
resources, recovery of resources utilization, while
at the same time providing what we feel is an adequate
amount of protection of public health and the environ-
ment. And we've left the door open, for example, we've
only listed certain waste oils as being always a dis-
carded material,, We may add other things to that same
list if we find that there are other that deserve
that distinction of always being considered a waste
because the tendency to use them in an improper manner
is too high, or the things usually are frequently con-
taminated enough that they deserve and have the atten-
tion of this regulation.
MR0 LINDSEY: I've got one here that's kind of
complex and I'll see if I can wind my way through it
here.
"I would like to know, or I'd like EPA to ad-
dress the question of what is considered, 'significant
reduction of odors, volatiles, and pathogenic micro-
-------
<5 - 1 1 • •! T
J. -i.J-.jp
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
.17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
161
organisms', and how the wastes from holding pens at
packing houses be addressed by EPA. Due to present
definitions and interpretations it would appear that
those waste and sludge from activated sludge plants
used by that industry, could not be applied to crop
Iand0"
Well now, that gets into some, gets in depth
in the identification here under one of the lists, and
if the person who asked this question happens to have
a copy of the regs they will probably want to look at
250.14-(b), which is where this particular quote comes
from. It says:
"Hazardous waste sources and processors, sources
generating hazardous wates. The following sources
generate hazardous waste unless the waste from these
sources does not contain micro-organisms or elements of
CoD0Co classes 2 through 5 of the etiologic agents listed
in Appendix 6,"
Well, first of all, off the top, I don't really
know whether these kinds of waste have those kinds of
micro-organisms or elements in them. Assuming that they
do, we'll go on to the next piece, which shows up under
little iii down at the bottom of the lefthand corner of
that page which says:
"Sewage treatment plants, with the exception
-------
5:12:jp
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
162
of publicly owned treatment works, unless sludge'gener-
ated by such a plant has been stabilized by means of
chemical, physical, thermal or biological treatment pro-
cesses that result in significant reduction of odors,
volatile organics and pathogenic micro-organisms."
That specifically is the quote that the
gentleman is interested in. And these processes are
discussed then in a document which we have referenced
herec It's an EPA document, a process design manual
for sludge treatment and disposal.
Well, to address that partioiar point, first
of all we come to the question is manure from feed lots,
is that sewage? And there is at least question in my
mind as to whether it is or not. Now, I don't think
we've arrived at that. Maybe we need to look at the
definition and determine whether it should or shodd
not be sewagee If it's not sewage, then it wouldn't
be covered here, and I'm not sure I have the answer
for that right now0 We'll have to take that into ac-
count and address that point.
Second of all, if the gentleman treats it
in an activated sludge plant as he indicates is done
by the industry, then it's also not covered, because
that's one of the process designs which is in this manual,
So, by and large, through one of the given situations
-------
163
1 which he's discussing here, through one of those three
2 possibilities that particular material is probably not
3 listed in the sense that 250.14-(b) identifies waste,
4 and thus it could be disposed of on cropland, I would
5 assume,, We will have to take a look at if the one point
6 which is brought up here which I don't think we fully
7 thought through, or if we have, I'm not aware of it,
8 whether or not feedlot waste constitutes sewage. When
9 we talk about sewage we normally are talking about human
10 waste0
11 In any event, I guess the bottom line of all
12 that is that the material's almost certainly not covered,
13 given the situation which he gave us.
14 MRO LEHMAN: I have a number of people con-
15 cerned about waste oil and I haven't gotten through all
16 of these questions, but I can answer one of them:
17 "Waste oil, I did not understand your response.
18 if you have waste oil from motors, hydraulic appli-
19 cations, et cetera, can you use it in boilers, in-
20 cinerators, liquid, as fuel; if not, what exactly do you
21 do with it?"
22 The answer is, yes, you can use it in boilers
23 and incinerators as fuel, I indicated that these regu-
24 lations did not preclude the use of waste oil in those
25 or for those purposes, vfliai: you do need, though, is a
-------
164
permit to do it» In other words, you can do it if you
2 have a permit.
Here's another one related to some extent to
4 this, but not really; it says:
"With the current shortage of oil, namely
6
12
15
gasoline, do you not feel that these broad hazardous
waste regulations will cause further shortage due to
hauling hazardous waste long distances to permitted
9 facilities?"
1 Well, this is not a simple question to answer,
because our information is that there likely to be move-
ment in both directions. In certain industries it ap-
13 pears that there will be a shift from on-site disposal
14 to off-site disposal, which would imply further use of
gasoline to haul it. On the other hand, we have infor-
16 mation that there are certain industrial sectors where
17 the opposite is true, where current off-site disposal
18 will shift to on-site disposal, because of the generating
19 industry wanting to have better control over the dis-
20 posal of waste it generates * So, at this time it is
21 not—we are net able to say with any assurance which of
22 those two is going to predominate0 The best information
23 we have right now is it looks like it might be a wash;
in other words, there will be about equal amounts shif-
25 ting from one type of disposal to the other, therefore,
-------
165
1 we don't anticipate any impact on the shortage of
2 gasoline.
3 Another question, different subject:
4 "What medical advisory support does EPA have
5 to aid you in medical-related concerns related to these
6 regulations?"
7 Well, the working groups developing these
8 regulations include, among others, members not only from
9 the office of Solid Waste,but-SPA biologists and toxico-
10 legists from the Office of Pesticides Programs, Office
11 o£ Toxic Substances, the Carcinogenic Assessment Groups,
12 and so fc^rth, and also biologists and toxicologists
/
13 from the National Institute of Health.
14 ; MR. LINDSEY: I've got one more here. This
15 is anotht.r rather new question for me anyway:
\
1($ "Under what conditions can containers which
17 cannot physically be triple rinsed—paper bags, for
18 example—can they be considered non-hazardous? What
19 procedures similar to triple rinsing can be used so that
20 this large volume of empty cleaned containers can be
2l disposed of in sanitary landfill?"
22 Well, the answer that I have here from the
23 staff is that basically now triple rinse does not
24 refer to anything except things which can be triple
25 rinsed in accordance with the definition, under 250021,
-------
166
1 so that that definition would not now apply to empty
2 paper bags, for example, because as this particular
3 person points out you can't triple rinse them. So,
4 there is no procedure. If in fact they flunk the charac-
5 teristics, then they're hazardous and would have to be
6 disposed of accordingly,, On the other hand, staff
7 indicates to me—and I'll throw this out—that there
8 are—that they are considering and have considered
9 some sort of a procedure which would be equivalent
10 and perhaps adding "or the equivalent" to the triple
11 rinsing definition, and that might include something
12 like shaken, tapped, air-blasted, or some sort of
13 technique like that.
14 I guess the person who asked this question
15 might have some ideas along those lines, and we would
16 not be averse to hearing them. If someone wants to
17 make comments along the lines for containers which cannot
18 be triple-rinsed physically in accordance with the
19 definition here, what other alternative cleaning ap-
20 preaches for other kinds of containers would be equivalent
21 to triple rinsing? If someone wants to make those
22 kinds of comments to us and get them in before March 16,
23 it might be helpfulo
24 Another note here that I have from the staff
25 is chat the real test here might be what the Department
-------
167
of Transportation considers to be empty, and if the
2
question or intent here of the person's question is to
3
dispose of large numbers of bags off-site, they may also
require D.O.T0 shipping papers, irregardless of any
regulations which we may have0
6 Here's another one, and I think this person
may be misinterpreting something:
p
"The February 5 issue of the Oil and Gas
Journal reported that EPA would require 300 days ad-
vance notice of intention to drill, which would allow
11
15
time for I.S."—this is environmental statement—"and
12 public hearing before a permit is issued. Could you
13 clarify this requirement on permits to drill, along
with the need for permits for creating surface pits,
ponds, et cetera, for drilling mud or wastes of that
16 nature?"
17 R.C.R.Ao doesn't require anybody to get a permit
to drill for oil or gas, which I assume is what this is,
19 However, under the Underground Injection Control Program,
20 injection of wastes, from the drilling perhaps, brines,
21 et cetera, injection into subsurface, there is a set
22 of regulations which was proposed some time ago and
23 will be re-proposed soon, which would address that. We
24 are not versed well enough in that area to really take
25 detailed questions on that, and someone wants to see oie
-------
168
1 after the meeting, I can put you in touch with the people
2 who you should talk to.
3 On the other hand, the question did go a little
4 bit further and talk about surface pits and ponds for
5 drilling mud and perhaps for storage of brines and so
6 forth. If hazardous, those naterials would be covered
7 by the Special Waste section, under Section 3005, That's
8 included as one of the special wastes, and if I can
9 find it here I'll tall you what section that is—3004,
10 excuse me—regulations under 250,46-(6), the last thing
11 in the regulations, in which those materials are con-
12 sidered to be special wastes until we have time to
13 collect additional information and decide how or whether
14 these materials should be regulated in the broad sense.
15 It gives me a chance to explain a little bit the special
16 waste categorieso
17 The special waste categories are there because
18 by and large these are very large volume kinds of
19 materials which, according to the limited information
20 we have thus far, appear to in some cases fail the
21 characteristics or some portion of them does in many
22 cases. Very large volumes, relatively low on the
23 hazard scale; and appear not to be particularly amenable
24 to the kinds of controls that we've placed on other
25 hazardous wastes under this Section 3004 regulation.
-------
169
1 We just don't have enough information to
2 adequately decide how to regulate these particular
3 things at the moment, and thus we will be collecting
4 that information over the next period of years and
5 will then propose some substantive regulations, probably,
6 for those that fall out as hazardous,
7 There are, however, in special waste standards
8 here, some limited regulations which apply now to these
9 kinds of facilities0 They have to do with waste analysis
10 and some site selection criteria, security criteria,
11 keeping records and doing monitoring activities so that
12 we can gather information on these particular wastes.
13 Incidentally, under Section 3005, which has
14 not, as we pointed out earlier, been proposed yet—it
15 will be within the next four to six weeks—we will be,
16 or I expect we will be proposing, I'm not so sure until
17 they show up, but I expect we will be proposing that
18 these specific special wastes, while during this period
19 while we're considering them to be special wastes, that
20 they will receive what we call permit by rule. In other
21 words, if they meet these limited set of standards here
22 they will be considered as having a permit for purposes
23 of R,C,R0A0 If they do not comply with these set of
24 standards, then they will be in violation of all of
25 the requirements.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
170
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: One announcement: There
is an urgent message for Paul Williams someone brought
up to me, if he wants to pick that up0
I also have a question here:
"Is the question of raising the exemption
limit from 100 kilograms to 1,000 kilograms still open?"
The answer to that is yes» If you look at
page 58947, we positively solicit proposals on waste to
treat waste between 100 and 1,000 kilograms, whether
there may be other alternatives.
The second part of this question is:
"If so, if it is still open, how do you
see the chances of raising the limit?"
And the answer to that is, we don't see the
chances until we see all the comments and supporting
data that we get during the comment period and we have
a chance to analyze that. We have to base our decision
on our rule-making record, and there is really no way
we can assess that sort of issue until we see what the
comments are.
MR0 LEHMAN: I have a question here. I'll
read the question first and then cotrinent onit, because
part of the question is—really makes a statement, whidi
is incorrect, but I'll read it as submitted:
"If a company accumulates waste oil for reclama-
-------
171
1 tion for more chan 90 days and then has it reclaimed,
2 the company would net be a generator of hazardous waste,
3 but if after 90 days the company had to dispose of part
4 of the used oil, would it then be a generator and storer;
5 would it thus become a violator of R.C.R.A. regulations?"
6 Well, first of all, in the case that was dis-
7 cussed in that first sentence, I'm assuming this accu-
8 mulation is going on on-site. If the company accumulates
9 waste oil for reclamation on site for more than 90 days,
10 the statement says the company would not be a generator
11 of hazardous waste,. This is not correct. The genera-
12 tion of any waste oil makes you, assuming it's listed
13 in our hazardous waste list, maices you a hazardous
14 waste generator. You would also be a storer of hazar-
15 dous waste oil if you stored for more than 90 days,
!6 which requires a permit, under R«,C0R,A.
!7 Now, as to the second part of that, if you
18 disposed of this would it then be a generator-storer?
19 Yes. In other words, whether you dispose of it or whether
20 yousend it to a reclamation thing, if you kept the oil
2l for more than 90 days on site, you're both a generator
22 and a storer anyway,,
23 Then the last part of it: "Would the company
24 thus become a violator of R0C.R0A0 regulations?" Well,
25 hopefully not. Hopefully they will get the necessary
-------
172
1 permits and do it righta I niean, it's not a prior
2 violation of R.C.R.A. regulations to store oil for 90
3 days, just have to have the right permits to do it,
4 Waste oil again; I don't know how we got
5 started on waste oi!0
6 "How will the performance standards for
7 incinerators alleviate the heavy metals problem?"
8 Well, we have evidence that properly designed
9 scrubbers can capture at least some of these heavy metals
10 that we're worried about,, This may lead, though, to
11 the fact that the ash or the scur water may also be a
12 hazardous waste. This is discussed to some extent in
13 our Section 250045-(1) (e) regulations, where we
14 discuss the scrubber requirements for hazardous waste
15 incinerators. Basically, though, what we're really
16 driving at here is the use of waste oil in an uncon-
17 troller power boiler, such as used in apartment houses,
18 schools—you name it—where the burning of many types
19 of waste oil can lead to what we consider to be a public
20 health problem,,
21 MR. CORSON: One easy one because I'm going to
22 defer it to tomorrow; someone asks:
23 "Are Class C explosives regulated as reactive
24 or ignitable wastes? Can anything be said about Class C
25 explosives as a group?"
-------
173
Class C explosives is a definition used by
the Department of Transportation, and I don't know
2
enough about their definition to answer the question,.
Somebody suggested the questioner save it for tomorrow
afternoon and we will have a D.O.T0 representative here,
6 Another question:
7 "For materials of marginal reclaiming value
8 for which a generator and/or a hauler must pay a re-
Q
claimer to take, what is to keep the material from being
dumped illegally under the present definition of
11 3001 and 3003?"
12 I guess there's nothing that's going to prevent
13 somebody from doing something illegal if they want to
14 do it, other than whatever penalties we assess when they
15 get caught,, If somebody sets out to beat the system,
16 I guess they're going to try until that time occurs,
17 I only use it as an analogy: The 10R»S» has besiwriting
1 ft
tax instructions for some number of years now, and every
19 year there are some people that are taken to court
20 who are doing things improperly. The only thing that
21 will happen I think, as a part of our intent at laast,
22 is if we find some of these things we are doing to
23 encourage resource recovery, resource utilization, are
24 leading to a widespread practice of trying to drive through
25 the loopholes, then we are likely to clamp down and
-------
174
1 essentially remove all of those encouragements and make
everybody suffer for the few.
3 Question: "Have all the waste streams listed in
4 the process description undergone the E.P., and if so
5 what results—that is, have 100 per cent failed the
6 E0Po test?"
7 There are only a few of the wastes—and I can't
8 name them—who are not listed and have undergone the E.?.
9 The data on most of the, or behind most of the listings—
10 and I encourage any of you whose wastes are listed to
11 look at the background document. There is a separate
12 one- to three-page writeup for each of the wastes that
13 is listed. It gives the source of the data which iden-
14 tifies that waste as hazardous. In many cases this
15 includes data from industry studies which EPA conducted,
16 data from studies and samplings done by the Effluent
17 Guidelines Division and some of their effluent guidelines
18 work, and in many cases of those on the list, data
19 coming off of manifests used in the State of California
20 which is data supplied by the generator when he sent
21 the waste to the hazardous waste facility, coming from
22 those same industries,,
23 Another question: "What about wastes such
24 as asbestos? I don't see where 3001 catches it."
25 We did quite a bit of looking at asbestos as
-------
175
1 a problem waste. Our analysis of the situation was
2 that it appeared to us that asbestos is adequately,
3 or is managed adequately under the Air Act,, as a
4 hazardous air pollutant. The Act does provide that—I
5 " guess the only thing I thought I saw that might be missing
6 covering asbestos might have been brake shoes coming off
7 of cars, but any manufacturing operation, any renovation
8 program, I think they set some minimum definition on
9 number of apartments pulling down the piping and looking
10 at the asbestos insulation on pipes. But that does
11 provide for adequate management, we felt, of asbestos
12 from those sources; therefore, we did not include asbestos
13 in any of our lists.
14 Question: "Under what legislative authority
15 are sliines, tailings and over-burns from phosphate
16 mining included in 3001 when R.C0R«A. specifically
17 addresses those as not being hazardous wastes since
18 this is return to the mine for reclamation?"
19 I think what the Act is referring to, and I
20 don't believe that R.C.R.A. makes that distinction but
21 I believe that the legislative history of the House
22 Report indicates that those wastes going to the mine for
23 reclamation are not to be included in terms of other
24 discarded material as defined in the act, but the -yery
25 next sentence in that legislative history indicates
-------
176
1 that this is not to stop us from naming certain of
2 those •wasts as a hazardous waste if we feel they present
3 a problem. It is on that basis we presented these
4 phosphate mining wastes, because we felt their radio-
5 activity is one that required some of these special
6 management techniques that we've called for0
7 "Why are nitrates and flourides that are listed
8 in the Drinking Water Act toxic list, why have these
9 been eliminated from the toxic list?"
10 The second question: "Do you think cyanide
11 should also be on the toxic list?"
12 What we do when we look at the Drinking Water
13 Standards, we selected those we felt were the key ones
14 that we should deal with in terms of their release in
!5 the environmento We did not—we felt that the flourides
16 were taken care of through the Drinking Water problem
17 and the nitrates were too frequently used in the fer-
18 tilizer business, we were unable to get a good handle
19 on what we should do with it,
20 I do want to call your attention though to the
21 fact that cyanides are listed. We do have, for example,
22 on page 58557, which is in the 250.14 (a) section, we
23 do specifically list spent or waste cyanide solutions
24 or sludges as being both reactive and toxic,
25 Under 250.12 (c), which relates to petitions
-------
177
1 for listing hazardous wastes, is it the intention of
2 the Agency to require all petitions requesting additions
3 to the list to supply the same information of others
4 for demonstration of non-inclusion?"
5 I guess I'd better go back and read what we
6 said. We didn't specifically state. What we do indicate
7 in 250012 (c), is we do expect a petitioner to show us
8 how it meets the criteria that we have given for either
9 identifying a characteristic, if the petitioner wishes
10 to add a characteristic, or how it meets the criteria
11 for listing given that that is the reason for which the
12 petitioner is requesting the addition. So, we do expect
13 data to come with it, the petition, not just a request
14 to put something on the list.
15 MRS. SCHAFFER: O.K., I have a couple of ques-
16 tions, the first two concerning the 100 kilogram limit,
17 The first one says:
18 "Does the 100 kilogram limit apply to the
19 total body of waste or just the active ingredients?"
20 It's the total body of waste, unless that
21 waste is separated out, and as we have discussed before,
22 it is treated as a separate waste stream and can't go
23 to a hazardous waste management facility versus the rest
24 of the waste which is not hazardous can go to a Subtitle
25 D facility. So, if you combine all your waste together,
-------
178
1 it's the total body of waste that are considered
2 hazardous.
3 00Ko, second question on 100 kilograms is:
4 "Is a person who generates less than 100 kilo-
5 grams a month of a listed waste a genera tor ?rt
6 No, not if he also dispcs es of that amount
7 per month0 So, he can generate 99 kilograms and get
8 rid of that 99 kilograms per month without coming under
9 the RoCoR.A. system0
10 My last question is:
11 "How do you plan to enforce the 90 day
12 storage limit of the hazardous waste on site by a
13 generator?"
14 It's kind of a two-part answer: First of all,
15 if the generator plans to send his waste off site he
16 must, and he does not want to come—ha wants to be in-
17 eluded in this 90 day exemption for storage—he's got
18 to place his waste in D000To containers,, If he places
19 them in D0O.T. containers they must be properly labeled
20 and on that lable is the manifest number, and that manifest
21 number is a serially increasing number and by using
22 normal business records we can check to see when that
23 waste was generated and if we can find out then we'll know
24 when it's being held for more than 90 Jays,
25 Now, if it's an on-site—if the generator dis-
-------
179
poses of his waste on site he wiU have a permit per se,
2
and will most likely that type of storage will come under
3
one of the permit conditions, will just be part of the
4
whole R.CoR.A. permit,,
5
MR. LEHMAN: We're still back on waste oi!0
I'm the waste oil person today.
Question: "Would wasta lubricating oil burned
8
in a gasoline or diesel engine mixed with proper fuel
9
be allowed or prohibited?"
Well, as I discussed earlier, our primary
concern was the use of waste oil as a fuel in power
12
boilers. To be quite honest with you, I never even
13
thought about the use of lube oil in a gasoline or
14
diesel engine mixed with fue!0 I believe the answer to
the basic question, though, is no, I don't think we would
prohibit that,, In other words, we would allow that, and
it wouldn't be our intention to deal with that use under
18
our regulations. But it does point out, however, that
19
we may need to carefully reword that definition so that
20
we take into account a lot of these cases that are being
21
brought out here.
22
Question, and this is a three-part question:
23 "Are oil re-refiners subject to the 3004 per-
94
mitting requirement?"
25
Question two: "If not, is a manifest required
-------
130
1 to deliver waste oils to the facility?"
2 Question three: "Assuming re-refiners need
3 a 3004 permit, why don't solvent recovery operations
4 need one? After all, in one case waste oils are re-
5 refined and in the other solvents are re-refined,"
6 Let's go back to question one: MAre oil re-
7 refiners subject to the 3004 permitting requirements?"
8 The answer is not formally0 Now, this gets back to
9 the definition of discarded materials and Section 250,10,
10 where we have attempted, as we discussed earlier, to
n draw a line between materials that are waste and materials
12 that are not waste. And what we're really saying here
13 is that a waste oil which is reused after re-refining
14 as a lubricating oil, which is the basic purpose of re-
15 refining waste oil, then that is not prohibited, it does
16 not need a permit, and so on. In other words, we want
17 to encourage re-refining of lubricating oil, re-refining
18 of waste oil to make lubricating oil out of it. So, the
19 answer to the first question then is that oil re-refiners
20 would not normally need a permit, if the output or
2i the product they re-refine is used as a used lubricating
22 °ilo
23 I want Co draw a distinction here between oil
24 re-refiners and oil re-processers. Oil re-processing
25 does not necessarily result in a product v/nich can be
-------
181
1 used as a lubricating oil , particularly in automotive
2 engines,
3 The second question was: "If not"—and the
4 answer is probably not—"is a manifest required to
5 deliver waste oils to the facility?"
6 Here again the question is no, if the output
7 is used as a lube oi!0 If the output is used in these
8 cases that we cited here, namely if the output is used,
9 if it constitutes disposal, in other words land disposal,
10 dust suppression and that sort of thing, or if it is
11 incinerated as fuel in boilers, then the answer is yes0
12 We want to keep that use under control, or those uses
13 under control.
14 So, the answer to the third question is
15 somewhat moot now in the sense that they were basically
16 trying to say why do re-refiners need a permit if solvent
17 recovery operations donft» Basically what we're saying
18 is I think we've got a consistent practice here; that
19 we want to encourage solvent recovery and we want to
20 encourage re-refining of oi!0 So, neither one of them
21 would need a permit under those circumstances,,
22 Well, let me answer another one, I think
23 I've finally got one that doesn't deal with waste oil,
24 This goes back to the 1974 report to Congress
25 on hazardous waste management. It says:
-------
182
"Several issues were presented and then later
f\
aborted,, Can you explain why, or their current status?
3 "One: A relative toxicity index was presented;
4 why was this abandoned?"
5 Well, I draw a blank on that. Members of
6 my staff draw a blank on that0 Whoever wrote this ques-
7 tion, if he would come up and see us after this session
8 is over we'll have to discuss that some more, because
9 we don't recall a relative toxicity—I don't have a copy
10 of the '74 report here with me, but I don't recall
11 that being in the re „
12 Second point: "A concept of government-owned
13 treatment sites for treatment of wastes; where is this
14 now?"
15 That's a reference to what was known as
16 the National Disposal Site Concept, and the thrust of the
17 1974 report to Congress was that if you had a set of
18 government-owned treatment sites but you did not have a
19 regulatory program to make it mandatory that the waste
20 be sent to such a site, that you would end up with
21 an ultimate billion dollar set of white elephants.
22 In- other words, the cost of operating those facilities
23 would be considerably higher than current practice, and
24 so we recommended that rather than set up a series of
25 government-owned treatment sites that what was really
-------
183
1 needed was a regulatory program—at least first you
2 needed a regulatory program, which the Congress subse-
3 quently took care of with R.C0R.A.
4 And then the concept went further and said
5 if you had a regulatory program then there was a great
6 deal of incentive for the private sector to build
7 and operate—in other words, the capital would come for-
8 ward to build and operate hazardous waste disposals of
9 various kinds„ And through the regulatory pressures
10 you are basically providing a lot of customers for
ll such facilities; therefore, you probably don't need
12 a set of government-owned treatment sites0
13 So, that's where it is now. In other words,
14 the basic philosophy of R.C.R.A, follows what I've
15 just describedo The Congress in essence agreed with the
16 EPA philosophy in that 1974 report. R,CoR<>A0 basically
17 sets up a regulatory program, it does not have any
18 provisions within it for the setting up of govemment-
19 owned treatment sites; however, there have recently
20 been seme proposals to get close to that sort of thing,
21 Congressman Finley of Illinois, who I understand will
22 be with us tomorrow, introduced a bill last August, I
23 believe which among other things would require that all
24 hazardous waste facilities would be sited on federal
25 land. Now, thst's different than the federal government
-------
184
1 owning and operating facilities there, I think the
2 concept there was not necessarily the government putting
3 up the capital for such site or for such facilities, but
4 rather that all of these—in Congressman Findlay's
5 amendment it would have meant that all of the facil-
6 ities would have to be located on federal land but not
7 necessarily owned or operated by them. But at any rate,
8 there are at the present time, there is no provision
9 within R.CoRoA. for this sort of series of government-
10 owned treatment centers.
ll A third point: "An estimate of $65 per ton
12 for hazardous waste treatment was presented in 1973 dollars.
13 Is that a good figure?"
14 I think that is a good figure;if you take that
15 1973 dollars and give 1979 dollars, you're probably
16 talking somewhere around $80-$90 a ton, and I think
17 that's about in the range that we anticipate for treat-
18 ment. It is also consistent with the costs that I know
19 are charged in Europe for this type of treatment.
20 MR. LINDSEY: "If you are a disposer of hazar-
21 dous waste and the method of disposal is deep well
22 would you clarify the R.C.RoA. position? The main
23 concern is the definition and permitting areaa"
24 Well disposal is covered under the Safe Drinking
25 Water Act, under the underground injection or what we
-------
185
1 call UIC program. It will not be covered by R.C0R.A.
2 There is an overlapping authority here, but
3 we have chosen to cover that under the underground
4 injection control program. Surface facilities, however,
5 that an operation has that also may have a well would
6 be covered if they're handling wastes, for example
7 waste was trucked in, goes through some sort of a treat-
8 ment mechanism perhaps or maybe there is some wastes
9 are treated in one way and others are well-disposed,
10 those would be covered, or could be covered under
11 RoCoR«A0 if the waste involved is hazardous,,
12 I should also point out that under the permit-
13 ting regulations, under Section 30005 of R.C.RoA,, we
14 are currently integrating those procedural regulations
15 for getting a permit with similar regulations under
16 MPDES and under the underground injection control program,
17 so it will be possible for those people who have a deep
18 well disposing of hazardous waste which would be covered
19 by the underground injection control program, and those
20 people who also have the need for a R.C.R.A. program
21 because of other treatment or disposal activities, to
22 make their application all at once, if you will, and the
23 processing of that application would be conducted to-
24 gether0 We're even going so far at this moment as trying
25 to come up with a single permit application form and
-------
136
1 things of that nature in order to speed this up.
2 So, there is an integration activity going on there,
3 Here's something that I should have given
4 Mr0 Lehman here because it has something to do with
5 oils. Anyway, I'll handle this one:
6 "Are recycled transformer oils, cleaned and
7 put in central receptacles for use in other transformers
8 to be classed as hazardous, and would a permit be
9 required?"
10 And there's a little footnote here which
ll says: "Assume the absence o£P.C.B.", so that really
12 makes a change because P.C.B. is covered under phosphate
13 regulations o
14 The answer to that is no; if you look under
15 250.10, which is essentially the scope section of
16 the 3001, you can see how oils are handled, and I think
17 we addressed this before, but at the risk of being
18 repetitious I'll go over it again,
19 A waste which is reused is not part, is not
20 coveredo Now, on the other hand, there is one minor
21 change to that and that is if the material is a waste
22 oil and is reused, and this would be a waste oil at this
23 particular instance, and that reuse is through incinera-
24 tion or burning—we're talking about plain combustion
25 here—then it would be covered,, But this is not plain
-------
137
1 combustion, they're putting it back into transformers,
2 so it's simply a recycling method and the material
3 would not be considered a hazardous waste for purposes
4 of the definition under this Act.
5 On the other hand, if you have waste oils and
6 you either reuse them in such a way as use constitutes
7 disposal, meaning - spread them on the ground in some
8 fashion, or if you burn them through plain incineration,
9 then they are covered; otherwise, they are not0
10 Hopefully, that clarifies that a little more.
11 "Is any concentration of a selected priority
12 pollutant considered hazardous under conditions outlined
13 in 250ol4 (a)"—that's the hazardous waste list—"To
14 qualify, must the waste be shipped, stowed, or exist
15 as a residue in a container? There seems to be much room
16 for interpretation here,"
17 The intent here is that any material in chose
18 big long lists, under—of chemicals, if you will, in
19 Appendix 3, 4, and 5, which are lists of chemicals—if
20 those constitute a waste in themselves; in other words,
21 you have a waste which contains—I don't offhand have
22 in mind what one of those chemicals is—here's a good
23 one—phenylanom-if you have phanylanom as a chemical
24 and you want to throw it away in a technical grade or
25 souie reasonable concentration which is normally c. product
-------
1G3
1 and you want to throw it away, it will become a waste,
2 a hazardous waste, and will be listed,, On the other hand,
3 a waste which incidentally has a small amount, a few
4 parts per million or whatever, of phenylamon in it, in
5 other words it is not phenylamon as a product, then
6 it would not be considered phenylamon0 It would not
7 be covered unless it failed or met ona of those
8 characteristics which are back in 3001, If the material
9 is spilled, a product is spilled and that spill-cleaned
10 material is then cleaned up and it is phenylamon that
11 is spilled, then that would be covered. So, it's not
12 every material which contains some minute concentration
13 of a chemical which is listed that's covered, list's
14 not the pointo The point is if a product gets spilled or
15 somebody wants to throw it suay because it's a bad batch
16 or they no longer need it, then that would be covered.
17 "Will POTW's"—publicly owned treatment works
18 for those of you who aren't into acronyms—"face the
19 same financial responsibilities, reporting requirements
20 and record-keeping requirements under 405 of the Clean
2i Water Act as hazardous waste disposal facilities managing
22 sludge from privately-owned sewage treatment works?"
23 I don't know the answer to that for sure. A
24 different group of people are working on those particular
25 regs. I can say, however, that the concept is that the
-------
189
degree of control, the degree of protection which would
2
4
be provided under those regulations is to be equivalent
in the broad sense to our regulations0 I would seriously
doubt that the same mechanisms for providing that pro-
tection would be adopted under those regulations because
6 of the difference in the nature of the materials that
7 are being involved. But the degree of—the concept
8 of equivalent control and equivalent protection is
9 what's being put into those regulations.
10 "If a manufacturer has not previously analyzed
his wastes, would they automatically be hazardous
12 since it appears most waste would be under the extraction
13 method?"
14 Well, our information which we've got so far
15 on the tasting we've done with the extraction procedure
16 against the regs which are here indicate that maybe
17 10 to 15 per cent of industrial waste is going to be
18 hazardous. On the other hand, the answer to that would
19 be I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't simply, unless it was a
20 very small volume, I wouldn't simply assume that it was
21 hazardous„ On the other hand, one could do that; one
22 could just make the assumption, particularly if he has
23 a small volume of waste and doesn't care to test it or
24 have it tested, he may simply assume that it's hazardous
25 and treat it accordingly, enter it into the system, mani-
-------
190
1 fest it if he's shipping it and so forth.
2 We should also point out that small volumes,
3 if you get down to the 100 kilograms or below, are not
4 covered either, the generation of those wastes is not
5 covered,
6 I should also point out one complication here:
7 While anyone can consider their waste hazardous and enter
8 it into the system, there are some problems with doing
9 that under the D.O.T. regulations, under the Hazardous
10 Materials Transportation Act. They have very specific
ll requirements with regard to placarding and things like
12 that, and if I understand their regulations correctly,
13 they don't like for people to put placards on the sides
14 of the truck and say "Poison A" or Poison B, or whatever
15 the definitions they use are, if in fact the material
16 doesn't meet those characteristics,, So, for shipping
17 purposes you might have problems with placarding, but
18 otherwise, you can assume it is hazardous as far as
19 RoC.R.A. is concerned, if that's what you want to do,
20 "How will EPA determine what causes an NPES.:
21 facility to be included under RoCoR0A0 regulations?"
22 Well, the only NPDS facilities which would be
23 covered under the R.C.R0A0 regulations are those which
24 contain a lagoon basically,, which could Isach, and in
25 that case one simply tests the contents of the lagoon
-------
191
l and if it's leaching, or has the potential to leach,
2 then it would be covered if it meets the criteria of the
3 hazardous waste; otherwise not.
4 I should also point out that NPDS facilities
5 as a result of clarification and other processes which
6 are used there, might generate a hazardous waste, that
7 is the sludge coming out of the clarifier for example,
8 if it meets the criteria could be a hazardous waste and
9 thus if shipped off site would need a manifest or
10 if disposed on site, would need a permit,,
ll This is the last one I've got, and I'll turn
12 it over, because this is a rather complex one:
13 "If a manufacturer produces a saiall amount of
14 sludge with a low pH"—Irm assuming from this that it's
15 over the 100 kilogram limit,00K,? Because if it's
16 not then he wouldn't be covered. —"can that generator
17 mix this sludge with pa neutralizing waste as an
18 acceptable method of treatment for the trcxivity
19 characteristics? If so, at what point would this be
20 considered treatment and would heed to be licensed?"
21 The answer to that is yes, you can mix waste
22 together in order to i:synergistically reduce the hazard
23 level of them, there's no problem with that,
24 The second part of the question is: "When
25 would it become a treatment process for purposes of
-------
192
R.C.R.A, and does need a permit?"
2
00Ko, this gets to a problem we've had all along,
3
and that problem is trying to draw the line on where a
4
waste becomes a waste and is not part of the process.
As a means—and I'll admit it's got some problems with
6 it—but as a means of identifying that, we have been using
what we call a pipeline concept in which we're saying
Q
that any treatment process which is hooked directly to
9
a production process, be it a continuous pipe or
conveyor operation, and from which materials can escape
to the ground presumably, that those would not be covered
12 and this waste would not become a waste until it exits
13 that system, if you will. Now, this is only for treat-
14 ment processes. It has nothing to do with disposal,,
15 Anything that ends up on the ground or anything of
16 that nature is, by definition, disposal and not treatment,
So, any treacment process which is hooked directly to
a production manufacturing product production, manufac-
19 turing process, via direct, continuous pipe or conveyor
20 operation, would not be covered as a treatment process
21 . for purposes of this. Now, there may be some gray
22 areas here and as that occurs we'll have to make deci-
sions on those on a case by case basis,
24 MRS, SCHAFFER: Two more questions:
25 "If distinct areas within a given plant generate
-------
193
less than 100 ilos per month, can they be isolated?"
2
A good example: A lab facility which may have a distinct
3
waste requiring totally different handling than the
process areas,"
I think the real issue here is what is the
definition of a person, and we've been kind of going
7 over this in EPA and we'll try to clarify it in the final
regulations. I think our intent is that a facility is
9
a person—or the person would be one facility—and if
the two wastes that are being generated at the lab and in
11 the process are both hazardous and they total more than
12 100 kilograms a month, then the facility is in fact a
12
generator and must comply with the regs.
The second question is:
15 "Section 250.10 (d) (1) (4), which requires
16 that generators of solid wastes which are listed under
17 250.14 who have demonstrated that their wastes are not
hazardous, must"—the requirement is that they repeat
19 the testing annually—and the question is: "Why does
20 the generator have to repeat the necessary testing
21
24
annually if there is no change in the feed material?
22 It's a precaution to make sure that there is
23 also no change in the waste. There may be a process
change even though the feed material is the same, or
there may have been testing inaccuracies in the original
-------
194
1 testing,, And I think it's a precaution on both tha
2 generator's side and on the EPA side to make sure
3 that any hazardous wastes are being handled.properly.
4 CHAIRPERSON DARRA1I: "Under the integrated per-
5 mit system being considered for NPEDS, UIC and Px.C.H.A,
6 under 3005, would violation of one permit jeopardize
7 the permit in another in any way0 For example, an
8 NPEDS violation affecting R.C.R.A. or UIC?"
9 Now, IJm answering this without benefit of
10 the proposed regulation, but as of right new the answer
11 is no, these are separate permits and unless the Act
12 that puts the permit holder in violation of one permit
13 is also an Act that puts you in violation of your other
14 permit, then you wouldn't—there isn't a connection just
15 because there's an integrated system, as they are
16 separate permits0
17 We're going to take a 10-minute break now,
18 We'll come back at 4:00 o'clock and we'll go until
19 5:00. I think we probably have enough questions to do
20 that.
21 (Whereupon, a short recess was ':taken,)
22 MR. CORSON: We're going to try to start again,
23 and I'll get rid of a couple of easy ones first. Someone
24 questioned—without embarrassing me too much—apparently
25 we have picked a bad number or bad ASTM spec for sampling
-------
195
1 soil like Material, Evidently, at least according to
2 this comment,they say methods for sampling to determine
o
ground water levels—well then obviously we picked a bad
4 onec You caught our boo boo, and cur intent there is
to offer where we can sampling protocols that other people
6 are using, and when we proinulgatewe will have additional
7 ASTM methods listed.
8 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Let me just interject
something here: If anybody—I realize there's an overlap
between comment and questions—if the answers to ques-
11 tions lead you to think that we ought to change the
12 regulations it would really be helpful if you would
13 submit something in writing. You ccn do tha t either
14 with your over-all comment March 16, or you could also
15 do it orally the next two days, or you can just write
16 something up, attach your card or sign your name, and
17 submit it to the court reporter for the record, because
18 this is a comment for the record; because we are off
19 the record as we're answering your questions, and cer-
20 tainly we're going to be taking things into account, but
21 it's very helpful if we do get things in writing or in
22 the formal hearing that we're conducting here. So, just
23 try and keep that in mind, if you would„
24 MR. CORSON: This next one fits in the same
25 category,, In our definition of reactive waste we us a
-------
196
1 the word, "mildly acidical base condition". I'd like
to get that back in the way of a corument0 We will better
3
define that when we promulgate0 We will define the
limits on piHx^e're talking about in terms of mildly
basic or mildly acidic„
6
This is a question—let ma answer an easier
7 one first—one that Fred answered this morning or this
8 afternoon, which talks about the dilution of hazardous
o
waste with an inert substance, and that's fine. We are
worrying about the waste as disposed and we then look only
11 at the resultant ways to see whether or not it met our
12 hazardous characteristics.
13 This is another question with regard to priority
pollutants and how they are covered by the Act* As a
15 result of discussions I've had during our short break,
16 let me make a couple of clarifying statements so every-
17 body understands where we're coming fromc
As the regulations are now proposed in toxicity
19 when you do the extraction procedure the only thing you
20 are evaluating for are the eight listed metals and six
21 listed pesticides, that's all0 Correct definition of
22 toxicity includes only those things, it does nou include
23 any list of priority pollutants or any list of D.O.T.
24 hazard items, just the listed metals and pesticides,
25 We have, however, in the ANPR indicated an intent
-------
197
downstream in time to modify th2 toxicity definitions by
2
including other properties of toxicity. That is likely
3
then to include many of the organic toxicants that
occur on the priority pollutant list. We ara only
looking at priority pollutants in the fashion they are
6 defined in the listing. That is, if you were shipping
the material, and in shipping it you would have to use
a name that is in that priority pollutant list, the
9
D.O.T. list, or the cancelled or selected pesticides list,
then—and it's a described material—then it is a hazar-
11 dous waste. We are not analyzing wastes to look at
12
21
parts per million or things that are in the priority
13 pollutant list.
4 This is a Jack Lehman question, but I'll answer
15 it anyhow:
"We are presently purchasing non PCE filled
17 capacitors. The oil is produced by General Electric
1 ft
who has done many toxicity bio-accumulation, et cetera,
19 tests, and found no evidence of any sort of hazard. Will
20 these capacitors when disposed of be considered a hazar-
dous waste? Can adequate information on lack of hazard
allow us to dispose of these in a landfill permanent
23 under Sub-title D?"
24 The answer certainly to the second half is
25 7-s, you don't necessarily have to generate new data
-------
198
1 to be responsive to us. If you already have that data
2 that describes all the properties that we are using in
3 our proposed regulation to define a hazardous waste, you
4 don't have to generate it again, I think that answers
5 that one.
6 Another good comment, I think it's a comment
7 with a question:
8 "There have bean several comments today recom-
9 mending that EPA establish regulations based on the
10 degree of hazard. What.are the major stumbling blocks
11 to this approach?"
12 Well, that depends really on what someone means
13 by degree of hazards in these regulations. We thought
14 when we wrote the regulations the way we did that we
15 would accommodate this problem by using the 3001"regu-
16 lation as a go-no-go gauge to determine those wastes
17 which require something other than very routine manage-
!8 ment, which is what we define in Sub-title D0 And we
19 allowed for what we consider to be almost infinite
20 flexibility in 3004.
21 Now, apparently some people are having a little
22 difficulty with the notes approach that we us<2d in 3004;
23 under many of the requirements of 3004, we've indicated
24 a note which indicates that there can be a deviation
25 from the standard, given that you can show that this
-------
199
1 accomplishes the objective of that particular approach,
2 So, we think we have a degree of flexibility in which
3 provides for a degree of hazard„
4 If you are referring—and I think many people
5 have been—that we should define degree of hazard in 3001,
6 then we solicit your comments in writing supported by
7 data if you can, to help us do that. Now, we recognize
8 that we may also say in our officiality under 3002,
9 which uses some thresholds for establishing quantities
™' with regard to degree of hazard, again based on some
11 artificial basis, because we indicated that we would
12 look at that, and we willa We offer that option by
13 stipulating it in the preamble. But we do find that we
14 have some problems with degree of hazard0 We think that
15 we've got to make the association with where the waste
16 is in its management cycle. Certain characteristics are
17 a different hazard in transfer, during the transportation
18 load, for example; we're more concerned about ignitability
19 and possibly reactivity than we are when something is
20 buried 30 feet under the ground, whereas in the ground
21 we are very concerned about the toxicity0
22 We similarly have concerns, we looked at one
23 point, the point that Jim Kinsey made this morning of
24 using Finney's Additive Law which comes up with a tech-
25 nique for adding plant toxicity to marine toxicity to
-------
200
1 fish toxicity and coming up with an over-all toxicity
2 rating and that presents some problems because we do
3 have some cases, some people can get very unhappy because
4 the waste might not fall under any individual constituent
5 toxicity but might fail if we added them upa Similarly
6 we have the problem of, do we raise the case new
7 where by putting a lot of low toxicity items into a single
8 land disposal environment, at some point along the line
9 that land disposal environment now becomes a high tox-
10 icity environment because it has crossed some threshold
11 by nature of the quantity of low-toxicity items that it
12 has accepted,, So, we recognize that we have a very
13 complicated problem there, looking at the degree of
14 hazard. We do solicit any information you can provide
15 to help us define that. We are noi: opposed, if we can
16 come up with a way of doing it which doesn't make the 30C4
17 ragulation even more complicated than we feel they ara
18 today.
19 I've got another one of—this is Fred's ques-
20 uion:
2i "Would sawdust be considered hazardous, wcod-
22 chips, bark; has the TEP been tried on these materials?
23 If these are hazardous, could, thesa wastes be considered
24 a special waste like utility fly ash7"
25 I guess I can't conceive of sawdust, woodchips
-------
201
or bark flunking the extraction procedure. I guess it
2
is conceivable in my mind that sawdust at a given
3
constituency, degree of fineness, might be explosive.
4
But I would defer that to my D0O.T0 counterpart tomorrow
who has much more experience with it0 But in the event
that these things did fail, and it could happen, obviously
we've opened the door on special wastes,, I think we
would want to see data provided to us to show that these
9
things fit the same sort of category as we did with the
other wastes which are listed as special wastes,
11 "Do the SIC's listed in 250,14 (b) imply
that all manufacturing processes listed under a specific
13 SIC coda"—SIC code—"are covered by Section 3C01, Sub-
title C, or just specific process associated with
15
spec JLi j_c
I guess that's one we thought we had explained
specific SIC come under the 3001 sub-title?"
16
and obviously we didn'ta What we are trying to indicate
18
there is the SIC number is there as advisory only. Any
19
industry that has the specific listed waste stream, that
50
is a hazardous waste. But in regard to specific questions,
21
for example, if I pick up 2865, we are not trying to imply
that all waste streams produced by anyone that is covered
23
by 2365 has a hazardous waste. It is only the specific
listed waste streams under 2865 that are hazardous,,
25 Question: "Is the intent of the EP to find
-------
202
out what is teachable or what may happen to a particular
2 waste in a landfill, or was EP designed uo simulate
3 landfill conditions?"
I guess the answer is part of all the above
and not any of all of the above.
6 What we did do with the EP, if you go back,
7 for example, to—we were faced with a problem defining
8 a hazardous waste with the problems presented to us by
9 both the requirements under Section 3001, which told us
10 to define the criteria for and characteristics and list
11 of hazardous wastes, as well as the definition of hazar-
12 dous waste in Section 1004. And Section 1004 (27), if I'm
13 correct— (5), rather, which defines a hazardous waste,
14 does indicate that it can be a waste without using all
15 of their words, which present some problems if improperly
16 managed. So, as we explained in the preamble, and we a
17 further detailed explanation of it in the toxicicy
18 background document—again, that's available for reading
19 and possibly copying at regional office libraries or
20 the headquarters reading room—what we were trying to do
21 was to essentially model improper management. And our
22 modeled improper management was the co-mixture of the
23 waste with waste that was similar to municipal waste
24 in a land environment such that there was ready access
25 of the leaching to the ground water,. And that's all we
-------
203
1 were trying to do0 So, it is in essence a solubility
2 test, it is not meanc to replicate any existing or any
3 proposed or any specific land disposal environment. And
4 as we have tried to say, the site specific, waste specific
5 interactions, your waste might interact in a specific
6 land environment that is a 3004-3005 problem. We think
7 it appropriate, we believe the notes cover that you could
8 produce site-specific leaching data to show how that
9 waste would operate in that site and use it in applying
10 for the permit.
11 MR. LEHMAN: There's a question here concerning
12 the notification regulations, Section 3010, I'm not
13 going to answer—maybe we should have mede this clear
14 at the beginning of the proceeding. It is really not
15 appropriate for us to discuss Section 3010 regulations
16 because the comment period on Section 3010 las closed
17 and we are really not at liberty to discuss that now,
18 This is another question similar to the one
19 that Al just answered, but I'll do it again:
20 "Under processes generating hazardous waste,
21 is SIC 2911 API separator sludge specific to the petro-
22 leura refining industry? API separators are used in
23 numerous industries and the sludge may or may not be
24 hazardous."
25 Well, let's go back to what Alan just said.
-------
204
1 You've got to see a note which is associated with
2 Section 251.14„ Let me just read it. It says:
3 "Process waste streams are listed by standard
4 industrial classification or SIC codes for ease of
5 reference only. SIC classification of the indus try
6 generating the waste has no effect on the listing of
7 that process waste as hazardous,"
8 Therefore, API separator sludge, which is
9 listed under 2911 is a hazardous waste, regardless of
10 what industry sector it happens to be in,,
11 It says, "The commercial product section
12 provides a suggestion that if a recycled product does
13 not pose a greater threat to the environment than the
14 virgin product it replaces, it would no longer be
15 subject to Sub-title C0" Question: "How does EPA
16 propose to determine the environmental impact of this
17 recycled material?"
18 First of all, the commercial product section
19 that this question is aimed at, I believe, unless I'm
20 reading an old draft, is not in the regulations, it's
21 in the preamble,, Aside from some very explicit require-
22 ments for certain radioactive waste products in the
23 special waste section, there is no commercial products
24 section in the regulations. As we stated in the preamble
25 we did consider having commercial product regulations at
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
205
one point. But we decided not to for the proposed rule
making; however, we did—the gist of this Cards statement
**
is from the preamble in which we said this is one
possible way to get at this whole issue, and we requested
comment on that,,
So, rather than for me to say how does EPA pro-
pose to determine the relative environmental impact
of this recycled material, I would just alert you to the
fact that we have flagged that issue and are requesting
comments or suggestions as to how to do it, so I'll
throw that ball back in the court.
This question has to do with aerial applicators
of pesticides. It says:
"If an aerial applicator of pesticides triple
rinses his pesticide containers would he be considered
a generator of hazardous waste?"
The answer to that is no, probably, in the
sense that if he triple rinses the containers, the
containers are no longer hazardous because of Section
250«>14 (a), the last listing there. It says, "Containers"
—this is saying what is hazardous, and it says, "Con-
tainers, unless triple rinsed, which have contained
materials normally shipped using names listed in Appendix
2, 3, 4, or 5." And so, basically what we're saying is
if you do triple rinse a container that has contained
-------
206
1 of those materials, then the container is no longer
2 a hazardous place; however, the rinse agent that you rinse
3 it with, unless you put it back in the spray tank, could...
4 easily be a hazardous waste, and therefore, an aerial
5 applicator could be a generator of hazardous waste in
6 that sense. You would not be a generator if he put the
7 rinse agent back into the mixing tank, however,,
8 Another question, same card:
9 "Anaerial or custom applicator doesn't appear
10 to meet the farmer definition, therefore is not eligible
11 for exemption."
12 That is true. Aerial applicators are not eligible
13 for the farmer exemption,, We are reserving that for
14 those whose principal occupation is farming.
15 Third part of this question says:
16 "How does EPA approvedpesticide label fit with
17 this—fit in with this proposal?"
18 Well, EPA-approved labels are legally binding
19 on the users, and therefore, the users must follow them.
20 The R.CoRoA. regs basically provide only that triple
21 rinse—that the rinse agent, triple rinsing, be added—
22 excuse me—that we will be adding to the label require-
23 cients a requirement for triple rinsing in order to get
24 out of the hazardous-based category,, This has not yet
25 bean posed, but it is our intention, we are working with
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
207
the Office of Pesticide Programs, that we will add onto
the label requirement a requirement for triple rinsing.
So, basically we feel that the regulatory scheme under
the FIFRA will be adequate to handle the disposal problem
for farmers and their pesticide containers.
Here's some quickie answers:
Question: "Is a vessel that holds its sewage
on board in conformance with the Clean Water Act a
generator of hazardous waste?"
No,
"Is used oil which is to be re-refined, that is,
returned to new condition, not a hazardous wasta?"
True, it is not, as we discussed earlier.
"Does a crude oil refinery which recovers
slop oil from waste water treatment, then adds the oil
back into the fractJonation system to redistribute it
into its proper place in the refinery product, does it
need a permit, do you need a perrait to put the oil back
into the system?"
No, lube oil additives, et cetera, would have
been added 0 The answer is no, we have no intention of—
we consider that to be really basically part of the re-
fining process itselfa
I think that we've answered most of this, but
I'll go over it once again:
-------
205
"What prompted EPA to classify used lube oil
2
as a hazardous material?"
3
I think we've gone through that. I won't go
4
through that one againa
"It is common practice for a towing vessel to
use used lube oil as a fuel for its vessel propulsion
engines and electrical generators. Do you see any prob-
g
lem in continuing this practice?"
9
No. We mentioned earlier that was not our intent
to get at the usa of lube oil or used lube oil in that
type of application.
12
Question: "If we can continue to use used
13
lube oil for fuel in our vessels, does this procedure
14
make us a generator of hazardous waste with the attendant
paperwork associated with its designation?"
!6 XT
No<,
Question: "Will this disposal method require
18
governmental approval as a disposal facility with atten-
19
dant paperwork?"
20 „
No0
21 00K., 3001: "You stated that a material is not
22
considered a waste until it is gotten rid of, but you
23
also state the intent of including lube oil as hazardous
*)A
is to prevent errors, such as the horse track incident„
25
If a generator has intent to use waste lube oil as dust
-------
209
1 control on roads, is the waste oil a hazardous waste
2 while being stored before use?"
3 The answer to that is yes.
4 MR. LINDSEY: "If material from a chlorinated
5 solvent plant is incinerated to produce salable grade
6 hydrochloric acid, would that incinerator need a permit?"
7 Noc normally; normally that would be a reused,
8 a product which is being reused and would not then be a
9 waste under Section 250.10. On the other hand, I should
10 point out that if we find some of these things that do
11 cause problems the way in which we would handle those—I'm
12 not sure this does create an environmental situation
13 that we need to worry about, but if it should, we could
14 make the decision under 250.10 (b) (2) (ii), which is
15 under the scope of this regulation, which lists waste
16 oil, the thing we've been talking about all afternoon;
17 that is, where waste oil is listed as a material—where
13 it is listed as hazardous waste regardless of the reason.
19 If we have the same problems with something else what
20 we can do is take Piece 3, where it says "reserved"
2i and add on to the list and thus then include it, and
22 we can do that at a later date. If you will notice
23 there is a note which says "other materials" in there,
24 and it will be included to an amendment on this list
25 that upon a finding by the EPA it is necessary to con-
-------
210
1 trol such practices. So, that's the way we work it.
2 "I understood you to say that a treatment
o
facility which comprises part of a continuous process
4 system would not require a permit. Would this en-
5 compass an incinerator which is tied into a process
6 system or would that also require a permit?"
7 That gets back to the pipeline concept thac
8 we worked on before, and as I indicated our problem
9 here is trying to decide where the process ends and the
10 waste treatment starts. What we're trying to do is to
11 get into the system in some way which is reasonably
12 clear, most of those things that we need to control and
13 get out of the system those things that we don't need to
14 controlo The best way"we've found so far is the pipe-
!5 line concept,
16 Under this question, if there is an incinerator
17 I suppose you call it a boiler which is tied directly to
18 tha process system—by process system, we're talking about
19 production line, production line under the way we in-
20 terpret this—now, this would not be covered,,
21 I guess I should point out that we don't think
22 this has very much—as a matter of fact, I don't know
23 of anyplace whera it happens. If it does, however, and
24 we find it becomes very widespread, then I suspect we
25 would probably change the regulations, because incinera-
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
211
tion of hazardous waste is one of the things which
Congress intended that we control.
I did give an answer, which was not wrong whan
I gave it, but maybe a little bit misleading: That has
to do with the paper bag and triple rinsing, if you can
remember back to that0 And I said there really was no
way, equivalent way, to handle paper bags, at least under
the regs, and I should point out, however, that under
250029 (b) (1), if the material, if that bag contained
pesticide and if the person wanting to dispose of it
is a farmer, if he follows the regulations which are, the
regulations—if you read that little paragraph you'll
see what I'm talking about—if he follows the 250 regu-
lation and the information that's on the label, then he
can dispose of it in accordance with those,. In addition,
he has to be a farmer, it has to be a pesticide,
"Many industries will generate greater than
IOC kilograms a month of hazardous waste from one pro-
cess and will be subject to all the regulatory require-
ments under R.C,R0A0, but the same generator will
generate less than 1GO kilograms per month of ether
hazardous waste from support facilities such as mainten-
ance generated waste solvent,, Is there some thought
toward a categorization by major and minor generators
to exempt industry from all the record keeping, et cetera,
-------
212
1 required for limited small quantities of numerous
2 waste materials?"
3 Some thought, yes; I think the intention in
4 these regs is no. The intent for getting the small
5 generator, and by that the small volume generator,
6 those who generate only a small volume out of the system,
7 is because we have found that by and large they are
8 handled in conjunction with the routine municipal waste
9 kind of activity and they don't have information that
10 indicates that creates a problem, plus the fact that
11 tryfag to apply the control procedures to all of this
12 additional large quantity of.generators that would be
13 included if we included only those small people, the
14 total number of generators that would be in the system
15 would swamp it with paperwork,, Those are the two
16 considerations that went into the snail generator exclu-
17 sion0
18 What we have here is the same plant who is
19 already in the system because he's got one or more large
20 volume wastes, and he also happens to have a couple of
21 small ones; well, that doesn't enter any significant
22 additional paperwork that we can see, and normally
23 large generators of waste don't handle the waste in the
24 same way that small generators do that, along with muni-
25 cipal trash and garbage,,
-------
213
1 Someone may want to make some comments on
2 that because, as I say, we have thought about such an
3 approach from time to tine, and this person may want
4 to address that in some comments.
5 "Section 250.14 (a) and (b)K--this looks like
6 the same person, writes very small, gets a lot on the
7 card--"includes certain wastes"--no, excuse me.
8 "Section 250.14 (a) and (b) includes certain
9 industries under R.C.R.A."- -let me address that first:
10 It doesn't include certain industries; it
includes certain wastes which may come from industries.
It doesn«t include an industry as such and all the waste
from an industry. It only includes the waste which is
IO
,. listed there.
14
. ."By so doing this will place a double burden
., on these industries. They must categorize and report
16
all hazardous waste under R.C.R.A. requirements and
they will have the additional burden of testing an
18
application for exemption under 250.15 for those wastes,
products or streams that are not hazardous."
20
Well, I'm not sure we don't have a misinter-
pretation here. Just because one waste stream from
22 *
an industrial category, SIC category, is listed does
not mean that all the wastes from that industry are listed.
24
OnV the ones specifically lined out there are con-
-------
214
1 sidered by the Agency to be hazardous. Thus, if the
2 satae plant or industry has a variety of other wastes
3 which are not listed, they're not necessarily hazardous
4 and would not have to go through this whole business of
5 getting an exemption to the list,
6 From the tone of the question I gather that
7 there might have been a misinterpretation.
8 "Since the penalties for not reporting are
9 stringent and EPA must rely on generator's initial
10 assessments of his sampling and waste categorization,
11 why are the regulations proposed in this matter?"
12 I guess when we get right down to it we're
13 talking about why do we have tnese lists? First of all,
14 let me address that: We give these SIC codas here,
15 four-digit SIC codes, for example, and we don't—I guess
16 we don't think it's difficult to determine whether or not
17 you're in that category or not, for the most part. In
18 some of the other lists which don't have SIC codes,
19 things like surgery departments and wards and things
20 like that, we don't think that it's going to be terribly
21 difficult to determine whether or not a plant fits those
22 categories. But to get to the broader question, why
23 do we have lists? Well, the lists were designed as a
24 means for those wastes which we find are always hazar-
25 dous, or almost always hazardous, of making it easier for
-------
215
1 the regulated community to knew whecher they are in this
2 system or not in the system,,
3 Theother alternative is just to go with an
4 expanded set of criteria or characteristics and have
5 everybody then pretty much having to run tests to
6 determine whecher they're in or out, unless they know an
7 awful lot about their wasta.
8 There's another very good point which is
9 the statute says we have to have lists; that's another
10 good reason. Of cdurse, the question is to what extent
11 do you have them, and the reasons why that I addressed
12 had to do with why the lists are this extensive.
13 "Do you interpret the regulations to mean
14 that an industry" — this is the same person here—"Do
15 you interpret the regulations to mean that an industry
16 which treats a waste stream prior to discharge"—in
17 other words by neutralizing—"to be a generator and a
18 hazardous waste treatment facility?"
19 Well, I've got a lot of questions I'll pump
20 back to this person,, Discharge to where? Where is he
21 discharging? If he's discharging this as an effluent to
22 the stream then he's not covered under R.CaR0A. unless
23 he does his neutralization in a leaching lagoon, in
24 which case he would be covered0
25 Another question: Is the resulting waste
-------
216
1 hazardous, this waste that he discharges, assuming he
2 discharges it to land, is that hazardous? And if th e
3 answer is no, that's not hazardous, then he wouldn't
4 need a permit to discharge it. If the material going
5 into the process were hazardous, we come back to that
6 whole business of the pipeline that we've talked about
7 before. If the process, the neutralization prcces—
8 and this frequently is the case—is simply attached to
9 the production process in a continuous manner, then no,
10 that wouldn't be covered. A lot of industries and plants
11 have neutralization facilities that are virtually
12 integrally incorporated into the exit of the process
13 waste from the production process.
14 Ninety-day storage.limit: "Are items which are
15 being stored for the purpose of going to a waste ex-
16 change subject to the 90-day storage limit?"
17 Yes; for example, if it takes six months to
18 accumulate, say, one ton or three or four barrels, enough
19 to justify transport, if it's beyond 90 days he would have
20 to get a permit to store it0 There is, of course, this
21 100 kilogram limit, and that could enter in if it's
22 small enough volume. This gets to the whole problem,
23 though, of people that said, "Well, look, if it's going
24 to go to recycle or recover, you're not going to cover it
25 anyway downstream, so why have them subject to the 90-day
-------
217
1 storage limit?
2 Well, the problem here is that we have trouble
3 with companies, or we understand there are problems with
4 companies, who simply pile stuff or dump it in the lagoon,
5 et cetera, and when asked say, "Well, I'm going to
6 recover that some day when the economics gets better
7 or next year or five years fmn now, or whatever", and
8 maybe their intent is to that and mayba it isn't,, So,
9 what we're saying here is if youTre going to store stuff
10 for more than 90 days and it's the kind of thing which
11 is normally a waste, you're going to have to get a per-
12 mit for that, because we don't know whether you're really
13 storing it or not storing it—I mean, if you're really
14 going to recycle it or not recycle it, and your options
15 along those lines might change as economics change,
16 If then later, at the end of a year—you have
17 a storage permit and at the end of a year you decide you're
18 actually going to sell it, well, then when you do that
19 that's the end of it, you're out of the system,
20 "In the iron and steel industry mill scale,
21 blast furnace scrubber sludge and iron-bearing wastes
22 are processed in a cinder plant and used as a raw
23 material in a blast furnace» Will this cinder plant
24 be considered a treatment facility?"
25 That would be a recycling operation as I would
-------
21C
1 interpret it and under 250.10 (b), it would be reused,
2 and thus would not be considered a hazardous waste.
3 "If Section 1004-24 of the Act addressed con-
4 verting solid waste to energy, why do the proposed regu-
5 lations exclude oils burned for recovery of BTU value
6 from the less stringent resource recovery regulations?"—
7 in other words, the other discarded material definition.
8 The reason why is because of two reasons, really;
9 First of all the heavy metals and other materials which
10 are in the waste oil, which if widely burned—and they
11 are widely burned—indiscriminately in school boilers
12 and the like, are admitted directly in the air. The
13 second reason is because it has been common practice and
14 probably still is at this point to slip other goodies
15 into the waste oil and thus get rid of all kinds of
16 stuff with the waste oil, and we're not saying that you
17 can't do either one of these things; all we're saying is
18 it's going to have to be in a controlled manner in con-
19 junction with these regulations, which means you have to
20 get a permit to do itc
21 MR, LEHMAN: I'd like to just take £ minute and
22 amplify the previous question about waste exchange,
23 we like waste exchange, we want to foster waste
24 exchange. What we don't want to foster, as Fred pointed
25 out, is an intent for waste exchange which may or may not
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
219
come about* In other words, when you're storing
materials the environment doesn't really know whether
you're storing them for waste exchange or whether you're
storing for disposal, or what you're doing. So,
what we're saying basically is that if you are in the
act of waste exchange, then you're out of the system.
In other words, you have a contract, the material is
flowing, then you're out of the system,, If you're just
storing the material and hopeful to arrange a waste
exchange, you've got the stuff listed in some waste ex-
change brochure or something, that commendable and we
encourage that, but until you actually have a waste
exchange contract in being, you are still part of the
system, presuming that material is hazardous waste.
I hope that clarifies that point a little bit.
MR. CORSON: I have a couple:
"In the EP, no alkaline material is specified
to raise pH to five plus, minus point 2, which is
required test range„"
And the answer to that question is again, as
I explained earlier, we developed an area which talked
about improper management, we come up with the approach
we did. If people feel we should have an- alternate test
for some wastes which require the additional of alkaline
material, then we'd certainly like to see that data.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
220
"Toxic organics, how can milligrams per kilogram
of body weight be compared to milligrams per liter
in waste water and what is the basis for the ,35 factor?"
This relates to the definition that is used,
I believe, to get some materials off the list, as well
as the one that we are suggesting in our ANPR, and in that
case we have a scenario which again is described in
the toxrity background document which relates to the
location of ground water wells to land disposal sites,
the dilutions of material going from the disposal site
to the ground water well, the ingestion of two liters
of water a day by a 70 kilogram person, you multiply
all those numbers out you get 035, and that's how we
come up with that number0
A question in a similar area: "In the toxic
organic, we use a calculated human LD-50 based on the
footnoted procedure which indicated we can use rabbit-
mouse data or LD-50 as listed in the NIOSH registry,,
We can use that without validation; the other data
must be supported by specific and verified laboratory
reports", and they want to know why we chose that ap-
proach „
As we understand the NIOSH Registry, two sets
of data come in through that Registry to NIOSH on the
same substance, they use the more stringent data, the love:
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
221
value0 Therefore, we're suggesting in our validation
note that your data you are suggesting is that the
substance is not as toxic as NIOSH indicates it to be
and we feel for that deviation we would like the valida-
tion0 If it is for a substance which is not listed in
NIOSH Registry, we suggest you send it in to NIOSII,
have it accepted, which they will do, and then you won't
have to verify it.
"How is waste activated sludge frora a food
processing plant, for example, a com wet milling plant,
viewed if this sludge is typically land applied, con-
sidering first of all the restricted definition in 250,14
(b) (iii)M—and that's the one that lets out POTW's—
"and two, that its heavy aietal content is considerably
below that for POTW land applied sludges?"
Again, this gets back to the same answer which I
think we've given before, but I think it's worth
bringing out again with respect to this specific ques-
tion POTW sludges are going to be managed in accor-
dance with regulations and guidelines developed under
Setion 405-D of the Clean Water Act0 It will be our
attempt in developing those guidances and regulations—
which are incidentally being developed in the Office of
Solid Waste—to make them consistent with R0C,R0A0
R.C.R.A. does not have the authority—well, let me get
-------
222
back—the Clean Watar Act does not have the authority
2
to regulate non POTW sludges. So, while there may be
2
a permit required under 405 to land apply thosa sludges,
in the case of coming from an industrial sludge, plants
produced by industrial plants, it would be a R.C.R.A.
6 permit for that land application. There is nothing
7 about that sludge which will necessarily deny land
p'
application. It may be that you will require a permit
9 to do it.
The last question I have:
11 "If a hazardous material is spilled and a
hazardous waste generated, is a manifest required from
13 the spill site or does the waste enter the system at the
14 hazardous waste treatment storage or disposal facility,
15 and is the clean up contracted to the generator or is
16 it the spiller?"
17 Well, the general answer to that question is
18 the spiller is the generator of that waste. That may
19 be £ trucking firm, could be a train, but it is the per-
20 son who spills it that is the generator. If he wants
21 to, and this frequently does occur, that the generator
22 calls in clean up specialists, contractors, he can use
23 them to provide the technical expertise he needs to
0 A
provide the data., If there is no emergency to get that
25
spill cleaned up, then a manifest is required and the
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
223
spiller being the generator will have to fill out that
manifest. If it is an emergency, then the spill clean up
and delivery to an adequate facility takes the dominant
control and a manifest is not required.
In any case, a D000T. report would be required
with regard to the spill, EPA will get a copy of that
rsport, and you obviously have to clean it up, because
if you don't that will probably fit the definition
we have for open dumping, which will be illegal.
MR. LINDSEY: "What provisions are being proposed
to assure that bulk trailers and other reusable con=
tainers are completely emptied and cleaned?"
I think this more appropriately has to do with
the Hazardous Material transportation Act, and DOT regu-
lations which have come out under that»
I should point out that I believe Allan Roberts
from D.O.T. is going to be here tomorrow and the person
who generated this question might want to generate it
again tomorrow for Allan.
"If waste is stored in a storage tank prior
to on-site incineration and the tank turnover is less
than 90 days would this storage tank require permit even
though it is never emptied?"
I think the best—as far as the 90-day exclu-
sion business goes, the best place to look at the explana-
-------
224
1 tion there is probably on page 53971, which is part
2 of the preamble. Basically, the 90-day exclusion
limit applies to storage prior to shipment off site,
and net to treatment on site, and thus the answer to
that would be, yes, it would have to have a permit, but
6 it would have to have a permit for incineration anyway,
7 so, it's simply an extension of that,
8 MR0 LEHMAN: Question: "Will waste oil haulers
o
have to get a manifest from every service station,
10 garage, truck terminalfcr any small generator or crankcase
11 drainings, or will the hauler have to do this paper-
12 work? Please go into detail on waste oil hauler re-
13 sponsibility on all pickups."
14 Well, this whole issue is addressed again in
15 the preamble to Section 3002 on page 53974, and I think
16 I'll just read the applicable portions of that, because
17 it directly answers this question.
18 "Problems have resulted from the indiscriminate
19 disposal of waste oil. In an effort to lessen the re-
20 gulatory burden ai the large number of generators of
21 waste oil, as well to promote resource recovery, these
22 regulations provide for a procedure whereby any trans-
23 port regulated under Sub-title C or a treater, storer
24 or disposer regulated under Sub-part D, may assume a
25 generator's responsibility for all obligations imposed by
-------
225
1 this regulation, except the duty to apply for a generator
2 ID code under Section 220..24."
3 In other words, if a waste oil hauler enters
4 into a contract with a number of service stations, truck
5 terminals and so on and so forth, the waste oil hauler
6 then assumes the generator's responsibility, and it is
7 the hauler who originates the manifest, paperwork, and
8 so on,
9 Now, in Section 250,28 of the regulation, again
10 reading from the preamble, outlines the requirements
11 for a contractual agreement which must be formed between
12 the generator and the transporter or treater, storer
13 or disposer, assuming the generator's responsibilities,
14 "Once that contract is in place, a transporter or treater
15 storer or disposer becomes liable to properly perform
16 the applicable duties therein; although the generator
17 cannot completely transfer his own liability under the
18 Act for failura to perform, EPA enforcement actions will
19 focus on the transporter or treater, storer, disposer,
20 rather than on the generator if the proper contractual
21 agreement is in.force,"
22 So, I think those statements pretty much spell
23 out in detail whai the responsibilities of the waste oil
24 hauler are. If you want to go into that in more depth,
25 we'll be glad to respond.
-------
226
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAK: Well, we're a whole five
2 minutes early ending today.
3 I want to thank you all for your attention.
4 We will reconvene our public hearing tomorrow morning
5 at 8:30 in the Pavilion Ballroom«
6 (Whereupon the meeting was adjourned at 5:00
7 o'clock p0m0, Wednesday, February 14, 19790)
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
1
2 CERTIFICA
3
This is to certify that the attached proceedings
4
before: Environmental Protection Agency
In the Matter of:
6
7 Public Meeting on Improving
8 Environmental Regulations
9 Place: St. Louis, Missouri
10 Date: February 14, 1979
11 were held as herein appears, and that this is the
12 Original Transcript thereof for the files of the
!3 Department. "
14
Bernice M. Jackson Reporting Co.
15 1139 Olive Street Suite 310
St. Louis, Missouri 63101
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
227
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
In re:
Public Meeting on Improving
Environmental Regulations
Breckenridge Pavilion Hotel
One Broadway
St. Louis, Missouri
Thursday, February 15, 1979
The public hearing in the above-entitled matter
was convened, pursuant to adjournment, at 8:30 o'clock a.m.,
Dorothy A. Darrah, presiding.
BEFORE :
DOROTHY A. DARRAH
AMY SCHAFFER
JOHN Po LEHMAN
ALFRED LINDSEY
ALAN CORSON
Office of General Counsel, EPA,
Washington, D.Ca, Chairperson.
Office of Enforcement, EPA,
Washington, D.C.
Director, Hazardous Waste
Management Division, Office of
Solid Waste, EPA, Washington,
D.C.
Chief, Implementation Branch,
Hazardous Waste Management
Division, Office of Solid Waste,
EPA, Washington, D0C.
Chief, Section 3001, Guidelines
Branch, Hazardous Waste Manage-
ment Branch, Office of Solid
Waste, EPA, Washington, D.C.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHET MC LAUGHLIN
HARRY TRASK
TIM FIELDS
ALAN ROBERTS
228
Solid Waste Branch, EPA, Region
VII, Kansas City, Missouri.
Program Manager, Sections 300J
and 3003, Guidelines Branch,
Hazardous Waste Management
Branch, Office of Solid Waste,
Washington, D.C.
Program Manager Assessment and
Technology Branch of the
Hazardous Waste Management
Division in Washington, D.C.
D.O.T., Washington, D.C.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
9
Robert M. Robinson, Missouri Department
of Natural Resources 281
12 Kenneth Smelcer, Industrial Association of
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
229
CONTENTS
Page
Opening Statement John P. Lehman 230
STATEMENTS:
R. David Plank, City Utilities,
Springfield, Missouri 237
Robert S. Poston, Carmel Energy 251
Mera.iii Horn, Solid Waste Activities Group
Wisconsin Power & Light -
Edison Electric Institute • 266
Terry Freeze, Mississippi Chemical Corporation 287
Quincy 294
Russell Smith, Salsbury Laboratories . ,. r 307
Mlrko Popovich, Human Rights Survival Group 322
Gwen Molinair, Human Rights Survival Group 332
Father Casirair Gierut, Survival Group of
Wilsonvile 361
Congressman Findley as given by Mr. Don
Norton 383
Mildred Hendricks 400
G. L. Jessee, Director, Environmental Processes,
Monsanto Company 442
Gilbert W. Fuller, The Empire District Electric
Company, Joplin, Missouri 456
Betty Wilson, League of Women Voters of
Missouri 467
Richard Meunier 477
-------
229 A
1 CONTENTS
2 STATEMENTS: PAGE
3 James P. Parker, M.D. 500
4
5 Separate transcript for question and answer session
Pages 335 through 360
6 Pages 401 through 439
Pages 479 through 499
7
8
Inserts: PP. 250, 255, 280, 293, 330, 400, 455, 466, 4?4
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
Pad 7
Sides
13-14
ah
7:1
230
1 PROCEEDINGS
2 MR. LEHMAN: We would like to begin the hearing.
3 Take your seats, please.
4 Good morning. My name is John P» Lehman„ I am
5 Director of the Hazardous Waste Management Division of EPA*s
6 Office of Solid Waste in Washington, D.C.
7 On behalf of EPA, I would like to welcome you to the
8 public hearing, which is being held to discuss the proposed
9 regulations for the management of hazardous wastes.
10 We appreciate your taking the time to participate
11 in the development of these regulations, which are being
12 issued under the authority of the Resource Conservation and
13 Recovery Act, better known as RCRA.
14 The Environmental Protection Agency on December 18,
15 1978, issued proposed rules under Sections 3001, 3002 and 3004
16 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as substantially amended by
17 the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Public Law 94-580.
18 These proposals respectively cover, first, criteria
19 for identifying and listing hazardous waste, identification
20 methods and a hazardous waste list.
21 Second, standards applicable to generators of such
22 waste for record keeping, labeling, using proper containers
23 and using a transport manifest.
24 Third, performance, design and operating standards
25 for hazardous waste management facilities.
-------
231
1 These proposals, together with those already pub-
2 lished, pursuant to Section 3003, on April 28, 1978, Sectio^
3 3006 on February 1, 1978, Section 3008 on August 4, 1978 and
4 Section 3010 on July 11, 1978, and that of the Department of
5 Transportation, pursuant to the Hazardous Materials Transpor-
6 tation Act on May 25, 1978, along with Section 3005 regula-
7 tions for facility permitting, constitute the Hazardous Waste
8 Regulatory Program under Subtitle C of the Act.
9 EPA has chosen to integrate its regulations for
10 facility permits pursuant to Section 3005 and for state haz-
11 ardous waste program authorization, pursuant to Section 3006
12 of the Act, with proposals under the National Pollutant Dis-
13 charge Elimination System required by Section 402 of the
14 Clean Water Act, and the Underground Injection Control Pro-
15 gram of the Safe Drinking Water Act*
16 This integration of programs will appear soon as
17 proposed rules under 40-CFR, Parts 122, 123 and 124.
18 This hearing is being held as part of our public
19 participation process in the development of this regulatory
20 program e
21 The panel members who share the rostrum with me to-
22 day are Chet McLaughlin of the Hazardous Waste Material—or,
23 excuse me, the Hazardous Waste Management Section of the
24 Hazardous Materials Branch of Region VII office in Kansas
25 City.
-------
232
1 Amy Schaffer of our Office of Enforcement in Wash-
2 ington, D.C.; Dorothy Darrah, of the Office of General Coun-
3 sel of EPA's headquarters in Washington; Fred Lindsey, Chief
4 of the Implementation Branch in the Hazardous Waste Manage-
5 ment Division, EPA, in Washington and Harry Trask, who is
6 the Program Manager for the Section 3002 and 3003 regulations
7 in the Guidelines Branch of the Hazardous Waste Management
8 Division in Washington.
9 As noted, in the Federal Register, our planned
10 agenda is to cover Sections 3002 and 3003 today, and 3004
11 tomorrow.
12 Also, we have planned an evening session tonight
13 covering all four sections.
14 This session is planned, primarily, for those who
15 cannot attend during the day.
15 The comments received at this hearing and the other
17 hearings, as noted in the Federal Register, together with the
18 comment letters we receive, will be a part of the official
19 docket dn this rule-making process. The comment period
20 closes on March 16 for Sections 3001 through 3004.
2i This docket may be seen during normal working hours
22 in Room 2111-B, Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, Southwest,
23 Washington, D.C. In addition, we expect to have transcripts
24 of each hearing within about two weeks of the close of the
25 hearing. These transcripts will be available for reading at
-------
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
233
any of the EPA libraries. A list of these locations is avail-
able at the registration table outside.
With that as the background, I would like to lay
the groundwork and rules for the conduct of this hearing.
The focus of a public hearing is on the public*s
response to a regulatory proposal of an agency, or in this
case, agencies, since both the EPA and the Department of
Transportation are involved.
The purpose of this hearing, as announced in the
April 28th, May 25th and December 18, 1978, Federal Registers
is to solicit comments on the proposed regulations, including
any background information used to develop the comment.
This public hearing is being held not primarily to
inform the public, nor to defend a proposed regulation, but
rather to obtain the public's response to these proposed
regulations and thereafter revise them as may seem appropriate
All major substantive comments made at the hearing
will be addressed during preparation of the final regulation.
This will not be a formal adjudicatory hearing with the right
to cross-examination. Members of the public are to present
their views on the proposed regulation to the panel and the
panel may ask questions of the people presenting statements
to clarify any ambiguities in their presentation„
Some questions by the panel may be forwarded to the
speaker, in writing. His response, if received within a
-------
234
1 week of the close of this hearing will be included in the
2 transcript. Otherwise, we will include it in the docket.
3 The Chairman reserves the right to limit lengthy
4 questions, discussions or statements. If you have a copy
5 of your statement, please submit it to the Court Reporter0
6 Written statements will be accepted at the end of
7 the hearing. If you wish to submit a written, rather than
8 oral statement, please make sure the Court Reporter has a
9 copye The written statements will also be included, in theiz
10 entirety, in the record.
11 Persons wishing to make an oral statement, who have
12 not made an advance request by telephone or in writing,
13 should indicate their interest on the registration card. If
14 you have not indicated your intent to give a statement and
15 you decide to do so, please return to the registration table,
16 fill out another card and give it to one of the staff.
17 As we call upon an individual to make a statement,
18 he or she should come up to the lecturn after identifying him-
19 self or herself to the Court Reporter and deliver his or her
20 statement.
2i At the beginning of the statement, the Chairperson
22 will inquire as to whether the speaker is willing to enter-
23 tain questions from the panel. The speaker is under no ob-
24 ligation to do so, although within the spirit of this infor-
25 mation sharing hearing, it will be of great assistance to the
-------
7:6
235
1 Agencies if questions were permitted.
2 Our day*s activities, as we currently see them,
3 appear like this. We will break for lunch at the end of the
4 comments on Section 3002 and reconvene at 2 p.m. for comments
5 on Section 3003.
6 Then, depending on our progress, we will either
7 conclude the day's session or break for dinner and reconvene
8 at 7 p.m. for the evening session.
9 Phone calls will be posted on the registration
10 table at the entrance and restrooms are located outside on
11 the promenade.
12 If you wish to be added to our mailing list for
13 future regulations, draft regulations or proposed regulations
14 please leave your business card of name and address on a
15 three by five card at the registration desko
16 Section 3002: addresses standards applicable to
17 generators of hazardous wastes. A generator is defined as
18 any person whose act or process produces a hazardous waste.
19 Minimum amounts generated and disposed per month
20 are established to further define a generator. These stand-
21 ards will exclude household hazardous wastes.
22 The generator standards will establish requirements
23 for record keeping, labeling and marking of containers used
24 for storage, transport or disposal of hazardous wastes, use
25 of appropriate containers, furnishing information on the
-------
1
2
3
4
8
9
10
11
12'
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
236
general chemical composition of hazardous waste; ui»« of a
manifest system to assure that a hazardous waste is designated
to a permitted treatment, storage or disposal facility and
submitting reports to the Administrator or authorized state
agency, setting out the quantity generated and its disposi-
tion.
Section 3003 requires the development of standards
applicable to transporters of hazardous waste. These proposed
standards address identification codes, record keeping, ac-
ceptance and transportation of hazardous waste, compliance
with the manifest system, delivery of hazardous waste, spills
of hazardous waste and placarding and marking of vehicles.
The Agency has coordinated closely with the proposed
and current U.S. Department of Transportation regulations0
EPA intends to promulgate final regulations under
all sections of Subtitle C, by December 31, 1979. However, it
is important for the regulative communities to understand that
the regulations under Section 3001, through 3005, do not take
effect until six months after promulgation. That would be
approximately June of 1980.
Thus, there will be a time period after final promul-
gation during which time public understanding of the regula-
tions can be increased.
During this same period, notifications required under
ections 3010 are to be submitted and facility permit applica-
-------
7:8
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
237
tions required tinder 3005 will be distributed for completion
by applicants.
Now, I want to also note that Mr. Alan Roberts of
the Department of Transportation may join our panel here
later in the morning or during the day. I presume he was on
his way here and was held up, due to fog at the airport. He
was scheduled to be with us. He may arrive later on in the
day.
With that as a summary of Subtitle C of the proposed
regulations to be considered at this hearing, I return this
meeting to the Chairperson, Dorothy Darrah.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Good morning and welcome back.
We have two people who weren't able to get here
yesterday because of the weather and I am going to ask them
to speak first. I assume they are primarily going to be ad-
dressing 3001 and then we will go through the list of people
who want to offer comments on Section 3002.
So, first of all, is Robert Flank here, from City
Utilities of Springfield, Missouri?
MR. PLANK: Thank you. I am R0 David Plank. I am
manager of the Engineering Department of City Utilities of
Springfield, Missouri. I am speaking as a generator or poten-
tial generator. I am representing the Board of Public Utili-
ties of Springfield, We are a p»,fcliiAiy-owned utility.
STATEMENT OF R. DAVID PLANK
-------
238
1 MR. PLANK: We have two power generating stations,
2 Southwest Power Plant and James River Power Plant. These
3 stations both generate utility wastes, but according to re-
4 cent testing, do not meet the criteria of the Hazardous Waste
5 Act.
6 We do feel the current state and federal laws now
7 being enforced are adequate for the control of the disposal
8 of these wastes.
9 There have been no problems encountered under the
10 present system for disposal of our utility wastes. However,
11 if our wastes did meet the criteria of the Act, the cost
12 incurred by City Utilities to meet the proposed standards
13 would be cost prohibitive to our 59,000 customers.
14 We do have a position I would like to go through,
15 some data.
16 We are a municipally-owned public utility operated
17 as a division of the City of Springfield, Missouri, under the
18 City Charter. The electric distribution system of City
19 Utilities presently covers approximately 119 square miles
20 with 1,156 miles of distribution lines serving approximately
21 59,000 customers.
22 Our revenues for fiscal «79-180 are estimated at
23 $40,000,000o Power production facilities include a five-unit
24 coal-fired generating plant located near the James River on
25 the southeastern edge of the city and a single unit coal-fired
-------
239
1 generating plant located on the southwestern edge of the city.
2 The James River Power Plant has nameplate generat
3 capacity of 259 megawatts„ The nameplate capacity of the
4 Southwest Power Station is 194 megawatts« In addition to
5 these facilities, there is a 30 megawatt oil-fired peaking
6 turbine located at the Main Street Station, near the center
7 of the city»
8 The James River Power Plant consumes an average of
9 150,000 tons of coal per year. The Southwest Power Station
10 utilizes an average of 434,000 tons of coal per year and 54,
11 000 tons of limestone, the latter being used in the flue-gas
12 desulfurization system.
13 By-products produced in the form of fly ash, bott
14 ash and scrubber sludge from the flue-gas desulfurization
15 total 85,000 tons per year for the two facilities.
16 Of this total, 9,000 tons of fly ash and bottom ash
17 are produced at the James River Power Plant and 76,000 tons
18 of fly ash and bottom ash and scrubber sludge are produced at
19 the Southwest Power Station.
20 Present disposal of these wastes at James River
21 involves the use of an ash sluicing system that discharges
22 into an ash holding and settling basin. This ash pond is
23 operated under the N.P,D.E0S. permit No. MO-1961 and the
24 effluent is continuously monitored for the parameters out-
25 lined in the permit, according to the Federal Water Pollution^
-------
7:11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
240
Control Act and the Missouri Clean Water Law.
The Southwest Power Station utilizes a two-cell
settling pond for bottom ash. The cells are periodically
cleaned and the settled ash is removed and deposited in a
landfill along with a fixated mixture of fly ash and scrubber
sludge.
The ash pond is operated under N0P.D.E.S. Permit No.
MO-399340, as is the settling pond for the coal ash and
scrubber sludge landfill. Effluents from these facilities
are continuously monitored for the parameters outlined in the
permits.
The coal ash and scrubber sludge landfill was
built and is operated as a state-approved landfill in accord-
ance with the regulations set forth in the Missouri Solid
Waste Management Law, Permit No0 707701.
In addition to the monitoring and testing conduc-
ted as prescribed by these permits, City Utilities conducts
regular monitoring schedules with respect to the environment
surrounding these facilities„
These include twice weekly monitoring of the leach-
ate collection system within the Southwest Power Station Land-
fill, monthly sampling of the landfill settling pond, periodic
testing of the springs in the vicinity of the James River ash
pond and frequent monitoring of the springs around the South-
west Power Station and Wilson Creek above and below the outfall
-------
7:12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
241
from the permitted Southwest Power Station facility.
We have a testing program and the results of this
is that we have been engaged in a testing program involving
the discharges of these facilities for the past few years.
To date, the analyses performed by independent
laboratories and by our own laboratories have shown that none
of these discharges meet the criteria set forth to be desig-
nated hazardous wastes0
Recent investigations using the Toxicant Extraction
Procedure show that wastes treated according to the protocol
set forth in this test do not come under the criteria for
toxic wastes. These tests were performed on coal ash and
scrubber sludge.
We feel that since our own testing does not show
any results of a hazardous nature and since no definitive
environmental risks have been demonstrated to be directly or
indirectly attributable to coal ash and scrubber sludge, that
these wastes should not be included for management under the
Resource Recovery and Conservation Act0
We also feel that existing statutes under the Feder-
al Water Pollution Act, the Missouri Clean Water Law and the
Missouri Solid Waste Management Law provide sound and adequate
management practices for handling the disposal of these
wasteso
The fact that we produce over 85,000 tons of this '
-------
7:13
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
waste per year and that over 66,000,000 tons of this waste
per year is produced throughput the country presents a de-
finite problem when considering disposal in a hazardous waste
landfill.
The capacity of acceptable sites in relation to
the quantities involved preclude sufficient management when
compared to the successful way in which these wastes are
presently being handled.
Existing management practices have proved to be
satisfactory in preventing pollution problems„ We see no
reason to change to an unwieldy, expensive process that will
achieve the same end result.
The inclusion of utility wastes in the Hazardous
Waste Management Act of the Resource Recovery and Conservation
Act of 1976 could have a staggering economic impact upon City
Utilities and its customers through capital investment, in-
crease in personnel and operating expenses.
Existing landfill operations would cease, due to
reasons cited below and we would be forced to either relocate
our landfill operations or ship our waste to approved land-
fills in other parts of the state, and perhaps even out of
state.
The geologic conditions at our existing sites are
unsuitable for development and operation of hazardous waste
landfillo The Springfield area is underlain by a highly
-------
243
1 soluble jointed limestone in which karst development has
2 resulted in an extensive, well-integrated subsurface drainag
3 system.
4 Groundwater migration does not proceed through the
rock mass but, rather, is confined to joints, fractures and
6 solution channels in which movement is rapid and filtration
7 is minimal. Utilization of monitoring wells to detect leach-
8 ate migration would be ineffective. This area is also sub-
9 ject to catastropic sinkhole collapse, which would affect the
10 structural stability of a landfill liner.
11 We do have a detailed geologic description and that
12 is in the final statement0 The depth to the water table in
13 that area varies from 100 feet in upland areas to a few feet
14 in the lowlands.
15 The shallow aquifer is separated from a deeper
16 aquifer by a widespread shale formation. Most residential
17 and agricultural wells draw from the shallow aquifer.
18 Sites suitable for the development of a hazardous
19 waste disposal site could be located at a distance of 30 to
20 40 miles from Springfield „
21 Another option is that in lieu of developing our
22 own site, we could utilize existing sites operated by outside
23 concerns.
24 Modes of transportation to either of these sites
25 could be by truck or rail0
4
-------
244
1 I do have some cost figures. I will just summarize
2 those here. We think the capital cost of developing our own
3 landfill for transportation by truck-,- and we have some con-
4 cerns because of the type of trucks chat may be available
5 that would actually seal this material and keep it from
6 spilling on the road.
7 Anyway, for an offsite facility, the capital cost
8 of $9,779,000. That doesn't include all the bonding costs
9 we might have to incur.
10 That option, we think, would have about a $1,314,
11 000 cost to us as an annual operating cost involving 20 em-
12 ployees and fuel and maintenance on the vehicles.
13 If we were not able to use the truck option, the
14 rail facility would cost $23,156,000 and again, that does not
15 include all the bonded costs that would be incurred and would
16 have an annual operating cost of $1,386,500 and would require
17 24 personnelo
18 If we were to use a commercial site and there is one
19 near St. Louis, I understand, but it is limited in size, land
20 area, and would not last the entire time of the economic life
21 of our plants. Our capital improvement cost would be $3,100,
22 000 for additional ash handling equipment and rail loading
23 facilities, with an annual operating cost of $4,280,000. That
24 includes the dumping fee.
25 Or, if we were able to transport it by truck, our
-------
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
245
capital costs would be $1,204,000, plus an annual operating
and maintenance cost of $4,660,000.
I think you can see from the figures on the $40,000,
000 revenue, we are talking about incurring increases in cost
to bur consumers of, in the range of, eight to twelve per cent
on the base rates.
In conclusion, we would, therefore, like to go on
record as being opposed to the inclusion of utility wastes
under regulation by the Resource Recovery and Conservation
Acto
The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that
such wastes are produced in very large volumes, that the
potential hazards posed by the wastes are relatively low and
that the waste is generally not amenable to the control
techniques developed by the Act.
We believe that we have shown that the wastes have
no potential risk when handled in the proper manner and that
the disposal techniques presently in use provide an adequate
control of the wastes.
We have also shown that it would be a tremendous
economic burden on the City Utilities and its customers to
attempt to comply with the regulations set forth in the Act.
We would ask that EPA reconsider its position of
including utility wastes, even as special waste under the Act
and leave the management of these wastes to the State and ?ed-l
-------
7:17
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
246
eral agencies now engaged in these practices. Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you. Would you answer
questions for us?
MR. PLANK: I'll attempt to0
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Plank, did I understand you to say
that you have conducted tests against the extraction procedure
which show that your wastes are not hazardous by our defini-
tion?
MR. PLANK: Yes, sir, and those are very recent
testso
MR. LEHMAN: So, none of this would apply to you
under these conditions, is that correct?
MR. PLANK: Our concern is that coal, being such a
variable material as it is, could in some way slip over the
boundaries or parameters at some time in the future, if we had
a different coal supply or the coal was extracted from a
different vein.
MR. LEHMAN: I think you also made the statement
that you felt utility wastes should not come under the purview
of the Resource and Conservation Recovery Act0 I just wanted
to clarify that.
Even if the waste is not hazardous, it is still sub-
ject to Subtitle D of the Resource and Conservation Recovery
Act. In other words, you haven't totally escaped, just be-
-------
7:18
247
cause you are not a hazardous waste. You are also subject to
2 || Subtitle D. I just wanted to make that point, which is not |
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
a--itrs subject to federal requirements, but these require-
ments are administered by state agencies, not by the federal
agency. I presume you understand that point.
MR. PLANK: O.K.
MR. CORSON: Just one comment, Mr. Plank.
MR. PLANK: Yes.
MR. CORSON: Again, following up on the ens that
Jack asked, I believe you did indicate you had run the ex-
traction procedure and found none of your wastes failing the
tests following that.
I am wondering whether you might be willing to shar<
with us the data dealing with the description coal? We are
trying to put together a body of data for use by utilities
which may be able to derive some information that relates to
coal-type burning process, to what might be released in the
extraction procedure, so other utilities may make then, that
A-priority judgment as to whether or not their wastes are in
the system.
MR0 PLANK: Yes, we would be happy to send those to
MR. CORSON: If you would send those to us, we would
appreciate it very much.
MR. PLANK: Yes, O.K.
-------
248
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I have a couple of questions.
2 When you gave us the dollar figures for the land-
3 fill, I take it you were giving us figures for a landfill
4 that would meet all of the 3004 requirements, or am I wrong?
5 Were you, for example, giving us figures for some-
6 thing that would meet the 250.46-2 special waste? That's
7 the limited special waste standards for utility waste, which
8 sounds to me, from your description, as though you are al-
9 ready meeting, other than perhaps the security or visual
10 inspection.
n I am just trying to get clear what those dollar
12 figures were for.
13 MRo PLANK: They included the testing, monitoring
14 wells, even though we think they may be ineffective in our
15 area. I think meeting all the requirements. We can certainly
16 clarify that for you along with the other information.
17 MR. LEHMAN: Can I follow up on that? I think itrs
18 an important point. Were the cost estimates for the main
19 body of Section 3004 requirements or were they for the special
20 limited standards under the special waste category?
21 MR. PLANK: I believe they were for the limited,
22 yes. We can clarify that.
23 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., and I wondered when you
24 said you are doing--did you say monthly monitoring?
25 MR. PLANK: Yes0
-------
7:20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
249
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Can you tell us what parameters
you are monitoring for?
MR. PLANK: We can send that data along, I can't
tell you today exactly. It is as required by the N.P.D0E.S.
permits on the monthlies.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
MR. LEHMAN: One question, Mr. Plank. I believe
you also stated that your recommendation was that we remove
the utility waste section or provisions of Section 3004 as
a special waste category.
MR, PLANK: Right.
MR. LEHMAN: We covered this a little bit yesterday,
but nowhere is utility waste listed as a hazardous waste. ,
It is only if the material does not meet one of our charac-
teristics or fails one.
MR0 PLANK: That's true,
MR. LEHMAN: But the point is that if you remove
the utility wastes as a special waste standard, then the full
force of 3004 applies to waste that fail these characteris-
tics.
The way it is now, by listing it as a special waste,
there are somewhat limited standards applied.
MR. PLANK: I think we would like to have a total
exclusion of utility wastes and leave it to the state. Par-
ticularly, we have a very strong state program here in Mis-
-------
7:21
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
250
souri.
MR. LEHMAN: So, what you are really saying is you
don't—if I may paraphrase what you are saying. You are say-
ing you don't necessarily-it's not just that you want us to
remove the provisions for utility wastes from Section 3004,
you want us to make a total exclusion of utility wastes from
the whole program?
MR. PLANK: That's right.
MR. LEHMAN: That would have to be done in the
definition section of 3004 if that were to be accomplished0
MR. PLANK: Right.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
(The document referred to follows:
HEARING INSERT
-------
CITY UTILITIES
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI
301 E. CENTRAL STREET
JEWELL P.O. BOX 551
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI 65801
TELEPHONE 417- 831-8311
February 13, 1979
Mr. John P. Lehman
Director, Hazardous Waste Management Division
Office of Solid Waste (WH-565)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Dear Mr. Lehman:
This letter is written din reference to the proposed federal law per-
taining to the Hazardous Waste Act and its affect on this utility.
City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri has two power generating sta-
tions, Southwest Power Plant and James River Power Plant. These stations
both generate utility wastes but according to recent testing do not meet the
criteria of the Hazardous Waste Act.
We feel that current state and federal laws now being enforced are ade-
quate in the control of the disposal of these wastes. There have been no
problems encountered under the present system for disposal of our utility
wastes.
However, if our wastes did meet the criteria of the Act the cost incurred
by City Utilities to meet the proposed standards would be cost prohibitive to
our 59,000 customers.
Enclosed is a copy of City Utilities' position on this Act.
Since
Chairman, B«ard of Public Utilities
cc: Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton
Sen. John C. Danforth
Rep. William L. Clay
Rep. Robert A. Young
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt
Rep. Ike Skelton
Rep. Richard Boiling
Rep. Gene Taylor
Rep. Richard H. Ichord
Rep. Harold L. Volkmer
Rep. Bill D. Burlison
Rep. E. Thomas Coleman
Renelle P. Rae, Regional Administrator, EPA
CITY UTILITIES
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI
301 E. CENTRAL STREET
JEWELL P.Q^MOX 55!
SPRINGFIELD, M I SSOI^He 580 1
TELEPHONE 4l
R. DAVID PLANK, PE
MANAGER-ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
TELEPHONEi
4 I 7 - 8 3 I - 3 5 O.'J
-------
INTRODUCTION
City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri, is a municipally-owned public
utility operated as a division of the City of Springfield, Missouri under the
City Charter. The electric distribution system of City Utilities presently
covers approximately 119 square miles with 1,156 miles of distribution lines
serving approximately 59,000 customers. Revenues for fiscal 1979-80 are
estimated at 40,000,000 dollars.
Power production facilities include a five unit coal-fired generating
plant located near the James River on the southeastern edge of the city and a
single unit coal-fired generating plant located on the southwestern edge of
the city. The James River Power Plant has nameplate generating capacity of
259 megawatts. Nameplate capacity of the Southwest Power Station is 194
megawatts. In addition to these facilities, there is a 30 megawatt oil-fired
peaking turbine located at the Main Street Station near the center of the
city.
The James River Power Plant consumes an average of 150,000 tons of coal
per year. The Southwest Power Station utilizes an average of 434,000 tons of
coal per year and 54,000 tons of limestone, the latter being used in the
flue-gas desulfurization system (FGD). By-products produced in the form of
fly ash, bottom ash and scrubber sludge from the FGD total 85,775 tons per
year for the two facilities. Of this total, 9,125 tons of fly ash and bottom
ash are produced at the James River Power Plant and 76,650 tons of fly ash,
bottom ash and scrubber sludge are produced at the Southwest Power Station.
Present disposal of these wastes at James River involves the use of an
ash sluicing system that discharges into an ash holding and settling basin.
This ash pond is operated under N.P.D.E.S. Permit No. MO-0001961 and the
-------
effluent is continuously monitored for the parameters outlined in the permit,
according to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, P.L. 92-500 and the
Missouri Clean Water Law.
The Southwest Power Station utilizes a two-cell settling pond for bottom
ash. The cells are periodically cleaned and the settled ash is removed and
deposited in a landfill along with a fixated mixture of fly ash and scrubber
sludge. The ash pond is operated under N.P.D.E.S. Permit No. MQ-00899340 as
is the settling pond for the coal ash and scrubber sludge landfill.
Effluents from these facilities are continuously monitored for the parameters
outlined in the permits.
The coal ash and scrubber sludge landfill was built and is operated as a
state-approved landfill in accordance with the regulations set forth in the
Missouri Solid Waste Management Law, Permit No. 707701.
In addition to the monitoring and testing conducted as prescribed by
these permits, City Utilities conducts regular monitoring schedules with
respect to the environment surrounding these facilities. These include
twice-weekly monitoring of the leachate collection system within the
Southwest Power Station Landfill; monthly sampling of the landfill settling
pond; periodic testing of the springs in the vicinity of the James River ash
pond; and frequent monitoring of the springs around the Southwest Power
Station and Wilson Creek above and below the outfall from the permitted
Southwest Power Station facility.
TESTING PROGRAM AND RESULTS
City Utilities has been engaged in testing programs involving the
discharges of these facilities for the past few years. To date analyses per-
-------
formed by independent laboratories and by our own laboratories have shown
that none of these discharges meet the criteria set forth to be designated
hazardous wastes. Recent investigations using the Toxicant Extraction
Procedure show that wastes treated according to the protocol set forth in
this test do not come under the criteria for toxic wastes. These tests were
performed on coal ash and scrubber sludge.
We feel that since our own testing does not show any results of a hazar-
dous nature and since no definite environmental risks have been demonstrated
to be directly or indirectly attributable to coal ash and scrubber sludge,
that these wastes should not be included for management under the Resource
Recovery and Conservation Act. We also feel that existing statutes under the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Missouri Clean Water Law and the
Missouri Solid Waste Management Law provide sound and adequate management
practices for handling the disposal of these wastes. The fact that we pro-
duce over 85,000 tons of this waste per year and that over 66 million tons of
this waste per year is produced throughout the country presents a definite
problem when considering disposal in a hazardous waste landfill. The capa-
city of acceptable sites in relation to the quantities involved precludes
efficient management when compared to the successful way in which these
wastes are presently being handled. Existing management practices have
proved to be satisfactory in preventing pollution problems. We see no reason
to change to an unwieldy, expensive process that will achieve that will
achieve the same end result.
ECONOMIC IMPACT TO THE UTILITY AND ITS CUSTOMERS
The inclusion of utility wastes in the Hazardous Waste Management Act of
the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act of 1976 would have a staggering
-------
economic impact on City Utilities and its customers through capital invest-
ments, increase in personnel and operating expenses. Existing landfill
operations would cease due to reasons cited below and we would be forced to
either relocate our landfill operation or ship our wastes to approved land-
fills in other parts of the state-perhaps even out-of-state.
Geologic conditions at existing sites are unsuitable for the development
and operation of a hazardous waste landfill. The Springfield area is
underlain by a highly soluble, jointed limestone in which karst development
has resulted in an extensive, well-integrated subsurface drainage system.
Groundwater migration does not proceed through the rock mass; but rather is
confined to joints, fractures, and solution channels in which movement is
rapid and filtration is minimal. Utilization of monitoring wells to detect
leachate migration would be ineffective. This area is also subject to
catastropic sinkhole collapse, which would affect the structural stability of
a landfill liner.
Available sites over the area are alluvial deposits confined to the
floodplains and residual soils weathered from the underlying limestone. The
residual soils are CH under the Unified Soil Classification, composed mainly
of halloysites and kaolinites with small quantities of montmorillonite.
Permeability is on the order of 1.0 X 10~5 cm/sec. Weathering of inter-
bedded chert has resulted in the preservation of relict chert beds in the soil
profile, which increase the permeability. Soil thickness ranges from 0 to 20
feet due to the formation of cutters and pinnacles at the bedrock surface.
Thickness is highly variable over short horizontal distances.
Depth to the water table varies from 100 feet in upland areas to a few
feet in the lowlands. The shallow aquifer is separated from a deeper aquifer
-------
by a widespread shale formation. Most residential and agricultural wells
draw from the shallow aquifer.
Sites suitable for the development of a hazardous waste disposal site
could be located at a distance of 30-40 miles from Springfield. In lieu of
developing our own site, City Utilities could utilize existing sites operated
by outside concerns. Modes of transportation to either of these sites could
be by truck or rail. The following tables show the economic impact of these
various alternatives on City Utilities. In all cases, some capital improve-
ments would be necessary at the power plants.
-------
COSTS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING AND OPERATING A CITY UTILITIES'
OWNED HAZARDOUS WASTE LANDFILL * TRANSPORTATION BY TRUCK
1. Site investigation and design development $ 710,0001
2. Purchase of property 1,422,0002
3. Final design and construction 1,828,0003
4. Capital improvements at James River Power Plant
and Southwest Power Station 878, 0004
5. Landfill equipment 430,0005
6. Trucks for hauling wastes 529,0006
TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS $5,797,000
7. Escalation 1, 630, 000?
8. Contingency 713,0008
$8,140,000
9. Engineering, legal fees and overhead 1,019,000$
10. Interest during construction 620,000"!°
TOTAL COST (1982 Completion) $9,779,000
1. Includes initial engineering evaluation, preliminary design and prepara-
tion of environmental impact statement as well as state approval proce-
dures.
2. Includes fencing 640 acres and possible fees for condemnation. Of the
640 acres, approximately 500 will be used for the landfill.
3. Includes hydrological monitoring system, surface containment structure
construction, soil liner, leachate collection system, treatment facility,
laboratory and office building, maintenance building and testing equip-
ment. Fuel storage tank.
4. Includes improved handling facilities at James River Power Plant and new
storage silo and fuel storage tank at Southwest Power Station.
5. Includes dozer, scraper, compactor and watering truck.
6. Includes 7 tractor-trailer units with special fly ash resistant trailers.
Four of these will be on the road with two working a shuttle system from
James River and one in reserve.
-------
7. Figured at 40% for capital costs exluding land.
8. Figured at 10%.
9. Figures at 13% of capital, engineering, legal, overhead and escalation.
10. Figured for 1 year at 7%.
* Estimated Life of 25 years.
-------
ANNUAL OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS FOR HAZARDOUS
WASTE LANDFILL OWNED BY CITY UTILITIES - TRANSPORTATION BY TRUCK
Additional Personnel:
1 Landfill Superintendent
2 Tab Technicians
2 Manifest Clerks
4 Guards
1 Sampling Technician
1 Inspector-Sampler-Full time landfill
1 Foreman
3 Heavy Equipment Operators
1 Truck Driver
2 Maintenance Men
2 Processing Clerks
Total Personnel $ 700,000
Transportation Costs
Fuel and maintenance 87,000
Landfill Equipment
Fuel and maintenance 121,000
Landfill Operations
Yearly construction, etc. 306,000
Laboratory Testing 100,000
TOTAL Annual Operating and Maintenance Costs $1,314,000
-------
COSTS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING A CITY UTILITIES
OWNED LANDFILL BY RAIL ACCESS *
1. Site investigation and design development $ 1,000, 000 1
2. Purchase of property 1,800,0002
3. Final design and construction 5,500,0003
4. Capital improvements at James River Power Plant
and Southwest Power Station 1, 500, 0004
5. Landfill equipment 2,430,0005
6. Engine and cars 720,0006
TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS $12,950,000
7. Escalation 4,460, 000 7
8. Contingency 1,741,0008
$19,151,000
9. Engineering, legal fees and overhead 2,490,0009
10. Interest during construction. 1,515,000"!0
TOTAL COST (1982 Completion) $23,156,000
1. Includes initial engineering evaluation, preliminary design and prepara-
tion of environmental impact statement as well as state approval
procedures.
2. Includes 1,000 acres for spur and landfill or which 500 acres would be
useable.
3. Includes hydrological monitoring system, surface containment structure
construction, soil liner, leachate collection system, treatment facility,
laboratory and office building, maintenance building and testing equip-
ment. Fuel storage tank.
4. Includes improved handling facilities at James River Power Plant and new
storage silo and fuel storage tank at Southwest Power Station.
5. Includes dozer, scraper, compactor, watering truck and rotary dump machi-
nery.
6. Includes 12 rail cars, and switch engine.
7. Figured at 40% for capital costs excluding land.
-------
8. Figured at 10%.
9. Figured at 13% of capital, engineering, legal, overhead and escalation.
10. Figured for 1 year at 7%.
* Estimated Life of 25 years.
-------
ANNUAL OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS FOR HAZAJUXDUS
WASTE LANDFILL OWNED BY CITY UTILITIES - TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL
Personnel:
1 Landfill Superintendent
2 Railroad Engineers
2 Unloaders
1 Foreman
2 Lab Technicians
2 Manifest Clerks
4 Guards
1 Sampling Technician
1 Inspector-Sampler
1 Foreman
3 Heavy Equipment Operators
1 Truck Driver
2 Maintenance Men
1 Processing Clerk
Total Personnel 5 630,000
Transportation Costs
Fuel and Maintenance
and shipping costs by rail 229,500
Landfill Equipment
Fuel and maintenance 121,000"
Landfill Operations
Yearly construction, etc. 306,000
Laboratory Testing 100,000
TOTAL $1,386,500
-------
CAPITAL OUTLAY TO TRANSPORT WASTES TO COMMERCIAL
LANDFILL BY RAIL *
Ash handling improvements at JRPP § 500,000
Ash handling improvements at SWPP 100,000
Railroad spur construction 300,000
Rotary car dump 2,000,000
Switch engine 200,000
TOTAL Capital Improvements Cost $3,100,000
Yearly Operating Costs
Personnel:
2 Manifest Clerics
1 Processing Clerk
1 Lab Technician
Total Personnel $ 60,000
Freight Costs 500,000
Dumping Fees 3,720,000
TOTAL Annual Operating Costs $4,280,000
Unknown Contingencies
1. Maintenance on rotary car dump
2. Operation on rotary car dump
3. Maintenance on spur line at landfill
4. Operation and maintenance on switch engine
* 10 year maximum disposal space, then have to have new site*
-------
CAPITAL OUTLAY FOR TRANSPORTING WASTES TO EXISTING
COMMERCIAL LANDFILL - APPROXIMATELY 220-250 MILES BY TRUCK
Ash handling improvements at JRPP $ 500,000
Ash handling improvements and fuel
storage tank at SWPP 175,000
Trucks for transporting 529,000
TOTAL Capitalized Costs 51,204,000
Yearly Operating Costs
Personnel:
8 Truck Drivers
2 Manifest Clerks
1 Processing Clerk
1 Lab Technician
1 Maintenance Man
Total Personnel $ 390,000
Truck Maintenance and Fuel 550,000
\
Dumping Fees at Existing Hazardous Waste Landfill 3,720,000
Annual Maintenance and Operating Costs $4,660,000
-------
CONCLUSION
We would, therefore, like to go on record as being opposed to the inclu-
sion of utility wastes under regulation by the Resource Recovery and
Conservation Act. The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that such
wastes are produced in very large volumes, that the potential hazards posed
by the wastes are relatively low and that the waste is generally not amen-
dable to the control techniques developed by the Act.
We believe that we have shown that the wastes have no potential risk when
handled in the proper manner and that the disposal techniques presently in
use provide an adequate control of the wastes. We have also shown that it
would be a tremendous economic burden on City Utilities and its customers to
attempt to comply with the regulations set forth in the Act* We would, ask
that EPA reconsider its position of including utility wastes even as "special
\
waste" under the Act and leave the management of these wastes to the State
and Federal agencies now engaged in these practices.
-------
251
l CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: For anyone who wasn't here
2 yesterday and doesn't recognize Alan Corson, let me intro-
3 duce Alan. He's the Chief of our Guidelines Branch and works
4 on Section 3001. We asked him to come up for the first two
5 speakers this morning.
6 I also have what is marked in red, "Urgent", a
7 message from Mr. H. Scott Durbin, if he would come pick this
8 up.
9 All right, our second speaker this morning, also
10 1 believe, primarily speaking on Section 3001, is Dr. Robert
11 Post on from Camel Energy in Houston, Texas.
12 STATEMENT OF ROBERT S. POSTON
13 DR. POSTON: Thank you, panel members, for invit-
14 ing me to speak to this group. I was commenting at breakfast
15 today, to Paul Herbert, that I probably wouldn't have asked
16 for an opportunity to come before this group and speak, had
17 I not been involved, probably a year ago, in a uranium ex-
18 traction process in south Texas and I got to see firsthand
19 what the Government is capable of doing to an industry,
20 In underground solution mining of uranium deposits
21 in south Texas, the EPA has required these uranium solution
22 mining people restore completely a material, water, which
23 contains only 6,000 parts per million of total dissolved
24 solids.
25 Well, gentlemen, the value, in my opinion, of this
-------
7:23
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
252
water, after itfs restored, is no way equal to the cost. I
can*t see any reason for some type of laws like this to be
put on the books when it costs more to restore than it does
to mine* I think we really have some soul searching to do
when., it comes to control of the environment.
I am Robert Poston with Carmel Energy. Our home
office is in Houston. We have oilfield recovery. Our pro-
duction operation is in Texas, Kansas and western Missouri.
I noted there wasn't a hearing to be held in Hous-
ton. I am out of Houston, so I took this opportunity, be-
cause of our operations here in Missouri, to come before the
group and speak.
Carmel is not particularly different than any othe
oil producing company. We drill for, we explore for and drill
and complete and produce oil deposits.
However, with another arm of the Government, the
Department of Energy, we have been able, over a period of
eight years, to develop some technology which is enabling us
to recover reserves from what is called in the industry, heavy
oil deposits.
The only thing that makes this different is we
generate on-site super-heated steam, COig and nitrogen, so just
like the gentleman with the power plant, we have to concern
ourselves not only with oil field produced brands, drilling
buds, but also steam drum blowdowns.
4
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
253
In order to keep the steam drum from passing solids
overhead into the vapor state, we have to blow down this
material and it represents about three per cent of our total
water through the unit* So, we are talking about 15 barrels
a day of fairly high solid concentrated waters.
Carmel, we have succeeded, probably, where other
companies have failed, because of the more favorable relation-
ship now between the price we receive for the oil and the
costs, because of the basic entrepreneural nature of our com-
pany, and because of two U.S. Department of Energy cost
sharing contracts, one of which we are now involved with in
western Missouri, over in western Burn county, right on the
Kansas-Missouri state line.
I believe what—and I am going to conclude here and
I asked to speak yesterday and asked the panel to conclude,
is oil field produced brine, drilling buds and this steam
drum or cooling tower blowdown, really shouldn't be defined
as hazardous material. All it is, in the case of oil field
produced brines, itTs concentrated solids in the produced
fluids.
I will also advise the panel that in every state we
operate, we are regulated from beginning to end0 I noted in
the Federal Register that the real goal here is to regulate
the generators of hazardous wastes from initial generation to
the final disposition.
-------
7:25
254
1 Well, folks, the oil producing industry is already
2 regulated. We are probably as regulated, if not more so,
3 than even the public utilities. We have to get a permit to
4 drill a well. We have to get a permit to either complete
5 that well or to plug that well,, Wefve got to give notice to
6 the various state regulatory agencies and they have an oppor-
7 tunity to send their representative down to actually witness
8 the plugging of a well.
9 We have to get a permit for salt water disposal
10 well and here again, it's got to meet certain criteria.
ll These wells,the shallow formations here in Missouri, and
12 2nald«h&£LLy* I will elaborate on this a second. It's a very
13 unique shallow deposit over in western Missouri, but these
14 wells have got to be cemented from the very bottom of the
15 formation to the top.
16 There is virtually no opportunity for any salt
17 water contamination of fresh water zones. The requirements,
18 the details on actual materials of construction, materials
19 to be used in a casing program, all this stuff is generally
20 spelled out.
21 I read very carefully through the Federal Register
22 and the only way it seems that you people are proposing to
23 include us, is in this one special category and then you
24 make the statement that if our solids content, the concen-
25 trations are equal to ten times that for potable water, then
-------
255
1 we, by definition, have a hazardous waste problem.
2 Also, for your understanding, perhaps, not all
3 oil operations use drilling muds. We drill, for example, in
4 western Missouri with air. We use air, because we find it's
5 a lot faster, it's a lot cheaper. We don't have the pits, we
6 don't have any disposal problem there.
7 We ran a great deal of surface equipment right be-
8 side one of these wells and, obviously, if you had a pit
9 there, you don't have the bearing stress to stand up under a
10 storage tank.
11 So, 1 think now I've already pointed out two sub-
12 jects here, or two points, where all oil producing companies
13 are not the same. One, everybody is not drilling a 10,000
14 foot well.
15 Out in western Missouri, our wells are only 150
16 foot deepo They cost us $4 a foot. They cost us $600 to
17 drill and I know I'm stepping into another area, but the pro-
18 posal is that we put up a $5,000 per well surety bond, cash
19 up front bond. Good gosh, the well only costs $600, so there
20 is a difference. Not all wells are drilled by Exxon at 25,
21 000 feet, as we see sometimes in west Texas and Oklahoma.
22 We use air and we find air works very well for us,
23 because it does give us the opportunity for a very good geo-
24 logic control. We can actually check the forma dens every
25 few inches as we are drilling with air« It's certainly non-
-------
7:27
256
1 polluting. The drilling cuttings are deposited on the surface
2 in neat little piles. We attempt to do it about every five
i
3 feet and the state of Missouri asked that we send them samp-
4 les periodically from the wells we drille
5 Now, you all have suggested that we comment, the
6 industry comment, on the exemption provision. We are asking
7 you to exempt the oil producing industry from the definition
8 of hazardous wastes under Section 3001.
9 I understand we would still be under this Subtitle
10 D. We think that's fine.
11 In reading the Federal Register that you all pointed
12 out there was 5,000,000 metric tons a year of wastes being; •
13 hazardous waste generation by the oil producing industry.
14 Gentlemen and ladies, I would like to take you all
15 out into the field to show you we do noto The oil industry
16 does not pollute.
17 You know, the days where you could drill an oil
18 well and produce oil filled brine into an adjoining stream
19 or lay it out on the surface, those days are gone. The states
20 now regulate and they regulate very tightly.
21 Now in the case of drilling muds, a lot of wells,
22 the majority of wells in the United States, are still drilled
-•—v
23 with drilling muds. But one of the primary reasons why muds
24 are used is because of fluid loss control.
25 By using the drilling muds, the water is not leached
-------
7:28
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
257
into the formation as you drill down to depths, A filter
cake forms on the wall and this holds the water into the well
bore and it*s circulated from the surface down through the
drill bit. It lubricates the bit, it cools the drill string
and the drill bit.
Therefore, there is going to be very little in the
way of water, salt water and contaminated water, that is
actually even on the surface in a pit, that escapes the pit
into the, you know, ground water. This was a reason given
for your wanting to include this in hazardous waste, because
•
it would contaminate, perhaps, surface waters.
I think, personally, that if you increase the exemp-
tion for special wastes from this 100 kilograms a month to
1,000 kilograms, that would make it a ton, I don't see any way
a ton of contaminants would escape a drilling mud pit, even
in a conventional drilling mud operation.
Drilling muds today are very expensive, so typically
when a well is drilled and completed, an operator or drilling
contractor or driller, he moves to another location, he likes
to take his drilling muds with himc He'll pump it out and
put it in a container and go over to another well, another
location, and use it and cover the,pit back up to the original
contour and with the exception that normally it*s not compacte-
back in, you've restored the surface to its original condition
I have commented on your proposal of a $5,000 up
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
258
front bond to assure a well is going to be drilled, so the
hazardous materials, if you stick with the definition of
hazardous materials on the drilling muds, don't contaminate
the environment o
I pointed out to you that not all wells are $100,
000 apiece and, in fact, in our case in Western Missouri,
we are looking at less than $1,000. The state of Missouri,
y, requires $1,000 up front bond or $10,000 for a
field development bond.
So, 1 think it's really, I guess the word is ridi-
culous, to require a $5,000 per well, up front, bond.
Now finally, I would like to comment on your finan-
cial responsibility requirement. Most of the wells drilled
in the United States, oil wells and gas wells, are not
drilled by the Exxons and the Shells and the major oil com-
panies o They are drilled by small, independent operators like
Carmel.
The requirement or the suggestion that a $5,000,000
financial responsibility bond be made available, that would
essentially eliminate small companies „ 1 checked with our
financial advisors, for example, and we don't think we can
get a $5,000,000, 20-year, perpetual bond. We just don't
think we can do it0
Just like the gentleman spoke a second ago, the
Springfield public utility, I feel that the EPA, with respect
-------
7:30
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
259
to this hazardous waste and definition, ought to concentrate
on really gross offenders. I think, from what I see on
television and read in the newspaper, that there are quite a
few gross offenders out there.
But, gentlemen, we have been regulated now for, oh,
certainly right after the War and the states do a real top
notch job. At least Carmel, and I think the oil industry as
a whole, feels that EPA should concentrate its efforts on
the gross offenders and since we are already regulated, let
us stay over there in this Subtitle 0 section, continue to
monitor our activities, but at the same time, save us from
the--it was a proposal that 300 days be required for us to
even get a drilling permit.
Spare us from that type of agony. Spare us from
the $5,000 per well cash bond and the $5,000,000 financial
X
responsibility bond«
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you. Would you answer
questions for us?
DR. POSTON: Yes, I would be happy to.
MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Poston, I've got a series of ques-
tions here, but before I do, I think there may be some mis-
\
understandings somewhere here.
First of all, you talked about the $5,000 bond, up
front, for drilling. That's not part of these regulations.
Is that a set of EPA regulations somewhere else?
-------
260
l DR. POSTON: I had read that as part of the oil and
2 gas—I have to admit I did not see it in the Federal Registea^
3 but I was advised by your people in Washington that would be
4 taken up at a later date.
5 MR. LINDSEY: But not under this Act. It may be
6 under the underground injection control program or another
7 program, which offhand I am not aware of. But, you may be
8 right.
9 The other thing you mentioned was the financial
10 responsibility in the requirement for operating hazardous
ll waste disposal sites to maintain a $5,000,000 insurance
12 premium for disasters, if you will.
13 I just want to make it clear or make sure there is
14 an understanding here that under the special waste regula-
15 tions that we have here, the type of waste which we are talk-
16 ing about, which is gas and oil drilling muds, and oil pro-
17 duction brines, are not subject to that, at least during this
18 period that we are considering them as a special waste.
19 Did you misunderstand that?
20 DR. POSTON: I'm glad to have that clarification.
\
21 MR. LINDSEY: In other words, the only disposal
22 regulations that are in place now for the special wastes are
23 those limited set of regulations which are included here and
24 it does not includes these insurance premiums at this point.
25 I will have to study the wastes some more,, We may
-------
7:32
261
1 generate regulations for these specific wastes, but at the
2 present, that's not covered.
3 Let me get to a couple of additional questions, if
4 I could. You mentioned and I think you understood this cor-
5 rectly, that these kinds of waste are only covered, in any
6 event, if they fail the characteristics test under Section
7 3001. I believe you mentioned that,,
8 Have you done any testing or do you have any feel
9 for knowing the characteristics of the waste we are talking
10 about, the steam drum blowdowns, the brines and the oil muds,
11 whether or not they will meet or fail, if you will, these
12 characteristics?
13 DR. POSTON: The only way I think you would have us
14 caught is this arbitrary definition, in my view arbitrary,
15 that if it*s ten times your definition of potable water or
16 drinkable water, then we're in.
17 MR. LINDSEY: You think it*s probably going to meet
18 that?
19 DR. POSTON: Oh, yes.
20 MR. LINDSEY: I seec
21 DR. POSTON: My recollection is that potable water
22 is around 1,000 parts per million total dissolved solids and
23 most oil field brines are going to be in excess of 10,000
24 parts per million of total dissolved solids and cooling tower
25 blowdown or steam drum blowdown is going to be in excess of
-------
7:33
262
10,000 parts per million of total dissolved solids. I think
you have us there.
3 MR. LINDSEY: I don't believe there is a total
4 dissolved solids requirement here.
5 DR. POSTON: Well—
6 MR. LINDSEY: I don't believe there is a total
7 dissolved solids requirement in here. The requirements are
8 for specifics from the primary drinking water standards.
9 There are primary drinking water standards which
10 list a series of heavy metals and a few pesticides. So, it*s
11 only the toxic—
12 DR. POSTON: I did not have benefit of,-you make
13 reference to the EPA's drinking water standards in the Federal
14 Register. I didn*t have that little piece of information in
15 my hands to know what that was.
16 I can tell you that from experience, when you start
17 talking about 1,000 parts per million of total dissolved solids
18 if you consistently consume drinking water that exceeds those
19 qualities, you are going to be in a little trouble.
20 MR. LINDSEY: The pertinent part that you need to
2i look at, I think, is under 250.13-D, which is where the
22 specific toxicants are listed.
23 DR. POSTON: Yes, I have looked that list over and
24 we do not characteristically, typically, have those toxicants.
25 we are out on that basis.
-------
7:34
263
l MR. LINDSEY: If that's the case, then those par-
2 ticular wastes would probably not, if you are right, would
3 probably not be considered hazardous*
4 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I just want to clarify that
5 for hinu I'm not sure, but I think the requirement under
6 RCRA may have been misinterpreted to you. We are using
7 the number only for those 10 substances that are listed in
8 here.
9 The fact that you have 1,000 parts per million
10 solids does not make you hazardous waste. It would only be
11 if you met, you know, had too much of one of these things,
12 these ten substances.
13 I think what you told us is, you have to meet any
14 of our requirements0
15 DR. POSTON: I just need that little piece of paper.
16 MR. LINDSEY: You mentioned that brine muds, brine
17 ponds and mud pits are already regulated, leaching pits. Who
18 is it that regulates them, the state?
19 DR. POSTON: The state in every case,,
20 MRo LINDSEY: Is this only in Missouri, or are we
21 talking nationwide?
22 DR0 POSTON: Everywhere we operate0
23 MRo LINDSEY: The lemching from these mud pits and
24 brine ponds is already covered?
25 DR. POSTON: Yes, if all industry has moved over a
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
264
period here of 20 to 25 years to salt water disposal well, I
guess if you would say, "How much do you typically produce,
how much brine is typically produced with the oil", I would
have to say it's 50-50 or one to one ratioc
There are exceptions to this. Sometimes you pro-
duce very little water, but probably on the average for every
barrel of oil, you produce one barrel of water,
MRo LINDSEY: The ponds then are used for what, stor-
age ponds before injection? Is that what's normally done?
DR. POSTON: We don't even use in our operations, for
example, we don't even use surface storage ponds to produce
brines. We go to an underground disposal well with a pump.
The drilling mud pits are right by the individual
wells and they only exist for the period the well is being
drilled.
/
MR0 LINDSEY: O.K., thank you.
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Poston, it appears from some of
your comments that you are getting a lot of your information
from an article that appeared in the Oil and Gas Journal.
DR. POSTON: Yes, thatrs correct.
MR. LEHMAN: I was shown a copy of that yesterday
[and haven't had a chance to really study it, but apparently,
there are some incorrect statements there, some misinformation.
DR. POSTON: I hope so0
MR. LEHMAN: I would reconraend highly to you that
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
265
you take your information from the Federal Register and not
from—
DR. POSTON: I did go to the effort to get the
Federal Register. I went to the library, got it out, and I
did read it.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
(The document referred to follows:)
HEARING INSERT
-------
.«• ,A ^
'1
PREPARED STATEMENT
EPA HEARING ON HAZARDOUS WASTE GUIDELINES
by Robert S. Poston, Vice President
Carme1 Energy, Inc.
1776 Yorktown, Suite 110
Houston, Texas 77056
Carme 1 Energy, Inc. is a very small oil producing company,
privately held, that has developed over an eight(8) year period
some technology which is working successfully to recover heavy
oil from oil reservoirs in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri.
Carme 1 drilled approximately 50 wells in Calendar 1978 and plans
to drill over 100 wells in Calendar 1979 to recover oil from
heavy oil deposits.
Cannel's Vapor Therm process consists of surface genera-
tion of superheated steam, carbon dioxide and nitrogen; injection
of these gases into a heavy oil reservoir and then producing oil
from stimulated wells. Oil production response is a function of
reservoir quality, but in general the Vapor Therm process is
capable of over 10 to 20 fold increase in oil production rates
compared to production without stimulation.
Carrael is succeeding where others have failed due to the
more favorable relationship between oil price and costs which now
exists; because of the entrepreneural nature of the company and
because of two U.S. Department of Energy cost sharing contracts to
fund field demonstrations of our technology.
Carmel, and the oil producing industry as a whole, does not
want to pollute the environment in which we live and operate and
favors laws to protect the environment with stiff penalties for
willful violations. The industry simply has too good a record
especially in recent years to reach a different conclusion.
-------
Statement Page 2
However, what is of particular concern to Carmel is the pro-
posed sweeping definition of "hazardous". Hazardous by definition
means risky or perilous or severly damaging. Drilling muds, pro-
duced oil field brines (connate water) and steam drum blow down
are simply not hazardous materials and should not come under your
jurisdiction and control.
In reading Section 3001 in the December 18, 1978 Federal
Register, the only way the EPA was able to define these materials
as hazardous was by "assuming" that any material with a solids
concentration ten times that recommended for potable water was by
definition hazardous. By this definition it would be hazardous
for anyone to swim in the oceans of the world or as a matter of
fact the Great Salt Lake; which we all know is foolish.
The real question of environmental concern and importance is
proper disposal of oil field waters. Therefore, why not simplify
the regulations and make it easier for oil companies to solve the
energy crises by exempting drilling muds, produced oil field
brine and steam drum blow down as non-hazardous provided these
materials are disposed of properly. For example, drilling muds
are to be removed from the surface pit and che piL covered back
to its original contour (setting the exemption to 1000 kilogram
per month). Produced oil field brine and steam drum blow down
once properly reinjected back into the oil xormation from which
it was produced or other formation approved by the state geolo-
gist should satisfy all environmental questions. Disposal well
permits as are now required should be continued.
We recommend that the EPA adopt rules which specifically
exempt the oil producing industry from the definition of hazardous
waste as proposed in Section 3001 provided the above mentioned
materials are properly disposed. The materials are in themselves
hon-hazardous and the only possible environmental harm would occir
in the improper disposal of the materials.
I also wish to bring to your attention the fact that all oil
field operations are not the same. In Western Missouri we have
been drilling and coring with air and this technique is working
well for us. The wells are very shallow--ayeraging less than
-------
Statement Page 3
150 teet total depth--and the cost of digging and drilling mud
pit and covering the pit back after drilling the hole becomes
needlessly expensive when we can drill with air. We ask you to
please recognize this fact and not require a permit or any other
waste disposal requirement for air drilling operations.
Certainly if after deliberation the EPA finds as I have
suggested that oil field drilling mud, produced brine and steam
drum blow down is not hazardous when properly disposed, then the
oil industry need not concern itself with the most burdensome
provisions of permitting with its suggested 300 day waiting
period, the $5,000 per well up-front cash bond, the $5 million
dollar financial responsibility requirement for 20 years and the
costly manifest, record-keeping and reporting system.
If however, the EPA continues to hold against the oil pro-
ducers it will unquestionably reduce much needed domestic drilling
and exploration because it will eliminate small independent oil
producers like Carmel who year after year drill most of the land
based oil wells in the lower 4tf states. The $5,000 per well up
front bond seems reasonable relative to the abandonment and plug-
ging cost of "average" oil wells. I am here to point out that
there are exceptions to the average. As I stated earlier, our
wells in Western Missouri are only 150 feet deep and contract
drilling cost is $4 per foot or $600 per well. Each well can be
plugged by cementing through one(l) inch from the bottom of the
hole to the surface for less than $200. The State of Missouri
requires a $1,000 per well bond or a $10,000 blanket bond. Either
appear sufficient to plug an abandoned well in Western Missouri.
The states do an excellent job of controlling the oil and gas
producers in the areas in which we operate.
I have checked with our financial advisors and Carmel has
concluded that it would be impossible for us to obtain an open-
ended $5 million financial responsibility bond for 20 years
duration. We simply do not have the financial resources to ob-
tain such a bond. We are convinced that the states requirement of
a perpetual plugging and abandonment bond either on a per well
or field basis sufficies.
-------
Statement Page 4
Carmel feels that the EPA should take into consideration
the fact that the oil producing industry has a good record of
managing and controlling its waste and that imposing further
regualtions on an already over-regulated industry will do nothing
to stimulate what most feel is in the national interest--increased
domestic oil production.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
266
CHAIRPERSON OARRAH: We will move on to to people
who have asked to comment on Section 3002, and my first per- |
son will be Mr. Merlin Horn of the Utility Solid Waste Acti-
vities Group.
STATEMENT OF MERLIN HORN
MR0 HORN: Good morning,, My name is Merlin Horn.
I am Director of Environmental Affairs for the Wisconsin
Power and Light Company„ I am appearing today on behalf of
the Wisconsin Power and Light Company and, also, the Utili-
ties Solid Waste Activities Group, and the Edison Electric
Institute, to comment on some aspects of the regulations
proposed to implement Section 3002 of RCRA.
While some of you are familiar with USWAG, that is
the Utilities Solid Waste Activities Group, let me briefly
describe the group for those of you who are not.
USWAG is an informal consortium of electric utili-
ties and the Edison Electric Institute. Currently, there are
some 45 utility members of USWAG. Those companies own and
operate a substantial percentage of the electric generation
capacity in the United States.
E.E.I., Edison Electric Institute, is the principal
national association of invester owned electric light and
power companieso
Coal is the principal fuel used for electric genera-
tion in the United States today. At Wisconsin Power and Lighi
-------
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
267
it is the major fuel source for the companyTs base load
generation and will continue to be so in the future.
The principal wastes from electric power generation
that would be regulated under RCRA are those that result
from the use of coal as a fuel to produce electricity. Thus,
RCRA and the regulations to be promulgated under it: will
have a substantial and direct effect on the operations and
economics of the electric utility industry generally, and
Wisconsin Power and Light particularly.
We emphatically believe that the great bulk of
utility wastes are not hazardous. As the members of the panel
are aware, our representative at last week's hearing des-
cribed why we believe that the methodology proposed under
Section 3001, to determine whether wastes are hazardous, is
\
unsound and unreliable.
I will not repeat those points today, but it does
seem important to note that if utility wastes are inappro-
priately labeled as hazardous, approximately 400 coal-fired
power plants in this country will be subject to Section 3002
of RCRA and the regulations thereunder.
There are two points we with to emphasize today.
First, we believe that the regulation should make clear that
all generators of special utility wastes be regulated in
accordance with the special rules provided in Section 250.46,
rather than under Subpart B.
-------
7:39
268
l Second, addressing Subpart B as drafted, we believe
2 the proposed regulations as applied to generators of utility
3 wastes appear to create unnecessary and expensive burdens
4 and to erect barriers against the important objective of
5 promoting resource recovery.
6 The fundamental concern we have with regard to the
7 applicability of EPA's proposed 3002 regulations, the utility
8 wastes, centers on a relationship between those regulations
9 and the EPA's proposed special waste rules under 3004 „
10 USWAG wholly endorses the agencyTs intention to
11 place high-volume utility waste in the special waste category
12 pending completion of a separate rule making.
13 We are somewhat confused, however, by an ambiguity
14 created by Section 250.46. As now drafted, the regulations
15 appear to suggest that only waste generators who also qualify
16 as owners or operators of special waste treatment and storage
17 and disposal facilities will be regulated under the special
18 rules.
19 If so, generators who do not own or operate T.S.D,F,
20 sites, treatment, storage and disposal facilities, will not
21 be recovered by them.
22 A further question is raised from the draft regard-
23 ing whether even owners or operators of T.SoD.F.sites, in the
24 roles as generators, would be subject to the full range of
25 3002 requirements, even though in their capacities as owners
-------
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11'
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
269
or operators of T.S.D.F. sites, they would be regulated under
the special rulese
We do not believe that such a result is sensible,
nor do we believe that it was intended. We thus urge that
the language be clarified to provide that all generators of
special utility wastes be subject to the same regulatory re-
quirements. That is, those contained in Section 250.46, as
owners and operators of T.S.D.F. sites for special waste.
Another way of stating this is that the language,
per se, does not afford generators the same exemptions exten-
ded to owners and operators of T.S.O.F.s for special waste.
EPA's reasons for proposing a special waste cate-
gory certainty apply with equal force to special waste genera-
tors. I particularly note EPA*s acknowledgment in the pre-
amble to the 3004 regulations, "That the potential hazards
posed by these special wastes are relatively low."
There is also no indication, insofar as management
of utility special wastes is concerned, that the Subpart B
procedures are necessary to protect human health and the en-
vironment .
Thus, for example, I am not aware of any instances
where shipping of unlabeled utility special wastes has posed,
or will pose, a risk to human health and environment.
Further, EPA has noted that utility wastes are high
volume and may not pose a substantial threat to health or the
environaent.
-------
270
l This is the basis for placing such wastes in a
2 special handling category for facility operators. These
3 utilities are also closely regulated in many states and the
4 number and locations of the waste disposal facilities are
5 already a part of the public record.
6 USWAG will file detailed written comments address-
7 ing this matter and other aspects of the proposed Subtitle
8 C regulatory scheme. For now, let me direct the remainder of
9 my testimony today to three of our concerns.
10 One, the inappropriateness, as to utility practices,
ll of the critical on-site/off-site definition contained in the
12 proposed regulations.
13 Two, the need to revise certain of the proposed
14 DOT packaging requirements as they apply to utility wastes,
15 and, three, the need to revise the regulations so they would
16 not preclude environmentally safe reuses of utility wastes
17 such as fly ash.
18 Proposed Section 250?20 (c) draws a distinction
19 between generators that send their waste to an off-site
20 facility,on the one hand, and those that send them to on-
2i site facility, on the other.
22 These distinctions are of considerable practical
23 importance, since so-called off-site handling would be sub-
24 ject to considerably more extensive regulation. In our view,
25 the regulatory distinction between on-site and off-site hand
-------
271
1 ling is impractical for high-volume, low-risk utility waste.
2 This distinction should be based upon the degree of risk im-
3 posed by the handling practice, not upon property boundary
4 lines.
5 EPA*s proposed definition, however, focuses only
6 on property boundaries. Thus, on-site is defined as the
7 "Same or geographically contiguous property", or two or more
8 pieces of property, geographically contiguous, separated only
9 by public or private rights of way.
10 This definition is wholly inappropriate as applied
li to the electric utility industry. Many utilities dispose of
12 waste in facilities located as many as several miles from the
13 power plant.
14 If one considers the typical geographical setting
15 of a power plant, this is hardly surprising. For example,
16 many are located on rivers or in heavily industrialized
17 areas, in which demand for land is great.
18 " The effect of this, as well as existing land use
19 restrictions, is to limit the ability of the utilities to
20 site their disposal facilities at the power plant. It is
21 also important to recognize that although these areas may not
22 be directly adjacent to the power plant sites, they generally
23 are dedicated solely to utility use and disposal of the utili-
24 ty wastes.
25 Fundamentally, we believe EPA should draw regula-
-------
7:43
272
1 tory distinctions on the basis of risks posed. Indeed, the
2 Agency has already recognized the validity of this approach
3 in the proposed 100 kilogram exemption. That exemption is
4 premised on this type of risk perception analysis.
5 If the Agency believes itself obligated to retain
6 some on-site/off-site distinction, the term on-site should
7 at least be defined to include handling at reasonably proxl*
8 mate facilities, where the waste transport and disposal prac-
9 tices utilized pose no substantial risk to--no substantial
10 risk of adverse environmental effect.
n I would now like to comment briefly upon certain
12 requirements contained in the proposed packaging rules. EPA
13 would require all generators sending hazardous wastes offsitetfj
14 to ship the wastes in accordance with Department of Transpor-
15 tation packaging requirements.
16 DOT, in a pending rulemaking, has proposed that
17 shipment of RCRA hazardous wastes in open-top vehicles, such
18 as dump trucks, be prohibited. DOT has also requested com-
19 ments as to whether transport of RCRA hazardous wastes in
20 tarp-covered, open-top vehicles should be allowed.
2i DOT*s proposed prohibition does not appear neces-
22 sary to protect the environment from dispersion of transpor-
23 ted utility special wastes. Many utilities use dump trucks
24 to haul ash and scrubber sludge, particuarly when these
25 materials are to be reused as fill material <, Ash is wetted
-------
273
l down and due to its chemical properties, forms a crust. Thus,
2 loose ash does not escape0 Scrubber sludge is also fixed in
3 a solid state to prevent dispersion in transit.
4 Clearly, if open hauling is flatly prohibited, over-
5 all waste management costs will substantially increase. Reuse
6 of utility special wastes will be especially hampered, because
7 many of these reuses are already economically marginal«
8 Therefore, we urge that DOTfs present packaging re-
9 quirements be retained.
10 Finally, 1 would like to speak for the negative im-
ll pact of the proposed rules, what they will have on resource
12 recovery and reuse of utility special wastes.
13 A number of points are beyond dispute. First, a
14 fundamental objective of RCRA is promotion of resource reuse
15 and recovery. Second, most present reuse and recovery prac-
16 tices involving utility wastes, such as use of fly ash as a
17 road base and concrete additive, are economically marginal
18 and could be discontinued if an additional layer of regula-
19 tory cost is imposed0
20 I address this matter in further detail in my writ-
21 ten statement and wish only to make one point clear. We ask
22 EPA to reconsider feature of the proposed 3002 rules which
23 would needlessly impede resource recovery.
24 As proposed, every generator must comply with Sub-
25 parts B through E if its wastes remain on-site for 90 days or
-------
274
1 longer. Utilities, however, must frequently allow material
2 to accumulate for longer than 90 days before sufficient
3 quantities are collected for reuse, either for reasons of
4 economy, weather or availability of transportation.
5 For instance, the barging season in the upper
5 Mississippi is suspended from November to March. Under EPA's
7 approach, the materials accumulated in that period could fall
3 into the costly maze of the regulations and reuse would be
9 severely restricted,,
10 EPA, thus, should certainly recast this aspect of
11 its rules to allow accumulation of the utility wastes for
12 longer than 90 days without automatically triggering Subtitle
13 C regulation.
14 In sum, for the reasons expressed above, my com-
15 pany, USWAG and EEI, believe that the regulations proposed to
16 implement Section 3002 would impose needless costs on the
17 utility industry and would eliminate many present and future
IS reuses of utility wastes.
19 There appear to be less costly and environmentally
20 acceptable alternatives, and we urge EPA to adopt them in its
21 final regulations. Thank you.
22 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you. Are there ques-
23 tions?
24 MR. TRASK: In your mention of the 90-day rule, do
25 you have an alternative suggestion as to how we could have
-------
7:46
275
1 some period of accumulation of waste for an economic shipment
2 by the generator and yet still provide for protection against
3 an accumulation of waste that is not going to be handled,
4 merely going to be left there? That*s the comment we have
5 heard from most other people and that's the reason itfs in
6 there.
7 MR. HORN: I don't have any specific suggestion,
8 other than the fact that some longer period might be as much
9 arbitrarily selected as, say, a 90-day period0 For example,
10 ISO days or 12 months or some period such as this.
11 MR. TRASK: Would the 180 days be sufficient for
12 the concern you have?
13 MR. HORN: In the instance of the one example,
14 which I cited, which applies to one of our particular power
15 plants, where we do ship materials by barge, if it were a 120
16 day period, then we would be able to get through the period
17 of time where navigation by barge on the upper Mississippi
18 is not generally possible.
19 MR. TRASK: Is barge shipment commonly used in dis-
20 posing of coal ash? I am not familiar with it«
2i MR. HORN: I canrt really answer for the industry
22 as a whole. For our case, it happens to be a rather unique
23 situation, where we do have a power plant located on the
24 Mississippi River with attendant barge facilities. ItTs
25 certainly one of the cheapest ways of transporting these
-------
276 I
1 materials which favor the economics of the reuse.
2 MR. TRASK: I have no further questions. I suspect^
3 that Mr0 Robert may have had some questions for you on the
4 DOT packaging requirements, but I ain not qualified to ask
5 those.
6 MR. LINDSEY: I will follow up, if I may,on a re-
7 source recovery comment you made. That is the 90-day exclu-
8 sion. I think you mentioned you felt the 90-day limit on
9 storage would be an impediment to resource recovery.
10 Is that because--in other words, one can store for
11 more than 90 days. It's just that they have to get a permit
12 to do so0 You are aware of that, right?
13 MR. HORN: Yes.
14 MR. LINDSEY: You feel it's the cost of obtaining
15 the permit that would be the impediment to resource recovery
16 or, rather, is it the fact the material would be called haz-
17 ardous or what have you?
18 What is it specifically about the storage, the 90-
19 day part, that causes the impediment as you see it?
20 MR. HORN: I guess, basically, it's our concern, our
21 fear, that we would be subject to the full implications of
22 the 3000 series regulations.
23 MR. LINDSEY: I think that may be a misinterpreta-
24
25
tion, because basically if you do submit the material for re-
source recovery, aven after 90 days, once you have a sale an
«
-------
277
material is moved, then it is out of the system. But, if it
is stored for more than 90 days, then a permit would be re-
quired for the storage operation, which, depending on how
it's stored, might not be very difficult to obtain.
One other thing you did mention, I think, right at
the outset, you indicated you felt the regulations would have
7 a substantial impact on the electric utilities industry,
8 When you say a substantial impact, are you referring
9 to the regulations as they are proposed, that is, the special
10 waste provisions, or are you going further than that, and
11 saying that if all the regulations under 3004 were to be
12 imposed that the impact would be substantial? Or, is it both?
13 MR. HORN: There will be some additional comments
14 rendered by our USWAG organization on those particular ques-
15 tions, but I would suggest at this time that even under the
16 special waste classification, that those sections that do ap-
17 plyj still create an additional economic burden on our opera-
18 tions.
19 MR. LINDSEY: Do you have any figures en what that
20 might be, say, for a typical power plant?
21 MR0 HORN: No, I donft have any at hand. I think,
22 perhaps, in our written comments that will be submitted prior
23 to March 16th, we may have such numbers available.
24 MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Horn, you made a point in part of
25 your presentation concerning the distinction between on-site
-------
278
1 and off-site facilities and the impact that might have, on
2 your industry. Am I correct in assuming that what you
3 you also said that where you do ship off-site, itTs usually
4 only for a few miles due to transportation limitations and
5 it*s usually a site they are totally dedicated to for that
6 particular type of waste.
7 Am I correct in assuming that what you are driving
8 at here is that you feel facilities that are--I mean, the
9 distinction between on-site and off-site should be made on
10 the basis of, not on distance, or; contiguous property, but
11 on whether or not the site is dedicated solely for the use
12 of a particular waste from a particular source?
13 MR. HORN: I think certainly that your latter com-
14 ment is appropriate, that if the site is dedicated solely for
15 that use, it should have some bearing on the overall considera
16 tion of risk.
17 With respect to transportation, certainly distance
18 becomes an important factor,in that within relatively short
19 hauls, trucks turn out to be the most economic means of
20 transporting waste, unless they are so close that, perhaps,
21 pipeline transport could be used.
22 So, there is certainly a relationship between dis-
23 tance and mode of transport with the degree of risk that might
24 be posed .in the transport of "off-site" disposal facility,,
25 MR. LEHMAN: Thank you.
-------
279
l MR. TRASK: One further point I think we ought to
2 clarify. Perhaps if a generator owns his own disposal site
3 in the same state, then really the only difference is that
4 he needs a manifest in order to get there. His reporting
5 requirements are the same as are listed under the special
6 waste sections, reporting and record keeping requirements„
7 So, the only difference then is the manifest and
8 being subject to the DOT requirements. But even if you go
9 directly across a public highway, you still may besubject
10 to the DOT requirements. That has nothing to do with what
11 we are doing. I just wanted to make that clear to you.
12 MR. HORN: YeSo
13 MR. MC LAUGHLIN: I would like to ask a few ques-
14 tions. Previously, we heard from the Springfield utility
15 people that they were already regulated by at least three
16 federal laws on their disposal sites and disposal practices.
17 Are you, in Wisconsin, similarly regulated and
18 by whom? Do you need a permit?
19 MR. HORN: Yes,-we do. We have been required to
20 have permits under our Department of Natural Resources per-
2i mitting system for quite some time.
22 MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Do you do any returning to the
23 mine for disposal?
24 MR0 HORN: No, most of our coal, of course, is
25 shipped in from rather long distances, either from southern
-------
280
1 Illinois or from Montana and Wyoming. I'm not familiar with
2 all the cost data associated with freight rates in terms of
3 hauling residual materials such as ash, but it's my under-
4 standing it would be quite exhorbitant.
5 MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Thank you.
6 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
7 (The document referred to follows:
8 HEARING INSERT
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
Statement of Merlin Horn, Ph.D.
on behalf of
Wisconsin Power & Light Company,
The Utility Solid Waste Activities Group
and
The Edison Electric Institute
Public Hearing on Proposed Regulations to
Implement Section 3002 of the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
February 15, 1979
St. Louis
My name is Merlin Horn. I am Director of Environ-
mental Affairs for the Wisconsin Power & Light Company.
I am appearing today on behalf of Wisconsin Power &
Light, the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group and the Edison
Electric Institute to comment on some aspects of the regulations
proposed to implement Section 3002 of RCRA. Briefly summarized,
I will address two concerns. First, we believe that the regula-
tions should make clear that generators of "special" utility
wastes are to be regulated in accordance with the special rules
provided in Section 250.46, rather than under proposed Subpart
B. Second, addressing Subpart B as drafted, we believe the
proposed regulations as applied to generators of utility "wastes"
appear to create unnecessary and expensive burdens and to erect
barriers against the important objective of promoting resource
recovery.
Before expanding on these points, I would like to
note that Wisconsin Power & Light provides electric service to
-------
- 2 -
some 281,000 customers in a 35-county area primarily in
southern and central Wisconsin. Approximately 75 percent of
the company's existing generation now on-line is coal-fired.
Our company, along with four other utilities, form the
Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Systems (WUMS), serving eastern and
southern Wisconsin and a portion of Upper Michigan. Collec-
tively, this group is planning to bring 2260 megawatts of
coal-fired generation on-line in the period 1980 through.
1985.
While some of .you are familiar with USWAG, let me
briefly describe the group for those of you who are not.
USWAG is an informal consortium of electric utilities and the
Edison Electric Institute. Currently, there are some 45
utility members of USWAG. Those companies own and operate a
substantial percentage of the electric generation capacity in
the United States. EEI is the principal national association
of investor-owned electric light and power companies.
As a USWAG representative testified on Section 3001
at the hearing last week in New York, coal is the principal
fuel used for electric generation in the United States today.
At Wisconsin Power & Light, it is the major fuel source for
the company's base load generation and will continue to be so
in the future. The principal wastes from electric power genera-
tion that would be regulated under RCRA are those that result
from the use of coal as a fuel to produce electricity. Thus,
-------
- 3 -
RCRA, and the regulations to be promulgated under it, will
have a substantial and direct effect on the operations and
economics of the electric utility industry generally, and
of Wisconsin Power & Light particularly.
We emphatically believe that the great bulk of
utility wastes are not hazardous. As the members of the
panel are aware, our representative at last week's hearing
described why we believe that the methodology proposed under
Section 3001 to determine whether wastes are hazardous is
unsound and unreliable, and I will not repeat those points
today. But, it does seem important to note that if utility
wastes are inappropriately labeled as "hazardous", approx-
imately 400 coal-fired power plants in this country will be
subject to Section 3002 of RCRA and the regulations thereunder,
Let me now turn to the fundamental concern we have
with regard to the applicability of EPA's proposed 3002 regu-
lations to utility wastes. Specifically, that concern cen-
ters on the relationship between those regulations and EPA's
proposed "special waste" rules under 3004. USWAG wholly en-
dorses the Agency's intention to place high volume utility
wastes in the "special waste" category pending completion
!/
of a separate rulemaking. We are somewhat confused, how-
ever, by an ambiguity created by Section 250.46.
I/ See proposed § 250.46-2(a), 43 Fed. Reg. 59015 (Dec. 18,
1978) and preamble thereto, id. at 58991-92.
-------
As now drafted, the regulations appear to suggest
that only waste generators who also qualify as owners or oper-
ators of special waste treatment, storage, and disposal faci-
lities will be regulated under the separate rules. If so,
generators who do not own or operate TSDF sites will not be
covered by them. A further question is raised from the draft
regarding whe.ther even owners or operators of TSDF sites in
their roles as "generators" would be subject to the full pan-
oply of 3002 requirements, even though in their capacities
as owners or operators of TSDF sites they would b'e regulated
under the special rules.
We do not believe that such a result is sensible;
nor do we believe that it was intended. We thus urge that
the language be clarified to provide that all generators of
2/
"special" utility wastes be subject to the same regulatory
requirements (_i«^«i those contained in Section 250.46) as
V
owners and operators of TSDF sites for special wastes.
EPA's reasons for proposing a special waste category
certainly apply with egual force to special waste generators.
I particularly note EPA's acknowledgment, in the preamble to
the 3004 regulations, "that the potential hazards posed by the
2/ !..£. / hazardous special waste as described in Section
250.46.
3I/ This same approach should be taken with regard to trans-
porters of special wastes.
-------
- 5 -
I/
[special waste[s] are relatively low." There is also no
indication, insofar as management of utility special wastes
is concerned, that the Subpairt B procedures are necessary to
protect human health and the environment. Thus, for example,
I am not aware of any instances where shipping of unlabeled
utility special wastes has posed, or will pose, a risk to
human health and the environment.
Further, EPA has noted that utility wastes are high
volume and may not pose a substantial threat to health or the
environment. This is the basis for placing such wastes in a
special handling category for facility operators. These
utilities are closely regulated in many states, and the number
and locations of the waste disposal facilities are already a
part of the public record.
USWAG will file detailed written comments address-
ing this matter and other aspects of the proposed Subtitle C
regulatory scheme. For now, let me direct the remainder of my
oral testimony today to three of our concerns:
(1) The inappropriateness, as to utility practices,
of the critical "on-site/off-site" definition contained in
the proposed regulations;
(2) The need to revise certain of the proposed DOT
packaging requirements as they apply to utility wastes; and
4/ Id. at 58991-92.
-------
(3) The need to revise the regulations so that
they would not preclude environmentally safe reuses of
V
utility "wastes," such as fly ash.
Proposed Section 250.20(c) draws a distinction
between generators that send their wastes to an "off-site"
facility on the one hand, and those that send them to an "on-
site" facility, on the other. These distinctions are of con-
siderable practical importance since so-called "off-site"
handling would be subject to considerably more extensive
regulation.
In our view, the regulatory distinction between
on-site and off-site handling is impractical for high-volume,
low-risk utility waste. This distinction should be based
•upon the degree of risk posed by the handling practice, not
upon property boundary lines. EPA's proposed definition, how-
ever, focuses only on property boundaries; thus, "on-site" is
defined as "the same or geographically contiguous property,"
or tv/o or more pieces of property, geographically contiguous,
5/ I would also like to mention in passing the implication
contained in the 3002 preamble that a generator may be
held liable in an enforcement action for the improper
acts of transporters. In our view, it is unfair and
inappropriate to impose on generators of large-volume,
low-risk utility wastes responsibility for the actions
of independent entities over whom they have no control,
and EPA should remove any such suggestion from its final
rules.
-------
V
separated only by public or private rights of way. This
definition is wholly inappropriate as applied to the electric
utility industry. Many utilities dispose of wastes in facil-
ities located as many as several miles from the power plant.
If one considers the typical geographical setting of a power
plant, this is hardly surprising. For example, many are lo-
cated on rivers or in heavily industrialized areas, in which
demand for land is great. The effect of this, as well as existing
land use restrictions, is to limit the ability of the utilities to site
their disposal facilities at the power plant.
(The economics of transporting the huge volumes of ash, sludge
and other byproduct materials involved requires, however, that
sites be reasonably close to the power plant, usually within a
few miles.)
It is also important to recognize that although these
areas may not be directly adjacent to power plant sites, they
generally are dedicated solely to utility use and disposal of
utility wastes.
Fundamentally, we believe EPA should draw regulatory
distinctions on the basis of risks posed. Indeed, the Agency
has already recognized the validity of this approach in the
proposed 100 Kg exemption. That exemption is premised on this
7/
type of risk perception analysis. If the Agency believes
6/ § 250.21(b)(18).
7/ 3002 Background Documents, BD-8, at pp. 21, 27.
-------
itself obligated to retain some "on-site/off-site" distinc-
tion, the term "on-site" should at least be defined to include
handling at reasonably proximate facilities, where the waste
transport and disposal practices utilized pose no substantial
risk of adverse environmental effect.
I would now like to comment briefly upon certain
requirements contained in the proposed packaging rules. EPA
would require all generators sending hazardous wastes off-
site to ship the wastes in accordance with Department of
Transportation packaging requirements. DOT, in a pending
rulemaking, has proposed that shipment of RCRA hazardous
wastes in open-top vehicles such as dump trucks be prohib-
ited. DOT also has requested comments as to whether trans-
port of RCRA hazardous wastes in tarp-covered, open-top vehi-
cles should be allowed.
DOT's proposed prohibition does not appear necessary
to protect the environment from dispersion of transported util-
ity special wastes. Moreover, its impact on the electric util-
ity industry would be significant. Many utilities use dump
trucks to haul ash and scrubber sludge, particularly when these
materials are to be reused as fill material. Ash is wetted
down and, due to its chemical properties, forms a crust. Thus,
loose ash does not escape. Scrubber sludge is also fixed in
a solid state to prevent dispersion in transit.
Clearly, if open hauling is flatly prohibited, over-
all waste management costs will substantially increase. Reuse
-------
of utility special wastes will be especially hampered, because
many of these reuses are already economically marginal.
As I indicated, less costly alternative measures ex-
ist to prevent uncontrolled dispersion of utility special wastes
when transported. We believe, therefore, that EPA should urge
DOT to retain its present packaging requirement: namely "that
under conditions normally incident to transportation, there
will be no significant release of the hazardous materials to
i/
the environment." USWAG will urge such an approach in its
comments to DOT'S proposal.
Finally, I would like to speak to the negative im-
pact the proposed generator rules will have on resource re-
covery and reuse of utility "special wastes".
A number of points are beyond dispute. First, a
fundamental objective of RCRA is promotion of resource reuse
and recovery. Second, most present reuse and recovery prac-
tices involving utility materials — such as use of fly ash
as a road base and concrete additive — are economically
a.
marginal and could be discontined if an additional layer
^
of regulatory cost is imposed. EPA's background document
to the 3002 regulations correctly recognizes that "resource
recovery facilties are often marginally profitable, and too
stringent permitting, recordkeeping, reporting, manifest,
8/ 49 C.F.R. 173.24(a)(1).
-------
- 10 -
etc. requirements could put a marginally profitable facility
out of business, and would violate Congressional intent
I/
to promote resource recovery."
As I stated, we do not believe large volume utility
wastes may properly be classified as hazardous wastes. We
also do not believe that Congress intended to regulate under
Subtitle C environmentally safe reuses of utility "wastes."
Indeed, we note that several Federal agencies, such as the
Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Mines,
have encouraged a number of important uses of utility "wastes"
in construction, and reclamation, and testified to Congress
about these uses when RCRA was under consideration.
Nevertheless, EPA's proposed 3002 regulations (as
well as its other proposed rules) indiscriminantly regulate
reuse and resource recovery, without regard for whether regula-
tion in fact is needed to protect health and the environment.
Thus, all "hazardous waste" must be transported to a permitted
facility, and the generator, transporter, and facility owner/
operator must comply with all of the requirements of Sections
3002, 3003, and 3004. This conceivably could require a con-
struction firm, responding to the Federal Highway Administra-
tion's policy of encouraging use of fly ash, to obtain a RCRA
permit. Obviously, most reuses cannot continue if this sub-
stantial additional layer of cost and administrative burden
is imposed.
9/ BD-8, p. 17
-------
- 11 -
EPA addressed these problems far more rationally in
its 3002 background document than in the regulations themselves.
There, EPA concluded that the 3002 regulations should encourage
resource recovery either by avoiding regulation of wastes-sent
to resource recovery facilities, or by exempting from most of
the Subtitle C regulations resource recovery facilities and
generators whose products are reused. Generally speaking, we
believe these alternatives fit the spirit of RCRA's resource
recovery objectives and urge that EPA reconsider its approach
in this area.
We also ask EPA to reconsider a specific feature of
the proposed 3002 rules which would needlessly impede resource
recovery. As proposed, every generator must comply with Sub-
parts B through E if its wastes remain on-site for 90 days or
longer. Utilities, however, must frequently allow materials
to accumulate for longer than 90 days before sufficient quan-
tities are collected for reuse, either for reasons of econ-
omy, weather or availability of transportation. For instance,
the barging season in the upper Mississippi is suspended from
November to March. Under EPA's approach, the materials accumu-
lated in that period could fall into the costly maze of the
regulations, and reuse would be severely restricted. EPA thus
should ce'rtainly recast this aspect of its rules to allow
accumulation of utility "wastes" for longer than 90 days without
automatically triggering Subtitle C regulation.
-------
- 12 -
In sum, for the reasons expressed above, ray company,
USWAG and EEI believe that the regulations proposed to implement
Section 3002 would impose needless costs on the utility industry
and would eliminate many present and future reuses of utility
"wastes." There appear to be less costly and environmentally
acceptable alternatives, and we urge EPA to adopt them in its
final regulations.
-------
281
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next speaker this morning
2 is Mr. Howard Chin, Environmental Control Division, the
3 Attorney General's Office.
4 (No response.)
5 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Mr. Chin hasn't answered. Is
6 Robert Robinson here from the Missouri Solid Waste Management
7 Program?
8 MR. ROBINSON: My name is Robert M. Robinson. I
9 am Director of the Solid Waste Management Program for the
10 Missouri Department of Natural Resources0
11 STATEMENT OF ROBERT M0 ROBINSON
12 MR0 ROBINSON: The Department has several comments
13 and will, at a later date, submit more detailed written com-
14 ments.
15 Section 250.21-B-4 defines several documents which
16 may be used in lieu of the original manifesto We recommend
17 the EPA require the original manifest be used except where
18 physically impossible, as is in the case of railroads.
19 We are concerned that allowing the use of other docu
20 ments will be confusing and impair the effectiveness of the
21 cradle to the grave management system.
22 Second comment, the exemptions provided for genera-
23 tors producing less than 100 kilograms per month, and for
24 retailers provided in Section 250,29-A, are, in our opinion,
25 too broad.
-------
282
1 These regulations do not consider the degree of
2 potential hazard and, apparently, provide an unlimited quan-
i
3 tity exemption for retailers.
4 Under this situation, wholesalers or industry could
5 maintain a retail outlet and let this branch of the company
6 dispose of all of their off-spec product, which might be haz-
7
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ardous.
We recommend that EPA provide both a quantity and
quality exemption for small quantities of hazardous wastes.
Retailers should only be exempted under the 100 kilogram pro-
vision in the regulations. Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Are there any questions?
MR<> TRASK: Mr. Robinson, you mentioned that we
should deal with quality as well as quantity of hazardous
waste and I believe you mentioned degree of hazard as a divid-
ing Iine0
Do you have some ideas along that line, what would
we use as a basis for determining degree of hazard?
MR. ROBINSON: Certainly, it would only be with the
very toxic, very hazardous material, such as dioxin and some
of your pesticides and things like that.
It concerns me that we get all this concerned about
containers, pesticide containers for instance, and yet--and
thatrs not a good example, I guess, because pesticides, I sup-
pose, are controlled„ But we get concerned about some things'
-------
283
1 like that with a very small amount of hazardous waste and,
2 yet, we may let 100 pounds of very toxic material be disposed
3
4 So, I think, as I understood it when we started out
5 developing these regulations some time ago, there was going
6 to be, hopefully, a small list of very toxic wastes that
7 would be excluded from that 100 kilogram exemption.
8 MR. TRASK: I am sure you noted in the preamble
9 that we mentioned we were discussing five other options in
10 this particular area, one of which would look at the degree
11 of hazard.
12 What we need a great
-------
284
system.
MR0 ROBINSON: I understand that, yes. But, I wou
still be concerned about some of those types of wastes and
handling problems and exposure then at the landfill.
MR. TRASK: We would like to receive whatever data
you have in this area„
MR. LEHMAN: Mr0 Robinson, getting back to your point
about retailers exemptions, setting aside for the moment your
point about the possibility of wholesalers setting up some
10 sham operations to avoid that, do you have any information
11 that would lead you to believe that wastes from retailers
12 present a significant environmental or public health problem?
13 MR. ROBINSON: I don't have any specific informa-
14 tion to that regard, but it concerns me that werve let this
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
great big loophole which can be used0
I agree with the 100 kilogram, by and large, except
for the very toxic materials„ But, why don't retailers have
to also comply with that provision? I am also in favor of
exempting the farmers and things like that, but I don't see
the retailers who, of course, retail hazardous materials all
the time and for some reason they may have broken quantities
or contaminated quantities of that, that they can*t sell and
they are going to have to get rid of»
I think that ought to come under the system, because
you have no quantity„ They could have 100 tons of it, as I
-------
285
l understand it0
2 MR. TRASK: Is your concern then with certain kinds
3 of retailers--what we had in mind was retailers such as a
4 hardware store, for example, where it might be very difficult
5 for them to separate a small quantity of hazardous waste.
6 MR» ROBINSON: I think they would, by and large,
7 fall under kilograms per month, but if they don't, I think
8 they ought to come under the system,, I think very few of
9 them would be coming under the system of over 100 kilograms.
10 But, you leave wide open the opportunity for abuse
11 there.
12 MS. SCHAFFER: Mr. Robinson, I have a point of
13 clarification. First of all, for the retailer, if they do
14 have more than 100 kilograms of hazardous waste, they still
15 have to comply with the D.O.T. transportation requirements
16 and also take that to a 4004 facility. So, the waste is,
17 again, not outside of a controlled system.
18 So, there is still a degree of control for it.
19 But, secondly, I think one way to get around your problem
20 of the sham operation for retailers, for a retail facility
21 connected to a wholesaler, is the definition that we pro-
22 vided for a retailer, and I quote, means, "A person engaged
23 solely in the business of selling directly to the consumer."
24 I think that, at least from an enforcement point
25 of view, I would not consider a person who has a retail opera-
-------
286
tion connected to a wholesale operation solely in the business
of selling directly to the consumer.
MR. ROBINSON: It might cost you $20,000 in investi-
gating of records to determine whether that would be true or
not.
The other thing is, you talk about the D.O.T. When
you are talking about your short hauls to the Subtitle D
site, you might as well forget about trying to impose D.00T0
regulations. There are not enough policemen around to do
10 that.
11 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I understand your concern
12 about retailers, but you donTt appear to have the same con-
13 cern about performance0 You don't think this might cause a
14 great resurgence-, in farming activity?
15 MR0 ROBINSON: I don't think farmers are going to
16 start taking hazardous waste and disposing of ito I think
17 primarily there we are dealing with some few pesticide con-
18 tainers and things like that»
19 They have the property and usually dispose of it on
20 their own ground very many times. If they think it's bad,
21 they are not going to dispose of it there, they are going to
22 take it somewhere where it can be disposed of properly.
23 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much0
24 Mr. Terry Freeze from Mississippi Chemical Corpora-
25 tion.
-------
287
1 MR. FREEZE: I am Terry Freeze from Mississippi
2 Chemical Corporation in Yazoo City, Mississippi.
3 STATEMENT OF TERRY FREEZE
4 MR0 FREEZE: Mississippi Chemical Corporation is a
5 fertilizer cooperative, composed of more than 25,000 farmer-
6 owners in the southeastern part of the United States.
7 Mississippi Chemical operates a fertilizer complex
8 at Pascagoula, Mississippi and this facility has a by-product^
9 gypsum, as a result of its phosphoric acid manufacturing
10 planto We are also currently in the process of developing a
11 phosphate rock mine in central Florida,
12 At this time we would like to address briefly por-
13 tions of the proposed Hazardous Waste Guidelines and Regula-
14 tions. .
15 In the time allocated, we cannot fully address
16 each issue that concerns us. Detailed comments and objections
17 will be submitted for inclusion in the official record after
18 our consultants and researchers have completed an in depth
19 study of all the issues raised, before the March 16th dead-
20 line.
21 Land farming as defined in the proposal would in-
22 elude the use of our by-product, gypsum, as a soil supplement.
23 Gypsum is widely and commonly used as a soil supplement, for
24 instance, in the peanut crop production,, It is also used on
25 other crop growing soils which need sulphur and calcium re-
-------
288
quirements. Gypsum is used on high alkaline soils in some
arid climates.
To obtain these elemental supplements through other
means would increase the farmers' cost for crop production
and would ultimately increase the consumers cost for goods
purchased.
This definition is contrary to the spirit of the
8 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
9 Treating agricultural gypsum application as a means
10 of disposal of a hazardous waste, as required by the proposed
11 definition of land farming, would hamper, impair and prohibit
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the use of gypsum for such soil supplements,
We object to gypsum and phosphate mining tailing,
overburdens and slimes being subjected to this proposed hazard
ous waste regulation. These high-volume, low-hazard wastes
should not be regulated in the same manner as highly toxic
low-volume hazardous wastes.
The broad, all-inclusive grouping of these two types
of waste is not cost effective and is not in keeping with the
goals of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
One of these goals is to, "To conserve natural re-
sources directly and through the management, reuse, or re-
covery of solid wastes." The standards setting forth the
radioactive criteria have not been made final. We object to
the listing of gypsum and phosphate mining overburden, tail-
-------
289
1 ings and slimes as radioactive, hazardous waste in the absence
2 of established criteria. Tailings and clays from the mining
3 operation placed back in mined sites are part of reclamation
4 constituting overburden and should not: be regulated under the
5 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
6 The waste management techniques currently in use
7 in the phosphate mining and by-product gypsum disposal are
8 cost effective and are the best management techniques reason-
9 ably requiredo The proposed security requirements are un-
10 reasonable and unnecessary.
11 Daily inspections of all facilities with written
12 records, fencing, guard service, are unneeded, unreasonable
13 and not cost effective. These security requirements listed
14 above are unrelated to the harm that Congress intended to
15 cure.
16 Site selections and land use are determined through
17 the necessary environmental impact statements required already
18 and the state and local regulations and building codes dictate
19 land use. Land use should strictly be a local concern„ Addi-
20 tional Federal regulations in these areas are unneeded, un-
21 warranted, unreasonable and are counter-productive,
22 The proposed requirement that a new gypsum or phos-
23 phate mining overburden, slimes and tailings storage facility
24 be prohibited on a 500-year flood plan is an unreasonable
25 requirement with no well-founded basis and unrelated to the
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
290
harm Congress intended to cure. These high-volume, low-haz-
ard processes must be located near the natural resource and/
or near water transportation to be cost effective. Good engi-
neering practices for containment and flood security are
appropriate requirements for the location of phosphate mining
overburdens, tailings and slimes, and gypsum storage piles.
It is more appropriate to require that these faci-
lities be engineered to withstand a 100-year flood. A 100-
year flood is subject to definition from actual records.
In the groundwater and leachate monitoring section,
the proposal states that monthly analyses be determined to
develop background data. We object to the monthly analyses
as being burdensome and unnecessary to develop substantial
background groundwater data.
The EPA background document concerning special wastes
states that quarterly monitoring is sufficient and that more
frequent monitoring would not be required. We agree that back-
ground g'oundwater data can be developed based on quarterly
monitoring as previously recommended by EPA.
In addition, rather than requiring analyses for mini-
mum and comprehensive analyses, the requirement should include
only those analyses for substances which could reasonably be
found in the waste and only those which would constitute or
help define a hazard.
We feel that the powers assumed by the Regional Ad-
-------
291
1 ministrator in this section, to require discontinuation of
2 operation of a facility until the Regional Administrator
3 determines what actions are to be taken, in the event of
4 groundwater contamination or the potential for groundwater
5 contamination, is unwarranted and is not provided for in the
6 Act.
7 We do not feel it is reasonable to establish regu-
8 lations for all hazardous wastes in one regulation. The pro-
9 posed regulations are far too broad in that they try to cover
10 high-volume, low-hazard waste and low-volume, high-hazard
11 waste in one regulation„
12 Thank you.
13 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you0 Would you answer
14 questions?
15 MR. FREEZE: I would definitely try.
16 MR. LINDSEY: I think you are aware, your last
17 point was that we are trying to cover both high-volume and
18 low-hazard and low-volume and high-hazard wastes together in
19 one set of regulations0
20 i guess I should point out the reason why we have
21 the special waste regulation is because of that point. Those
22 special wastes are high-hazard-—high-volume and low-hazard,
23 as far as we know. But the main reason they are listed here
24 as special wastes with limited requirements is that we don't
25 really know much about them at this point0
-------
292
But our intention was to treat them differently
and not the same. I think I should point that out.
Secondly, let me ask you a couple of questions, if
I might. I think you mentioned, you started out by talking
about the use of agricultural gypsum on peanuts and what all.
This agricultural gypsum that's used there, is that
a by-product from the phosphate mining operations?
8 MR. FREEZE: In some respects, yes.
9 MR. LINDSEY: The same materials, not mined gypsum
10 as a separate entity,, 00K., I didn't know that.
11 I think you indicated also that at least some of
12 the things that are listed in here under 2500463, which is
13 the special waste category, phosphate, rock mining, are not
14 hazardous. That is they are not radioactive. Did I under-
15 stand that correctly?
16 MR. FREEZE: No, you donTt understand that correct-
17 Iy0
18 MR. LINDSEY: Then let me ask you this. Did you
19 net make some statement with regard to the fact that certain
20 of these wastes that are listed should not be considered in
21 the same category as other wastes? Maybe I misunderstood
22 the whole thing.
23 MR. FREEZE: I think the point we are trying to
24 make is possibly some additionaldegrees of hazard. Even
25 though we recognize and appreciate the fact for the existence
-------
293
of the special waste category.
MR. LINDSEY: But all these things that are listed
are radioactive to some extent, right?
4 MR. FREEZE: Right.
5 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: There are no more questions*
Thank you.
7 (The document referred to follows:)
8 HEARING INSERT
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMENTS
FOR
PROPOSED RULES 40 CFR 250
HAZARDOUS WASTE GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS
AS PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER
MONDAY, DECEMBER IB, 1978
SUBMITTED AT PUBLIC HEARINGS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
AT BRECKENRIDGE PAVILION HOTEL
1 BROADWAY
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63102
FEBRUARY 14, 15, 16, 1979
MISSISSIPPI CHEMICAL CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 388
YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI 39194
-------
Mississippi Chemical Corporation is a fertilizer cooperative
composed of more than 25,000 farmer/owners in the Southeastern part
of the United States.
Mississippi Chemical operates a fertilizer complex located at
Pascagoula, Mississippi. This facility has by-product gypsum as a
result of its phosphoric acid manufacturing plant. We are currently
in the process of developing a phosphate rock mine in central Florida.
At this time we would like to address briefly portions of the
proposed Hazardous Waste Guidelines and Regulations, 40 CFR 250, as
published in Part IV, Federal Register, December 18, 1978. In the
time allocated we cannot fully address each issue that concerns us.
Detailed comments and objections will be submitted for inclusion in
the official record after our consultants and.experts have completed
an indepth study of all the issues raised.
EXTENT OF PERMISSIBLE REGULATION UNDER RCRA
The EPA has misinterpreted the RCRA and has gone further than
the act intends by including phosphate mining wastes and gypsum as
hazardous materials. Their inclusion is unreasonable and unrelated to
the harm congress intended to cure. It is not supported by the evidence
therefore it is arbitrary.
DEFINITIONS
Land farming as defined in the proposal would include the use
of gypsum as a soil supplement. Gypsum is widely and commonly used as
a soil supplement for peanut crop production. It is also used on some
other crop growing soils which need sulfur and calcium supplements.
Gypsum is also widely used on high alkaline soils in arid climates.
To obtain these elemental supplements through other means would increase
the farmers' cost for crop production and would ultimately increase the
consumers' cost for goods purchased. This definition is contrary to the
spirit'of the RCRA, is unreasonable and has no valid basis. Treating
agricultural gypsum application as a means of disposal of a hazardous
waste as required by the proposed definition of land farming would
hamper, impair, and prohibit the use of gypsum for soil supplements.
-------
Page 2
i
IDENTIFICATION AND ^«i6- OF GYPSUM AND PHOSPHATE
We object co gypsum and phosphate mining tailing, overburden,
and slime being subjected to this proposed hazardous waste regulation.
These high volume, low hazard wastes should not be regulated in the
same manner as highly toxic, low volume hazardous wastes. The broad
all inclusive grouping of high volume, low hazard waste and low volume,
high hazard waste is unreasonable with no valid basis and is not cost
effective and is not in keeping with the goals of the RCRA. One of
these goals is to quote, "to conserve natural reso.urces directly and
through the management, reuse, or recovery of solid wastes.
The standards setting forth the radioactive criteria have not
been made final. We object to the listing of gypsum and phosphate
mining overburden, tailings, and slimes as radioactive hazardous
wastes in the absence of established criteria. Tailings and clays
placed back in mined sites are part of reclamation constituting over-
burden and cannot be regulated under RCRA. Listing gypsum and phosphate
mining overburden, tailings, and slimes as proposed radioactive haz-
ardous wastes is not based on sufficient and reasonable evidence.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
The phosphate mining and by-product gypsum from phosphoric acid
production, waste management techniques currently in use are cost
effective and are the best techniques reasonably required. The proposed
security requirements are unreasonable and unnecessary. Daily inspec-
tions of all facilities with written records, fencing, and guard service
are unneeded, unreasonable, and not cost effective. These security
requirements listed above are unrelated to the harm that congress
intended to cure. These requirements are not supported by the evidence
and, therefore, are arbitrary.
SITS SELECTION AND LAND USE
Site selections and land use are determined through the necessary
environmental impact statements required, and the state and local regu-
lations and building codes dictate land use already. Land use should
be strictly a local concern. Additional federal regulations in these
areas are unneeded, unwarranted, unreasonable, and are counter productive.
-------
Page 3
The proposed requirement that a- new gypsum or phosphate mining
overburden, slimes and tailings storage facility be prohibited on a
500-year flood plan is an unreasonable requirement with no well-founded
basis and unrelated to the harm congress intended to cure. These high
volume, low hazard processes must be located near the natural resource
location and/or near water transportation to be cost effective. Good
engineering practices for containment and flood security are appropriate
requirements for the location of phosphate mining overburdens, tailings,
and slimes, and gypsum storage piles.
It is more appropriate to require that these facilities be
engineered to withstand a 100-year flood. A 100-year flood is subject
to definition from actual records.
In Section 250.43-8(c) Groundwater and Lechate Monitoring, the
proposal states that monthly analyses be determined. We object to the
monthly analyses as being burdensome and unnecessary to develop back-
ground groundwater data. The EPA background document concerning special
wastes states that quarterly monitoring is sufficient and that more
frequent monitoring will not be required. We agree that background
groundwater data can be developed based on quarterly monitoring as
previously recommended by EPA.
In addition, rather than requiring analyses for minimum and
comprehensive analyses, the requirement should include only those
analyses for substances which could reasonably be found in the waste
and only those which would constitute or help define a hazard. We
believe that monitoring for groundwater effects of phosphate rock
mining overburden, slimes and tailings is impractical and unnecessary.
We feel that the powers assumed by the Regional Administrator in this
section to require discontinuation of the operation of a facility
until the Regional Administrator determines what actions are to be
taken in the event of groundwater contamination or the potential for
groundwater contamination is unwarranted and is not provided for in
ths act.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA
We seriously question the criteria that were selected for listing
a waste as hazardous. We do not feel that the criteria is supported by
the evidence used for their establishment. We do not fael that it is
reasonable co establish regulations for all hazardous wastes in one
-------
Page 4
regulation. The proposed regulations are far too broad in that they
try to cover high volume, low hazard wastes and low volume, high hazard
wastes in one regulation.
Respectfully submitted by Terry Freeze, Environmental Consultant,
Mississippi Chemical Corporation, Yazoo City, Mississippi.
-------
294
1 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next witness this morning
2 is Kenneth Sineleer of the Industrial Association of Quincy0
3 MR. SMELCER: I am Kenneth Smelcer of the Indus-
4 trial Association of Quincy, Quincy, Illinois.
5 STATEMENT OF KENNETH SMELCER
6 MR0 SMELCER: I have just some short comments,
7 fairly non-technical, trying to relate to some of the problems
8 again that we are having with regulations.
9 To read to you from the statement we gave you yes-
10 terday, the Agency requested comments on the requirements
11 for generators of small amounts of hazardous wastes, parti-
12 cularly on whether the 100-kilogram a:month exemption should be
13 lower or raised.
14 We believe this limit depends on many factors not
15 addressed, such as degree of hazardousness of the waste and
16 the capability of the individual landfills to safely handle
17 the proposed waste, which was a point I made yesterday about
18 the landfill.
19 We believe the supplemental permit system similar
20 to that operated by the state of Illinois could effectively
21 allow disposal of most of the waste that would be classified
22 as hazardous under the proposed guidelines of all operated
23 Subtitle D landfills.
24 These companies generating relatively small amounts
25 of hazardous waste should not be burdened with unnecessary
-------
295
paperwork. The exemption should be raised to about 1,000
kilograms a month or more for the less hazardous waste
delivered to accepted Subtitle D landfills, or more for the
less hazardouso
Again, this is to try to get away from the small
manufacturer, the medium-sized guy, who is going to have con-
siderable problems relating to these regulations.
For example, we have about 50 members and of those
50 members, I think we have four people who, as a part of
10 their job, it is environmental, and this specific thing. The
11 rest of these companies don*t have anyone and someone is going
12 to have to try the best they can, in addition to purchasing
13 and you name it, to try to understand these, things and go al
14 with them for actually small amounts of waste that are going
15 to be put to the landfill or try to find someplace to take
16 them.
17 We recognize that you did ask, I guess, for com-
18 ments on your five lists here. Number three, on the condi-
19 tion exemption of different quantities, depending on the de-
20 gree of hazard, we think this is addressing the problem.
21 Number five, lesser administrative requirements and
22 so forth, where you are not requiring the record keeping and
23 so on, with the manifest, that makes sense to us.
24 Number six, phasing the regulatory coverage of
25 small quantities overtime makes sense to us again, because
-------
296
1 one of the things we see as a problem, if we are going to have
2 exactly six months from the time the final regs come out, we
3 are going to have problems in many of our cases trying to
4 make arrangements.
5 If we are going to have to dispose of these things
6 and we've got borderline cases right now, we don't have the
7 faintest idea. For example, one of the questions somebody
8 asked me, in the state of Illinois there are 30 or 40 land-
9 fill sites. How many of those, when we are through, are
10 still going to be able to take the materials we are talking
11 about? As of now we know of only one that's still open in
12 Illinois for hazardous. The others are still there, but I
13 guess they would be the Class C, or the type of landfill we
14 have. Of course, we are not anxious to have other people
15 from Chicago coming down to ours either.
16 But that is going to be a problem,. Where are we
17 going to take this thing? Without our experts, we are going
18 to be bringing up the tail on this thing and trying to live
19 by the regulations,,
20 So, we are saying that if you could consider a time
21 delay on some of this stuff and not making it effective as
22 quickly; time your implementations whenever the regulations
23 come out, that could be helpful to some of the medium and
24 small companies. We just aren't going to be able to gear up
25 in time.
-------
297
1 We are going to hava a severe impact with some of
2 the things, again talking about the 100 kilogram limits on
3 the medium and small„
4 For example, even with the things that are not
5 going to fall away, even if you helped us with the reclassi-
6 fication of the exemptions, we are not going to generate
7 enough to have a hauler who is going to be interested at all
V
8 in hauling this thing to California or wherever. It's going
9 to be a problemc
10 The last time we had a meeting of our people that
11 would be affected by this, we were coming up with something
12 like 12 or 15 barrels between all of them, that they thought
13 might fall into a hazardous category, outside of the paint
14 sludges, this sort of thing.
15 That's not a lot and we are going to have difficulty
16 trying to get this thing together, as to where we are going
17 to put this and how we are going to get it there.
18 So, if these lower limits can be raised somewhat,
19 I think it's going to help a lot of our people. And, as a
20 matter of fact, this is a side aspect, some of these things
21 are scaring our people0 We are a municipally owned and opera-
22 ted landfill, so they have the public right there and they
23 are very concerned with some of these.
24 One of the other things I wanted to mention was that
25 in my understanding from yesterday, if you have a company, if
-------
298
1 they exceed the 100 kilograms in all phases, under it, that
2 it could be one kind, five different kinds, but if it all
3 turns out to be 100 kilograms together, we feel that maybe
4 that would be helpful if you did not do it that way.
5 We are still talking about a small amount for that
6 company to dispose of. We are saying instead of, maybe, mak-
7 ing paperwork, the reason for not covering it, maybe economics
8 the reason for not covering it, it's just not economical to
9 try to handle these small amounts0
10 Again, I do think we would realize, of course, that
11 when you get into the very toxic types of things, you are
12 going to have to cut that off. But some of the less areas,
13 we are not going to have that problem,,
14 That, I believe, would take care of our comments.
15 We are worried about the economic impact and how we are going
16 to handle some of these things that are going to happen be-
17 cause of regulations, because of where we're at, and the size
18 of our companies. I don't like to see the guys sending it
19 home with a guy in a pickup truck to dump in his gully, I
20 know that's what's happening with some of the small companies
21 all over the country,, They are not going to bother .with;it.
22 They don't want it, they will ignore it and we shouldn't be
23 doing that.
24 Storage, of course, is going to be a problem, too,
25 if we have complete regulations that are going to be very
is
-------
299
tough to meet. On the storage, why, that again is going to
be expense. We're worried of the Catch 22rs. This is going
to cost you $20,000, this one will cost you $30,000 and there
is no in between when they don't have either one0
MR. TRASK: As we indicated in the preamble to 3002,
we do not have a great deal of data in this area of the so-
called small generatorso
You indicated you had talked with your generators
in your city and had gotten from them some indication of
10 quantities that they generate?
11 MRo SMELCER: Yes, when we got away from the paint
12 sludge thing that we talked about yesterday, which is a volume
13 problem, then we got into the other things that they are pretM
14 ty sure fall into that, such as pre-treatment sludge. That's
15 another box we got into. We built the treatment plant. The
16 people built a new plant and they pre-treated their stuff.
17 Now they've got the sludge to worry about and we
18 are pretty sure this is not going to fall outo These things,
19 these barrels of stuff, they are not a lot, but they are about
20 12 or 15 a month, between all of them,
21 MR. TRASK: Is it possible to relate these quanti-
22 ties of waste to the approximate size of the business, in
23 terms of sales or number of employees or something on that
24 order? Would you say the quality of the data you have would
25 be that good?
MR0 SMELCER: I would think of the range, because
-------
300
the one I'm talking about with the—whose real problem is
the pre-treatinent sludge that's left, nickel and so on, they
could dump it down the sewer. They would have to pay for it,
but they could dump it down the sewer, which is one of the
options we are really going to be left with and we really
don't think that's where it should go.
That's a fairly large company and that's really
their only problem, this pre-treatment sludge. They really
don't even have the painting problem.
10 But, yet, wetve got another small guy, just as an
example, who has galvanized chicken feeder type equipment
12 and he isn't generating that much, but I could see some of
13 our companies where they might have some pretty toxic stuff
that we wouldntt want in our landfill, to put it bluntly,
15 from the public side»
16 So, I don't think we could relate it to that very
17 successfully,,
18 MR0 TRASK: I think we might want to contact you
19 later and see what sort of data you do have, because we are
20 desperately in need of data which describes this whole area
21 of so-called small generators0
22 Another indication, you said the small quantities
23 you had would not present any kind of a problem. Do you have
24 any information on what kind of co-disposal ratio, that is
25 the amount of waste, who has this waste, would present a prob-
-------
301
1 lera?
2 MR. SMELCER: No, I don't know what we are talkinj
about in that area. Again, we've been fighting with the
state of Illinois to get into the landfill right now with
some of our things that have been backlogged, but we had
three different methods of handling it, putting it all into
one trench, or scattering it.
We finally ended up, they take so many barrels a
day and they put one here and they put one there and they are
10 away from each other and they are buriedo It's not that
11 amount that they can*t successfully just handle it on a daily
12 basis by separating it away.
13 But the figures you are asking for, no, I really
don't. I forget, we did have a comment here on how much
15 solid waste we do have going in and we did have an error,,
16 We've got—let's see0 I'm looking for my comment here on it,
17 the numbers of how much we generate.
18 We've got 200,000 gallons per year of industrial
19 sludgeso That's wrong0 My secretary put the wrong number
20 down. It's closer to 150,000 or 100,000, But the other,
21 200,000 cubic yards, is from our landfill people,
22 MR. TRASK: Sc you have about 150,000 gallons of
23 industrial—
24 MR. SMELCER: That's our paint sludges, the whole
25 works, anything that's not solid like a rock, I guess you
-------
302
might say.
M?v0 LEHMAN: Mr. Smelcer, in your remarks you men-
's
tioned that you liked or you suggested Option Wo0 3, where
you would take into account the degree of hazard, in effect,
in the exemption. You are saying we should raise the exem-
6 ption level to 1,000 kilograms or more, to paraphrase your
7 remarks, for less hazardous waste.
8 Would you care to comment, knowing the kinds of
waste that are generated in your Association, as to what
10 types of waste would be less hazardous and which types of
11 waste would be more hazardous? You mentioned there were some
12 you felt might not be appropriate for a municipal landfill,,
13 MR. SMELCER: We were basically talking again of
14 our paint sludges for a lot of our smaller companies and they
15 are stuck with this right now. It*s a big problem for us,
16 because, like I say, the backs of every plant are filled with
17 barrels,because they canft get it out.
18 Aftr a year, it starts to get to be a problem. That
19 is basically what we are talking about. Itrs some of these
20 things o
21 We do realize the color has got something to do with
22 it and some people might to have to make some changes if they
23 are going to avoid that problem,, I don't know the color dif-
ferences, but I know some of them cause a lot more problems
25 than others. But, that's basically what we're talking about„
-------
303 I
1 Some of the other wastes are—most of the other
2 wastes we have are not going to be that hazardous and if thew
^
3 are, they will be taken care of.
4 For example, when we first started our discussions,
5 cutting oils and solvents and so on used in the machine in-
6 dustry, we've got a problem. Well, when we got to talking
7 about it, we don't have a problem,, It's just a matter of
8 them wanting to send it down here to St. Louis and getting
9 it recycled or not. We don't think that's an excuse, as
10 long as there is a place to go with it. That's a different
11 story0
12 We still have some things like, and I don't under-
13 stand what their problem is, but they claim it's still therejfl
14 metal shavings and oil type of things. They say they can't
15 separate it out enough that we could get it into the landfill.
16 We've got some problems that way.
17 We're really after, in our case, our economic hard-
18 ships are going to come from those marginal areas that you've
19 been hearing about the last two days. There is where the real
20 cost factor is going to come in.
21 We know because of where we're at, we are going to
22 have trouble with the very hazardous type things that will
23 get generated from some plants, but a lot of these are going
24 to come from labs. It's just not going to be that amount
25 and a lot of these people already have made arrangements or
-------
304
1 are sending it away now, because they don't want to put it in
2 our landfill, even if they could. They never did before and
3 they aren't going to now.
4 But we see a lot of this coming from the various
5 labs, from feed companies and this sort of thing, where we
6 would have some mining or milling operations you might call
7 it, minerals9 that sort.
8 MR8 TRASK: You mentioned about phasing of the
9 regulationso I think in the options we listed, we are con-
10 sidering, our thoughts on phasing were that we would start
11 with the largest generators and take those.
12 I think the example we used was something like 10,
13 000 tons a .month that would come into the system first and
14 then over a period of a few years, we would gradually work
15 down to some level if, indeed, that's what we end up with,
16 where everyone would be in after a few years.
17 I sense, though, that you have a different thought
18 in mind about phasing. I would wonder if you could expand on
19 that a little bit?
20 MR. SMELCER: I guess just a plain initial kickin0
21 I like what you are saying to a certain extent. Yes, you
22 want to control the bigger ones before you do the smaller
23 ones, but again, with our landfill problem, it doesn't make
24 any difference. The landfill won't take it»
25 You are affected from January 1 next year, if that's
-------
305
1 when it's going to be, or June or whatever0 In our case,
2 Illinois has given us permits to January 1 of next year and
3 that's it. We don't know what's going to happen beyond that.
4 We think it is going to take time to put this in
5 place. It's not going to be something you can just rush out
6 and do. We are going to, obviously, make plans ahead of time,
7 but for example, in trying to talk someone into hauling, most
8 of the haulers that are doing our work right now, we do have
9 some bulk disposal of things that are, again, very marginal0
10 We understand this guy doesn't know whether he's
11 going to put up with this or not. He may decide he doesn't
12 want that branch of hauling and go out of that business, be-
13 cause of the paperwork and everything involved in it0 In
14 fact, we just got our regulations from Illinois and it's
15 about that thick, three inches, in the mai!0 So, when he
16 sees that, he probably will go out of business.
17 So, we don't know. We can see some real expensive
18 things here where companies are going to have to make their
19 arrangements themselves for very small amounts, for once very
20 89 days, making a trip someplace„
21 Maybe we can do something through the Association
22 or something,, That's going to be the only out we can see in
23 these kinds of arrangements. But we're afraid some of these
24 companies are going to have to spend a lot of money in spec-
25 ialized things that have nothing to do with generator productT1
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
306
As one said when we had this problem with this sewer
thing, "We are in the business of making machinery, we are not
in the business of setting up our own treatment plant. We
canrt make any money off of that." It's only when you are
producing a product that you can make any money0 We are con-
cerned that we get so many of these other side things involved,
especially the mediums and the small, there is nothing left.
MR. TRASK: Do you have some specific thoughts on
the timing of the phasing? Should we be looking at months,
years? Did you have any figures in that area?
MR* SMELCER: No, you understand I am a mouthpiece
for our engineers in the companies. No specific time period
was mentioned, but this was one of the things that they did
talk abouto
Frankly, because of these hearings, we are going
to go back and write another statement to submit to you,
based on what we*ve heard here and I think probably a lot of
people will do that9 where we will, maybe, make some sugges-
tions on implementation.
But I think the crash type of, "It's now in effect",
number one, hurts and number two, it means you are not going
to get compliance, because most people are going to say, "I
can"t, so sue me0" They are not going to do it.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you, Mr» Smelcer,
We will recess for about 15 minutes and reconvene
-------
307
1 about 10:55.
2 (At this time a short recess was taken0)
3 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: On the record.
4 I've been asked to point out that smoking is over
5 hers on your right and the left is a non-smoking section, so
6 if anybody is in the wrong place, you might want to move»
7 The next person who has asked to speak this morning
8 is Russell Smith from Salsbury Laboratories, Charles City,
9 Iowa.
10 MR. SMITH: Thank you. My name is Russell Smith
11 and I am representing Salsbury Laboratories of Charles City,
12 Iowa.
13 STATEMENT OF RUSSELL SMITH
14 MR. SMITH: Salsbury is a manufacturer of animal
15 health products. The production includes facilities for
16 biologies, pharmaceutics and organic chemical synthesis.
17 I have a few comments on what might appear as minor
18 areas in the Act, but I think will come out to be problem
19 areas if they are not changed.
20 Section 3002, 250.20 states that every generator
21 must comply with Subparts D and E of the regulations if the
22 waste remains on site for 90 days or longer0
23 i object to the 90-day limit0 For over one year
24 now, our company has been disposing of all of its industrial
25 solid waste at an off-site hazardous waste disposal facility.
-------
308
This is being done under contract with the waste acceptance
firm. A manifest system is being used and the following
steps that we have found to be necessary to carry cut before
shipment of this waste to the disposal site0
All of our wastes are segregated at the source,
so we have many different solid wastes we are not-/ disposing
of at off-site facilities. The first step is to sample and
8 characterize each solid wastestream.
9 This is necessary to provide the proper information
10 to the waste acceptance firm, which has responsibility of
ll proper disposal and, also, to determine the proper D.O.T,
12 shipping classificationso
13 The second step is then filling out a contact form,
14 supplying all the above information, plus any necessary hand-
15 ling precautions, auxiliary information, to the waste accept-
16 ance finn0
17 The waste acceptance firm then evaluates this re-
18 quest for disposal0 This, sometimes, necessitates sending
19 them a sample so they can carry out some of their own testing
20 and analyses to proper evaluate if they can safely dispose
21 of this material.
22 They then have to advise their capability for safe
23 disposal, including disposal site selection, and contract
24 terms.
25 We have found this procedure, many times, to take
-------
309
1 uiore than 90 days and this will be especially true if one
2 samples and tries to test his waste to show it is not hazard^
3 OUSc
4 The point I'm making is not necessarily applied to
5 waste where this is already being done or to repeat waste
6 shipments, but more to the new waste one encounters when he
7 er.teres into the system and changes production, et cetera.
8 One of the reasons I think EPA chose the 90-day
9 limit is to help insure the integrity of the container that
10 the waste is put in, during shipment. I feel that judgment
11 can be left to the generator and I'm sure the generator would
12 use tha proper storage techniques and precautions.,
13 I would like to close my comments this morning by
14 recommending that 180 days be considered as the time limit
!5 instead of 90. I feel the 90 days will place many generators
16 into the classification of treatment storage and disposal
17 facilities and require them to carry out the burdensome re-
18 quirements of Subparts D and E0
'19 My next comment relates to Section 3002, 250.29,
20 which pertains to the less than IOC kilo exemption and it
21 also pertains to Section 3004, 250.44, which pertains to the
22 disposal of empty containers which previously contained a
23 hazardous waste0
24 In the discussion of the exemptions for waste of
25 quantities less than 100 kilos, the regulations point out tha?
-------
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
310
and this is read primarily from the regulations; "The prin-
cipal element of this issue is how to balance the need to
protect human health and environment from the adverse impact
of potential mismanagement of small quantities of hazardous
waste with the need to hold down the administrative burden
of management of these wastes, under RCRA, within reasonable
and practical limits."
It also says although there is wide agreement that
the regulatory burdens are appropriate and necessary for
the management of large quantities of hazardous waste, there
is considerable debate whether they are necessary for the
management of small quantities, particular if other means can
be used to assure these small quantities are adequately
treated,disposed and otherwise handled.,
I agree with EPA's concept that small quantities of
hazardous waste can be disposed of in sanitary landfills that
meet the 4004 requirements and that they will not pose any
long terra environmental hazards or problems.
However, I feel that this concept should not be
impartially applied to just generators of less than 100 kilos
a month, but that it should also be applied to generators of
larger quantities0
Now, I am not arguing with the 100 kilos versus the
1,000 or whatever it should be. I would like to clarify this
point. I am not recommending that generators of greater than
-------
311
1 100 kilos be allowed to dispose of 100 kilos per month in
2 any sanitary landfill. In our case, we generate several
3 per day. I'm not saying that of that several tons we should
4 save costs by disposing of 100 kilos in a sanitary landfill.
5 An example I would like to use and this applies
6 particularly to our operation and I'm sure to many others,
7 is that we receive many raw materials in sealed drums, paper
8 bags and fibre drums. These are large fibre drums, 38 to 40
9 gallon drumso
10 After we empty these containers, we especially re-
11 use the fibre drums to store, handle and process materials
12 that we are manufacturing.
13 The waste now, or the proposed waste, the regula-
14 tions, will require that all of these containers be incinera-
15 ted or disposed of in a landfill which meeets the requirement
!6 250o45, which is a hazardous landfill.
17 The approach we are now using for our fibre drums
18 and paper bags is that they are thoroughly emptied and rinsed
19 before disposal in a sanitary landfill. The amount of con-
20 taminahts left in these fibre drums and paper bags would
21 amount to ounces per day0
22 in other words, over a month's time, this would be
23 considerably less than the 100 kilo exemption allowed to
24 others.
25 However, if we have to haul these drums to a
-------
312
ous landfill, and at this time that would have to be, perhaps,
700 or 800 miles away, this would mean that on a daily basis
we would have to take 30 or 40 large, bulky fibre drums and
ship them halfway across the country to hazardous landfills.
We don't feel this is creating any hazardous con-
dition and we feel there is some flexibility for evaluating
the disposal of empty containers should be allowed. This
certainly could be controlled at the state level on a case
by case basis, through an enforceable agreement or contract
10 with the authority having jurisdiction over the sanitary land-
n fill.
12 So I don*t think that concept of a small quantity
13 of hazardous waste not being harmful in a sanitary landfill
14 should only apply to small generators.
15 The point I demonstrate here, if it was considered,
16 I think it could adequately be determined that what we are
17 doing is not a hazard,, But, once the regs are out,we are
18 going to spend, perhaps, $200 a day disposing of these fibre
19 drums at a hazardous landfill.
20 I don't like the concept of shipping empty contain-
21 ers halfway across the country. It's not energy efficient
22 or necessary,,
23 So, I think--! realize a small limit has to be set
24 and I don't sympathize with EPA in determining whether that is
25 100 kilos or 1,0000 I think it's pointed out by the speakers
-------
313
that it would be better if it could be evaluated on a case
by case basis, but I also understand that's difficult for
EPA to carry through on.
But, allow some flexibility, especially on empty
containers for all generators.
I don't have a copy of my comments, but I will pro=
vide them shortly after the hearing„
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you. Would you answer
questions from the panel?
10 MR. SMITH: Yes.
11 MR. LINDSEY: You objected to the 90-day limit for
12 storage before sending off-siteo You suggested you think it
13 should be something like 180 days.
14 I guess I should point out first that there is no
15 reason why you can't store it for more than 90 days. It's
16 just you would need a permit and apparently it's that, that
17 is your objection, the fact you would need a permit?
18 MR. SMITH: Right, and I think you alluded earlier
19 that would not be that much of a problem, but as I read all
20 the requirements under Subparts D and E, all the emergency
21 precautions,the dike containment capabilities, I don't think
22 it's just a simple matter of saying, "I'm going to store this
23 material0 Give me a permit."
24 MR. LINDSEY: No, it's not that easy, that's for
25 sure.
-------
314
1 MR. SMITH: I think EPA's position has tried to
2 lower the burdensome paperwork, et cetera, and this is just
3 an add to.
4 MR. LINDSEY: It's partially the paperwork thing.
5 The other reason is because of our belief that the storage
6 of drums and other containers for 90 days, even in an un-
7 controlled manner, that is without all the RCRA controls and
8 paperwork, does not create a problem.
9 But beyond that point in time, or some point in
10 time similar to that, it could be arguable what that could be
11 We get or may get deterioration of drums and so forth if it*s
12 not controlled,,
13 I should also point out that the regulation still
14 applies as far as the technical regulations, they still apply
15 even for less than 90 days. Standards must be met in any
16 event. It's just the control factors, the oversight, if you
17 will, by EPA.
18 Let me follow through with that a little more if I
19 can. You thought this was going to be very stringent, these
20 storage--as I say, we developed them because we felt they
21 were necessary.
22 Do you disagree or do you feel the storage standards
23 which we have are too stringent? I'm not talking about your
24 operation in general, but for storage of hazardous wastes
25 overall?
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
3
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
315
MR. SMITH: I question them. I think most manufac-
turing people have experience with handling hazardous mater-
ials or what have you. They store them and contain them in a
proper manner.
We receive many different kinds of acids, solvents.
We store these things for months adequately. But once it
becomes a spent solvent or spent acid, I am required to fol-
low all the RCRA requirements.
I think you've gone a little bit too far there. I
realize one should not be able to store the wastes on this
property indefinitely, because then you have a waste disposal
site.
MR. LINDSEY: That's one problem, yes.
MR. SMITH: But I don't think going from 90 days
to 180 is really going to change your control that much. The
way you send the sample out to have it tested for whether it's
got priority pollutants in it, all testing required, it can
take two months to get this information back.
MR. LINDSEY: Another question, you also suggested
we incorporate more flexibility for the disposal of hazardous
containers which contain—which now become a waste to be dis-
posed of and contained the hazardous material.
I guess—what specifically would you have us do in
that area? Would you have us exempt these containers or what?
MR. SMITH: Some way I feel.If a container contains
-------
316
1 a hazardous liquid that can be simply rinsed out with water,
2 I see no need for this container to be shipped to a hazardous
3 waste disposal site. A fibre drum that may have a little
4 bit of chemical dust, in our case, on ity-
5 MR. LINDSEY: We do have this provision in here that
6 it may be tripled rinsed in accordance with these regulations,
7 it could be disposed of in a Subtitle B facility. That would
8 also apply, I think, to fibre containers.
9 I don't know, but I think many of the fibre con-
10 tainers are asbestos lined, for example, and could be triple
11 rinsed.
12 MR. SMITH: I'm concerned, of course, in our case,
13 more with the fibre drums. I know you have that in the regu-
14 lations for the steel drums.
15 MR. LINDSEY: Drums, a lot of them are plastic
16 lined and could, presumably, be rinsed out without totally
17 dissolving,,
18 MR. SMITH: That's true. Is that allowable under
19 the regulations?
20 MR. LINDSEY: Yes, it talks about drums. It does
21 not say whether they are metal, plastic or fibre or what,
22 providing you can triple rinse them without causing them to
23 dissolve away into nothing, you know, a pulpo
24 MR. TRASK: To continue on with that, there's noth-
25 ing wrong with rinsing a bag if you can do it.
-------
1
2
3
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
317
MR. SMITH: That might be difficult.
MR. TRASK: No, there are some plastic-lined bags
that are—
MR. SMITH: Let me ask you about paper bagsc We
do receive material in 50 and 100-pound paper bags. We
shake them out and they contain chemicals, some of them, which
could be interpreted as being hazardous„ If we dispose of
50 bags a day, there may be a couple of ounces of material
in there0
Is it necessary to send this to a hazardous land-
fill?
MR. TRASK: One of the things we are considering
is how to change that definition of triple rinsing, so it
would apply to the paper bag. We would be interested in your
suggestions as to what methods could be used to be sure they
were non-hazardous when the bags, when they were finished?
MR. SMITH: I think to some extent you have to rely
on the local authority to have an agreement with the generator
whereby he will receive such and such discarded materials,
including paper bags or fibre drums and that they shall be
rinsed and cleaned out» That's practical and let him have
spot checks. He has the authority to enter on a contract like
that.
MR. TRASK: You would suggest we use, if the local
municipal waste landfill would accept it, then it would not be*
-------
1
2
3
4
5
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
318
hazardous ?
MR0 SMITH: To some degree, yes.
MR. TRASK: It might put us in a Catch 22 position.
MR. SMITH: Very true, right.
MR. TRASK: One question, following up a little on
this co-disposal thing that you mentioned in your statement
that you thought it would be alright to use, to put larger
quantities than 100 kilos in a municipal waste landfill.
MR. SMITH: I did not say that.
MR. TRASK: Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood you0
Could you clarify what you meant then by—
MR. SMITH: I think I was pointing out at this
time generators that generate less than 100 kilos can dispose
of up to that amount in a sanitary landfill and as I think
the speaker from Missouri pointed out earlier, some of these
can be pretty hazardous materials.
I was asking for some relief to large generators
for disposal of paper bags, that type of material, that may
contain very small amounts of material and by the time it's
mixed with the large bulk of waste in a sanitary landfill,
would not pose a hazard.
I think you pointed out that concept in the regula-
tions.
MR. TRASK: Do you have any thoughts under what
sort of ratios that we could tolerate in landfills of these--
-------
I
319
of what degree of hazard, perhaps, related to the quantity
that could go into a municipal waste landfill?
MR. SMITH: I don't. I think you mentioned 40 to
1 in the regulations. I would be happy with that.
MR. TRASK: We are concerned about what the impact
of what that ratio would do to a landfill. In other words,
it's still going to be a proper containment facility. That's
where we are seeking data in that area. So, if you have any,
we would be interested in receiving it.
10 MR. SMITH: I'm sorry, I do not.
11 MR. TRASK: One further question on containers.
12 You mentioned in your statement that you felt the containers
13 questions could be left up to the generator, the manufacture^^
14 because they had experience in that area.
15 Do you have some data on how long certain kinds of
16 wastes can be stored in containers without danger of deterio-
17 ration of the container?
18 MR. SMITH: We have some from experience.
19 MR. TRASK: Do you?
20 MR. SMITH: What I am saying is that we have stored
21 waste in metal drums that have failed. These are not liquid
22 wastes, they are sludges. But this does not create any en-
23 vironmental catastrophe or hazard, which you normally see as
24 a leakage of some sort in the drum. You redrum it in a sal-
25 vage drum or completely remove it and drum it in a different
-------
320
1 one. So, there are times when you are going to get fooled,
2 but these are wastes that have been around six months to a
3 year or so.
4 I think there are ways for the generator to properly
5 package his materials and, of course, D.O.T. provides some
6 regulations on that.
7 MR. TRASK: Any of those data you have that you
8 could share with us, we would appreciate it if you would put
9 it in your statement, in your comment later.
10 MR. SMITH: Fine. It would be very hard to relate
11 it to other people's waste, but I will consider it and see
12 what I can do.
13 MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Smith, you mentioned that you
14 have done a lot of testing on your wastes and that's interest-
15 ing. The interesting thing I would like to know is, do you—
16 have you tried using the procedures we recommended in here
17 or that we talk about in here with regard to identifying what
18 is hazardous and so forth?
19 Have you used those procedures and any comments
20 you might have on that would be useful to us.
21 MR. SMITH: As you can appreciate, we are probably
22 a little gunshy by now. Therefore, we have not done a lot of
23 testing then to show that a waste is not hazardous. Most of
24 our testing has been done to provide the waste acceptance
25 firm the proper information he needs to properly dispose of
-------
321
1 the waste, heavy metal content, ammonia, nitrogen, BoO. D,
2 whatever variables are conditions he might want to look at.
3 MR. LINDSEY: Do you have any idea what your costs
4 run for testing for that purpose, on a per ton basis or,
5 additionally and the second part, do you expect the testing
6 requirements that are in these set of regulations now would
7 increase that cost?
8 MR. SMITH: I don't think I can answer that ques-
9 tion, because for our situation the testing requirements", have
10 not been that large a portion of the cost.
11 However, I am sure it would be significant if one
!2 was to try to determine if his waste was not hazardous. The
13 approach we've used is to play it safe and say it is hazard-
14 ous and, therefore, it must go to a hazardous landfill.
15 I'm not saying that now that we have a concrete
16 set of conditions to test by that we will probably go back
17 and evaluate some of the wastes, which I am sure are probably
18 not hazardous.
19 MR0 LINDSEY: I was going to say, the only time in
20 which one would be, would want a test to prove that it's not
21 would be if they were on the list, on the list of wastes.
22 In the other case, I guess you would have to test
23 it to determine whether it was, also, if you didn't know or
24 didn't have good information.
25 If you have any thoughts on that before the
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
322
closes, we received comments in the New York areas that the
testing imposed by these regulations is quite high and we
are seeking information on that.
If you have any thoughts on that or estimates on
that, we would appreciate having them.
MR. SMITH: My concern is not so much, I think, that
the first four set of requirements call for that type of test-
ing, but the last two, I am sure will be expensive.
MR. LINDSEY: By the last two, you mean tests that
would be required to delist?
MR. SMITH: Right, if you wanted to test whether a
waste was toxiogenic or not, I think the costs of that will
run you roughly $1,000 per sample. In some cases you may
have to sample several times to really prove that waste is
not hazardous.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you, Mr. Smith.
The next person listed is Mirko Popovich from the
Human Rights Survival group.
MR. POPOVICH: Thank you. I am Mirko Popovich from
the nearby Benld, Illinois and participate in the activities
of the Human Rights Survival Group.
STATEMENT OF MIRKO POPOVICH
MR. POPOVICH: This is addressed to the Public
Participation Officer, WH-562 and concerns proposed hazardous
waste regulations, Sections 3001, 3002, 3004 and also 3003.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
323
An Illinois Pollution Control Board release, R76-
10, states on Page 13 as follows. Where spills require
immediate removal, the U.S. E.P.A. has proposed regulations
pursuant to Section 3003 of RCRA that the requirements for
generators transportation and disposal, treatment or storage
be suspended for more flexible standards which focus parti-
cularly on neutralizing and removing the waste generated by
the spill with a minimum amount of delay. That is taken from
EXH No. 26 and that's the end of the quote.
Waivers, promulgations and reference to some inter-
agency communication is mentioned in the continuing descrip-
tion to add to the generalities, "That will be suspended for
more flexible standards." (
The D.O.T. and EoP.A. could not resolve the spill-
age problem in Wilsonville and apparently ambiguity is still
in fashion. The language of effective results is not pre-
ced edi by the specifics with clarity concerning immediate
responsibility and capability by those enjoined in the parti-
cular operational stage of handling.
A whole array of imponderables mentioned by parti-
cipants in a Waste Management, U.S.E.P.A. Conference in 1977
in Washington, has not been dispersed.
A perusal of the proposed rules and regulations in-
dicates an intenneshing of old pretenseful procedures pre-
viously asserted in many instances, but not followed, as
-------
324
1 Wilsonville and area citizens found to their chagrin.
2 Responsibility for street spillage by waste haulers
3 was indeterminate. It is indeterminate still. The recently
4 proposed rules continue in the previously legalistic folderal
5 manner which permitted the arbitrary dispensation found in
6 bad judgment in Wilsonville's court proceedings.
7 Persistence in avoiding pertinent stipulations for
8 dealing with particular and immediate problems, together
9 with an avoidance of major critical issues, such as site
10 unsuitability, EPA Waste Management collaboration shown by
11 undue arbitrary permit dispensation, a proliferation of
12 questionable products sustained by pre-emptive marketing
13 techniques, bypass of individual and community sovereignty,
14 and trade.secret protection for products discovered in dele-
15 terious operations such as Wilsonville dumping, give a
16 clarifying focus to bureaucratic demagoguery0
17 EPA regulations and procedures indicate an aloof-
18 ness to constitutional cognizance of individual and community
19 sovereignty.
20 Responsibility for industrial waste disposal is
21 lifted from the producers, implying an advantageous societal
22 value for their existence over other productive units of
23 society, including taxpaying citizens.
24 The deaths and health debilitations in the P.A.B.
25 experience are not conciliated by generator's claims to sur-
-------
325
veillance capability. Priceless human life cannot be equated
or balanced with marketplace demagoguery. Advertising has
grown on like a cancer.
Rawls, R-a-w-1-s, states, "Each person possesses
an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare
of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason,
justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made
right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow
that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the
1° larger suras of advantages enjoyed by many."
11 Our corrective efforts are directed to prevention.
12 Thank you.
13 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you. Would you be will
ing to answer questions from the panel?
15 MR. POPOVICH: I would try, yes.
16 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
17 MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Popovich, I gather from the in-
18 itial part of your comments that you are unhappy with some
19 of the spillage requirements.
20 i would like to point out that the variances which
21 are allowed in the spill requirements are due primarily to
22 a perceived need on our part that with certain circumstances
23 we will have emergency situations and that it may be necessary
24 to dispense with, on a temporary basis anyway,the paperwork
25 requirements in order to allow us to deal with a real or at
-------
326
1 least a perceived emergency in the case of a truck spill or
2 it may be emissions that create problems.
3 That, really, is the thrust of those variances, if
4 you want to call them that. In that regard, if you feel we
5 have gone overboard in that area, do you have any suggestions
6 on how we could handle legitimate emergencies without creat-
7 ing, without having to hold things up for paperwork and so
8 forth and yet—
9 MR. POPOVICH: I don't feel based on the experiences
10 particularly from our standpoint, which are a little closer
11 and harder felt in the Wilsonville situation, but also from
12 other related incidents, as we come to read about them in the
13 newspaper, that there has been established a real system or
14 way of dealing with a particular problem or problems in the
15 specific stage of handling with the clarification concerning
16 the people's capability who handles it and whose particular
17 responsibility it is in the particular incident.
18 We have made repeated phone calls to the D.O.T. and
19 I think you are familiar and it's no secret that the D.O.T.
20 and the EPA have not, at least previously up to several
21 months ago, come to an understanding about whose responsibility
22 it is.
23 Wilsonville was left with the necessity of simply
24 cleaning up the mess that someone else lefto
25 MR. TKASK: In this area of responsibility of
-------
327
transporters, I think that's what you mentioned earlier, we
thought we had covered the bases pretty well there, that the
transporter can accept only properly manifested waste that he
has a responsibility to deliver all of that waste to the
designated, permitted facility.
If he stores that waste somewhere en route, he can
do that only at a permitted facility. We don't know what we
left outo
I guess if you have some ideas, we might look at
10 them.
11 MR. POPOVICH: I feel these points you are pointing
12 to are aberrations and in the transport of materials there
13 are occurrences which vary from the ordinary routine, but we
14 found the surveillance that was pretended to by responsible
15 authority simply was not there.
16 As I indicated, we called various offices, includ-
17 ing Washington, I'm sure, and we found a general tendency on
18 their part to feel it wasn't their problem, but there was no
19 indication on their part about whose particular problem it
20 was.
21 The recent incident here in St. Louis and I don't
22 know whether it was mentioned in previous hearings or meet-
23 ings, but this person who kicked this drum off the highway,
24 according to the newspaper account, tried eventually to get
25 in touch with some people, including Washington, and they
-------
328
1 seemed to slough it off in one manner or another, comments
2 varied. Finally, the only thing he could do was to get in
3 touch with some local area and it might have been other than
4 St. Louis, but in Missouri, concerning civil preparedness.
5 We find there is such a gap between the language
6 that you sort of play with concerning how to deal with these
7 problems and the—and between actually what has transpired.
8 This, we feel, encourages us to look in the direc-
9 tion of prevention and this is our role, concerning any acti-
10 vity on the part of public committed officials, to try to
li rectify this tremendous problem that has been developing.
12 I think you are aware, even as we are, from people
13 who deal directly with these problems. For instance, gas
14 leakage and so forth, that even with that surveillance, it
15 cannot prevent some very serious happenings.
16 The problem arises in many instances from the fact
17 they are dealing with material for which they cannot say,
18 "We can adequately provide a comfortable surveillance."
19 We feel there has to be a re-look, a very serious
20 re-look and a readjustment in our priorities and a general
21 tendency of what you are dealing with here, in detail as you
22 have gone into, as it seems you have, that we feel there are
23 priorities that should be placed on some of the other areas
24 that I mentioned.
25 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I think if I could characterize
-------
329
1 your statement, essentially you are saying the regulations
2 might be all right, but the .enforcement of the regulations
3 is the big problem from your point of view.
4 MR. POPOVICH: I think if my statement I tried to
5 point out, hopefully, that a perusal of the proposed rules
6 and regulations indicates an intermeshing of old pretenseful
7 procedures, previously asserted in many instances, but not
8 followed as Wilsonville and area citizens found to their
9 chagrin.
10 I rather enjoy, and I don't know whether enjoy is
11 a proper word, but I've heard over and over and I'm sure you
12 people have, this problem of defining hazardous. I think
13 that's part of the problem, that you are continually playing
14 with words and of course words are what we have to deal with,
15 but you are continually playing with words that different
16 people have a different attitude toward, a different under-
17 standing of and, therefore, we really, through the system and
18 procedure which you have outlined, cannot come through with a
19 proper regulation and proper communication in which everybody
20 understands what everybody else is doing or are supposed to
21 do0
22 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I have one more question. I
23 think I understood you to say that we were, that the respon-
24 sibility for disposal is being lifted from the producers. I
25 think that was part of your statement.
-------
February 15, 1979 ^
' ' ./.••-
'Public Participation Officer WH-562 Concerning Proposed Hazardous
Office of Solid Waste v Waste Regulations
U.S.3.P.A. • . • Section 3001
Washington, D. C. 20460 Section 3002 "i
Section 30
'••'..•• "! Also 3003
'V?
An Illinois Pollution Control Board release, R76-10, states on
page 13 as follows: where spills require immediate removal, the U.S'.
E.P.A. has proposed regulations pursuant to Section 3003 of RCRA that
the requirements for generators, transportation and disposal, treatment •
or storage ce suspended for more flexible standards which focus
particularly on neutralizing and removing the waste generated by the
spill with a minimum amount of delay'- (taken from.EXH # 26). IjEnd of
Quote) Waivers, promulgations and. reference to some interagency
:
communication is mentioned in the continuing description to add to
-the generalities "that will be suspended for more flexible standards,"
The DOT'and E.P.A. could not resolve the spillage problem in Wilsonville
and apparently ambiguity is still in fashion. The language of
"" effective results is not preceded by the specifics with clarity
concerning immediate responsibility and capability by those enjoined
in the particular operational stage of handling. A whole array of
imponderables mentioned by ..articicants in a Waste Mgt.-U.S.S.P.-i.
Conference in 1977 in Washington has not been dispersed.
A perusal of the proposed rules and regulations indicates an
intermeshing of old pretenseful procedures, vreviously asserted in
many instances, but not followed, as" '.vilsor-vllle and area citizens
found to their chagrin. Responsibility for street spillage by waste
haulers was indeterminate. It is indeterminate still. The recently
proposed rules continue ir; the previously legalistic folderal manner
which permitted the arbitrary dispensation found in bad judgment in
"vilscnville 's court proceedings.
Persistence in avoiding pertinent stipulations for dealing with
particular and immediate problems together with an avoidance of major
-------
critical issues such as site unsuitability, E.P.A.-Waste Management
* i .
collaboration shown by undue arbitrary permit dispensation, a prolifer-
"»•
ation of questionable products sustained by pre-emptive marketing
i
techniques, by-pass iOf individual and community sovereignty, and trade
secret protection for products discovered in deleterious operations
such as the Wilsonville dumping give a clarifying focus to bureaucratic
demagoguery.
SPA regulations and procedures indicate an aloofness to constitution-
al cognizance of individual and community sovereignty. Responsibility
for industrial waste disposal is lifted from the producers implying an
advantageous societal value for their ezlster.ce over other productive
units of society including taxpaying citizens. '
The deaths and health debilitations in the PA3 experience are not
conciliated by generator's claims to surveillance capability. Priceless
human life cannot be equated or balanced with marketplace demagoguery,
Advertising has grown like a cancer. j
Rawls states "each person possesses an inviolability founded on
Justice that even the welfare of society as a whole-cannot override.
For this reason justice denies tkr-t the loss of freedom for some is
made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that
I
the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of •
advantages enjoyed by many."
Our corrective efforts are directed to prevention.
Mirko Popovich
Benld, Illinois 62009
-------
330
1 MR. POPOVICH: Yes, it is.
2 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: If it was, would you try to
3 clarify what you meant by that?
4 MR. POPOVICH: We feel the EPA has, amongst others,
5 has mentioned some guidelines for producers to follow concern-
6 ing how to minimize the waste problem.
7 There are, I think you probably know it better
than I, alternatives, there are reprocessing. Monsanto
9 should have been burning their P.C.B.s. We feel many of
10 these products have been substituted by pre-empted marking
11 techniques for other ways and means, for products that were
12 probably just as good, except theydidn't have the kind of
13 marketing expertise that some of the conglomerates have been
14 able to put together.
15 We feel that certainly some focus and a little more
16 than a little bit, should be placed on this area.
17 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you,
18 (The document referred to follows:)
19 HEARING INSERT
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
331
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I have one more person who has
asked to speak this morning, I'll call her and if there is
anyone else who wants to speak on Section 3002, if they would
get in touch with the registration desk and have their names
brought up to me, I will call you later this morning.
The next person is Gwen Mollenar, also from the
Human Rights Survival Group.
-------
1-9
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
332
STATEMENT OF GWEN MOLINAIR
MS0 MOLINAIR: My name is Gwen Molinair and I am
representing the village of Wilsonville through an organi-
zation that was formed which is namely the Human Rights
Survival Group and I would like to say first that I don't
represent anyone but people and to us people come first.
This should be on the top of the list in promulgating rules
and regulations for dealing with hazardous waste. What has
happened to the environment resulting from chemical waste,
whether they were disposed of properly or improperly is un-
excusable0
Our experiences over the past two years has
opened the eyes of many, opened the doors to many unan-
swered questions, and separated the smokescreen that has
covered the dangers behind chemical waste dumps0
Towns like Wilscnville and Sheffield, Illinois,
should not be forced by the Federal and State Environmental
Protection Agencies to do the job for which they were in-
tended, to prevent another Love Canal, New York to come
into beingo
Informational meetings should rank high as the
first priority,, The siting of waste dumps in a residential
area should be restricted, regardless of how small the
population. People in a town of seven hundred are just as
humaias those in a city of seven or seventy thousand.
-------
2-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
*
333
We suggest that land disposal should be the last
recourse in dealing with hazardous waste. It definitely is
the cheapest method, and unless forced by strict regulation
this will remain the popular method.
After many incidents of load spillage and leakage
onto the streets of Wilsonville, which^ incidentally, was
from defective drums, and reported to the proper agency, no
one ever knew where the responsibility lay. The director
of the agency, the Illinois State Environmental Protection
Agency, thought it might be the Department of Transporta-
tion but wasn't sure«
Is the twenty-year maintaining and monitoring of
a closed site enough? What is time? Time to giant corpora-
tions is money; time to us is life. No one knows how long
hazardous waste placed into the ground will stay immobile.
If industries can pass their potential time bombs out to
society, and the responsibility steps there, will the tech-
nology for disposing of harmful chemicals change?
It is unfair for a small community like Wilson-
ville to have to absorb the expense of a year and a half
lawsuit to bring to the surface the growing concern for the
protection of our land, air and water that is being poi-
soned by the dumping of deadly chemicals.
Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DAXRAH: Thank you. Would you
-------
3-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
334
questions if there are any?
MS* MOLINAIR: If I can.
MR. LEHMAN: Ms0 Molinair, one of your comments
deals with the twenty-year maintenance and monitoring re-
quirement of the current proposed regulations and you are
asking, .-"-rhetorically, is that long enough? One thing I
think, thatfenot, perhaps, clear enough in those regula-
tions is that if a problem is detected within that twenty-
year period by monitoring, well, then, that twenty-year
period can certainly be extended so it is not a fixed thing
where the monitoring would end at that time0
Nonetheless, that aside, you essentially, I be-
lieve, feel that twenty years is not long enough,
MS0 MOLINAIR: I certainly don't.
MR. LEHMAN: Do you have a suggestion as to what
might be an appropriate time period?
MSe MOLINAIR: I think as long as those chemicals
stay in the ground, that is how long the generator should
stay responsibleo Just because at the end of twenty years
there is no problem, twenty years passed in Love Canal, New
York, and there was no problem and as long as there are
records that say, I am not going to use any name, but any
company that disposed of chemical waste in a landfill, that
those records are kept just exactly like your birth certifi-
cate and mine, that if it takes fifty years and they have to
-------
N!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
335
go back and get them, go get them.
MR, LEHMAN: Well, I think it is fair to state
that there were no monitoring requirements placed on Love
Canale Had there been monitoring requirements perhaps we
could have picked up that movement before it reached the
homes that were affectede
MS0 MOLINAIR: I am sure it is a matter of record
to know that the monitoring of Wilsonvillers site isn't
monitoring either and no one knows that or wanted to accept
that until after a lengthy trial,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: No more questions, Thank
you very much0
Is there anyone else who would like to speak this
morning on Section 3002 Regulations? Did Mr0 Howard Chinn
get here from the Illinois Attorney General's office?
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We will close the record
right now of the public hearing and if we have some cards
our staff people will pass out cards„ If you do have ques-
tions on Section 3002 we will try and answer them,,
(See separate transcript for question and answer
session. )
-------
SEPARATE TRANSCRIPT FOR QUESTION AND
ANSWER SESSION
St. Louis, Missouri
February 15, 1979
-------
5-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
336
MR0 TRASK: Most of these seem to apply to the
90-day limit on storage,, It says, "Regarding the 96-day
cutoff are the requirements for how waste.are stored any
different before and after the 90-day date expires. After
the ninety days expires, if the waste is still there in
storage you need a permit0" That's the difference. At
that time you become subject to all of the 3004 standards
for storage site and you need a permit,,
You are responsible for the 3004 standard during
the 90-day period but you do not require a permit0
Next question, "la setting the 90-day limit on
storage by generators, why is not some consideration given
to the method of storage, i0e., an OSHA approved metal
containers, et cetera?'1 The 90-day storage can be under-
taken by the generator only when he uses either a DOT con-
tainer or if he goes to a permanent storage tank, then he
must meet the storage tank requirements in 250.440 I be-
lieve that those do reference those requirements in that
section, so, it is covered.
Another one, "Does on-site storage have to be in
DOT containers?" Yes. 'Please explain what DOT containers
includes." It can be either in DOT containers or in perma-
nent storage tanks which meet the requirements of 250,44<,
"Please explain what DOT containers includes." in
the 49 CFR there is a long list of compounds, each one of
-------
6-9
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
337
which is related to a particular container specification
and that is what we are referencing.
The question goes on, "Does it include, for exam-
ple, a 55,000 barrel immovable storage tank?" An immovable
storage tank would be a permanent storage tank and would be
subject to the 250044 regulations. It says, "A properly
lined Iagoon0" I don't know if the question is is that a
DOT container, I don't think a properly lined lagoon would
be a DOT container,, That really is a facility type ques-
tion. Maybe you want to deal with that one.
Bulk rail car shipping, "Our plant receives empty
rail cars for shipment of our product from one plant, from
our plant. Frequently these empty cars contain up to sev-
eral hundred pounds of previously shipped unknown materials,
Since rail cars are frequently in short supply, we must
empty the cars or use them with the unknown materials still
in them, which is obviously unacceptable,, We are, there-
fore, frequently put in a position of accumulating other
companies products for our disposala Does EPA or DOT have
any recommendations on what we can do to resolve this
problem? Note, the railroad isn't interested in keeping
the material. Significant costs will be involved in deter-
mining what this material is in order to adequately comply
with regulations for disposal, "
This problem has been brought to our attention
-------
7-9
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
338
and it isn't only railroads. Tank car carriers have the
same concern,, We have heard that after the tank truck has
been emptied that sometimes while the drivers have a cup of
coffee, the crew at the plant hooks the hose up to another
tank and he ends up with a few hundred gallons of waste.
It is not uncommon for him to come back to the truck termi-
nal with something entirely different than what he set out
to do.
I would point out to you that under the DOT rules
that when a tank truck is carrying a hazardous material,
the driver must be with that vehicle at all times. I don't
know how that applies to rail cars but under tank truck
rules, so I have been told by DOT, the driver is always
responsible for being with that vehicle,. He may not leave
it to have a cup of coffee. So, if that happens it really
is due to his fault. If something strange gets put into
that tank it is his fault.
However, in a larger sense a transportation compa-
ny does become a generator in this instance because now they
do have ways to get rid of it0 As far as having suggestions
as to how you prevent it, at the moment, I don't think we do
We are studying in this area regularly and we may have some-
thing in the future but at the moment I donrt know, if you
are dealing with customers how you control what they are go-
ing to do when you deliver a tank car of material. That's
-------
8-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
339
a question that Alan Roberts would like to have a shot at.
MS0 LINDSEY: In regards to containers, "Would the
total weight of a container be used in applying 100 kilogram
limitation if the container is considered a hazardous waste?
Yes, it is the total weight of the waste, not the
concentration or the quantity of any one constituent that
determines the one hundred kilograms,
"Please elaborate on six-month grace period fol-
lowing promulgation of rules and regulations, " Some people
might get the impression they do not have any responsibility
during this time. Do generators have to file and disposers
file for permits?"
What the person is getting to is that by and
large, the regulations do not go into effect until six
months after promulgation0 However, there are some require-
ments during that period of time for anyone who generates,
transports, treats, stores or disposes of hazardous waste
within ninety days of the promulgation of regulations under
Section 3001, which are now scheduled via court order for
December 31. Within ninety days of that point, everyone
who generates, treats, stores, disposes or transports a
hazardous waste must notify the agency under Section 3010
of the Act.
We have previously proposed regulations for doing-'
to the system doing that and those have been issued. They
-------
9-9
1 haven't been promulgated yet. We expect they will be pro-
2 mulgated later in the summer. In any event, what we will
i
3 be doing, to summarize it a little bit, is to all of those
4 facilities who we think, to all those people, generators,
5 transporters, whoever we think may be generating or handling
6 hazardous waste, we will be sending them forms, relatively
7 simple forms we expect it to be, to facilitate their noti-
8 fication. That does not relieve anyone who does not get
9 this mailing from, the requirement to do it because the re-
10 quirement to notify is statutory and the responsibility lies
l'l on the generator, transporter, treater, storer, disposer
12 'out we are going to try to assist this operation by letting
13 those that we think may be in this ball game know they have,
14 to do it.
15 In addition to that, most of the regulations be-
16 come "defective 180 days after we promulgate. Also at the
17 180-day point in time, it is necessary for anyone who treats.
18 stores and disposes but not people who generate or transport.
19 those who treat, store and dispose, however, must submit
20 Part A of the application for a permit and the regulations
2i covering that have not yet been proposed. Those are current-
22 ly being integrated. They are procedural in nature. They
23 have to do with how to get a permit and all the hearing pro-
24 visions and so on in getting a permit and those have not
25 been proposed yet» They are currently being integrated wi
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
similar regulations, procedural regulations, under the NPES
program and under the underground injections control program
and we expect those will be proposed in about four to six
weeks.
So, there are two requirements. One is that they
notify within ninety days and second that you submit Part A
of the application within 180 days.
Harry passed me this second part of this question
involving 55,000 barrel removable storage tanks and properly
lined lagoons and are they covered by regulations, I guess
is the question, if they are on site. The answer is yes,
they are subject to the 3004 Standards for containers in
storage„
In the case of a 'spill there are two phases, the
emergency phase and the recovery phase0 The regulations
clarify this issue as to when manifesting is required. Let
me see if I can take a crack at that. That is not my area
and if I go wrong, Harry, would you jump in?
If my memory serves me correctly, during an emer-
gency phase in which the emergency coordinator is on the
scene, that would be either, I suppose, EPA or coordinator
or something like that and the availability of paper work
that is, the procedures which would require the manifest
are not readily there and yet there is need to move the
material quickly because it poses some imminent hazard, for
-------
11-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
342
example, that during that emergency that perceived a real
or declared emergency that the paper work requirements can
i
be waived. Do you want to add something to that or is that
about right?
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Let me just make a comment.
Again, this brings up the issue we ran into yes-
terday. If, in reading the regulations, even if you think
you have--let's call it a minor comment like this, please
write it down, sign it and submit it for the record. You
can just say, "I don't believe that these requirements are
specific enough in differentiating between emergency re-
sponse and recovery for a spill", and we certainly would be
happy to consider that,, If it is a question, fine, ask a
question but if it is definitely a comment, please go ahead
either now or before March 16th to submit it to us for the
recordo
MR, LEHMAN: I have some questions here, "The
reporting requirements of Section 250,23 provides for annual
and quarterly reporting to the Regional Administrator. When
a state is operating a hazardous waste program approved
under Section 3006 of the Act, will reports still be re-
quired to be sent to the Administrator? If no, can the
regulations be written to reflect this?"
The point here is that what you see before you in
the Federal Register and what we are discussing here are tlJ
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
343
regulations for the federal program wherever that program is
implemented in a state which for one reason or another does
not have authori2ed hazardous waste programs0 The require-
ments for state programs are spelled out in Section 3006
Regulations or, as I mentioned this morning, these particular
regulations are being incorporated into combined with NPES
underground injection control under Section 40 CFR 122, 123
and 124.
So, the basic answer to the question, though, is
that where a state is running an approved program, these
annual and quarterly reports would go to the state, not to
the EPA and the reason that we donTt spell that out in our
regulations is that these regulations apply only in the case
where the federal program is operating in that state0
Question: "Did EPA intend to apply the special
waste rules now contained in Section 250,46 to generators
and transporters of special wastes? If the answer is no,
please explain EPA's reasons for not doing so."
I believe we have stated in our preambles and so on.
our assumptions or rationale, one of the rationales for set-
ting up the special waste categories in the first place was
that these are very high volume wastes and our assumption was
that these wastes, being of high volume, would be managed on
the site of generation, namely, they would be of such high
volume it would be impractical or uneconomical to ship them
-------
13-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3 4 4
offsite, therefore, frankly, we just didn't consider it a
possibility that these high volume wastes would be shipped
somewhere else. That's why it is not covered there»
Now, I believe it was Mr. Horn of the Utility Solid
Waste Activities group this morning that brought up this
point, that this is not always the case, that some of these
high volume wastes are, in fact, transported to an offsite
facility and, in effect, made that comment that we should re-
consider whether or not we apply these regulations to genera-
tors and transporters of these special wastes, so, we will
take that under advisement0
Couple of waste oil related questions8 For those
of you who were here yesterday, you can appreciate the few
chuckles here in the audience because we spent a lot of time
on this yesterday but, nonetheless, the question: "Please
explain the contractual agreement for generators of waste,
oil and transfer of liability."
The basic requirements for this contractual agree-
ment are covered in Section 250,28 and, basically, it says on
Page 58979, as to the contractual agreement itself, it says,
"Each generator entering into such a contract must keep a
signed copy of it as a permanent record during the time the
contract is in effect and for a period of one year following
elimination,, " Then the provision goes on to say, "The assump-
tion of duties contract must state in writing that in exchan
-------
14-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
345
for valuable considerations the transporter or treater or
storer or disposer group, may also enter into these contracts
will perform all or part of the duties contained in the sub-
part
If less than all of the duties are assumed the contrac
must specify which duties are not assumed and lastly, the
contract must be signed by authorized representatives of the
partiese
So, these are the explicit requirements for this
contractual agreement,, I might also point out that this
whole issue is discussed in the preamble on Page 58974 to
some more depth and anyone who wishes to pursue that could
read about it in the preambles
Next question: "Please define waste oil,"
Now, waste oil, as we point out in Section 3001
Regulations, was singled out for some special treatment under
our regulations. It gets tied into the definition of other
discarded material which is found in Section 250aliO on Page
58954 of the proposed regulations and in particular, for the
purposes of defining other discarded material, we state that
usad lubricating hydraulic transformer, transmission or
cutting oil, which is incinerated or burned as a fuel, is a
discarded material and, therefore, they waste oil*
This is also followed up with a specific listing
under Section 250.14-A in which waste lubricating oil, waste-
hydraulic oil cr waste cutting oil are specifically listed
-------
15-9
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
as hazardous wastee This gets Co another question.
"What problems have resulted from indiscriminate
disposal of waste oil? Why is waste oil not placed on the
3001 list if it is truly hazardous or is the EPA just trying
to indirectly force recycling?"
Well, as you just saw, part of that is incorrect,
part of the statement is incorrect because waste lube oil,
waste hydraulic oil and waste cutting oil are placed on the
3001 list as I just noted.
As to what problems resulted from indiscriminate
disposal of waste oil, we have a number of cases concerning
that. Probably the one that is closest to home here occurred
in Verona, Missouri, where there was indiscriminate disposa
of waste oil which was mixed with other chemical wastes and
eu
J
sprayed on a horse arena for dust suppression purposes and
also along roads in the area, which resulted in very severe
health problems and a number of individuals became quite ill,
A number of animals were killed and it was a very distinctive
case0
There are a number of other problems like that that
we have. I won't go into all in depth but it is questions
like that that leave us with the impression that waste oil
disposal must be controlled.
As to the last part on this, "Is EPA just trying
to indirectly force recyling?" I guess we have to plead gui'S
-------
16-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
to that, Yas, we are, quite frankly, not only trying to'
eliminate the public health and environmental problems in
indiscriminate waste disposal but we are indeed trying to
foster the recyling of oil because we have a number of stud-
ies which show that the highest use of waste oil is re-
refined back into lube oil. If this oil is merely burned
for its fuel value, that is not the highest use of that waste
oil and there are substantial savings in energy usage and
also reductions in overall pollution loading by using re-
refining for waste oi!0
So, while we are not demanding that waste oil be
recycled, we are certainly anxious to foster that practice,
MS. SCHAFFER: I have a. number of questions that
are enforcement related. The first one says: "According
to Part 250.20C, any person who generates waste must evaluate
that waste to determine if it meets the hazardous waste cri-
teriae Please state what mechanism would be used to require
this evaluation, Note, I am referring only to nonlisted
waste,, "
As Fred said before, the notification requirement
of Section 3010 requires that anyone who handles hazardous
waste be generator, transporter or owner/operator or sewage
treatment or disposal facility, must notify EPA within ninety
days after promulgation of the Section 3001 Regulations,
which spell out the criteria for hazardous wastes,
-------
17-9
1 Kind of as a background, I think states and EPA
2 have somewhat of a handle on who is involved in the hazardous,
3 waste system arid who isn't and we have a contractor put to-
4 gather a list of possible players in the game, as I like to
5 call it, and as Fred said also before, we are going to be
6 sending out notification forms to people who are on that list
7 so we kind of have an idea who will be in it. The mechanism
8 for insuring that people do the evaluations is the idea that
9 you will be violating the Act and the regulations they are
10 under and can have enforcement action brought against you if
11 you don't evaluate and properly notify according to 301Q0
12 Two other points, one is that EPA is probably going
13 to do»~tne regions are planning on doing some kind of a
14 quality assurance program, testing some of the"generators
15 whether they have notified or not just to make sure that their
16 tests have gone along with their results, that our results
17 and their results are the same.
18 Secondly, I think it's EPA's goal, at least for the
19 first couple of ysars on the implementation of the Act, to
20 get as many people who should be in the system into the system
2] So, a significant amount of compliance monitoring will go to
22 generators to make sure that they have included their waste
23 in tha system-,
24 The second question is; "Under the proposed regula-
25 tions, if a permanent disposal facility has its permit re-
-------
1 voked, what will be the mechanism to notify his customers
2 so other disposal means can be exercised? If by federal
3 announcement, what will be the expected time lapse from per-
4 nianent revocation to public announcement?"
5 This is something that really has not been ad~
6 dressed in the Regulations» However, it seems reasonable tha
7 we could require an enclosure activity as part of the order
8 for closure, that they notify all the customers who have
9 been sending waste to the facility,, Timewise I really canrt
10 answer because we have not, as I said, really addressed it
H but I think it could be a possibility.
12 N@xt question: "When a vessel that carries chem-
13 icals as cargo has its tank cleaned by a tank cleaning fa-
14 cility, who is the hazardous waste generator, the vessel
15 owner or the cleaning facility?5'
16 The cleaning facility is the generator,
17 Next question: "Under the cradle-to-grave concept,
18 if the generator of hazardous waste properly reports and
,„ gives its waste to a properly permanent transporter using
20 proper manifest procedures, does the generator cease to be
21 liable for those wastes?"
22 One correction, and that is that under the federal
23 system transporters are not permanent* They have requested
24 an gotten an identification number from Federal EPA but are
25 not permanent per se0 However, on the Agency right now, it
-------
19-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
350
believes that the generator never completely loses liability
for the waste that he produces* He is responsible for making
sure that his wastes that he has sent off site gets to that
facility and he retains that liability until the waste is
properly disposed of. However, if it is not the generator
who violates the Act by doing something improper with the
manifest or improperly disposing of it, the enforcement ac-
tion won't come against the generator, it will go against
the transporter or the disposal facility that has handled
the waste. So, it is kind of a.-yes and no question.,
MR0 LEHMAN: I just want to amplify on the ques-
tion that Msn Schaffer answered just a minute ago because--
it concerned the cleaning facility for a vessel3 because
this question caiae up at an earlier meeting we had, a similar
question and I want to make a distinction here,
The answer that Aray Schaffer gave was correct in
that particular case, Let me read it again: "When a vessel
that carries or carried chemicals as cargo has the tank
cleaned by a tank cleaning facility, who is the hazardous
waste generator, the vessel owner or the cleaning facility?"
The answer in that case is the cleaning facility
as Amy said. In this case, basically, you are taking the
vessel to the cleaning facility. However, the normal ca.se
is where you have storage tanks on a generating or manufac-
turing facility and in many cases, a service type of
-------
20-9
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
13
19
20
21
22
23
24
is called in to clean those tanks * Mow, in that case,, it is
the manufacturing facility who is the generator and not the
contractor who is being brought in to clean the tank* I
just wanted to make that distinction,
MR. MC LAUGHLIN: I have a couple of questions here
dealing with containers and some others: "if a state does
not have an approved state plan under Subtitle D, will all
hazardous waste from retailers and those who generate less
than a hundred kilograms per month have to be disposed of at
an approved EPA Subtitle C site within the state or be trans-
ferred to another state's landfill where this stats has an
approved plan?"
As the guidelines for the development and implemen-
tation of state solid waste management plans are currently
structured, the answer to that would be yes. However, in
those cases where states do not opt to participate in the Sub-
title D prograci, I can't really answer where that case will
A second part of this question is; "At what point
does a state plan under Subtitle D become approved and how
long does this approval process take?"
The schedule calls for the state plan guidelines
to be proGiulgaced approximately in July. The states, then,
have eighteen months to develop and approve their state plans,
They have been working on it since ^Oi-lrt was passed, so,
-------
21-9
352
this is a liveable schedule, I would estimate that it would
2 take them approximately six months to get through the a
3 procedures which include both their administrative, state
4 administrative procedures act requirements and ErA's public
5 participation requirements. So, if the state plan guidelines
6 are promulgated as scheduled in July, a state probably could
7 not have an approved state plan before January and some states
8 may take until January of the following year to complete
9 their plan and get it approved,,
10 MR, TRASX: A question on containers: "How is a
11 storage tank which has frequent or continuous input and
12 withdrawal but which is never empty considered in relation
13 to the 90-day storage?"
14 If the withdrawal equals the input, I think it
15 would be considered to be within a 90-day privy, if you will.
16 In other words, it would not be subject to the permit require-
17 merits because it is continuously being changed. In other
18 words, it is not being used as a permanent storage facility.
19 It is being used as a currisiulative facility.
20 "I am not familiar with DOT regulations pertaining
2i to containers for hazardous materials,,"
22 If you are in the hazardous waste business I sug-
23 gest you start reading because you are going to be needing it.
24 The question is: "Would steel barrels or drums be
25 required for containerising hazardous waste? Could 'good
-------
22-9
II 353
1 ! ditiori* containers be acceptable?"
2 The DOT container regulations contained in 49 CFR
3 Part 173 are very voluminous and much more than we would be
4 able to go into here today0 The specific part on reuse of
5 containers, however, is spelled out in the DOT proposal to
6 amend regulations in Part 173,28, and there it says that in
7 some cases, "Certain containers which would not otherwise
8 be reusable can be reused for single trip for disposal of
9 hazardous waste." In other words, a single trip container
10 or nonreusable container could be filled with hazardous waste
11 and taken to a disposal site for that one trip that would be
12 I permissible.
13 It would have to pass a so-called 24-hour test,
14 that is, twenty-four hours after the material has been put
15 in the drum, it would have to be inspected for leakage and
16 it could not be transported if it leaked because of the inter-
17 locking set of regulations we have now between SPA and DOT.
18 All of this is put together so that a leaking drum with waste
19 would be illegal to be transported,,
20 I would suggest, though, whoever sent this question
21 in to look at Subpart 173 because that's where it is at.
22 The other questions here deal with transportation;,
23 Do we want to take those now or later? I'm sorry. One of
24 them deals with manifesto Perhaps we better discuss that,
25 :*Will the SPA propose manifest be the only format
-------
:(
354
!
1 ' for the manifest document that will be permitted or will
8
9
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
flexibility for the use of a readable computer format be
allowed?" And then a statement, I guess, "I would hope a
document with only equivalent information would be required. "
We are not allowed the luxury of doing that, DOT
rules require that a format be used0 In other words, it sets
up the kind of information and the order in which that infor-
mation must be supplied, So, if we are to combine our mani-
fest with the DOT shipping paper format, then we are locked
into a format and we have elected to do that, I don't see
that that is going to be any big burden0 What it really says
is here is the information you need0 You are going to have
to do it for DOT anyhow. You do just these extra things for
I
the manifest for EPA,
10
11
12
13
14
MR, LEHMAN: Question: "Under the proposed regs,
a generator may declare his waste to be hazardous without
testing,, What is the effect, if any, of Company A declaring
their waste hazardous while Company B declares the same
waste nonhazardous? What if Companies A and B were not
separate companies but different operating divisions of the
same company?
Well, I think the general answer to that is some-
body is going to get a phone call from SPA. In other words,
we would follow up on anything like that, This is similar,
I might add, to the experience that I am aware of in Cali-
-------
I 355
1 fornia which has been operating a hazardous waste program
2 and manifest program for several years and their experience
3 was that they didn't have this happen. In other words, they
4 knew there were ten petroleum refining operations in the
5 state and nine of them were reporting in accordance with the
6 manifest and the other one wasn't. They would use management
7 by Exception type of basis and pay a call on the tenth one
8 and want to discuss why the waste, why they didn't have
9 hazardous waste when everyone else did0
]Q Back to waste oil again: "What about oil cans
11 generated at a service station? Will the cans require mani-
12 festing?"
13 No, not really. What we are really concerned about
14 here., I think, it should be clear after this discussion, our
15 waste oils that are contaminated in some way with, in the
16 case of crankcase oils contaminated with lead, cutting oils
17 and hydraulic oils that are somehow contaminated and not
1g automotive oils Chat are delivered in cans0
19 Another one: "Will waste oils which proceed to a
2Q rerefiner require a manifest?"
2i The answer there is no, Here again, the point
22 being if you thread your way through the definitions of
23 other discarded materials you will see that waste oil which
24 is destined for a rerefiner is basically considered not to
25 be a discarded material} therefore, not a solid waste, there-
-------
25-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
356
fore, not a hazardous -^aste, therefore, no manifest required,
It goes on to say, "My concern is that the price
for waste oil may be higher if delivered to a road oiler than
that received from a rerefiner3 This could be an enforcement
loophole, "
Well, a couple of comments here0 First of all, unde
our proposed regulations, road oiling would be reuse which
constitutes disposal,.land disposal of waste oil. Therefore,
it would come under our definition of discarded material
assuming that this waste oil is a hazardous waste, road oiling
of that waste requires disposal, consequently, ^e would expect
that the economics of that situation would change as a re-
sult of that and, therefore, what is true today raay not be
the case in the future, with respect to relative prices
available for the various uses3
Now, here again, this last statement is,in effect,
a comment on the regulations, the proposed regulations., I
would again, as Chairperson Darrah indicated, ask you if you
have this type of direct comment on the regulations, concerns
about regulations, please write it down and submit it for the
recordo
MR0 LINDSSY: "The state has been granted interim
or final authority to run the program in their state:, A gen-
erator or disposer is governed by the stata rules and regula-
tions 0 What is the generator's or disposer's responsibility
-------
26-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
357 |
with regard to RCRA?"
This is true what the person says, Once a state
has been authorized under the authority of IICRA to nan its
own program, then generators, treaters and so on in that
state are subject to the state program, I would point out,
however, that the authorization procedures for authorising
a state program under Section 3006 of the Act we must con-
clude that the stat?s program is equivalent to the federal
program, that is their rules and regulations and degree of
control, degree of protection of public health in the en- -
vironment is equivalent to the federal program,
There are also certain requirements within all of
that including manifest system which raust be adopted,, I
•would recommend that those people who are interested in state
program authorization pay special attention to the regula-
tions which will be reproposed on that section in several
weeks, I remember I indicated earlier Section 3C05 and 3006
regulations will be proposed in concert wich similar regu-
lations under ingrade regulations under NPS program and un-
derground injection control program,
"Was any consideration given to municipalities In
other not-for-profit institutions to be given a special ex-
emption or allowance above the one hundred kilograms per
month? For example, city owned garage and painting crews
siay normally generate only fifty to hundred pounds a month
-------
27-9
i !
2
3
4
5
6
7
3
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I
353
but on a special occasion, one month per year perhaps, go
over the hundred kilogram limit."
First question first, did we give any special con-
sideration and the ansver to that is no. Large quantities
of hazardous waste can cause problems if improperly managed,
irragardless of who it is that generates them and so there
is no special deal for municipalities or others like thata
As far as this particular example goes you have a situation
here, for example, which is really borderline and I believe
that in a case like that you go over a little over one hun-
dred kilogram limit once par month, I don't like to tell
people how to get around regulations but maybe you dispose
of one hundred each month and get below that one hundred
kilogram limit that way0
'Since empty containers of hazardous materials repre-
sent very small quantities of hazardous waste, why is more
control than just going to the nearest approved sanitary
landfill justified? !l
I think we talked about earlier if the material--
if the containers are triple rinsed, they can go to a sani-
tary landfill but the problem is this, they tend to be trans-
ported and disposed in large lots and they are frequently not
empty as you and I would term empty. Frequently, they con-
tain an inch to three inches of material in the bottom, some
of which would be highly toxic and highly hazardous. So,
-------
23-9
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25 !
359
•when you collectively get large quantities of these drums
shipped on flatb-eds, the controls are needed to, for one
thing, assure it gets from A to 3 and is not dumped in a
ditch or a. farmer's back forty some place or in the woods.
Secondly, if disposed of in quantities each drum contains
two ox* three inches of material in the bottom, you can have
a concentration of materials in the sanitary landfill which
could present a very real hazard,
This is a two-part question<> I can only answer one
part of it and I will pass it down the row0 I don't know if
they are going to answer the rest of it now or maybe think
about it. The part I can answer, :iWhy does EPA feel there
is a need to notify a foreign country of a hazardous waste
shipment? Isnrt SPA's job to protect the US environment?"
Well, that's true0 Our job is to protect the US
environment0 We, however, feel it is good international re-
lations to at least have the foreign government know what it
is that we know that is coming from here to there, We also
have been asked, that's another reason0
The second question, and I will read it off and if
somebody on sty right can think of the answer, will either
handle it now or maybe later: "Why does the statement, rTo
the best of ay knowledge' be excluded from the certification
tatscents?
Does anybody know that?
-------
29-9
l
2
3
' 4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
360
MS. SHAFFER: I am pretty sure that the reason
that statement, th-e wording was put in there, is that it is
approved wording by the Department of Justice and the office
of water enforcement, which is a separate office from -what
I am in, and because we are combining a lot of the activities
that go along in NPEDS activities and RCRA, that we -were go-
ing to use the same kind of information--I mean the certifi-
cation, hence, we use the wording from the NPEDS certifica-
tion,,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We will break for lunch now.
If there is time after this 3C03 hearing this afternoon, "arid
perhaps questions on that section, we will answer any other
questions on 30020 We will reconvene the hearing on 3003
at 2 parn«
(Whereupon a recess was taken until 2:00 o'clock p»
-------
-------
* -i n
~ •
FTERNOON SESSION
2:00
1
i
2 CHAIRPERSON DAR2AH: On the record,
3 The subject this afternoon is Section 3003 Regula-
4 tions proposed under Resource Conservation Recovery Act«
5 The first speaker is Father Casimir Gierut*
6 STATEMENT OF FATHER CASIMIR GIERUT
7 FATHER GIERUT: My name is Father Casirair F0 Gierut.
8 pastor of Holy Cross Church, Wilsonville, Illinois, "My aiail-
9 ing address is always Bunker Hill but for those who pay ray
10 salary it is Wilsonville 3 I am one of the members of the
n Survival Group of Wilsonville which is composed of citizens
12 seeking to protect the health of the people and seeking to
13 protect the safety and clean air environment in the cotMnun-
!
14 -ity of Wilsonville,
15 I would like to call your attention as .members of
16 the Federal Environmental Protection Agency that transporters
17 of hazardous and toxic waste are polluting the environment
18 and are endangering the health and safety of the people,
19 The following three examples clearly indicate that
20 the Environmental Protection Agency does not have control
2i over those who are in the business of transporting hazardous
22 wastes:
23 First example 0 A transporter of hazardous wastes
24 dumped Polychlorinate-d Biphenyls into an open ditch in Ditt-
25 rner, Missouri, Later it vas found that the adjoining creek
-------
31-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
. 8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
362
was contaminated and livestock were affected with PCB0 The
source of contamination was traced to the open ditch saturated
with ?C30 While the original PCS was contained in 100 druss,
trie removal of the ground saturated with PC3 filled over
5,000 drums of stee!9 55 gallons each capacity which was
transferred to the landfill in Wilsonville, Illinois, This
removal was at a cost to the taxpayers of over $500,000, The
taxpayers had to pay for the mistake because the EPA could
neither trace the transporter of the waste nor could the EPA
identify the originator on the PCS waste who had hired the
transporter to move it to a certain safe place for treatment
or burial,
Second e:carr,ple« A transporter had illegally dumped
PC3 into the sewer in Louisville, Kentucky, The PC'3 dumping
had hightened the danger to the health of the people to the
already contaminated sewage sludge„ The entire sewage sludge
with PCS was being transported from Louisville, Kentucky,
to the landfill in Wilsonville, Illinois, Upon its arrival
in Wilsonville, the citizens had notifed the Illinois EPA
that on the streets of Wilsonville was leakage from that car-
go» That means the leakage was continuous from the moment thej
cargo'left Louisville, Kentucky, to its arrival in Wilson-
ville, Illinois, Imagine the number of automobile drivers
wac were .to!loving tnat cargo not aware that tne leakage was
flying through the air and possibly making its way into the
-------
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
automobile,, This fact: chat the EPA could net trace the trans-
portation company responsible for dumping the ?CB into the
sewerage 0 cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars.,
The third example is Ottawa, Illinois,, The land-
fill was closed, for only 3. week, 'The owner was on. vacation
and the transporter decided to get rid of the hazardous waste
by dumping the waste into the nearby Fox River, The Illinois
SPA had no knowledge of who the transporter was, nor was it
possible to trace the originator of that hazardous waste,
The transportation of hazardous waste involves the
following areas of responsibility, (1) the originator of the
hazardous waste, (2) the transportation company, (3) a re-
sponsible driver hired by the transporter, (4) the destina-
tion of the -waste, (5) billing receipts and bookkeeping of
the originator, transporter and the recipient at the point
of destination in cooperation with the EPA record of informa-
tion, |
I
The responsibility of the originator of the hazard- j
ous waste does not terminate with the fact that the waste
has bean removed from the originator's place of business*
Nor does the responsibility terminate with the fact that the
originator of the waste has evidence of payment to the
transporter for the removal of the wastes tc be transported
to a c-artain. destination,,
Te orgnator s r
resonsible to see
-------
o o
-10
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 |
j
14
15
16
17!
18 j
19
20 |
j
21 |
22
24 ;
25 •
364
contract with the transporter is fulfilled in reaching the
point of destination. If the waste has not been delivered, to
the point of destination the EPA should be informed. The EPA
will now have sufficient information to check on the trans-
port-arc, If there is any evidence of illegal dumping, the
transporter should be wade financially responsible to correct
the situation and the transporter's license could be revoked
by the EPA,
The transporter hauling hazardous waste cannot use
that truck to haul anything else other than hazardous waste.
It is unthinkable for a transporter to use the same truck to
haul hazardous waste to go to the freight warehouse and trans-
port canned goods from Libby's or Campbell food produces.
The vehicle should have a large sign painted with
the words, "Hazardous Wastes" on it so that it is visible to
everyoneo In case of an accident, that sign would be a warn-
ing to all concerned, especially, those who normally coce to
help in the situation, namely, the State Police, the two-
truck, ambulance, doctor and the clean-up crew.
The -driver should have complete knowledge of what
He
should be well instructed as to who to notify in case of an
accident, and above all, to have the telephone number handy
to immediately notify the EPA to prevent contamination of
the environment or "o prevent the endangering of health and
his cargo contains as in the case of hazardous waste
-------
34-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 i
i
14 !
.6 |
I
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
365
safety of the people in the community.
For example, in St. Louis, about three weeks ago,
on the most busiest highway and at a time with the greatest
amount of traffic, because people were on the way home from
work, a truck loaded with radioactive material was in troub-
le,, The bottom of the truck fell apart.. Drums containing
the radioactive roiled onto the highway0 A man driving a.
taxicab decided to stop and hel.p0 He pushed the drums off
the highway. Another person stopped his car and also helped
push a couple of drums off the highway,, When the E?,A was
informed of the situation, instruments were brought to the
scene to find out if there were any contamination of the en-
vironment,, The EPA also made effort to i-nmedlately contact
the taxi driver., He was located and an analysis was made to
insure any type of contamination. An all-out alert was an-
nounced on television and radio seeking the other person who
helped rarnove the drums. His whereabouts are still unknown*
But if the drivers were fully instructed as to what to do in
case of an accident, he would, in this case, alert the taxi-
cab driver and others not to touch the drums for fear of con-
i
tamination and endangernient to their health, as well as their !
safety,,
As for landfills, Gcd gave us the good earth to
produce food. Here in Southern Illinois farmers last year
produced 45 million bushels of corn, 35 million bushels of
-------
35-10
1 j
2
3
4
5
9
10
11
12 i
,J ,,
II
16 II
17
13
19
20
21
I JQO
II
wheat:, 10 million bushels of soybeans, net only fox1 our
country but for the needy throughout the 'whole word0 For
Earthline, with the approval of the EPA, to contaminate this
good earth is a serious crime against nature and a social in-
justice to the hundreds of farmers whose livelihood is agri-
culture.
In view of the fact that there are many tons of
hazardous, toxic waste produced each year, 'we will soon run
out of landfills, Therefore, the responsibility rests with
the EPA to notify, for example, Monsanto and Dow Chemical
Companies and all other chemical industries that their Chem-
ists are fully responsible to find a way to neutralise and
to detoxify the harmful "wastes from their products produced,
otherwise, the government will prohibit the company to manu-
facture such harmful chemicl compounds. To neutralize, and to
detoxify these substances is the only answer to end the
threat of hazardous waste buried as a detriment to society's
and world future health and. well-being*
For example, the chemists of Monsanto Company were j
aware that it is common knowledge among chemists, that Pol}-- j
!
chlorinated Biphenls (?CB) can be destroyed within two seconds!,
that's snorter than 1 can say the word "Amen", by burning the
waste in an incinerator at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit,, If the
chemists know this, then 'why do they allow the carcinogens to
b-e buried in landfills,
-------
. 1 A
— v>
2 !
i
3 |
I
I
4 !
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 l|
16
i!
17
13
19 i
i
20 j
" i
22 ||
ii
23 i
;i
24 '!
25 'i
The failure of the chemical industries to destroy
what is detrimental to the health and well-being of society
is irresponsibility in the highest degree, an injustice to
society and above all, an immoral act0 Immorality is not
limitad to illicit sex, X-rated movies or pornographic KSga-
zines but also extends to illicit activities in business
transactions which prove to be detrimental to the health of
people,,
To bury hazardous waste in landfills is not the
solution. They will not decompose and disappear in the
ground. On. the contrary, they will react as was shown and
experienced in the recant incident in Love, New York., where
homes, schools, were built on this landfill,. The seepage
frccn the landfill caused children to be born with defects.,
there was much sickness, nausea and finally, the families of
the entire com/nunity of Love, New York, were ordered by the
government to abandon their homes* The vacant homes.,, now a
ghost town, are the result of a landfill of only twenty years
ago where hazardous waste was buried0
Now, the best part of all, it is good to know that
after saying what I did say, no collection has been taken up,
CHAIRPERSON DARJUH: Would you answer questions
for us?
FATHER GIZ2.UT: Yes.
MRB LIMDSZY: I think vour comments and your exam-
-------
37-10
1 I
2
3
4
5 !!
•I
7
3 |
i
9 !
i
10 i
12
13
14 I
16 ji
17 II
j:
18 I
19
20 i
21
22
23 i!
24
368
pies were right to the point0 I just might say I think that
many of your thoughts seem to parallel those of Congress and
when they passed this act and I think those of our own as we
developed these regulations4
Let me get to sorae specifics, on your comments
relative to transportation control or lack thereof. In the
Act and then in our regulations there is a provision for the
oxanifest control systems we set up. In your opinion, will
that go far enough toward the control of the transportation
or is something more needed there?
FATHER CISRUT: No, I will tell you, you can put
all the regulations you want on the books but from our ex-
perience, it doesn't work,, The citizens of Wilsonville had
called time in and time over to the Illinois SPA saying chat
another truck c-arne into Wilsonville and we have more spillage.
Another truck carr.e in where the cover of the steel drum was
missing, in one truck there were three covers missing0 Now, J
you can imagine as it is on the highway the wind is blowing
the material out and never has the EPA made pressure on 'Earth'
line to say, "Now, look, these people are trying to protect
the environment, '' The complaint is for the good of the com-
munity and to a certain extent, it is good in regard to the
transporters of the cargo because it is a valid complainta
Now, the newspaper, the Alton Telegraph., Kac, or.
several occasions, stated that che Illinois SPA has notified
-------
13-10
7 I
9
10
11
12!!
l!
13
14
15
16 '
18
19
20
21
22 i
23 :
24 !
25
369
Earthline on 2. nusaber of minor violations and cnajor viola-
tions and it made no difference because Earthline would al-
ways, in a beautiful way., say, "Well, we are going to correct
this and we are going to do something" and nothing happensa
They never make the corrections, Now, when the fifth and
sixth and seventh and tenth tirr.s the citizens of Wilsonville
call upon the EPA and again say, "Look, there is another in-
fraction, in regard, to transportation, " I think that the SPA
should either be serious in its business or get exit, If you
have the regulations and you den't follow it, then there is
no use spending all the taxpayers money printing that paper*,
•The regulations are printed to defend you in re-
gard to your business and, therefore, the Illinois EPA, afte,
they have given three successive warnings to Earthliae, I
think the fourth one they should have said, "Now, either yo
get serious or we are not going to give any more permits to
bring any more material to your landfill,, "
MRo LINDSSY: Your problem, is with the enf ore sire n£ ]
as opposed to the regulations that are in affect?
Rt" -?bt-
i.\. ,e*. ,,~ i. * •— o
ii t
M3.0 LZ.HI-TAN: Father, some of your consents seem to
ouch on some areas where I don't believe the regulations, as
currently imposed, cover and. if I ;night get you to coccusnt en
this point we .-.light be able to translate these i.ito some sug-
gestionSo You say in one part of your statement that if ths(
-------
19-10
370
is any evidencs of illegal dumping the transporter will b
10
ir*ade financially responsible, to correct the situation and
the transporter's license could be revoked by the £r&<,
oiow, in the federal EPA proposal, there is no re-
quirement for the transporter to have a license. Certain
states may require licenses but federal proposals does not,
A:r> I to assume from your comment that you believe that the
federal proposal should include a requirement that transporter:?
hav-a liability?
FATHER G1SRUT: Yes, there should be a separate
11 ii license in that regard.
ll
;i
12 ! MS0 L2HMAM: You also point out that in your view
!j
13 ij it is unthinkable for a transporter to use the saoie truck to
ii
|i
14 |j haul hazardous waste and at the same ti^ie haul consumer goods
li
15 || and, again, that is an area which we have not covered in our
16 j
regulations and I assume you would, say that is a recomnienda-
19
•! tion that it should cover?
i
I
FATHER GISRUT: Yes, because no matter if they made j
an attempt to clean the truck, there is always soae type of
20 !|
; contamination and, then, say you put cases of canned goods or
21 ! cas-35 of lettuce, why, you know it .-nay go into the cardboard
22 -
and than deliver that to the grocery c^aa, the grocery man pic leg
23 |j it up and you are transporting a lot of disease unnecessarily,
24 • IS. LZHXAN: Ri^ht, so, it's fair to say that you
.i
!: vould recommend that this be added to our regulations?
-------
•10
1
2
3
3
9
12
13
14
16
17
13
19
20
21
22
24
25
Father Gierut: Right. I would say that certain
trucks should be used only for hasardous material. It cannot.
be used for any other purpose0
>{R0 LEHMAN: Then, your last point along these saise
lines, you indicated an incident in St0 Louis where radioactive
waste was dropping out of the bottom of the truck and the
point you were makings I believe, was that the driver of the
| truck lacked adequate training and here again, this is an
area, correct me if I am. wrong, I believe that we do not re-
| quire training for transporters under these proposed regula~
|
! tions0 Could I then construe this to mean you are recommend-
!
!
!j ing a training program be implemented?
FATHER GIERUT: Really, it should be a simple train
ing program,, For example, in cas.e of an accident, please tali
people not to move any of the articles around the trailer,, no
matter if it blocks the highway because this is contaminated
! stuff.
Secondly, he should have the telephone number inane- i
i
diatsly of the SPA because we had drivers of trucks that came
to Wilsonville and all he knew was, I ans only a truck driver.
I don't know what is on there and I don't care and that's
,i
;| about the extent of it and that's not the point,
The t>o.Ln"
! is, when an accident does happen, like it happened in St,
•i
•i Louis hardly three weeks ago, an appeal has been aade over
;l
1 television, "Will the nnan 'who helped move the drums kindly
-------
41-10
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
23
22
23
24
25
372
report to the Er.A to check you out« " That xnight be a man frotn
Indiana that would never hear that, so, it-is a serious busi-
ness and ir, case of accident, this is what the average truck
driver should know what to d.oa
MR. LEHMAi-I: That's a good point. Cne other one
along this line is that you reccrimend that vehicles transport-
ing hazardous waste should have the words "hazardous waste" on
the truck so that it is visible to everyone. Therefore., in
case of an accident, the sign would be warning to all con-
cerned,, Our regulations on transportation are being very
carefully coordinated with the existing regulations by the
Department of Transportation. DOT already requires placarding
of certain types of trucks like "f laaunable" "corrosive",
things of that type*
In other words, those particular words have a par-
ticular meaning in the trucking industry. The proposed regu-
lations under RCRA, basically, use the DOT placarding system
and does not have the additional requirement that the words
"hazardous waste" be on there. In other words, the fact that
i
it is flaonaable or corrosive would be there but not hazardous
waste,
Are you basically recommending that in addition to
the DOT placard you would have hazardous vasts?
FATHIH .7 IE RUT: Righto The word hazardous waste
should not be put on the door with all the other tonnase and
-------
/ O in
-4 «-~ ^- ~/
373
iT.hz ^,nd all that because that is distrscting,, It should be
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
on the real big part of the van,, Any nuin with common sense
will stop right .here, "I'm not going to help because there is"
something bad about that carriage,"
MR, LEHMAN: Well, I guess the point of my question,
do you real it necessary to have that additional placarding
in addition to the existing DOT placard which already gives
some degree of warnings
FATHER GIERUT: I think it should be separate0 Nor-
mally, on the trucks that have flammable material it has
written, "please do not stop" or "This truck stops at every
crossiago FlaiTuiiable material'% and you, as a, driver following
know you batter stay at-?ay,
In regard to hazardous material, it should be some-
where very visible but I. think the average parson would not
help out,. Hazardous material, that is enough for me, I can't
help yous
MJU TP.ASK: Father, you indicated that some instruc-
tions for the driver of the truck out to be carried with the
ji truck0 We have mads a provision that on the manifest some
1 instructions as to •what immediate action should be taker, would
;j
•j be put on the oianifest for the specific waste that is being
,i
:( hauled and also that the number of the Coasc Guard National
i
.; ?x3spcr.sa Center >?hich is really under a number in hashing ten,
'' vould also be put on there where further information could b-
-------
« _. 1 , i
/ — J. >J I
II
obtained0 Do you think that is enough or should we be doing
2 ji something more than that?
3 j! FATHER GIEPJJT: I think the closest one is really
il
4
the state i?A wherever a person is. If this is a truck with-
5 !j in the state, all he needs is one telephone number, say., the
Illinois EPA office but if it is a track that is interstate
comparee, well, then, he should have the telephone numbers to
th.2 SPA because I think SPA is .nacre important in case of
!| hazard. than the National Guard, The National Guard is some-
10
thing to conae out and clean up the place but the EPA will
,. |j co;?.e with instruments to find out whether there has been con-
i|
.0 |j tamination0. In Arizona the EPA had ordered almost a block
and a half of the highway to be torn because contamination
had gone into the cement itself, So, I think the EPA should
be the Moa 1. over the Coast Guard.
15 j!
,, |i MR0 TRASK: If 1 might follow up on this question
I O , j
1? :| of license as well for transportation for transportersa You
;| have some ideas on what should be licensed? Are you talking
1 about the condition of the vehicle or are you talking about
j driver training? What should we be doing?
'(
;! FATHER G1ERUT: No, I suppose that anyone that
.: the company hires already knows everything about regulations
j of driving and knows how to drive but we are talking about
'i
1 this driver be instructed and be licensed, so to speak, re
• j
J drive this particular truck because vcu have some truck dri-
-------
375
1 . vers *?ho are only anxious to deliver the cargo of the cesti-
I
2 I nation because thev rnaka their dollar for it. Whereas a
1
3 ' lic3D.ssd driver 13 not concerned how ;nany nours he puts in0
4 j His salary is guarantee-do He needs to only get to the desti-
$ '; nation, so, it is not beating the speed limit or causing any
6 ;j type of hazard. We are talking about a licensed driver so
7 .! in the driver's raind is, ''I don't have to break the speed
« !: limit to -sake a dollar, I am guaranteed itc, "
Secondly, he is well informed, the very fact that
10 IJ he i;3 responsible for the cargo, he is going to take excep-
^ '' tional tine0 Now, 1st rne give you one example, A man drives
,„ ;) a truck, a fair-sized truck, and the enan frcra pathaldo took
'i
.„ i| over iust temporarily because the regular driver was ill and.
, J :j ~
14 II this is what you call those really long trucks. Mow, vhen
,,. ,| he came to Wilsonville, where there are just narrow streets,
,, ] he didn't know how to handle that big van and he knocked a
10.!
:! couple of things down and there was almost a question where
, • the entire cargo of hazardous material vould spill out in
i O (
I
t
i v/ilsor.villso
'| The policeman gave him a ticket for destroying the
!J
j! culvert and not knowing how to operate the vehicle correctly
'• ana tnis is a question ct operating a venicie correctly. So, |
j
i _ . , . , ^ - . . , ,.
., i .L say again, tne icea on a license in rogar-i to a crivt-r 'worx-
rcou3 rvateri -il in his '"nin-d is Z do"*. ' t h^'/^ to
! -.'ork fast. 1 don ! t have to beat the liriic,
-------
2 I
6
11 !!
12 ;i
13 i!
,1
14 i|
i!
I-
is j!
ii
16 i|
17
13
19
20
21
22 i!
•worry acy long it is going to take me to get around that
curb, 1 aa: going to be paid, ' You have greater security in
the delivery of that hazardous material. What I am saying,
is to avoid catastrophe ,
Now, ve had a catastrophe in Bedford Park just a
few days ago where the entire town, my sister lives in Bedford
Park, the entirs to-wn of about 450 had to leave because of
a minor accident and yet it contained hazardous material and
the police called everyone to leave their hone icr/nediataly,,
Soj it is a question of the driver, I am putting emphasis
on licensing the driver because they have to come to know
that their bread and but tar is to deliver the hazardous mater-
ial safely, not get there so he can corr^e back and. pick up
another loaU0 That's what is on ray mind,
VK* TRASK: My staff just handed ma a note that
when DOT picks up hazardous waste as a hazardous material,
then, hazardous waste will be subject to all of the existing
regulations rsgarding hazardous materialSo One of those is
for driver training, a certain amount of driver training uius c
e g
iven, otherwise the transporter has violated not only the |
Z?A la-w because wa ara picking up the DOT regulations, but
also DOT lavs because they are picking up our regulations-,
So. it could be a ciffsrent bail game in the future ^hen
-------
1 • r.ent or. l^r.-l disposal. I think your suggestion -vas that: '
-------
47-10
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24 ;
i
25 '
Jf'o
"Father, it's a question in regard to the inciric8rator0 " 1
said, "if you want to buy PCB which Monsanto is responsible
mostly for originating, why don't you build an incinerator
at Wilsonville to destroy PCB when, you know about it* M You
know what his ansver was, "Father, it costs ro.onej/. " So,,
Moris an to who makes billions of dollars in profit is more in-
terested in how much profit the stockholders get than the
safety of the people when you know that an incinerator does
the truck,
Like I say, two seconds time, PCB can be destroyed,
The second part about the Polychlorinated Biphenyls is when
you destroy the cancer causing factor, you have a by-product
which can b-? again sold and what remains is a safe product
you can put right next to your vegetable garden and the
chemists know it at Monsanto and they agreed with ~:e on that
MR, LIMDSZY: I think maybe our concern would be,
I think it was Mr, S-aaltzer this morning, made the comment
that if it gets too difficult, there rr-ay not be enough oolice-
mario I think he is talking policeman in generics to keep
tabs on sverybody. At least it is a concern that we have,
FATHER GIZHUT: The police situation in ay paper,
what I a.-?, trying to bring out is this, Monsanto Company cannot
have only responsibility to call, say, Corodura Company, '"You
-------
1 !
2 i
3
4
5
6 j
|
7 j
8 !
9
10 j
11!
i
12
13
14
15
16 j
17
13
19
20
21
22
23 j
1
24
should •vai.t, I-I:? should not pay the Cordura Company until af-
they have r 2 ached the destination. In niy simple *vs.y
.,
I ordsr a television set from Sears, lioebuck and Sears, Roe-
buck pays Cordura Company to deliver the T7 to me, if the
destination does not eosne to me I am going to seek another
TV, I don't pay for the price of the TV. In the meantime,
Sears, Roebuck is not going to pay the transporter,, You have
not delivered the TV. Where is that TV set and this is where
the EPA comes in0 Say, we have proof Monsanto gave you the
craterial and it is supposed to go to Sheffield, Illinois0
It hasn't re-ached Sheffield, Or let's say, four hundred
druras are on. that van and only two hundred and eighty are
delivered, EPA wants to know what happened to the one hun-
dred and. twenty.
So, it is protecting, really, Monsanto and it is
also saying that the Z?A now means business, v;e have regula-
tions and we v;anc it to be followed by everyone ana you will
just have to put it down,, As I say again, if the EPA will
not follow its own regulations,,forget it. Why don't you
just drop the business and be done with it0 Zither you are
serious in your business or you are not and. the average busi-
ness man has this point. In Illinois EPA and "Earthline, they
knew the Illinois ZPA was never too serious because ^eek af-
ter week we called,another truck came with spillagea
aboxit it? You niean to tsll ^e that SPA could r.ot say, ""Loci
-------
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
13
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3oG
nej ve are going to give you one acre chance and when
th^t the citizens of Wilsoavilla complain that
another truck has come with leakage or spillage., it will be
the and of all p-rinits. You are out of b\.isiness0 " You will
find out how fast that will work. "if you don't put t.b.2 brakes
on you are out of business* "
MR0 LEHMAN: Father, I v/ould just like to cc
I think the general thrust of your last series of remarks
about responsibility of the generator in assuring that the
material actually gets to its destination and so on, is, in
fact, incorporated in our proposed, regulations and when these
regulationsj assuming they are promulgated as proposed., and
go into effect, then, in fact, you will have this track of~~
FATHER GIERUI (interrupting) : Loes the billing
have,ia nry estimation, the billing should have four sheets,
one by Monsanto Company, the second billing to the transporter
third to the recipient, £ha landfill and fourth, to EPA,,
Ncrv, the reason 1 put EPA is because EPA automatically knows
'•/ho ia the originator of the waste and who is the transporter,
so, whan you hav? somebody in Louisville, Kentucky, dumping
PCS in the saverage and getting & way with it, you and the
SPA will pick it up and say, 1!We knew from our four-fold
billing that Vcnsanto of St* Louis v?as the center of the ?G3
and the cransporter, by axs^ple, is Cordura, '' But if you
don't have that fourth sheet that goes to you, the nane cf
-------
3 ,
I
4
i
5 i
j
6
!
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the orisinator, Monsanto, the transporter and th.2 placs of
destination and your fourth copy, than you are just not op-
.arating correctly, It is a question of efficiency and the
only way to havs efficiency ^han you have it all now right
here, not susss^ork and calling Mcnsanto, "Who :--/as the trans-
porter ?!1 You have got it. You wouldn't even have to call
Monsanto, You call the trucker, "Did you deliver this? Why
was it not delivered in Sheffield, Illinois, only ended up
in the sewerage?"
ME0 L3HHA2I: Of your four-part example there, the
current regulations do require the first three and in the
fourth ca-33, instead of sending the fourth copy directly to
SPA, we have required instead that a summary of all of the
manifests bs sect in its place0 Now, in your opinion, is
that adequate ?
FATHSU GIERUT: I think it is because it is not
actual paper T«ork "when you write out the carc30 I goes to
three duplicates anyway* Without you having the knowledge
of vho sent the material, "where it was sent and by whom,
then you are doing what the Illinois EPA has done for the
people hera in Denver, Missouri,,
M£0 LEHMAN: The poi'-t 1 was trying to drive at,
Father, :v r -' - "' -I .1
\
-------
51-10
2
3 i
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 1
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
i
24 i
I
I
25 !
each individual piece of paper. We gat a combination of all
of them at periodic intervals,
Now, in your opinion, is that adequate?
FATHER GI33UT: Absolutely not because all w?. need
is ens example, one particular load, This gentleman decided,
like this -man, the driver who took the hazardous waste to
Ottawa, Illinois, and dumping, the ground was frozen for s.
weak or sc, He took it upon himself to get rid of it by
dumping it in the Fox River, Now, that is maybe once out of
forty trips out you and the SPA have no record of who sent
that or who the trucker was. All we know now is the Illinois
EPA merx said, ""Well, it was a small delivery, about forty
drums, therefora, let's call it meaningless as far as effect
is concerned on the Fox River," My point is, the "£?A and you
don't know who put that there.
You are talking only of a general suraaiary which
means nothing. We are talking about the fourth one here and,
new, Svsry delivery you know where it is at, 'vJhen you get
a sus-mary, that's only statistics, it :r.eans nothing, I xvould
like to see, because it costs nothing raore and there is no
extra work in office work, when Monsanto makes out its re-
port, Corcdura Company is going to transport it to Sheffield
and ou irrunediatsl rsceive the Z?A su.'ani
1 asn recommend
hat strongly, otherwise , v;e ar2 going to come back,
you dorr t careu When T:his happened, only one truck dri-
-------
52-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18:
19
20.
21
22
23
24
25
383
ver dumped the PCB in Dittmer, Missouri, it costs us tax-
payers $500,000 because you failed to know, who dumped it in
Dittmer, Missouri. Do you see the point?
MRc MC LAUGHLIN: Father, I have some good
We not only know who dumped it in Dittu-er, they have been
sent a bill for the entire cost of the bill about two weeks
FATHER CIS RUT: That's the way it should be.. As
long as the taxpayers don't pay for it, I am happy about it.. •
MR» LEHMAN: Father, I also would like- to point out
one aspect of our tracking system that we have been discus- .
sing here and that is the generator, or in the case you have
been using as an example, would be the Monsanto Corporation,
must inform EPA if they do not gat a confirmation- of delivery
within thirty days,, In other words, there is a feedback _ _
tern built into this so that it is not only EPA that is keeping
track of what is being sent but the originating company is
also responsible-'for. keeping track.
. FATHER GIEBUT: The responsibility is fulfilled by
all persons, Monsanto, the transporter, the place that re-
ceived it and the EPA, all are in good shape now»
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank.you very much.
The next speaker this afternoon is Don Norton from
Congressman Findley's office0
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN FINDLEY
AS GIVEN BY MR. DON NORTON
MR. NORTON: My name is Don Norton. I am administr"
-------
53-10
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
. 8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
384
tive assistant to U. S. Representative Paul Findley of the
20th Congressional District of Illinois, which encompasses
the area from Alton to Springfield to Quincy and down the
Mississippi River and includes the community of Wilsonville,
Illinois.
I am speaking on behalf of the Congressman today
because he is in session in Washington and I noticed, to my
chagrin, after I got here, after you had noticed also the
nature of our remarks, they really pertain to Section 3004,
which is tomorrow on your agenda. If you will indulge my
presence today, I will go ahead and read the statement and
also, I apologize for the designation of Mr. Chairman on: that,
I am afraid one of our staffers got carrieda*ay perhaps with
the ritual of capital health.
Before I get into this, we were delighted to learn
of the revelation two weeks ago the offending party had been
located as to the Dittmer dump, so to speak, and I hope that
the collection efforts will be pressed vigorously on that,
MR. MC LAUGHLIN: The U. S0 Coast Guard actually
paid for clean up and they are the ones responsible for
attempting to collect the money to pay the U0 S, Government.
They have assured us they will keep us informed as to their
progress.
MR. NORTON: Congressman Findley asked for this
time today so he could indicate in the strongest possible way
-------
54-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
385
his great distress over the direction or lack of direction
in the way the Environmental Protection Agency has imple-
mented certain sections of the Research Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976.
He recognizes that few will argue with the need
for action. The Love Canal in New York, the Valley of the
Drums outside Louisville, the PCB episode in Michigan and
countless other cases, all provide grim testimony to the po-
tential for disaster. That is why we are here today. These
tragedies show up in the most explicit way, the immense
economic and physical hardship imposed on victims of hazard-
ous waste pollution.
In our particular case, you need not go as far as
i - . •
New York or Michigan to see the potential or new environmen-
tal disaster in human suffering being stored in the ground.
Just across the river in Macoupin County, Illinois, less
than an hour%:/d drive from here, lies the community of Wilson-
ville served by Father Gierut. And located within the city
limits, believe it or not, is the hazardous waste dump op-
erated by a corporation which euphemistically calls itself
Earthline. A quiet rural community, Wilsonville has every
desire to stay off the front page of the New York Times. The
people do not want to end up in a story about the grizzly
consequences of finding a hazardous waste treatment facility
within the community. But in recent months, words like
-------
55-10
386
1 "leachate," ''activated sludge," and "PCB's", terms, which un-
2 til recently, mean little to the average American, raise the
3 spectre of debilitating disease, economic disaster, and an
4 uncertain future for those who live in Wilsonville.
5 This afternoon I would like to direct my remarks
6 to those areas of the proposed regulations which need drastic
7 attention if we are to avoid the creation of a series of Wil-
8 sonvilles across the country. To begin with, the proposed reg
9 ulations do not begin to deal adequately with the problem of
10 site selection for hazardous waste dumps. To be sure, no
11 city, no township, no individual wants to be on the receiving
12 end for hazardous wastes. Yet, EPA's approach has been to
13 ignore the most basic and perhaps the single most important
14 problem in the regulation of hazardous waste.
15 In fact, it is the very absence of tough regulations
16 on site selection that caused the problem in Wilsonville.
17 Back in 1976, when construction permits were granted to Earth-
18 line, no mention was made as to what the operator of the fa-
19 cility planned to treat and buy there. It was only after the
2Q dump began filling up that residents learned of the dangerous
21 chemicals being buried within their community. Immediately,
22 they filed suit in court to close down the site. The Illinois
23 Attorney General joined them in their suit, but ironically,
24 the Environmental Protection Agency took the side of Earth-
25 line Corporation.
-------
56-10
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
387
In August of 1973, Judge John Russell ordered the
site closed and the dismantling of the facility. But whethe^l
and when that may occur is very speculative. A higher court
could overturn Judge Russell's decision on appeal and the
town of Wilsonville could still have a hazardous waste dump
within the city limits. My reason for reviewing this very
personal and local experience is to show you how difficult it
is to remove a hazardous waste dump once it has actually be-
gun operation. We suggest that what this means is that the
first thing you should concentrate upon is the criteria to
be used to determine where these hazardous waste dumps should
be located. Once they have been established in a heavily
populated area, even your strictest regulations governing
their operation are likely to be inadequate. The mere
existence of a hazardous waste dump in a population center
should never be permitted,, I urge you to change your regula-
tions, Congressman Findley urges, to eliminate once and for
all the possibility of this occurring again.
The approach of EPA's proposed regulations to this
problem is simply to create a buffer zone of some 200 feet
between the active portion of the facility and its property
boundary to reduce the risk to public and environmental
health. This two hundred foot requirement is wholly inade-
quate. Chemical landfills never lie dormant. When water
etrates buried wastes, it removes soluble components, pro-
-------
57-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
388
ducing a grossly polluted liquid leachate that travels away
from the dump. EPA recognizes that the technology of lea-
chate monitoring is still being refined, and there is no
reason to believe the leachate will not travel a two hundred
foot distance, especially when the surrounding soil is por-
ous. EPA's own Office of Solid Waste has guessed that the
average landfill site, about 17 acres in size, produces 4.6
million gallons of leachate a year if there are 10 inches of
rain. It is unrealistic to think that all 4.6 million gallons
remain within the hazardous dump.
Compounding this, there is always the problem of
ground water contamination when leaching occurs. More than
100 million Americans depend upon ground water as their
source of nature's most vital fluid. In Wilsonville, for ex-
ample, if the ground water becomes so contaminated as to be
unfit to drink, the town would be without a major source of
watero
The two hundred foot requirement is also inadequate
when you consider the potential for explosions or contamina-
tion of the atmosphere which could expose hundreds if not
thousands of people to the deadly contents of such substances
as cyanides, sulfides and dioxin.
We repeat, it is absolutely vital for EPA to write
regulations which will make it impossible to construct a haz-
ardous waste dump in or near a population center« In the last
-------
58-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
389
session of Congress, Congressman Findley introduced a bill
that would have solved this problem by requiring that
lands be used for the location of hazardous waste facilities.
Due to the sluggishness of EPA in formulating an agency opin-
ion, hearings were not held on that bill.
Another area of the proposed regulations which we
feel is inadequate is EPA's proposal that persons who produce
and dispose of 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of hazardous
waste in any one month be exmpted from EPA's regulations.
Although we can sympathize with your desire not to regulate
"the little guy", we still find this requirement extremely
troublesome. All hazardous wastes have different levels of
toxicity. The residue C-56, created through the manufactur-'
ing of the pesticide Kepone and Mirex, has a relatively low
level of toxicity even in sizeable amounts. At the other end
of the spectrum, however, chemists point out that as little
as three ounces of dioxin are enough to kill more than a
million people. Clearly, EPA should devise a system which
takes into consideration the relative toxicity levels of
various hazardous wastes instead of issuing a blanket exemp-
tion.
Finally, we believe EPA has made a major mistake
by focusing all of its attention on the treatment and burial
of waste only at locations away from where they are generated^
The General Accounting Office estimates that in 1976, only
-------
59-10
390
1 17 per cent of the approximately 46 million tons of poten-
2 tially hazardous waste produced would be buried off-site.
3 The remaining 83 per cent are buried by the company which
4 produces them on the site where they are produced. These
5 hazardous wastes which are buried on the site they are pro-
6 duced, are just as dangerous as those which are carried to
7 another site for burial. In one sense, they may be even more
8 dangerous because little is known about them. It is our
9 understanding that the Environmental Protection Agency does
10 not currently have an accurate record of where all hazardous
11 wastes are buried in this country. It is reasonable to as-
12 sume that the most difficult sites to identify will be those
13 that are located right where the hazardous chemicals were
14 produced. Until these sites are identified and licensed,
15 it will not be possible to have any real concept of the ex-
16 tent of the danger to our society from the hazardous waste
17 dumps peppered across the nation.
18 When RCRA was passed by the Congress in 1976, it
19 was never intended that EPA would only attack part of the
20 problem,, It would be our hope that the promulgation of
2] these regulations would apply to the extent possible, equally
22 not only to off-site facilities such as the one at Wilson-
23 ville, but also to all on-site dumps.
24 To EPA's credit, the Agency has tackled an enormous
25 job with tremendous vigor and thought in trying to implement
-------
60-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
391
RCRA. But the need for action is clear. EPA has already
missed its deadline set by Congress by some ten months in
issuing regulations. We cannot afford to wait much longer.
The situation is critical. If EPA fails to respond soon or
in a way not compatible with the concerns of the public, it
may be left up to Congress to make those hard decisions to
insure the health of the public and the environment.
In closing, we would like to leave you with one
last thought. Less than 7 per cent of the 92 billion pounds
of chemical waste generated each year receives proper dispo-
sal. If we are to prevent future disasters from occurring
such as the one at Love Canal, the Valley of the Drums or
Wilsonville, we need to act now.
Thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you, Mr. Norton. Would
you answer any questions we may have?
MR. NORTON: I will try.
MR. LINDSEY: I think there has been a misinterpre-
tation somewhere, maybe because we didn't write these things
as clearly as we thought we had but I would just like to point
out that on-site disposal facilities are regulated, essen-
tially, to the same extent as off-site. How the misinterpre-
tation could have been made I don't know but the intent of
the regulations as far as we are concerned in writing, that
is the case. So, I think that will alleviate some of your
-------
61-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
392
problems, hopefully.
MR. NORTON: I thought that might come up. On
Page 58947 of the proposed rules, 58947, middle column to-
wards the bottom, "The Agency has developed implementation
plans which would give first priority for permitting to off-
site disposal facilities and new facilities". It is from
that, plus other comments we have obtained that led us to
that conclusion.
MR0 LINDSEY: Let me address that just a minute,
if I could. What you are looking at there is a strategy,
essentially, we are implementing. Given we have limited
resources and the states will assume responsibility for this
where we don't, we will also have some limited resources but
it is going to take us some time to get around to permitting
all the facilities.
It's our conclusion, at least thus far, that by
and large, a disportionate amount of the damages have
occurred from what we will call fly-by-night on-site opera-
tions and our intent there is to try and get to those first.
That doesn't mean to say we are going to ignore everybody
else but by and large, we are going to try and implement in
those areas first. There is also some other implementation
scheduling arrangements which we are considering and that is
we are going to attempt to release or relieve the burden
somewhat by trying to implement on-site permits at the same
-------
62-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
393
time that NPDS permits are reissued so we can do them to-
gether, things like that, but that doesn't mean to say where
we know or expect to be a problem, have reason to believe
from a third party operation that we won't proceed to act on
those permits immediately and the-regulations themselves ap-
ply in either case.
What you saw there is a policy of implementing them
and when we will get to whom first and that sort of thing.
MR. NORTON: It's a matter of concern, obviously,
and I will convey this position back to the Congressman be-
cause that will relate to further steps that we will be taking
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Norton, to follow up on that a
little bit, I should also point out, I think, that even
setting aside the priority for permitting, there is still a
requirement in the regulations as proposed that all generators
and all people who operate treatment storages or disposal fa-
cilities on site as well as off-site, must notify EPA within
ninety days after these regulations are promulgated and fur-
thermore, within 180 days they must apply for a permit. I
think this will go a long way to answering your concern about,
first of all that we are somehow treating differently on-site
than off-site. In fact, we are really not, but also that we
will have a much better idea, as you point out, as to where
all of these treatment, storage, disposal locations are once
this notification process takes force but at the moment, I
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
394
must admit that your Congressman is correct. We do not have
as much information along those lines as we would like to
have.
MR. NORTON: We were worried about the emphasis
here. I read the regulations. We have that knowledge con-
cerning the proposed timetable for getting in touch with and
licensing the on-site generators. We just wanted to make
sure that that is a equal matter of priority where it is pur-
sued with vigor.
MR. LEHMAN: As far as the notification goes and
as far as the current application goes, there is equal priori-
ty for on-site, off-site there. Another point I would like
to clarify, it's part of your statement getting back to the
situation of the Earthline facility in Wilsonville. You
make the statement that when construction permits were granted
to Earthline no mention was made as to what the operator, facllJLty
pteaid.h'%'
-------
64-10
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Of.
395
the permit before it is issued and so on. I think when these
regulations do become finalized that these types of problems
that you have pointed out will no longer be a problem.
MR. TRASK: Mr. Norton, as you know from reading
our Preamble 3002, we are wrestling with this 100 kilogram
issue and that is a suggestion and there were five others men-
tioned in the Preamble, one of which dealt with the degree of
hazard which you suggested we ought to look at.
We do solicit the input into this. If you have some
thoughts on where we would begin, what would be the dividing
line and as to what would be in, what would be out, bearing;
in mind that a material that would not be subject to all ad-
ministrative requirements, still would be subject to 4004 tyjA
facility requirements.
In other words, it would not be let lose in the at-
mosphere, per se. If you have some thoughts on that we would
like to have them.
MR0 NORTON: We do and we will be communicating
those in writing.
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Norton, I have another question
I would like to pursue with you, one of the remarks you were
making concerning the setback requirement with respect to lo-
cation site selection, indicating that we are aware of the
fact the Congressman did introduce a bill concerning the use
of a public land for location of hazardous waste facilities
-------
396
65-10 i and I am wondering, first of all, I guess the question is, is
2 that still in the Congressman's plan? Are you intending to
3 have a civil bill introduced in this Congress?
4 MR. NORTON: Yes.
5 MR. LEHMAN: So, it is still the Congressman's
6 opinion that that is the appropriate policy for location of
7 hazardous waste facilities?
8 MR. NORTON: It is.
9 MR. LEHMAN: Given the fact that some federal land
10 are located in somewhat heavily populated areas, you are
ll really talking about a. distinction here of a certain type of
12 federal land?
13 MR. NORTON: We would distinguish land as to their
14 proximity to population centers, of course, not just being
15 public land automatically qualifies, for a site.
16 MR. LEHMAN: Do you have some feeling or would you
17 like to comment on just what is an appropriate setback dis-
18 tance than we are talking about here?
19 MR. NORTON: I personally speaking, from my own
20 knowledge and conversations that our office has had with
2i your Agency, I think that that would be subject to quite a
22 few variables in nature, the ground itself and location in
23 relation to water supplies and so forth. I am not prepared
24 to state any magical distance at this time, 500 feet or a
25 thousand feet or what have you. I do know that the existing
-------
66-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
397
or the proposed setback requirement, you apply it in very
graphic cases, the Village of Wilsonville where the Earthlin
facility is right across the street from the last house and
the facility at the end of Main Street^ that that demonstrates
it must certainly be farther than 200 feet and actually, the
active part of that site is probably more than 200 feet away
from the last house along that street.
I will be happy to take this subject up with the
Congressman and ask him, perhaps, to elaborate on that,
MR. LEHMAN: Another follow-up question along those
lines, your statement indicated that the location of all
hazardous waste facilities should be on federal land. Do you
feel that there is a distinction that should be made here
between different types of hazardous waste facilities, like
incinerators, treatment facilities, et cetera, versus land-
fills? In other words, do you think the same type of isola-
tion is required for all types of facilities or just for cer-
tain types like a landfill.
MR. NORTON: At this time we are not making any dis-
tinction, I might elaborate on that. Siting is a most diffi-
cult problem. You folks are having to contend with it and
you have for several years and to look at the examples of
Wilsonville, which is closest to our heart because it is in
our district, perhaps with the Minnesota demonstration Grant
situation or the Oregon problem orvfcat have you, referring to
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
398
the GAO report of late December or early January, this is an
awfully tough nut to crack and the Agency has opted for and
RCRA is based upon the regulatory approach as contrasted to
an earlier emphasis about ten years ago.
I think it is our feeling that we don't want to be
prophets of doom here but we think we will find there will
be little practical solution in the existing approach and we
are going to have to go to the public land approach to get
the sites situated and operated,
MR, LINDSEY: If we go to public land approach
when we would go as far as to say the old national disposal
sites concept that somebody asked a question about the other
day. In other words, would we set up a system where Uncle
Sam would be running the facility or would we simply allow
and assist the siting of facilities where maybe we would own
the land, the federal government would own the land and pri-
vate contractors would build facilities? You haven't thought
that through?
MRo NORTON: There would be several possibilities
under the general umbrella, that could be set up, I think, .
in our estimation. The worst case situation perhaps might be
with the federal government providing a site. I believe from
information that I have that the Oregon approach was to
assist a private operator with proviso that the land become
public property when the site was closed. That's another pur-
-------
68-10
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
399
pose. All of these could be rolled in. They deviate, in
our minds, drastically from the existing rules. We think
it is going to have to go in that direction,,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much.
We will take a five-minute break.
(A short recess was taken.)
-------
400
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next speaker this after-
noon will be Mildred Hendricks from Gillespie.
MS0 HENDRICKS: Is someone calling me?
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Yes, are you Mildred Hen-
dricks?
MS0 HENDRICKS: I most certainly am,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: You had indicated you wanted
to speak this afternoon?
MS, HENDRICKS: Well, I'll tell you what I did0
I was getting ready to go home and I had handed in my tes-
timony to these people here. So it will be in the testi-
mony o
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K. We have a written
statement for the record rather than oral testimony.
(Whereupon statement above referred to was
made part of the official record.)
HEARING INSERT
-------
r
^•C
v'Voo.
-X'
'"Following" are"'excerpts
testimony by Mrs. Frederick Hen-<
dricks, Gillespie, Illinois, (LRA.
member) before the 111. legislators.
We, the citizens of our Sovereigni
State of Illinois, have great hope .-.
that you will enforce your oath
of office and stop the destruc-
tion of that balance of power that
once existed between the Sover-
eign States and their Agent, the •
Federal Government.
The State Constitution states, : •
"The public policy of the state
and the duty of each person
is to provide and maintain a
healthful environment for the
benefit of this and future genera- ;
tions. The General Assembly shall •
provide by law for implements- ;
tion and enforcement of this •
Public Policy." In my humble •
opinion, the Environmental Pro- >
tection Agency is not doing this j
and is breaking the law due to '
it being unconstitutional.
I do not recall our elected -'
representatives ' in Washington
giving this power to these un-
elected bureaucrats? ?of QSHAr
EPA irvd "Thm However, I have
hopes that our Congressmen in
Washington will be successful |
and get back this power which
rightfully belongs to our elected
legislators.
Illinois is a Sovereign State
today and must remain one
tomorrow and not become a
Branch Office of a Regional
Bureaucracy for Federal Dictator-
ship that might attempt to rule
over all of us fromJVash. D.C.
We the citizens of the Sovereign
State of Illinois created the
Federal Government granting very •
specific and limited powers, and
the Regional Planners admit they
have no Constitutional authority
for their regulatory agencies. I
sincerely hope that the concept
of "HUMAN RIGHTS" will not
replace our U.S. Constitutional
"BILL OF RIGHTS." Then al-
most anything can be called
"CONSTITUTIONAL" including
Regional Governance.
In my opinion the present silli-
ness of the EPA and some other
U.S. agencies is due in major
part to a violation of some of the
basic concepts of our U.S. Consti-
tution particularly Art. I, II, and
III, which define the separation
of Legislative, Executive and
Judicial functions. Although
sanctioned to some degree by
law, these Regulatory Agencies
have more and more assumed all
three: they set up regulations,
enforce them and judge their
validity. Such a concentration of
power is certainly contrary to our
American tradition and is at odds
with the Constitution of the U.S.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
(See separate transcript for question and answer
7
8
9
10
ll
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
401
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Is there anyone who would like
to speak on Section 3003 Regulations?
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: All right, we will close
the record of the hearing on Section 3003.
session.)
-------
ROOM 2133. RATBUMM BuiunNO ' PAUL FINDLEY COMMITTEES,
WASH.NCTON. D.C. 20315 ZOn. DISTRICT. |LUNOI» INTERNATIONAL. RELATIONS
(202) 225-3271 AGRICULTURE
Congress of tlje SJniteb States
SUpreaentatifce*
, 5B. C.
I
I
Lj
Please include this statement in the official
record along with the statement presented by my Springfield
administrative assistant at the St. Louis hearings
February 15, 1979.
Thanks very much
Paul Findley
Representative in Congress
-------
I am pleased to submit for the record these additional substantive
comments concerning the final promulgation of rules for section 3001,
3002 and 3004 of the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. These
regulations were to be promulgated, as directed by law, no later than
April of 1978. Unfortunately U.S. EPA's lack of diligence in formulating
and adopting rules has now delayed by one year establishment of an active,
effective and comprehensive regulatory program. Yet, in proposing these
rules EPA signals its first real attempt to deal with the problem of
hazardous waste management.
Although a step forward, these regulations do not, even in the
smallest way, tackle the problem of where to locate hazardous waste
facilities. The Love Canal in New York, the Valley of the Drums in
Kentucky, the PCB episode in Michigan and countless other cases provide
grim testimony to the potential for disaster. For example, within the
Congressional district I represent lies the small, quiet community of
Wilsonville, Illinois. Yet Wilsonville has been in the national news
recently. Located in Wilsonville, a hazardous waste dump which euphemisti-
cally calls itself Earthline has created a public outcry of unequalled
proportions. Filing suit, the citizens of Wilsonville, joined by the
Illinois Attorney General, have sought injunctive relief against further
dumping and operation of the Earthline site. Ironically, the Environmental
Protection Agency took the side of Earthline. Squaring off against each
other, the residents won a victory in August of 1978 when Judge John Russell
ordered the site closed and the dismantling of the facility because of the
danger the site posed to the town. Yet Judge Russell's order may never
be implemented if his decision is overturned and the town could still have
an active hazardous waste dump within the city limits.
-------
r-
3 •' '• 137Q . • i
•.. .-.» «/ -.'j i j . \
i J i_i i_Zi
'•'•- U
STATEMENT OF
CONGRESSMAN PAUL FINDLEY
before the
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S HEARINGS
ON RCRA
FEBRUARY 15, 1979
-------
Page Two
I strongly urge EPA to do two things: First, EPA should withdraw
its opposition to Judge Russell's order and accept the court's, verdict
closing the Earthline hazardous waste disposal site in the town of
Wilsonville. EPA should recognize that the people living within a
community have a right not to have a hazardous waste treatment plant
placed within the borders of their town. Second, EPA should formulate
national regulations prohibiting the establishment of any hazardous
waste treatment plant within a community or other population center. The
lesson of Wilsonville is that such hazardous waste disposal sites are
unnecessary, unwanted, undesirable, and unhealthy. EPA can and should
make them unlawful. Site location is the crux of the hazardous waste
issue. With these comments as a preface let me discuss briefly section
3001, identification and listing of hazardous wastes, and point to some
of the strengths and weaknesses I see in these proposed rules.
First, under the scope of the definition of hazardous waste in
paragraph 250.10(d) certain materials are excluded from the definition
because they are not regarded as discarded materials. In my judgment
the definition should not turn on this indistinct definition. For
example, some operators claiming to be solvent reclaimers have in fact
been hazardous waste disposal operations. Usually such an operation
solicits waste materials containing potentially recoverable solvents in
the hope that significant revenue can be obtained by recovering the
materials. However when it is discovered that solvents cannot be
economically recovered, the operator may be left with a large inventory
of waste materials for which he has insufficient funds for disposal.
It is my judgment that EPA has erred in choosing not to prepare
-------
Page Three
regulations recognizing the degree of hazard. A single hazard classifi-
cation system for all hazardous wastes, as EPA has proposed, will require
all hazardous wastes to be handled in the same manner and to be treated
at facilities conforming to the regulations stated in section 3004.
Wastes are usually disposed of in either the acidic environment
of an open dump containing decaying organic matter or managed in the
hazardous waste system prescribed in sections 3002, 3003 and 3004.
These two disposal methods represent extremes in cost and complexity.
Many wastes can be disposed of in facilities far less costly than those
conforming with the section 3004 regulations provided they are kept
from an acidic environment.
A waste classfication system such as those in effect in Illinois,
California and Texas, could be designed recognizing the degree of
hazard. Utilizing this kind of system would enable more reasonable,
defensible and less inflationary regulations to be devised. Classification
would also, I believe, make public acceptance of hazardous waste sites
more likely if people knew what kinds of wastes were to be handled at
the facility. For example, fly ash is considered hazardous but has a
low level of toxicity. Given a low toxic rating, people would be more
willing to have fly ash stored near them than say a waste, such as
dioxin, having a much higher toxic rating.
Additionally, I disagree with EPA's proposal for a blanket exclusion
from the hazardous waste regulatory program for generators of less than
100 kilograms per month. While such an exclusion might be justified for
some small waste generators, substances such as dioxin or hexachloro-
cyclopentadience are lethal in quantities of much less than 100 kilograms.
-------
Page Four
I would suggest that a new hazard classification system which takes
into account volume and toxicity be used to determine the need for
taking part in the regulatory program.
I also found in the preamble of the regulatory proposals a state-
ment that greatly distresses me. On page 58947 of the Federal Register,
the preamble said in part, "The agency has developed implementation
plans which would give first priority for permitting off-site
disposal facilities and new facilities,. ..." The General Accounting
Office has estimated that of the 46 million tons of potentially hazardous
waste produced in 1976, 83 percent was buried by the company which pro-
duced the wastes on the site where it was produced. Yet these on-site
wastes are just as dangerous as those which are carried to another site
for burial. When RCRA was enacted into law in 1976, Congress never
thought that EPA would direct its efforts primarily to the problem of
off-site disposal. It is my hope that EPA will seek to balance its
future efforts between on and off-site disposal of hazardous waste.
Section 3002 of RCRA sets forth the requirements governing the
generator's manifest, reporting and recordkeeping system. If one reads
the proposed rules carefully concerning this system an obvious defect
appears: A generator who sends his wastes to an off-site, in-state,
captive facility is exempt from all reporting requirements. Operators
of captive waste management facilities should, at a minimum, file the
same reports as on-site disposers.
Turning to section 3004, I would disagree with the specific
requirements concerning the 200 foot buffer zone to be placed between
the active portions of the facility and the property line. I believe
-------
Page Five
that the danger of explosion or contamination may in certain cases be
so great that a 200 foot buffer zone would be inadequate if the facility
is located in a populated area.
I would also object to EPA's requirement that a facility not be
located in a 500 year floodplain. This is a rather stiff requirement
that I consider unnecessary. I would suggest that a 100 year floodplain
or even the greatest flood of record, whichever is greater, be used
to determine the propriety of locating a facility on a floodplain.
Finally, I want to express my concern over EPA's proposed standards
governing special wastes. The thrust of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act is to encourage the recycling of wastes when possible.
My fear, however, is that certain combustion by-products such as fly
ash, bottom ash, slag, and sulfur will not be recycled to the degree
possible due to the hazardous waste classfication given these by-products
under section 3001.
For example, the special waste classification proposed by EPA
classifies fly ash as hazardous. Yet the level of toxicity for fly ash
is so low that it is silly to classify the ash with such toxic wastes
as dioxin.
I know for a fact that certain townships within my district have
been blessed with have quantities of fly ash available to use with slag
and sulfur to build the sub-surf ace for roads.
Fly ash also has other uses. It can be used in making cement
and concrete blocks and fertilizer. If fly ash is classified as a
hazardous waste, however, few farmers may want to apply to EPA for a
permit to use this by-product.
-------
Page Six
I would urge EPA to reconsider its strategy for special wastes.
Recycling should be encouraged, not stymied. The hazardous waste
labeling given these by-products may preclude their use, their
recycling and their contribution in reducing the amount of accumula-
ted waste.
EPA has tackled an enormously important job. Love Canal, the
Valley of the Drums in Kentucky, Wilsonville, Illinois, demonstrate
the need for action. EPA should complete its regulatory program as
mandated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
as soon as possible and not let another year slip by during which
the seeds of other tragedies may be planted.
-------
SEPARATE TRANSCRIPT FOR QUESTION- AND
ANSWER SESSION
St. Louis, Missouri
February 15, 1979
-------
402^
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We will go ahead and answer
questions that we had left from this morning on 3002 and
we'll also be handing out more cards if you have anymore
written questions on Section 30030
MR0 LEHMAN: This relates back to the answer to
a previous question this morning„ The question: "Are you
saying that using hazardous waste oil for purposes of dust
suppression can be a permanent disposal method?"
The answer is yes, according to our regulations,
it's not banned outright. What we are saying rather is
that it must be controlled. Namely/ it needs to be, if
it is permitted, it has to be done with a permit so the
answer to the question is yes, it is possible that dust
suppression using waste oil can so be done but it would
require permit.
Another question: "If a state does not have an
approved Subtitle D program,""— this is for nonhazardous
waste under RCRA0 "If a state does not have an approved
nonhazardous Subtitle D program, where will the disposal
of nonhazardous waste be allowed within that state?"
Well, the answer is that under Subtitle D, the
Federal Government really has no direct authority. The
landfilling of nonhazardous waste or disposal of is subject
to state control0 The fact, however, that a state does
not have an approved Subtitle D program then you have to
-------
403
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
read the 4000 series of RCRA to understand their interrela-
tionships there between EPA as a criteria for land disposal
and the approval of state nonhazardous waste program,,
If a state does not have an approved Subtitle D
program, this opens up the direct possibility of foreclosure
of certain landfill sites0 In other words, it is only if
a state has an approved Subtitle D program that they can
put certain landfills that are classified as open dumps
in accordance with the Federal criteria on some sort of
a compliance schedule. Otherwise such facility would be
subject to direct citizen suits for immediate closure.
Also, I might point out as we've discussed earlier
today, in the 100 kilogram per month proposal of conditional
exemption of 100 kilograms per month under Section 3002
for hazardous waste, it is conditional in the sense that
you are out of the regulatory system provided that you
take the less than 100 kilograms to a landfill which is —
see if I can get — I'm going to have to look at the regu-
lations for the exact wording but to paraphrase, the Sub-
title D landfill would have to be approved pursuant to an
approved Subtitle D program.
In other words, if you have — if you happen to
live in a state which does^ not have an approved Subtitle
D< program, then the state permits for those nonhazardous
waste facilities do not satisfy the requirements of these
-------
404
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
conditional exemptions and therefore the 100 kilogram ex-
emption would not apply either.
So there are a number of ramifications associated
with a state .that does not have an approved Subtitle D
program.
Question: "Spent solvent going to a solvent re-
claimant, does the generator of the spent solvent need to
fill out a manifest?"
Well, the answer is no under our -proposed regula-
tions. However, I think I should point out that previous
commentors, both here yesterday and in New York last week,
have questioned this practice or this situation as a possible
loophole and consequently the Agency will reexamine that.
But as of December 18 when we proposed our regulations, the
answer to that question would be no.
MR. LINDSEY: A couple of questions about the
siting, really0 They are rather broad0
"Have you given any consideration as to how or
where a landfill would be located? Is Federally-owned
land a consideration?"
There is nothing in our regulations that preclude
the use of Federally-owned lands but Federally-owned lands
are not under EPA jurisdiction. They are largely under
a variety of other Federal agencies, including the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management and military and so
-------
405
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
forth0 There was — I should point it out if it might be
of interest, a relatively recent action in which the state
of Washington obtained a piece of Federal land in the mid-
dle of a reservation which is Atomic Energy plant for in-
dustrial waste disposal site and that is being developed
at the present time. And there was quite a bit of public
interest in that at the time. As a matter of fact they
have relocated several times in response to that public
interest.
O.K., it says, "This might be a more appropriate
3004 question but what effects on the site selection process
for hazardous waste disposal sites does the EPA foresee
resulting from the soon-to-be-finalized public participa-
tion regulations? Several comments over the past few days
reflect a general public emotionalism attached to the is-
sue of siting facilities and I'd like your opinion about
site availability and s.o forth,"
Well, the first question is what about the effects
of the public participation regulations. Those are being
incorporated more specifically in regulations under our
Section 3005 regulations which are being integrated. They
are procedual in nature. They have due process requirements
which includes hearings and so forth and which correspond
to the requirements of the public participation. And
those will be proposed in an integrated fashion with similar
-------
406
17
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
regulations under JfPDS and UIC in a control program in about
four to six weekso
But there will be an opportunity for public input
in several phases, including a hearing, with regard to
that0
Now the problem which the person here addresses
is the fact that the public, by and larger is not interested
in having these facilities being located near them. We've
heard a, number of comments to that effect in these hearings
and it's been a known problem for awhile that this is a
difficult problem. And that's understandable, given the
love canals and other problems which have come down the
pike.
The question is what is all this going to mean
and the bottom line, with regard to siting facilities?
Well, it's certainly going to make siting facilities more
difficult. Hopefully the regulatory program which we have
here will be perceived by the public as providing control
and if we implement it correctly and enforce it correctly,
hopefully the public will gain some faith in our ability,
collective ability of the disposal industry, plus as regu-
lators of that industry, to protect their health and best
interests.
You heard Mr. Norton's comments just recently
on his concerns in this area, his and Congressman Findley's
-------
40?
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
and he mentioned the potential for some Federal intervention,
perhaps, in the siting situation, perhaps use of Federal
lands or perceive them even going so far as setting up
Federal disposal facilities, perhaps.
So all these options are in the wings. As to
where this will all come out, I'm. really not sure0 We
certainly hope that private enterprise, with the regulations
which we're putting together, will be successful in con-
vincing the public that this thing can be done right and,
in fact, must be done right, if we're to avoid more danger-
ous problems of having these materials simply dumped in
pits and alongside the roads and woods and people^s back-
yards because there isn*t any alternative.
In fact that's about all we can say about it
for the moment.
MR« TRASK: , A couple of questions that were
turned in this morning. They seemed to fit more properly
under 3003 so we held them for this session.
The first one is, "How will the transportation of
hazardous materials by barge be handled?"
I don*t know if welre in a semantics problem here,
or not, but I suspect we may be. But for the record, we
are not dealing with hazardous materials in these regula-
tions. We are dealing with hazardous waste because hazar-
dous waste is a DOT term0
-------
408
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
But let's assume the person meant a waste. There
is no special requirement for barges. They are treated the
same as any other vehicle. It*s. important to note here
that the Coast Guard has informed us recently that they are
considering proposing some amendments to 46CFR, which would
pick up the hazardpus waste regulations and incorporate
them into their regulations dealing with hazardous materials,
In other words, they would do much the same as
the DOT's Office of Hazardous Materials regulations that —
so all regulations dealing with barges would be in one
place, the same as regulations dealing with railroads and
highways are in one place.
The other question says, "In the event of a spill,
who is the generator? IS it the spiller or the cleanup
contractor?"
Legally, as I understand it, the generator would
be the spiller and not the cleanup contractor because the
definition says that it's the person whose act or process
produced the waste. And if hazardous material is spilled
and that part which was not recovered as product then would
become hazardous waste and therefore the person whose act
or process caused that to happen0
The question goes on, "In the case of the notifi-
cation, will all persons who could have a hazardous material
spill be required to notify it?"
-------
409
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
T4
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
The answer is no, they are not required to notify
it unless they are in the business of handling hazardous
waste in one form or another.
The notification in this particular instance, I
believe, is going to be satisfied by the requirement that
a copy of the EPA — EPA will receive a copy of the spill
report which is sent into the EPA. And that would suffice
as a notification,,
Question dealing with containers says, "Does
triple rinse apply to best side containers only or to
any container previously containing hazardous waste? For
example, empty paint cans? If not to paint cans, how are
paint cans and other such containers disposed of?"
In the 3001 Standards in 250014A on Page 58958
that deals with — what it says specifically is that contai-
ners are a hazardous waste unless they are triple rinsed.
In other words, any triple rinse container would be a non-
hazardous waste and therefore a candidate for disposal
under 4004-type facility.
I have some more if you want them,,
MR0 LINDSEY: According to 250.20C, "Any person
who generates a waste must be determined pursuant to Subpart
A if the waste is hazardous,,"
"You had stated earlier that you did not know
who is generating hazardous waste and they will be notified.
-------
410
11
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Are those not notified by you in violation of the regula-
tions if they do not evaluate their waste? Also how can
we find out who it is that will be notified?"
I think maybe I ought to address this whole noti-
fication business a little bit and hopefully clear it up.
The notification provision is in there, in the
Act by Congress, in order for EPA to be told by those who
have the wate whether or not they have hazardous waste. In
other words, the onus, if you will, is on the generator,
treater, disposer, and transporter to tell EPA so that
EPA knows who the regulated community is. That's the rea-
son for that.
On the other hand, there are some provisions in
there, for example, in order to have interim status if you
are a treater, storer or disposer, in order to have interim
status for an ongoing facility during a period when EPA
is reviewing permit applications, which might take some
time, one must have notified EPA. And what we're trying
to do here is to say, "00K., this is a requirement. Every-
one must notify us," And by and large, we don't really
have to do anything except sit back and receive these
things.
But we said, "That doesn't make sense because a
lot of people may not realize what their requirements are
under this Act, So what we'll try to do is anticipate who
-------
411
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
may be involved and let them know what their requirements
are." So we've planned to send a mailing. And what we
did, frankly, was sit down and go through SIC codes and
try to pick out of those SIC codes, in these three sections
and subsegments and subsegments, which may or may not have
hazardous waste,. So we're trying to be overly inclusive
here and we're going to generate a mailing which will come
out to those people whom we feel may be in this system
and say, "Look, here*s the requirements. If you are, in
fact, in this system, you must let us know.^That is -require-!
ments of the Law."
Therefore, since we have tried to be overly in-
clusive, I expect that many of the people who receive the
mailing will, in fact, not be handling hazardous wastes.
And if they are not, then they have no requirements0
On the other hand, there may be some people we
miss, that we didn.'t know or didn't think had hazardous
waste, or what-have-you. In those cases, those people
still have requirement under the Act as still to notify
EPA.
The final part of this says, "Are those not
notified by youiin violation of the regulations if they
do not evaluate their waste?"
They are in violation of the regulations if they
handle hazardous waste and don't notify us. They are not
-------
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
412
in violation of the regulations. They are in violation of
the Act. And the question, of course, goes a little bit
further than that. I .think that it said suppose we didn't
knovr and legitimately didn't know and we didn't notify
them, what happens when we get caught. I guess that's
going down on this particular question.
Well, they are in violation and there are in the
Act the provisions here for enforcement actions to be
brought. And there's a lot of discretion on the part of
the Agency with regard to what we would do with enforcement
actions and I can't prejudge those. But people would be
in violation and they would be subject, at least, to some
sort of enforcement action.
Amy, do you want to say anything more about that?
MS. SCHAFFER: I think that kind of the philoso-
phy of my office, the Agency, is that we're more interested
in getting people into the system than bringing enforcement
action. And if you honest-to-goodness really didn't know
that you were supposed to be in the system and you find out
a year later, we're not going to slap you with a $25,000
fine0 However, it is still up to the discretion of the
Agency and it's going to have to be a case-by-case basis.
But as Fred said, I want to reiterate that we
have some idea who is going to be involved in the system
but we don't know everybody. And the burden of reporting is
-------
14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
413
on the publico That is the industry who uses the hazardous
waste community. And it's hot our responsibility to tell
you if you have to notify. It's your responsibility to tell
us if you have hazardous waste.
I have a question here concerning the transporter
reg0 In 250,35, there is a requirement that the transpor-
ter must obtain certification on the manifester, deliver
the document by the authorized agent to the permitted faci-
lity 0 The question is, "What is the transporter to do if
he cannot acquire certification of manifester after five
days?"
This is another instance where we really haven't
sat down and said, "We know exactly what is going to happenj(
If I were the transporter, I would immediately
notify the generator that, to protect myself as a trans-
porter, I would also notify EPA and/or the state involved,
the state agency involved, to tell them that I could not
get the certification and I had delivered it and I have
my portion of the manifest assigned. And then the state
or EPA will take appropriate action0
The second part of this question is, "Where and
when does the delivery document enter the tracking system?"
I think the delivery document is a piece of-
paper that is used in transportation and it has the same
information on the manifest but it is carried by the trans-
-------
414
15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
porter while the waste is in transportation. It is a cur-
rent practice of the transporters to use the delivery
document. Hence, and it is some generators like to keep
the original manifest at the site of generation and use
the delivery document while the waste is in transit.
The reason why we have included delivery docu-
ment is because of the current practice. The tracking
document would be delivery document but the actual piece
of paper that is needed to be kept as reference and used
as the reporting information is the manifest.
So basically the delivery document coming into
the tracking system as soon as the waste leaves the place
of generation.
MR. LEHMAN: A question: "If diesel fuel oil that
has a flash point of 125 degrees Fahrenheit or above and
has been recovered from oil/water separators and locomotive
fueling stations"— I'm sorry. "Is diesel fuel oil that
has a flash point of 125 degrees or above and has been
recovered from oil/water separators and locomotive fuel-
ing stations, is that considered a hazardous waste? It is
collected and used as steam generator fuel."
Well, here is another case, I assume that this
is basically collecting what is noncontaminated virgin
diesel oil off of oil/water separator at a fueling station
and reusing it as basically noncontaminated virgin oil.
-------
16
1
2
3
4
. 5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Therefore I don't believe in this case it would be con-
sidered a hazardous waste0
"Who will set the standards for the quality of
oil for road oil and quality of oil for incineration? If
this has been determined, what are the applicable standards?"
Well, for example, it has been determined and
the standards are the applicable parts of Section 3004.
Namely, if you're going to incinerate oil in an incinerator,
itls got to meet the incinerator*s standards. And if
you're going to road oil, it's got to meet the applicable
part of the land disposal regulation in 3004.
Also, I might point out, that where there is
some doubt, the Human Health and Environmental Standards
override all of the other standards.
Special waste, Section 3004, "How were the speci-
fic wastes listed in the special waste section designated
for this category?" And, "Were the large quantities of
slag by the steel industry considered for this special
for this special waste designation?"
0,K., when I answered the first one, I think I
also basically answered the second one. And I call your
attention to the preamble of Section 3004 on Page 58991
where the whole special waste standard was discussed.
Let me just paraphrase what it says in the preamble^
which is the answer to this question. And that is that the
-------
416
17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Agency realized that there were some portions of certain
very large volume wastes that probably will be hazardous
under Subpart A or 3001 standards0 And thus will come
with the purview of the hazardous regulatory scheme. Also
that for some of these very large volume wastes there was —
there did not seem to be a very direct corollary between
the regulatory program structure that was set up there in
our proposed regulation towards those special wastes0
As I mentioned earlier, the assumption was that
these were in such high volumes that they would be handled
primarily, at least, on site.
So these were some of the reasons why some of
these wastes were designated for special treatment under
Section 30040 I think we've gone into the distinction
early on about whether, on other words, not all of these
wastes are necessarily hazardous unless they are listed
in Section 3001 or meet some of the criteria in 3001 for
r
hazardous wastes.
As to whether or not the slag for the steel in-
dustry was considered for this designation, the answer there
is that the information we have from our studies of the
iron and steel industry indicates that most steel slag is
nonhazardouSo Therefore we did not see the need for any
special waste category for the steel slag» And this is
similar to a question that was asked, I believe, yesterday
-------
417
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
or perhaps it was New Yor^ I'm getting fuzzy about some
of these things, concerning foundry sand. The same basic
question was askedo Like why was foundry sand considered
to be a special waste category„ And the answer is the
same there. Our information has it that most, if not all,
foundry sand is probably nonhazardous and therefore we
didn't see any need to set a special waste category for
that.
MR. TRASK: I have a few questions here dealing
with triple rinsing. Let me take them together because
the answer is the same, I think.
It says, "Triple rinsing is not comprehensive
enough. For example, if you triple rinse an oil drum .
or an oil paint drum with water fulfills the letter of
your reg, but will do little to remove the hazardous
waste." I -guess it's a question, "Should you say triple
rinse with a solution which will remove the hazardous sub-
stance?"
And the second one is, "Triple rinse paint cans
with water or thinner?"
The definition of triple rinse as stated in
Section 3001 says, "It shall be rinsed with a volume of
diluento" The intent here is that diluent means the normal
diluent for that material. If it's an oil base paint then
it would be a thinner0 If it's water base paint, it would
-------
418
19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
be water„ In other words, whatever the normal diluting
material is is the material that should be used for triple
rinsing that drum.
I think the bottom line of all that is is that
a triple-rinsed drum which still has a residue in it could
be said to be not triple rinsed. Our experience with triple
rinsing and now we're getting into the area of pesticide
drums, but we found that it was feasible easily to get
at least 90 per cent removal of the residue in the drum by
triple rinsing. In, fact, in some cases, triple rinsing when
it was carried out to the full extent was the drum was
thoroughly turned over and over, we could get about 96 to 97
removal. And this was some of the work done by the Air
Force with some of their pesticide containers.
In everyday practice, even using water in those
emulsifiable concentrates of pesticides where water is
the normal diluent, we found it common to get in the area
of 88 to 93-94 per cent removal of residuals.
So triple rinsing does work and we do have some
basis to compare the efficiency of removal0 So I think
it would be wrong to assume that the way the regulation
is written it would mean water. I think that there could
be some bad fallout from all that.
The question here, and I really think it's a com-
ment, not a question but let me read that. "Tn connection
-------
419
20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
with an NRC phone call" — I assume that means the National
Response Center of the U, S» Coast Guard, it says, "why
couldn't, this be consolidated into an existing call, for
example CHEMTRAK, so that an officer on the scene of an
incident doesn't spend all of his time on the telephone?"
This seems to indicate that this person has had a hard time
getting through to the National Response Center of the U0 Se
Coast Guard.
We have been informed within the last two weeks
that the Coast Guard is doubling the size of the staff at
the National Response Center so that much better service
will be available from them. I don't know what it was like
before. We're assured that now it will be adequate,,
A question on the manifest says, "In addition to
the manifest requirements is it possible to identify each
drum with a unique number that would precisely identify the
material within, i.e. a serial number on something or
a can? The reason for the additional information would
be immediate idea of contents in times of emergency.?
I point out that the regulation in 250.26B
through reference requires that the name and common code
of the waste be in the marking on the container0 And also
that the words "Controlled Waste. Federal Law Prohibits
Improper Disposal" followed by the generator's ID code and
the — the other part of that escapes me for the moment but
-------
420
21
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
anyhow there is a marking there by which you can precisely
identify what is in that container both in terms of the
name of the waste and the common code number which is a
CAS number0 Also the hazard involved because the label —
there must be a label on the container which indicates the
DOT hazard that we're dealing with here0
Question about transporter, "If a transporter
has a spill of hazardous materials and thereby becomes
a hazardous waste generator, then will the transporter need
to notify and apply for an ID code as a generator?"
I think we spoke to that before, that when this
happens DOT requires that a report be sent to i.t0 DOT is
going to send out a copy of that report to us. We can then
use that as a notification and, in turn, send an ID code
to that persono So that he has properly notified us.
This is, however, an implementation question and
that's our first approach to this. But experience may dic-
tate we want to do something else. But for the moment,
that's what we intend.
Alan Roberts, where are you? Anyway, I'll try
this one. It says, "Do the DOT regulations apply to a
transporter if he is hauling a hazardous waste that is not
a hazardous material under DOT and he does not cross a state
line and he is a private carrier, that is not for hire? If
the answer is no, what EPA is required to comply with?"
-------
22
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
421
The answer is yes so the second part doesn't mean
anything. I call your attention here to the proposals from
DOT, in Part 171.3, where 171,3A says, ''No person may offer
for transport or transport in interstate or intrastate com-
merce any quantity of a hazardous waste except in accordance
with the requirements of this subchapter."
What that means is that hazardous waste becomes
a full-fledged hazardous material. It.-.also asserts DOT's
intention to regulate intrastate as well as interstate
transportation of hazardous materials. So whether it crosses
the state line, it doesn't matter. And whether or not
it's a private carrier doesn't matter. The fact is that
hazardous waste now becomes a hazardous material and these
regulations apply to everyone0
MR0 LINDSEY: Would an on-site facility, a dump
or incinerator on-site, that was permitted be required to
manifest every batch or shipment?"
The answer is no, there's no required manifesting
on site. The manifestinent is a mechanism to insure that
waste gets from wherever they are generated to wherever
they are disposed. But if all that's done on-site, then
there is no manifest involved,,
"Are all regulations for on-site facilities equal
to off-site facilities?"
Yeah, there's no — there's nothing different abou?
-------
23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
422
— in other words, there's no break given to on-site faci-
lities or off-site facilities. They are treated the same0
"What about bonding for on-site facilities?" And,
"For public sector generators and operators such as the
state university?"
O.K., that's really several parts. There's no
real difference in the financial responsibility regulations,
financial regulations, with regard to bn-site or off-site
facilities. There just isn't a difference there„
The question then goes on to talk about public
sector generators and operators. There is no financial
responsibility requirements for generators at all. That's
for treatment, storage and disposal facilities which have
a permita Thatls. where the financial responsibility regu-
lations occur.
To take it one step further and see if I can explair
some of this. The financial responsibility regulations are
under 250,43-9, and there are really three parts to those.
One is the closure bond, if you will, which is an upfront
depositi It's a trust fund is basically what it isa And
that's required for everyone. That doesn't matter whether
they are a state university or a city or what it is. We
find that city and public institutions are not always in
any better shape to pay for problems and closeout than pri-
vate institutions in a lot of cases. And thus no distinc-
-------
24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
423
tion has been made for public facilities with regard to in-
suring that the money is going to be there to properly closd
the facility when it's done.
The second part of that has to do — the second
part of these requirements, financial requirements, has to
do with the building of th.e fund for post-closure monitoring,
maintenance which is built up over the length of the site
and that is also incumbent on the public sector facilities
as well as those in the private sector. That fund would
have to be built up and trust fund mechanism to be sure
that money is there to pay the post-closure monitoring
and maintenance at a later time.
The third area has to do with the site-life
liability requirements. That is what most people talk of
as the insurance requirement. Now in that there is a little
bit of a variation that can be allowed in that there is
three ways in which one can establish that financial re-
sponsibility. One is evidence of liability insurance.
Another is self-insurance, which is pegged to 10 per cent
of equity. And the third is evidence, other evidence, of
financial responsibility. The ability, in this particular
area, the ability or jurisdiction to tax, for example, to
discharge this responsibility in the case, in the event
that it's sued. It probably would be something that we
would look upon as acceptable0
-------
25
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
424
Now the Regional Administrator is the one who
will make those decisions as^ to what other evidence is
allowable. But I would think that would be something which
a public sector facility would be able to us.e0
"Is it intended to dispose of hazardous wastes
according to their chemical nature —" reactivity and so
forth, "or all in one trench?"
I would refer the question to 250045-2-B-40 That's
on Page 59009 and it says, "Waste containerized or noncon-
tainerized that is incompatible," and there's a list in
an appendix, "shall be disposed of in separate landfill
cell." And so the answer is that it's not allowed to dis-
pose of materials together that interreact.
I should also point out that No0 3 right above
that requires that permanent record be kept of what is
placed where within the facility so that if the need is
ever there -to go back and retrieve any of this material
because of problems or because maybe we want to obtain it
for resource purposes at a later time, then that record
will be there.
And, "If solid waste going to a recycling company
is not regulated, why would this be considered a loophole
when the recycling company is regulated as a generator of
the waste?"
If somebody thinks we said that was a loophole
-------
425
26
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
then I think they are misinterpreting us. It's our thinking
that solvents and other things that are going to recycle
its products has a value and they are not likely — not
as likely to get lost in the transporting phase as are
other things. It's been said to us by several people — I
don't think today but at other times, that without a mani-
fest, unless these wastes are manifested, they sure will
be lost, be going to the recycler. And all I can say to
that is, you know, that if people want to violate the Law
in dumping that waste on the way to the recycler is viola-
ting the Law, then there's nothing to prevent them from
violating the Law even with a nonrecycle waste simply by
not starting a manifest and hauling it down the road and
dumping^ito And if we catch them, then there will be an en-
forcement suit and so forth. And as a matter of fact,
that might even qualify, depending on intent, that might
even qualify for criminal sanction under this particular
Act.
"Will states have the option of requiring a
stricter manifest system than that proposed in the regula-
tions? In other words, requiring a manifest for hazardous
wastes whether it is recycled or disposed of on land or
incinerated,, If so, how will this iinpact interstate trans-
portation of hazardous wastes?"
That's a very good question. By and large — well,
-------
426
2/7
/
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the manifest format which we are requiring here will be in-
Cunbtfot^lQ everyone in the country. States will have the
option to add to that manifest, ask different questions,
perhaps, and that sort of thing. However, the format
which is in our regulations which is not only questions
that will be asked but the form, the place on the form
where they ask is nationally mandate. So they must use —
everyone must use our format. They can add to it. They
can also, presumably, as far as we're concerned anyway,
they can make this manifest incumbent on other wastes as
far as we're concerned. Things that are not covered under
the Federal system. For example, recycled materials which.
is a person's question, whether or not we're going to re-
quire a manifesto If states want to do that, presumably
they could. The problem would be they won't be able to
enforce it outside their jurisdiction.
Outside of their jurisdiction they would have no
way of enforcing the disposer in another state, for example,
to send them a copy, perhaps.
There is something else here and maybe, Harry,
you want to listen to this. Since we're — just to make
sure I'm not making a mistake. Since we're integrating
our manifest system with the DOT shipping papers, I would
think in such a case there might be a chance that the
Department of Transportation might preempt such a more in-
-------
427
28
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
elusive manifest system, particularly if it involves or
impedes in some fashion the movement of waste or messes
around with their forms.
Question, Harry, let me just reiterate it because
I'm not sure you were listening. In other words, could
a state cause — could a state, lot of difficulty here.
"Could a state require manifest on additional wastes?"
In other words, take a manifest system and acquire for
additional waste or for additional facilities and things
like that. Would that not — I think my point is I
think it might run afowl of the DOT shipping requirements.
MR. TRASK: You mean for more than just hazardous
wastes?
MR. LINDSEY: Well, what we would consider
hazardous wastes. Would states have the option of requiring
stricter manifest system — in other words, requiring a
manifest for hazardous wastes whether it is recycled or
disposed of on land, incinerated or what-have-you? In
other words, extending its use of the manifest system
beyond what we would do?
MR0 TRASK: O.K., we have tried to work out very
carefully with DOT what leeway we have here, where we can
go and where we can't go in this area of the manifest versus
the shipping papers. And I think we have come to the joint
conclusion that as long as the requirements are not incon-
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
428
sistent with what DOT is doing. In other words, does not
interfere with transportation, per se. Then DOT is not
likely to preempt that particular program or that element
of the program. In general, a state apparently does have
the authority to require separate manifest form.
Note that neither EPA nor DOT requires a specific
form. In both cases we're dealing with format. So if
the state comes up with a form and if the information on
that form is essentially the same as what EPA and DOT re-
quire, at least if the minimum information is on that form
and in essentially the same order, DOT has indicated that
they are not likely to preempt that sort of a situation.
The situation seems more likely that they would
preempt, and here you almost get into prejudging as to
what they would do and what they wouldn't. I don't
think they have preempted anything yet. But that would be
a case where a state erected some barrier to transporta-
tion within the state from outside of the state. That might
be a proper subject for their preemption.
This is discussed some in the DOT proposal and
whoever has raised this question might want to study that
to some extent, I'm sorry that Alan Roberts is not here
to discuss this at greater length because he has some
very definite ideas on it. But I'm essentially paraphras-
ing things that he has said at other meetings and hearings.
-------
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
429
I have a. couple of questions here. I might as
well carry on.
It says, "Will all aerosol cans of insecticides
have to be collected and disposed of as a hazardous waste
because they cannot be triple rinsed?"
Most aerosol cans of insecticides are designed
for household use and household wastes are of course ex-
cluded. That was a very clear intent of Congress that house-
hold waste not be included in hazardous waste and we have
said —- the Agency has said elsewhere in 40CFR, Part 165,
that pesticide products and their containers that are in-
tended for domestic use will not be included as a special
waste but instead should be wrapped in paper and put in
with the regular municipal waste stream.
The second part of this says, "Also, will all
small paint cans that are not triple rinsed have to be
disposed of as hazardous waste?*
I think the same situation applies„ What we
do have, however, is some local municipal waste authorities
prohibiting the pickup of hazardous wastes. And some of
these do extend to paint cans, I think one of the local
jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C. area, Montgomery
County, Maryland, for example, does prohibit the pickup of
any of the hazardous materials and they are particularly after
flammables and some paints are flammables, as you probably
-------
430
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
know.
A question on the 100 kilos item, "Can a generator
produce two or more entirely separate, not combined, hazar-
dous waste materials and be allowed to dispose of them in
Subtitle D landfills without being included in the Subtitle
C system because each separate waste is less than 100 kilo-
grams per month? Or is the hazardous waste total from
one manufacturing location, the waste which qualifies for
Subtitle C reporting permitting system?"
Two things here: the total of the waste stream
is what counts in this particular instance, whether it's
two or three or a dozen waste streams. If the total comes
to more than 100 kilograms a month, then that generator is
in the system and needs to report.
The last part of this question talks about per-
mits. There are no permits for generators0 I want to
make that perfectly clear. Congress clearly said that we
should not interfere with the productive process in making
these regulations. And therefore we do not, cannot require
any permits for generators0
MR,, LEHMAN: Question: ."How will future use of
closed hazardous waste landfill areas return to the public
for use be controlled to preclude disruption of the cells?"
Well, first of all, it's not clear that closed
hazardous waste landfill areas would be returned to the
-------
32
J
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
431
public for use. It might be returned for private use as
i
well. All that aside, either way the answer to the ques-
tion is that under 250.43-7 of the Section 3004 regula-
tions, these regulations stipulate or require a stipula-
tion in the deed of property that future use shall not
violate the integrity of the cover of the landfill, its
liners or the monitoring systems. That's written right
into the property deed.
Section 3004 question: "Could you address the
topic of existing pits^ ponds and lagoons relative to
Section 3004 regulations and the requirement directed
at these for leach aid detection systems? And secondly,
how will this affect pits ponds and lagoons associated
with MPDS activities, for example, holding and treatment
ponds or pond& containing contaminated water or waste
treatment or discharge?"
O.K., I'll answer the second question first.
The issue here is that MPDS activities are regulated to
the extent that the Clean Water Act deals with discharge
in navigable waters. It does not address, MPDS permits,
do not address air emissions or ground water emissions,
at least ground water emissions that do not impact surface
water.
Consequently the Agency has determined that
RCRA does apply to these types of pits,ponds and lagoons
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
432
to the extent that KPDS does not, namely with, respect to
air emissions and ground water leaching or leaching into
ground water0
Now what we're driving at here and which has, I
think, been misinterpreted by some is that for existing
pits, ponds- and lagoons, we want to be satisfied that they
meet the basic intent of the Section 3004 regulations.
Now that means that they have an equivalent degree of
containment.
Now as to what the standards are, for example,
let's take, a hypothetical case. Say, our regulations re-
quire, say, five-feet of clay as a liner and an existing
pit£ pond or lagoon only has one foot. Does that mean
you've got to dig up your old either pit, pond or lagoon
and replace the one foot of clay with five feet of clay?
The answer is no, not necessarily. What we're
saying.is that if you can show that the one foot of clay
for that particular lagoon doesn't leach. In other words,
it doesn't, in fact, contain the waste so that you don't
have leaching isnto ground water, that's O.K0 You can keep
your one foot of clay. That's: an equivalent degree of con^
tainment for that particular system.
As to leach aid detection systems, one of the
posers that has been brought up in these discussions is
what if you have a 500-acre lagoon? How are you going to
-------
433
34
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
get the leach aid detection system underneath a 500-acre
lagoon?
First of all, I think that's possible to do in
an engineering sense but nonetheless there are notes asso-
ciated with these leach aid detection requirements which
do allow alternatives for leach aid detection systems other
than one which is specified in the regulations. Here again
this would be a question of interpretation of the regula-
tions at the terminating stage. That's the whole purpose
of these notes is to deal with the whole question of flexi-
bility of the regulations to address the site specific
and waste specific situations. And we've elected to do
that by the note process, by the permit writing process
rather than in the reg writing process.
I hope that addresses that whole area, I might
poi-nt out, though, that this whole area has been subject
to a lot of interpretation. Some people have assumed
that they are going to have to replace all their old pits
ponds and lagoons and that's not necessarily so.
Question: "Under the criteria you use to classify
slag and foundry sand as basically nonhazardous, why
didn't, fly ash. fall under the same classification rather
tha,n as a special waste?"
Well, the answer to that is while we were draft-
ing these regulations, early data indicated that a substan-
-------
35
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
434
tial percentage of fly ash was going to be a hazardous
waste and therefore, we included it in our special waste.
We did not list it as a hazardous waste, as I pointed out
before, but we did provide for the fact that it is hazardous
and falls in the special waste category.
And I think I said yesterday more recent data
indicates a lower percentage of fly ash, probably less
than 10 per cent or, perhaps, less than that may be found;..
to be hazardous in accordance with our characteristics. Con-
sequently, in this particular case, its a question of our
data base at the time the regulations were drafted.
As the waste oil expert, you have addressed the
use of the waste oil as a dust suppressant on roads as
acceptable if done as a permitted land fanning operation.
Isn't there a requirement in the proposed reg that such
oil must be refined?
Well, first of all, the answer to the basic
question is. no, there is no such, requirement that waste
oil must be refined. But I'd also like to comment on the
way this question is worded0 We do not say that the land
farming regulations are the applicable regulation for dust
suppression on roads. I believe we will use the landfill
regulations as applicable, interpreting those landfill
regulations that do apply and "if parts of those regula-
tions do not apply, as I indicated earlier, we would go back
-------
435
36
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
to the Human Hearth and Environmenta.1 Standards when is-
suing permits- in that area.
Now- this is a question but it's really a comment
on our regulations. And here, again, r would hope that
people who are writing questions like this, I say it once
again, the purpose of this whole business is to get com-
ments on the regulations on the record. And whoever wrote
this question, I would urge them to write it down as a com-
ment and give it to our court reporter as- a comment on the
regulations.
But anyway, here goes: "Why regulate waste
crude oil, et cetera, and not waste solvent* when both
may contain toxic metals and both may be blended into
a low grade fuel indiscriminantly?"
Now Fred Lindsey addressed that a little big
in the sense of saying, I believe, that waste solvents
generally have a high value and generally are recycled
rather than burned as a fuel, although we realize that
some may be burned as a fuel.
Also Is go back to a previous remark that some
previous commentors haven't questioned this basic approach
about having" spent solvents outside of our regulatory pro-
cess and that we are, in fact, probably going to reexa-
mine that whole situation in light of these comments.
The other side of this, I think it's fair to
-------
37
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
436
point out is that the purpose of hearings of this nature
is to hear comments about what people like as well as
what they don't like and if somebody likes the idea of
having spent solvents outside the system, they should say
that for the record as well as for people who don't
like it and are suggesting that we make changes to the
regulations.
That's all I have.
MR, TRASK: I have a couple more here. One is
a clarification, apparently, to my previous answer on
household waste was not sufficient. It saysr "Small paint
cans and aerosol insecticide cans from an industry who
is registered as a generator, those that are heavily
used in industry, do they have to be disposed of as hazar-
dous waste?"
In this instance the answer to the question
would be yes if, in fact, they are hazardous waste. I
would point out that not all insecticides are hazardous
waste, particularly many of those that are used in aerosol
cans. Many of them are not listed in the hazardous waste
lists or are in the drinking water standards, which forms
the basis for toxic waste.
So it may well be that most of these that are used
in industry in aerosol cans are not, in fact, hazardous0
Paint cans, I don't know. I suspect that some of them may
-------
43"?
38
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
not be hazardous but by and large they would be. What
industry has small paint cans, I don't know, either. But
they may have,
I have here what is really a comment and not a
question. And if whoever turned this in and would reclaim
it and use it as a basis for a comment/ the commentary is
open until the 16th of March and this really should come
in as a comment,. It would become part of the official
record. As it is now, it's merely a question and is not
part of the official record.
MR. LINDSEY: Let's get back to my previous
question which had to do with the question of mixing
incompatible waste and says, "As alkaline and acid hazar-
dous waste can*t be mixed, per Appendix 1, is not the
Agency outlawing any valid treatment method? In other
words, neutralization of hazardous wastes?"
And answer to that 'is no, the requirements for
not mixing have to do with landfilling, O.K.^'o'f- incom-
patible wastes-, not of treating process as disposal.
The second part of that is tha,t maybe the ques-
tioner is planning to codispose in the ground alkaline and
acid waste. And there is a note associated with all this
which is under 25.0.45C, which is- referenced back there to
250,45C. I don't know what it says, I can't find it off-
hand. Basically which says that you can demonstrate that
-------
39
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
438
codisposal of incompatible waste is a satisfactory opera-
tion or maybe even beneficial operation as could be the
case in a situation like this. And then all you. have to
demonstrate that to the satisfaction of the permit officer
and that note, then, would allow, in essence, a variation
from this particular standard. So that could be permitted.
Even codisposal could be permitted.
So normally neutralization is carried out in
treatment process and not underground,
''Would not hazardous waste exempted, such as
solvent for recovery, have to be manifested under the
hazardous materials category?"
No, the mani— Our manifest would not be re-
quired, however, DOT shipping papers might be required
under the hazardous materials transportation.'
And this person writes on both sides, "Is the
value of waste a consideration for determining if that
given waste is- in the system?" And the answer is no, not
directly. Arid, we have been relating to the fact that re-
cycled wastes normally- have a value, that was a considera-.
tion xn our allowing recycled waste out of the manifesting
system because of our thinking that they are less likely
to get lost because of the value. But it's not that a
value, any given value, of it is not associated with that
point.
-------
439
40
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
That's it.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., we will end this
afterngon session. We will reconvene for the hearing
tonight on Sections 3001, 2, 3 and 4.
That session is designed primarily for people
who haven't been able to come to the daytime sessions.
I thank everyone who has offered comments and
I commend you all on your endurance.
(Whereupon, at 4:45 o'clock p.m., the hearing
was recessed, to reconvene at 7 o'clock p.m. the
same day.)
-------
-------
440
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
EVENING SESSION
7:00 p.m.
MR. LEHMAN: Good evening,
My name ±s John Lehman. I'm Director of the
Hazardous Waste Management Divisionf EPA's Office of Solid
Waste in Washington.
On behalf of EPA, I'd like to welcome you to
the public hearing which is being held to discuss the
proposed regulations for the management of hazardous
waste.
We appreciate your taking the time to parti-
cipate in the development of these regulations which are.
being issued under the authority of the Resource Conserva-
tion and Recovery Act,
The EPA on December 18, 1978, issued proposed
rules under Sections 3001, 3002 and 3004 of the Solid
Waste Disposal A'ct as substantially amended by the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, Public Law 94-580.
These proposals respectively cover, first, the
criteria for identifying and listing hazardous waste,
identification of it and a hazardous waste lis.t.
Second, the standards applicable to generating
such waste for record keeping labeling, using proper con-
ta,iners- and using a transport manifest.
And, third, performance, design and operating
standards for hazardous waste management facilities.
-------
441
42
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
The proposals, together with those Already pub-
lished pursuant to Section 3003 on April 28, 1978, Sec-
tion 3006 on February 1, 1978, Section 3008 on August 4,
1978, and Section 3010 on July 11, "1978, and that of the
Department of Transportation pursuant to the Hazardous
Materials Transportation Act of May 25, 1978, along with
3005 regulations yet to be promulgated — or yet to be
proposed, excuse me, constitute the hazardous waste regu-
latory program under Subtitle C of the Act.
This hearing is being held as part of our public
participation process in the development of this regulatory
program.
The panel members who share the roster with me
are Tim Fields, Program Manager in the assessment and tech-
nology branch of the Hazardous Waste Management Division
in Washington. And Tim is primarily responsible for Sec-
tion 3004 regulations.
Amy Schaffer of the Office of Enforcement, head-
quarters in Washington, EPA; Dorothy Darrah from our
General Counsel*s office, headquarters EPA in Washington;
Fred Lindsey, Chief of the Implementation Branch of the
Hazardous Waste Management Division, EPA, Washington; Harry
Trask, Program Manager in our Guidelines Branch of Hazar-
dous Waste Management Division in Washington, EPA; and
Alan Roberts who is — I'm not sure of your exact title,
-------
43
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
442
Alan, you keep changing it. Anyway/ Alan is responsible
for the administration of the Hazardous Materials Transpor-
tation Act, among other things, in the Department of Trans-
portation, DOT in Washington, D.C. And just joining the
panel is Alan Corson, Chief of our Guidelines Branch, Hazar-
dous Waste Management Division, EPA, Washington,
With that brief introduction let me turn over
the hearing to our chairman, Dorothy Darrah.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
We have five people who have signed up to give
us comments. If there are any other people who want to
comment can either come forward at the end of the other
testimony or you can check our registration desk and they
will bring up your name to me and I will call you in
order.
I'm not going to limit comments or questions
unless they tend to get very lengthy or repetitious be-
cause we don't have too many people. So I don't think
that should be a problem.
I'm not sure all these people are here but I
will call them. I'm not sure, is Mr0 Jessee from Monsanto
here?
STATEMENT OF GENE L. JESSEE
MR. JESSEE: My name is Gene Jessee. I'm
Director, Environmental Processes, Monsanto Companya
-------
443
44
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I'm pleased to appear here today on behalf of
Monsanto Company to comment on proposed RCRA Section 3001
and 3004 regulations, which appeared in the December 18,
1978 Federal Register, beginning on Page 58946.
Monsanto is a broad-based chemical manufacturing
company with manufacturing plants located in 28 states and
will be significantly impacted by these regulations.
In accordance with the procedure contained in
£he Federal Register, we will submit the detailed written
comments on the proposed regulations- prior to March 16.
Today I would like to focus upon certain aspects
of the proposed regulations which are of particular con-
cern to Monsanto.
First, I would like to bring to your attention
a problem which is pervasive throughout the proposed regu-
lations. This concerns the failure to treat waste different-
ly based upon the type of hazard and the level of the par-
ticular hazard,,
For example, consider a highly toxic waste
material like cyanide waste and, on the other hand, an
industria.1 flammable material like methanol0 Cyanide
wa,ste presents a constant hazard to health and to the en-
vironment in and of itself.
It does therefore clearly require special care,
storage, handling and disposal.
-------
45
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
444
Methanol, on the other hand, presents a hazard
to health and the environment only when exposed to an
ignition source in an uncontrollable manner. Itccan:. be
disposed of quite easily and safely in a normal utility
boiler.
Yet both the highly toxic cyanide waste and
the flammable methanol waste are designated as hazardous
under the proposed regulations requiring special generator,
transporter and disposer care.
This blanket treatment of waste will significantly
increase the quantity of hazardous waste and, we believe,
create a severe shortage in sites for disposal of very
hazardous wastes.
It is recommended that wastes be grouped in a
manner which recognizes differences, nature and severity
of the hazard a waste presents and the persistence of the
waste0
The proposed exemption of 100 kilograms per
month should be increased for less hazardous waste0 This
would allow a tight control on very hazardous wastes which
present a constant hazard in and of themselves and, at the
same time, reduce the number of insignificant generators
by raising the exclusion quantity for less hazardous wastes
which may pose a substantial hazard only when improperly
treated, stored or disposed.
-------
445
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
This will help minimize the quantity of hazar-
dous waste and avoid a future shortage of sites for dis-
posal of very hazardous waste.
Another concern with the proposed regulations is
Section 250.10B, which requires verification that material
is burned primarily for heat recovery are not considered
other discarded material.
Regulating these valuable commercial materials
would impose the stringent incinerator standards proposed
in Section 250.41 on the boiler which utilizes them.
There are numerous situations when residues from
a process are burned in heat recovery facilities to supply
energy needs of a process or other parts of the plant.
The incinerator standards, as presently worded,
will reduce the use of such materials and deprive the plant
of a valuable energy source.
Along the same lines, we recommend that proposed
Section 250.10: (b) 2 (ii) , which improperly includes spe-
cified oils which are burned as fuel be deleted from the
definition of "other discarded material". This inclusion
seems without statutory basis and is contrary to the plain
meaning of the term "discarded".
The proposed hazardous waste characteristics set
forth in Section 25.0.13 are defined too broadly and should
be restricted to only those definitions accepted by the
-------
446
47
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
scientific community which are based upon or substantiated
by standard testing protocols which are validated by vol-
untary consensus standard setting groups, exclusive of EPA.
If the proposed characteristics are retained,
many common materials will be classified as hazardous.
For example, some carbonated beverages such as colas, which
have pH's between 2 and 3, would be considered corrosive
and thus hazardous.
The characteristics of hazardous wastes should
be revised to include only waste which is significantly
more hazardous than municipal refuse.
Proposed Section 250.14 is a helpful approach
in listing hazardous wastes to the extent it lists truly
hazardous wastes and waste-producing processes. However,
waste should be included in or deleted from the list set
forth in this section exclusively on the basis of validated
characteristics set forth in Section 250.13.
At the outset of the preamble to the proposed
Section 3004 regulations, EPA states its intent to pro-
mulgate such performance standards for owners and operators
of hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facili-
ties as may be necessary to protect human health and the
environment. Nevertheless the proposed regulations rely
on design and operating standards which provide little
flexibility for innovative or equivalent designs.
-------
48
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
44?
This is critically important to existing facili-
ties attempting to meet interim status requirements. Se-
veral of the interim status requirements include notes
providing alternative relief from, atstandard. As practical
relief the notes fall short since they are supplied in
limited number of sections.
As a consequence, the inflexible-^use of speci-
fication standards will cause many existing well-designed
and environmentally sound facilities to be not in compli-
ance. The regulations should allow for greater flexibility
by providing that a facility will not be required to meet
the design and operating standards if it can show either
(a) that it meets the health and environmental standards
in Proposed Section 250042, or Ob) tnat it will achieve
performance substantially equivalent to that achieved by
prescribed design and operating standards.
To achieve this end it is recommended that
proposed Section 250.40 (d) 2 Cii) (A) be deleted.
Thank you for the opportunity of allowing me to
make these comments.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
Will you be willing to answer questions from
the panel?
MR. JESSEE: I'll certainly try.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
-------
49
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
448
MR. ROBERTS: I just have one very brief ques-
tion or comment about your testimony on carbonated beverages
and under 49CFR 173.307, carbonated beverages are not sub-
ject to regulations of the Hazardous Materials Transporta-
tion Act,
MR. JESSEE: Thank you.
MR. LEHMAN: Also I'd join in there and say
that carbonated beverages are a commodity and not a waste
and therefore not subject to control under Subtitle C
of RCRA but that may be not what your point was.
If 1 may ask you a question, Mr. Jessee, to
elaborate on your comment regarding the exemption level
of 100 kilograms per month. You said, first of all, that
the degree of hazard should be addressed in that area.
MR., JESSEE: Yes, sir.
MR. LEHMAN: And then secondly, that the level
should be increased for less hazardous waste.
MR. JESSEE: Yes.
MR. LEHMAN: Could you comment on those two as-
pects a little more? In other words, on what basis would
the degree of hazard be made and what level should the le-
vel be increased to for the less hazardous wastes?
MR. JESSEE: Over the last couple of days I know
this has come up several times and I know that the Agency
is wrestling with this and all I could say at this point is
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
449
we are, too, and if we come up with something prior to
March 16 that makes sense and we think you would be wanting
to see, we will certainly submit it.
MR, FIELDS: Couple questions.
You mentioned that the design and operating
standards provide little flexibility for alternative stan-
dards. One of the problems you had was with incineration.
Can you specifically indicate which standards
specifically you're having problems in that area? Could
you be more specific? You made a statement "alternatives
don't provide enough flexibility". Do you have any
specific standards in mind?
MR. JESSEE: I can cite maybe a couple of exam-
ples and, then, one general comment along that line.
The subject of flexibility or inflexibility comes
up in. that — if you would look at financial requirements,
the regulations presume there's only one way to handle it.
If you will look at certain portions of the one dealing
with incinerators, the efficiency or the burn-efficiency
in it, -.: decomposition levels required in the incinerators
are pretty well fixed and we are wrestling with the practi-
cal availability of something that will perform that well,
dealing with certain materials that we would want to in-
cinerate.
As to the burn-efficiency, as to the total decom-
position achieved and as a general comment, the section
-------
450
51
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
that deals with the fact that only in the place where there
is a note can the administrator deal with anything else
will lead to what I think we all experience in regulations,
that there's something that you haven'-t thought about, we
haven't thought about, the permit writer hasn't thought
about, and the plant or the industry or the facility that's
bein.g considered is going to discover it, that in the ab-
sence of a note, it*s cast in stone. And that's our —
would be a general overall concern.
MR. FIELDS: Are you saying that the combustion
efficiency and construction efficiency numbers, you should
be specifying those or you don*t agree with the numbers?
MR. JESSEE: We have a concern that, as a prac-
tica.1 matter, the large scale industrial equipment may
not exis-t, might not exist today in combination with some
scrubbing requirement that would accomplish that.
MR. FIELDS: So your question is to practicality?
MR. JESSEE: Yes, sir.
MR0 FIELDS: We'd like to have any data you can
send us in that area with your written comments. We
would appreciate it regarding what you think realistic
numbers should be*
I didn't get the last one you said-. Would you
repeat that?
MR. JESSEE: The coverall, as I see it, under
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
451
the note system is — I relate it to Section 25.0.40 (d) 2
(ii) CAJ., and it says that if there*s-. no note, it's inflexi-
ble. We're concerned overall, again, that there's some-
tning that you haven't thought of, we haven't thought of,
the permit writer hasn't thought of and when it comes down
to the wire, we'll discover some-.things that there should
be some — just room to move, if you will, and that Section
250.40 (d); 2 (ii) (A) doesn't give any. There's no
note, then it's cast in stone. And that affects financial
handling, that affects certain things I mentioned about the
incinerator, and I'm sure we're going to discover some-
thing out there that in your wisdom you haven't been able
to think of that's going to be an exception that there's
no way to handle ito
MR. CDRSON: Just following up, Mr. Jessee, with
the question Mr. Lehman asked earlier and, again, it's
the same question we've been asking all the time when
people have suggested as you have, some thought to the
concept of degree of hazard and so on. I'd appreciate
if you could, with your written testimony, submit what
you could. We'-re also concerned with any thoughts with ;:.
the degree of hazard.-".Also"'should we work to include some-
thing like that in 3001 and would have to be then carried
forward in a specific fashion in 300.4. Because 3004, even
as you have noted, with its note approach, does allow for
-------
452
1 some flexibility, as it appeared to me that we might end
2 up in a different kind of a problem than if we make the
3 concession at 3001, we might have to remove some flexibility
4 at 300.4.
5 MR, JESSEE: I can only comment in this manner,
6 that consistency is the thing you desire and the thing
7 that those of us who are regulated desire. We begin to
8 get into an area of the fact that a number of these things
9 are site-specific. And we have to believe that someplace
10 in our relationships that has to be resolved. I don't
11 know- how to do it,
12 MR, FIELDS: O.K.
13 MR. LINDSEY: In your response to Mr. Fields'
14 question earlier on, you mentioned that you had some pro-
15 blems with the financial requirements. Could you elaborate
16 a little more on, you know, what your problems are there?
17 MR. JESSEE: Oh, just the fact that as presently
18 stated, the regulations say "that's the only way". I
19 would think there might be other ways that would be per-
20 fectly acceptable to all parties concerned.
2i MR^ LINDSEY: O.K., I guess our intention here,
22 our concern here, is that we provide sufficient funds or
23 to assure that sufficient funds are available for closure
24 and for post-closure monitoring and maintenance. There
25 are a number of different ways that are allowed for the
-------
453
54
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
site-life liability requirements but for closure and post-
closure monitoring and maintenance, I guess we were unable
to come up with alternatives that we thought would be suf-
ficient or would do the job for us. I think if there were
some that we thought would be equivalent or provide an equi-
valent degree of protection or assurance, we would be wil-
ling to consider those. So if you can think of any, let
us know.
MR. JESSEE: All right..
MR. CORSON: Just one.more question.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Yes,
MR. CORSON: Just one more question, Mr. Jessee,
or one more comment, perhaps, with regard to something
you had said and r don't recall the exact words but it had
to do with your reference to our use of standards by volun-
tary- consensus- groups, if I recall the words, and I guess
we have — I personally have a couple of small problems.
One is that we — it's very difficult for us to
get a voluntary consensus group to respond in the time
and the fashion that we must with regards to the charge
we get from Congress in regard to the regulations.
MR0 JESSEE: I appreciate that.
MR. CORSON: Plus the fact, that only we were
charged with producing regulations, not a consensus group.
So that we have a particular premise — while thafcvmaycnot
-------
454
55
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
set the purposes for the group, we just can't provide that
direction. I'm wondering what you think we should do if
there are no such standards, whether your preference is
we would postpone regulations until such things are develop-
ed and how we would then meet. Our time requirements
would be-^certainly beyond our control.
MR. JESSEE: The only thing I could offer, Mr.
Corson, is the — something along what might be the possi-
bility of some corroborative round-robin-type tests. And
whether that's feasible at this date under the pressures
I understand and we appreciate you're under, I don't know
whether that's possible or not.
MR. LEHMAN: Mr. Jessee, I'm trying to paraphrase
what one of your remarks was and I hope I paraphrase it
correctly. I don't know, but this leads to a question,
if I understood your remarks, you were saying basically
that the design and operating standard approach was too
restrictive and inflexible and that you suggested that the
Agency go to a performance standard-type of approach for
regulations under the facility standards. Arid so I would
ask you what explicitly did you have in mind in terms
of performance standards? I mean we talked for awhile here
just now about destruction efficiencies with respect to
incinerators and in a way that is a performance statute.
MR. JESSEE: You misunderstood what I said.
-------
MR, LEHMAN: Oh, O.K.
2
MRo JESSEE: I didn't say what you interpreted
3
I said.
4 MR. LEHMAN: Well, O.K. We'll let it drop then,
5 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you, Mr. Jessee.
By the way, would you give a copy of your state-
ment to the court reporter?
8 MR. JESSEE: Yes.
9 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., thank you.
10
Let me just make that an insert, which I don't
11 think I mentioned. If you do have an extra copy, if you
^2 could give a copy to the court reporter before you speak,
13 it would help us. If you have any extra copies for the
14 panel, that would also be great.
!5 CWhereupon, the aforementioned statement was
16 made part of the official record.)
17 HEARING INSERT
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
-------
STATEMENT OF GENE L, JESSEE,
DIRECTOR, ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES,
ON BEHALF OF MONSANTO COMPANY REGARDING
THE PROPOSED EPA HAZARDOUS WASTE REGULATIONS
UNDER SECTIONS 3001 AMD 3004 OF THE
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT OF 1976,
ST, Louis, MISSOURI
FEBRUARY 15, 1979
-------
I AM PLEASED TO APPEAR HERE TODAY ON BEHALF OF MONSANTO
COMPANY TO COMMENT ON THE PROPOSED RCRA, SECTION 3001 AND
3004 REGULATIONS WHICH APPEARED IN THE DECEMBER 18, 1978
FEDERAL REGISTER BEGINNING ON PAGE 58946,
MONSANTO is A BROAD BASED CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY
WITH.MANUFACTURING PLANTS LOCATED IN 28 STATES AND WILL BE
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THESE REGULATIONS,
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCEDURE CONTAINED IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER. WE WILL SUBMIT DETAILED WRITTEN COMMENTS
ON THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS, TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS
UPON CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS WHICH ARE
OF PARTICULAR CONCERN TO MONSANTO,
-------
-2-
FlRST, I WOULD LIKE TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION A PROBLEM
WHICH IS PERVASIVE THROUGHOUT THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS,
THIS CONCERNS THE FAILURE TO TREAT WASTE DIFFERENTLY BASED
UPON THE TYPE OF HAZARD AND THE LEVEL OF THE PARTICULAR
HAZARD, FOR EXAMPLE, CONSIDER A HIGHLY TOXIC WASTE MATERIAL
LIKE CYANIDE WASTE AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, AN INDUSTRIAL
FLAMMABLE WASTE MATERIAL LIKE METHANOL, CYANIDE WASTE
PRESENTS A CONSTANT HAZARD TO HEALTH AND TO THE ENVIRONMENT
IN AND OF ITSELF, IT DOES, THEREFORE, CLEARLY REQUIRE
SPECIAL CARE, STORAGE, HANDLING AND DISPOSAL, METHANOL, ON
THE OTHER HAND, PRESENTS A HAZARD TO HEALTH OR THE ENVIRONMENT
ONLY WHEN EXPOSED TO AN IGNITION SOURCE IN AN UNCONTROLLABLE
MANNER, IT CAN BE DISPOSED OF QUITE SAFELY IN NORMAL UTILITY
BOILERS, YET, BOTH THE HIGHLY TOXIC CYANIDE WASTE AND THE
FLAMMABLE METHANOL WASTE ARE DESIGNATED AS "HAZARDOUS" UNDER
-------
-3-
THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS REQUIRING SPECIAL GENERATOR, TRANS-
PORTER AND DISPOSER CARE,
THIS BLANKET TREATMENT OF WASTE WILL SIGNIFICANTLY
INCREASE THE QUANTITY OF HAZARDOUS WASTE AND, WE BELIEVE,
CREATE A SEVERE SHORTAGE IN SITES FOR DISPOSAL OF VERY
HAZARDOUS WASTE,
IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT WASTE BE GROUPED IN A MANNER
WHICH RECOGNIZES DIFFERENCES IN THE NATURE AND SEVERITY OF
THE HAZARD A WASTE PRESENTS, AND THE PERSISTENCE OF THE
WASTE, THE PROPOSED EXEMPTION OF 100 KILOGRAMS PER MONTH
SHOULD BE INCREASED FOR LESS HAZARDOUS WASTE, THIS WOULD
ALLOW A TIGHT CONTROL ON VERY HAZARDOUS WASTE WHICH PRESENT
A CONSTANT HAZARD IN AND OF THEMSELVES AND AT THE SAME TIME,
-------
REDUCE THE NUMBER OF INSIGNIFICANT GENERATORS BY RAISING THE
EXCLUSION QUANTITY FOR LESS HAZARDOUS WASTE WHICH MAY POSE A
SUBSTANTIAL HAZARD ONLY WHEN IMPROPERLY TREATED, STORED, OR
DISPOSED, THIS WILL HELP MINIMIZE THE QUANTITY OF HAZARDOUS
WASTE AND AVOID A FUTURE SHORTAGE OF SITES FOR DISPOSAL OF
VERY HAZARDOUS WASTE,
ANOTHER CONCERN WITH THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS is SECTION 250,10(t)
WHICH REQUIRES CLARIFICATION THAT MATERIALS BURNED PRIMARILY
FOR HEAT RECOVERY ARE NOT CONSIDERED "OTHER DISCARDED MATERIAL,"
REGULATING THESE VALUABLE COMMERCIAL MATERIALS WOULD IMPOSE
THE STRINGENT INCINERATOR STANDARD (PROPOSED SECTION 250,41)
ON THE BOILER WHICH UTILIZES THEM, THERE ARE NUMEROUS
SITUATIONS WHEN RESIDUES FROM A PROCESS ARE BURNED IN HEAT
RECOVERY FACILITIES TO SUPPLY ENERGY NEEDS OF A PROCESS OR '
-------
-5-
OTHER PARTS OF THE PLANT, THE INCINERATOR STANDARDS, AS
PRESENTLY WORDED, WILL REDUCE THE USE OF SUCH MATERIALS AND
DEPRIVE THE PLANT OF A VALUABLE ENERGY SOURCE,
ALONG THE SAME LINES, WE RECOMMEND THAT PROPOSED SECTION
250,lCKb) (2)(ii), WHICH IMPROPERLY INCLUDES SPECIFIED OILS
WHICH ARE "BURNED AS A FUEL/' BE DELETED FROM THE DEFINITION
OF "OTHER DISCARDED MATERIAL," THIS INCLUSION SEEMS WITHOUT
STATUTORY BASIS AND IS CONTRARY TO THE PLAIN MEANING OF THE
TERM "DISCARDED,"
THE PROPOSED HAZARDOUS WASTE CHARACTERISTICS SET FORTH
IN SECTION 250,13 ARE DEFINED TOO BROADLY AND SHOULD BE
-------
-6-
RESTRICTED TO ONLY THOSE DEFINITIONS ACCEPTED BY THE SCIENTIFIC
COMMUNITY WHICH ARE BASED UPON, OR SUBSTANTIATED BY, STANDARD
TESTING PROTOCOLS WHICH ARE VALIDATED BY VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS
STANDARD SETTING GROUPS EXCLUSIVE OF EPA, IF THE PROPOSED
CHARACTERISTICS ARE RETAINED, MANY COMMON MATERIALS WILL BE
CLASSIFIED AS HAZARDOUS, FOR EXAMPLE, SOME CARBONATED
BEVERAGES, SUCH AS COLAS, WHICH HAVE PHs BETWEEN 2 AND 3
WOULD BE CONSIDERED CORROSIVE AND THUS "HAZARDOUS," THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE SHOULD BE REVISED TO
INCLUDE ONLY WASTE WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE HAZARDOUS
THAN MUNICIPAL REFUSE,
PROPOSED SECTION 250,14 is A HELPFUL APPROACH IN LISTING
HAZARDOUS WASTE TO THE EXTENT IT LISTS TRULY HAZARDOUS WASTE
AND WASTE PRODUCING PROCESSES, HOWEVER, WASTE SHOULD BE
-------
-7-
INCLUDED IN OR DELETED FROM THE LIST SET FORTH IN THIS
SECTION EXCLUSIVELY ON THE BASIS OF VALIDATED CHARACTERISTICS
SET FORTH IN SECTION 250,13,
A.T THE OUTSET OF THE PREAMBLE TO THE PROPOSED SECTION 3004
REGULATIONS, EPA STATES ITS INTENT "TO PROMULGATE SUCH
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS
WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES,,,, AS MAY
BE NECESSARY TO PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT,"
NEVERTHELESS, THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS RELY HEAVILY ON
DESIGN AND OPERATING STANDARDS WHICH PROVIDE LITTLE FLEXIBILITY
FOR INNOVATIVE OR EQUIVALENT DESIGNS, THIS IS CRITICALLY
IMPORTANT TO EXISTING FACILITIES ATTEMPTING TO MEET INTERIM
STATUS REQUIREMENTS, SEVERAL OF THE INTERIM STATUS REQUIRE-
MENTS INCLUDE "NOTES" PROVIDING ALTERNATIVE RELIEF FROM A
-------
-8-
STANDARD, As PRACTICAL RELIEF THE "NOTES" FALL SHORT SINCE
THEY ARE SUPPLIED IN A LIMITED NUMBER OF SECTIONS, A.S A
CONSEQUENCE., THE INFLEXIBLE USE OF SPECIFICATION STANDARDS
WILL CAUSE MANY EXISTING, WELL DESIGNED AND ENVIRONMENTALLY
SOUND FACILITIES TO BE NOT IN COMPLIANCE, THE REGULATIONS
SHOULD ALLOW FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY BY PROVIDING THAT A
FACILITY WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO MEET THE DESIGN AND OPERATING
STANDARDS IF IT CAN SHOW EITHER (A) THAT IT MEETS THE HEALTH
AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS IN PROPOSED SECTION 250,42, OR
(B) THAT IT WILL ACHIEVE PERFORMANCE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT
TO THAT ACHIEVED BY PRESCRIBED DESIGN AND OPERATING STANDARDS,
TO ACHIEVE THIS END, IT IS RECOMMENDED PROPOSED SECTION
250.40(d)(2)(li)(A) BE DELETED,
-------
456
57
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next speaker will be
Gilbert W, Fuller, The Empire District Electric Company.
STATEMENT OF GILBERT W. FULLER
MR. FULLER: Madam Chairperson, the Hearing
Committee, my name is Gilbert W. Fuller. I'm appearing
here in behalf of The Empire District Electric Company,
Jopli'n, Missouri, with, the responsibility of Superintendent
of Environmental Engineering and Liajaoa for the company.
The Empire District Electric Company is an in-
vestor-owned electric utility company with corporate head-
quarters in Joplin, Missouri.
The company service area is approximately 10,000
square miles in the four-state area, Missouri, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Arkansas. The company is small, capacity-wise,
compared to its pool connected neighbors with 64 per cent
of its present generating capacity producing approximately '
70 per cent of the on-system energy requirements, utilizing
coal as the fuel.
In 1980 the picture changes slightly with 69
per cent of the generating — or the generation producing
approximately 75 per cent of the requirements by using
coal fuel.
Presently the company manages, coal fuel ash dis-
posal in clay bottom ash ponds at two different generating
sites, approximately 30 miles apart. One in southeast
-------
457
58
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Kansas and the other in southwest Missouri.
The Missouri plant generation site burns, area
coal, predominantly Missouri coal, with a mine-mouth opera-
tion adjacent to the plant.
The Kansas plant burns Oklahoma coal.
This year the Missouri plant, Asbury plant by
name, will produce in excess of 100,000 tons of bottom
and flyash, which go to ponds on the property.
Also this year, the Kansas plant, Riverton plant,
will produce approximately 18,000 tons of ash which will
be sluiced to one of the two ash ponds on this property.
In 1980, the company will be involved in the
operation of the first new unit of the latan Plant jointly
owned by several companies and located in northwest Mis-
souri .
Our company will assume its portion of the joint'
responsibility of ash disposal on this property,. This
unit; will be burning coal from the Colorado-Wyoming area0
Our company's 12 per cent responsibility of the coal fuel
ash will mean another 22,000 tons annually.
It is- not the intent of the company that this
statement be detailed in nature insofar as constructive
criticism of the guidelines and the regulations proposed.
But rather to share concerns of a general nature and scope.
Insofar as our industry -is concerned, there have
-------
458
1 been and are and will be numerous organized efforts to
2 address the guidelines and regulations in considerable de-
3 tail. For instance, EEI, EPRI, USWAG and others.
4 Our company has a one-person environmental de-
5 partment and that person has to function as the general
6 practitioner. The ash produced by the operation of the
7 company's coal-burning plants is believed to be very low-
8 risk material and does not endanger the health and welfare
9 of employees, neighbors and the environment,
10 The company has been discouraged to date to uti-
11 lize the ash from the Kansas plant because to do so would
12 require a permit and the implementation of an ash manage-
13 ment program.
14 Years past the ash was utilized in the rebuilding
15 of numerous cinder tracks and through the efforts of private
16 research groups found to possess desirable qualities that
17 could promote and enhance commercial ventures.
18 Utilization was discouraged and of late not
19 fostered because of the state permit liability.
20 The company has been able to utilize a portion
2i of the ash from the Missouri plant. In fact, ash from
22 this plant is going across the state line into Kansas and
23 being utilized in roadway constructions,
24 The ash characteristics- make it possible to con-
25 serve considerable oil that would normally be used in con-
-------
3
It appears that the RCRA amended Solid Waste
4
Disposal Act severely threatens the prospective utilization
and interim on-site storage of a coal fuel ash. The
6
wording in the subject EPA document serves to place and
apply its statement on this material that will discourage
8
commercial utilization of coal fuel ash.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
459
vention asphaltic concrete.
The company to date, in Missouri, has not been
burdened with a detailed ash management program.
That document states that flay ash, bottom ash,
and scrubber sludge are special wastes and implies that
they are a hazardous waste by stating that the Agency is
calling such high volume hazardous waste, special waste
and is professing to regulate it witn special standards.
Further, on Page 58993 this statement appears:
"A proposed ruling will be published at a later date
regarding treatment, storage and disposal of sped-al wastes."
Are we, as producers of coal fuel ash, to ,,.
anticipate being prospective permittees and storage facility
operators? Are we to proceed to prove that ash we
produce is nonhazardous and does not threaten human health
and the environment, when the material has already been
declared hazardous?
The company believes Subpart F, the statement,
-------
460
61
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
"Program requirements will be extremely important, Deci-
sions- by the states on a case-by<-case will ultimately for-
mulate a workable program. Allowing states to utilize
suitable alternate testing methods is recommended."
The company concurs that utility coal fuel ash
should receive separate treatmentf with the present em-
phasis on coal as a primary fuel and the fact there is
no reasonable probability of adverse effects on health
and/or the environment with the disposal of the ash from
these properties.
With an ever increasing need for adequate, cooling
water, for condensers, steam electric generated plants,
many future facilities will need to be sited in the 100-
year-flood-plain. On-site storage and disposal of both
the bottom and fly ash especially should be allowed, from
a reasonable engineering standpoint when, of course,"pro-
vided with adequate diking and control.
Historically both bottom ash and fly ash have
been disposed of on-site and on the immediate property
owned by the utility with no problem of consequence or
import.
Projection of the problems facing the electric
utilities in the area of disposing of coal ash material
is unknown and fraught with liabilities. It has become
obvious to the company that from the standpoint of the
-------
461
62
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
current national energy policy that continued utilization
of coal as a primary fuel for both existing and projected
plants must be encouraged. History substantiates that
utilities have adequately handled its waste problem and
should have separate consideration to .avoid unnecessary
expense to the rate payers.
Thank yo.u,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you.
Would you be willing to respond to questions
from the panel?
MR. FULLERi•: Sure.
MR. LINDSEY: Mr. Fuller, I guess there seems
to be some — I think there may be some confusion.
We do not list — I guess I got a couple of things
I want to point out and then I do have one questions We
do not — and one of the observations I make is that we
do not list fly ash as a hazardous waste in here. But in-
formation which we have, some preliminary information that
we have, indicates.that occasionally fly ash does fail, if
you will, the characteristics testsswe have under Section
250,13, specifically with the leaching of heavy metals,
I guess. Not always but sometimes, apparently.
In recognition of that, the fact that it some-
times does but not usually, and the hazard level, when it
does exceed those limits it's relatively low. Plus the
-------
63
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
462
fact the high volumes of this particular waste plus the
fact that the standards which we have under 3004 for other
hazardous wastes don't seem amenable to this kind of mater-
ial. We have listed them as a special waste and said that
we need to do some more studying to determine whether and
how to fully regulate these things„
Now I guess the problem I have is that what you
seem to be suggesting is that we delete this particular
waste stream from a special waste category and if we were
to do that, then any time that the fly ash were to fail
the criteria or the characteristics under Section 3001,
they would be subject to the full set of requirements. And
I don't think that's what you're getting at.
MR. FULLER: No, Mr0 Lindsey, I respectfully say
that — I mean I've heard you, I've been here at the
meeting, and I heard you make the statement several times
in clarification, and it still is a problem with me be-
cause the words ,£ieiieitedc. right from the paper, and it
says that is a hazardous waste and, you know, those words
are right there just as I read them.
MR. LINDSEY: O.K., it says, "Which is determined
to be—
MR. JESSEE (interrupting): "that they are a
hazardous waste", yes.
MR. LINDSEY (continuing?: —which is determined tc
-------
65
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
463
be a hazardous waste under 250.13, Subpart A," meaning
if they fail the criteria. If they don't, fail the criteria^
they are not a hazardous waste. Maybe that's not clear.
MR. FULLER: The words say that they are high
volume hazardous waste, special waste.
MR. LINDSEY: You must be in the preamble. O.K.,
well, maybe we need to clarify that.
MR,. FULLER: It's there and I can point it out
to you. I mean, I didn't bring it up here with me, I've
been waiting for you to say you don^t really mean that
and I haven't heard you say that so I want to point it to
you right now.
MR. LINDSEY: Unless it fails the criter— char-
acteristics under 25.0.13, it is not a hazardous waste in-
so far as the regulations are concerned. And the implica-
tion through the wording somewhere tends to give that
impression, that it's always a hazardous waste—
MR, FULLER (^interrupting) : Now, what I'm really
asking for is that you understand it, we understand it.
MR. LINDSEY: 00K.
MR. FULLER: I want to be sure that, you know,
that they get cleaned up and at this point the general
public, you know, because it is- there.
MR. LINDSEY: O.K., we'll take another look at
the wording and try to clarify that if we can. S8-:---Sbtit-"-fehe
-------
464
66
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
intent is that if it only fails the characteristics of
the hazardous waste under Subpart A,
MR. CORSON: I just wanted to follow up on that
and again I wish you would and certainly may follow up
later, indicate to us because as we read it, the preamble,
we say "some portion of certain high volume wastes might
be hazardous" because the regulation is clear.
But the other thing you did indicate in your
comments, Mr. Fuller, that you feel your wastes are a low-
risk, I-'m wondering whether you might have some data
which tells us the characteristics of your ash, both
the fly ash and bottom ash, as well as the sludge.. And
particularly^ if you have any tests you may have run on
the wastes that we might, you know, if you'd, share that
with us so that we can look at it, rt would help us build
our data base to possibly further identify those wastes
which are of concern. So I'd certainly appreciate it if
you'd do that.
Also I have a problem — you indicated, I be-
lieve, and r forget, which one of the two states it was
but in one of the states, apparently, you require a per-
mit?
MR. FULLER: Kansas.
MR, CORSON: What is the purpose of that permit?
Could you tell me why or what it is that the permit is for?
-------
67
465
MR. FULLER: Just their interpretation. I kept
asking, I said, "What does it take to be in compliance
with their solid waste management program?"
MR, CORSON: Somewhere in their solid waste
regulation they feel that ash requires some special control?
6 MR. FULLER: Well, they say that if I don't re-
7 move any over the sides of the ponds, I'll never need
8 a permit. But as long as I leave it in storage on-site,
9 It's- when I lift that first bucketful across the dike is
10 when I change status and require a permit. That's why
I've discouraged usage of that particular ash,
12 MR, FIELDS: One question.
13 MR. FULLER: O.K0
14 MR. FIELDS: I think you alluded to this in
15 . your presentation, it wasn't clear, following up on Fred
16 Lindsey, if certain fly ash or bottom ash is hazardous
17 waste, do you have any particular problem with the special
18 waste standards for utility wastes in the current regs?
19 MR. FULLER: You mean the running—
20 MR. FIELDS (interrupting): The standards, them-
2i selves. The standards on reporting, do you have any
22 problems with the standards that would be applicable to
23 those portions of the fly ash that were hazardous? Do
24 you have any problem with those standards?
25 MR. FULLER: Not in particular no,
MS, DARRAH: Thank you very much.
-------
466
68
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
(^hereupon the statement of the aforementioned
speaker was made part of the formal record,!.
HEARING INSERT
-------
Statement Made Regarding EPA Proposed Hazardous
Waste Regulations at Public Hearing, February 14-16,
1979, St. Louis, Missouri
by The Empire District Electric Company
The Empire District Electric Company is an investor-
owned electric utility company with Corporate Headquarters
in Joplin, Missouri. The Company's service area is
approximately 10,000 square miles in the four-state
area of Missouri - Kansas - Oklahoma - Arkansas. The
Company is small, capacity-wise, compared to its pool
connected neighbors with 64% of its present generating
capacity producing approximately 70% of the on-system
energy requirements utilizing coal as the fuel. In
1980, the picture changes slightly with 69% of the
generation producing approximately 75% of the require-
ments by using coal fuel.
Presently the Company manages coal fuel ash dis-
posal in clay bottom ash ponds at two different genera-
tion sites approximately 30 miles apart, one in S.E.
Kansas and the other in S.W. Missouri. The Missouri
plant, generation site, burns area coal, predominately
Missouri coal from a mine-mouth operation adjacent to
the plant. The Kansas plant burns Oklahoma coal.
This year the Missouri plant, Asbury Plant by name,
-------
- 2 -
will produce in excess of 100,000 tons of bottom and
flyash which will go to ponds on the property. Also,
this year, the Kansas Plant, Riverton Plant, will
produce approximately 18,000 tons of ash which will
be sluiced to one of the two ash ponds on this property.
In 1980, the Company will be involved in the
operation of the first new unit of the latan Plant
jointly owned by several companies and located in
N.W. Missouri. Our Company will assume its portion
of the joint responsibility of ash disposal on the
property. This unit will be burning coal from the
Colorado-Wyoming area. Our Company's 12% responsibility
for the coal fuel ash will mean another 22,000 tons
annually.
It is not the intent of the Company that this
statement be detailed in nature insofar as constructive
criticism of the guidelines and regulations proposed, but
rather to share concerns of a general nature and scope.
Insofar as our industry is concerned there have been,
are, and will be numerous organized efforts to address
the guidelines and regulations in considerable detail,
i.e., EEI, EPRI, USWAG, and others. Our Company has a
one person environmental department and that person
-------
- 3 -
has to function as a general practioner.
The ash produced by the operation of the Company's
coal burning plants is believed to be very low risk
material and does not endanger the health and welfare
of employees, neighbors, and the environment. The
Company has been discouraged to date to utilize the
ash from the Kansas plant because to do so would require
a permit and the implementation of an ash management
program. Years past the ash was utilized in the re-
building of numerous "cinder tracks" and through the
efforts of private research groups found to possess
desirable qualities that could promote and enhance
commercial ventures. Utilization was discouraged and
of late not fostered because of the State permit liability,
The Company has been able to utilize a portion of
the ash from the Missouri plant, in fact ash from this
plant is going across the State line into Kansas and
being utilized in roadway construction. The ash charac-
teristics make it possible to conserve considerable oil
that would normally be used in conventional asphaltic
concrete. The Company, to date in Missouri, has not
been burdened with a detailed ash management program.
-------
- 4 -
It appears that the RCRA amended Solid Waste
Disposal Act severely threatens the prospective
utilization and interum on-site storage of coal fuel
ash. The wording in the subject EPA document serves
to place an applied stigma on this material that will
discourage commercial utilization of coal fuel ash.
The document states that fly ash, bottom ash, and
scrubber sludge are Special Wastes and implies that
they are a hazardous waste by stating that the Agency
is calling such high .volume hazardous waste "Special
Waste" and is progressing to regulate it with special
standards.
Further, on page 58993, this statement appears,
"A proposed rulemaking will be published at a later
date regarding the treatment, storage, and disposal of
special waste."
Are we, as producers of coal fuel ash to anticipate
being prospective permittees and storage facility
operators? Are we to proceed to prove that ash we
produce is non-hazardous and does not threaten human
health and the environment when the material has already
been declared hazardous?
The Company believes the Sub Part F, the State
Program Requirements, will be extremely important.
-------
- 5 -
Decisions by the States on a case-by-case basis will
ultimately formulate a workable program. Allowing
States to utilize suitable alternate testing methods
is recommended.
The Company concurs that utility coal fuel ash
should receive separate treatment with the present
emphasis on coal as a primary fuel and the fact there
is no reasonable probability of adverse effects on
health and/or the.environment with the disposal of
the ash from these properties. With an ever-increasing
need for adequate cooling water for condensers of steam
electric generating plants, many future facilities will
need to be sited in the 100 year flood plain. On-site
storage and disposal of both the bottom and fly ash
especially should be allowed from a reasonable engineering
standpoint when, of course, provided with adequate diking
and control. Historically, both bottom ash and fly ash
have been disposed of on-site and on the immediate property
owned by the utilities with no problem of consequence or
importance.
Projection of the problems facing the electric
utilities in the area of disposing of coal ash material
-------
- 6 -
is unknown and fraught with liabilities. It has become
obvious to the Company that from the standpoint of
the current national energy policy that continued
utilization of coal as a primary fuel for both existing
and projected plants must be encouraged. History
substantiates that utilities have adequately handled
its waste problem and should have separate consideration
to avoid unnecessary expense to the rate payers.
Yours truly,
Gilbert W. Fuller
Superintendent of
Environmental Engineering
& Liaison
-------
467
69
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: The next speaker tonight
will be Betty Wilson from The League of Women Voters of
Missouri,
MS. WILSON: I've got three copies that are
somewhat briefer than my final version if they will help.
STATEMENT OF BETTY WILSON
MS, WILSON: Members of the Panel, I am Betty
Wilson of St. Louis County, speaking on behalf of the
Lea.gue of Women Voters of Missouri,
The League is vitally concerned about the conse-
quences of improper management of hazardous materials.
The League in Missouri worked for adequate legislation in
1977 to establish a state program. We do not want unneces-
sary delay but there are some changes that we see as nec-
essary to achieve the intent of the Missouri and Federal
Laws,
Our primary objection to the proposed regulations
is the exemption of generators, 25.0.40, by the volume of
waste produced. We do not have the technical background
to offer the solution but we recommend that the classifica-
tion of waste be further divided so that total tracking of
the most hazardous materials is required except for the
Congressional exclusions.
Recognizing limits to program startup, we would
prefer a year or two delay before bringing less hazardous
-------
468
70
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
wastes into the system. We are aware of 3 program in Mary-
land which classifies waste, both by degree of hazard and
the concentration of hazardous substance in the waste.
We concur with this type of classification system.
After refining the classification system, re-
porting time should be shortened for substances with the
greatest potential for health and environmental damage and
left at the proposed one year for the less harmful waste,
25.0.2.3,
For the waste that would not be reported under
the hazardous waste program and therefore required to be
sent to an approved disposal facility, we would suggest
there be a requirement for informal reporting to the state
agency responsible for the solid waste, disposal.
In this- transition time from open burning and
inadequate waste disposal to developing adequate facilities,
it is imperative that a well-designed and well-operated
site be selected and that the number of small generators
using a given site is within the tolerance of that
facility.
In regard to Section 3004, disposal facilities,
much of the specificity and therefore security for the
citizens of the siting regulations has- been removed from
drafts to the proposed regulations.
We believe the- exemption provisions in siting
-------
469
71
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
a facility are too loose and should be rewritten.
We do not believe it should be necessary to lo-
cate hazardous waste facilities in the flood plain, wet-
lands, critical habitats, on sole source aquifers or
within 200 feet of the property line.
Landfarming of hazardous waste is a complicated
problem. In the proposed regulations, toxic wastes are
not included in the excluded categories.
The guidelines are still to be written for
the wastes with genetic impairment or bioaccumulative
properties. And therefore they are not included.
The statement in the discussion that "EPA does
not have the data needed to make a definition of persis-
tent organics at this time" would justify omitting this
option or, at a minimum, placing the responsibility and
liability on anyone seeking a permit to landfarm hazardous
waste,
If there are to be permits for landfarming, the
burden of proof that there will be no health or environmen-
tal damage should be on the operator and at the experimen-
tal level for the first few years.
Many organic wastes do not contain appreciable
levels of heavy metals, could be landfarmed as the best
method of management, certain sludges, for example.
On the other hand, highly toxic nonbiodegradable
-------
470
72
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
wastes should not be landfarmed because of the potential to
enter the environment.
We hope that in these comments we have been able
to point up our feeling that there is- a need for a hazar-
dous waste classification system.
Thank you very much.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I realize you weren't try-
ing to give us really technical comments- but would you
try and answer questions for us?
MS, WILSON: 1*11 try but my technical informa-
tion is lacking,
MR. FIELDS: Ms. Wilson, you had one comment
regarding your site selection comment in general. We
have a problem, the most we have with everybody on stan-
dards in there is site selection criteria, but one of
the reasons is that, in the case of existing facility, now
some facilities are already handling hazardous wastes
and they would be handling it in an environmentally ac-
ceptable manner.
What would you do in the instance if, for ex-
ample, we didn't have a note and a facility was adequately
handling hazardous waste, there were no problems, he
had a track record of good environmental management and
the facility, for some reason, violated the 200-foot bump-
er zone, what would you propose that EPA do in the case of
-------
471
73
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
existing facilities that would be in violation of one or
more of these standards if there was no note maximum?
MS. WILSON: Well, I'm not sure. What would you
do?
MR. FIELDS: I would do what I have here. That's
why we have these notes. That's one of the reasons. Be-
cause we want to allow some flexibility in those kinds of
circumstances. But you indicate that you would not want
to have those notes. I was wondering how you handle —
you see the problem that we have.
MS. WILSON: I see the problem that you have and
I think we're probably not able to answer our own questions
in some of these cases.
MR. LEHMAN: Can I get a little clarification
from you, Ms. Wilson, about the last part of your statement?
I'm just not clear what your main point was in your dis-
cussion of landfarming. I think that maybe part of the
confusion is that there is a typo in the text here.
It says, "In the proposed regulation^ and then
you have a specific citation there but it doesn't track
with anything we have in our regulations. It must be a
typographical error.
MS. WILSON: You mean in the second sentence?
MR. LEHMAN: Yes.
MS. WILSON: I had trouble with that, too. I
-------
472
74
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
didn't do all of this by myself. This is some of it. I
never could find it so I crossed it out i,n my own copy.
But unfortunately I had not considered the fact that we
were going to give them to you, so I didn't cross them out
in all of them. So that*s it. That citing was a typo,
MR, LEHMAN: Aside from that, though, the main
thrust of your remarks, as I understand it, is that you be-
lieve that organic wastes with genetic impairment potential
or accumulative properties should not be landfarmed, isn't
that the general gist of your remarks, or atoleast it ought
to be under some sort of a special—
MS. WILSON (interrupting): Should be very care-
fully and very specially investigated before landfarming.
In fact, we thought that only a very few of the organic
wastes, and especially those that contain no metal at all,
should be landfarmed at all.
I think in terms of certain sewage sludges and
certain pesticides and so forth, it'-s probably acceptable.
But landfarming seems to us, at least, something that we
have to treat with great care.
MR0 TRASK: Ms. Wilson, you testified that you
thought that we ought to change our regulations to have
the effect of shortening the reporting period for certain
wastes which may have high degrees of hazard.
MS, WILSON: Ye.s0
-------
75
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MR, TRASK: I wonder if you could share with £s
some of your thoughts on what the characteristics of those
wastes might be or otherwise the names of some of.the wastes,
What exactly do you have in mind here?
MS. WILSON: r was thinking of some very hazar-
dous wastes such as PCB's.
MR0 TRASK: When you say like PCB's, you mean
wastes that have characteristics similar to PCB's? And
the PCB's, themselves? .
MS. WILSON: Yes, and wastes that are considered
to be extremely hazardous.
MR. TRASK: Well, as you know, we haven't done
that sort of a breakdown, a split between the different
kinds of wastes so the different hazards that we're dealing
withy we're searching for some split.
MS9 WILSON: I think that we're recommending,
trying to reccomend, that there be different classifications
and therefore that certain more hazardous wastes be treated
in a different manner from the less hazardous wastes0 And
I smmply give PCB's as an example because it's one that we
have dealt with in Missouri.
MR. TRASK: Are you going to send — are you
sending your comments later in writing or is this your
statement here?
MS0 WILSON: This is my statement..
-------
76
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MR. TRASK: All right, thank you.
MS0 WILSON: Thank you,
MR, CORSON: One comment, if I may, Ms, Wilson,
because, your answer to Harry kind of treated one of the
problems that we've been wrestling with. Because you
looked for the bad actor, bad waste, and then earlier on
in your comments to Mr, Lehman, you indicated or you indi
cated in your statement that you were concerned about
some possible carcinogens when you do landfarming.
By — we seem to be trying to read into it that
it would be very hazardous wastes when landfarmed, maybe
not very hazardous wastes when incinerated. So—
MS. WILSON Cinterrupting): Well, that must be
confusion in the way we've stated it because we felt that
certain wastes lent themselves to landfarming and the sun
and air and so forth might help take care of it. And the
danger to the surrounding environment would not be as
gceat, that there should be such criteria as that for
landfarming.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you very much,
(Whereupon, the aforementioned statement was
made part of the formal record,)
HEARING INSERT
-------
League of Women Voters of Missouri
2138 Woodson Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63114
Statement at the Public Hearing on
PROPOSED HAZARDOUS WASTE REGULATIONS
February 15, 1979
I am Betty Wilson of St. Louis County speaking on behalf of the League
of Women Voters of Missouri.
The League is vitally concerned about the consequences of improper manage-
ment of hazardous materials. The League in Missouri worked for adequate
.legislation in 1977 to establish a state program. We do not want unnecessary
delay, but there are some changes that we see as necessary to achieve the
intent of the Missouri and Federal laws.
Our primary objection to the proposed regulations is the exemption of
generators (250.40) by the volume of waste produced. We do not have the
technical background to offer the solution, but we recommend that the classifi-
cation of waste be further divided so that total tracking of the most hazardous
materials is required, except for the Congressional exclusions. Recognizing
limits to program start up, we would prefer a year or two delay before bringing
the less hazardous wastes into the system. We are aware of the program in
Maryland which classifies waste both by degree of hazard and theconcentration
of hazardous substances in the waste.
After refinirjg the classification system, reporting time could be shortened
for substances with the greatest potential for health and environmental damage
and left at the proposed one year for less harmful waste. (250.23)
For the waste that would not be reported under the hazardous waste program
and therefore required to be sent to an approved disposal facility (discussion
on page 58,970), we would suggest that there be a requirement for informal
reporting to the state agency responsible for solid waste disposal. In this transition
time from open burning and inadequate waste disposal to developing adequate
facilities, it is imperative that a well designed and well operated site be
selected and that the number of small generators using a given site is within
the tolerance of the facility.
Re: Section 3004 - Disposal facilities. Much of the specificity, and
therefore security for the citizen, of the siting regulations has been removed
from drafts to the proposed regulations. We believe the exemption provisions
-------
(250.43-1) in siting a facility are much too loose and should be rewritten.
We do not believe it should be necessary to site hazardous waste facilities
in the floodplain, wetlands, critical habitats, on sole source aquifers or
within 200 feet of the property line.
Landfarming of hazardous waste is a terrifying thought. In the proposed
regulations (250145.5), toxic wastes are not included in the excluded categories.
The guidelines are still to be written for the wastes with genetic impairment
or bioaccumulative properties, and therefore, they are not included. The
statement in the discussion (p.58,990) that "EPA does not have the data needed
to make a definition of persistant organics at this time" would justify
omitting this option or at a minimum placing the responsibility and liability
on anyone seeking a permit to landfarm hazardous waste. If there are to be
permits for landfarming, the burden of proof that there will be no health or
environmental damage should be on the operator and at the experimental level
for the first few years.
Thank you.
-------
475
77
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Is David Wilson here?
Is Richard Meunier from
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Is Marie Roberts here?
(No response. 1_
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH:
CNo response >}
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH:
The Farm Nuclear Study here?
MR. MEUNIER: Yes.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: I hope I didn't mispronounce
your name,
MR, MEUNIER: That's all right.
First I'd. like to ask the panel, it is my under-
standing that transportation of nuclear or radioactive
waste was to be included in this as a specialty, is that?
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Only to a very very limited
extent.
fits in?
Alan, if you want to explain under RCRA how it
MR. ROBERTS: We have two outstanding rule-making
actions regarding the transportation of nuclear materials.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: This is the Department of
Transportation speaking here.
MR., ROBERTS: One is a complete restatement of
the Department of Regulations from A to Zit on radioactive
materials transportation system in the proposed new Part
127 entitled 49CFR. Possibly you're addressing our Docket
-------
78
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
HN 164 which deals with the routing of radioactive materials,
MR, MEUNIER: Right.
MR. ROBERTS: This is not the subject of this
hearing.
MR. MEUNIER: Not the subject?
MR. ROBERTS: No, sir.
MR. MEUNIER,: Did that happen yesterday?
MR, ROBERTS: We have an open docket on it and
you're welcome to submit comments to the same address on
our ruling docket at the back of the room for transporta-
tion.
MR. MEUNIER: O.K.
MR0 ROBERTS: I forget the closing date of the
comment period. If you submit them within the next few
weeks, I'll cover you for sure,
MR. MEUNIER: 0,K.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Let me just explain, the
RCRA regulations cover hazardous waste but most nuclear
waste is not included under RCRA. That is within the
purview of another agency, so we do deal with some low
level nuclear wastes, some hospital wastes or some of
the other phosphate mining.
MR. ROBERTS: Are you talking about nuclear fuel?
MR. MEUNIER: About nuclear fuel in particular
or nuclear fuel just in general or any kind of low-level
-------
79
1 radioactivity, transporting that,
2 MR, ROBERTS: You're making a very broad com-
3 ment there. Then possibly there may be something here.
4 But if you're talking about uranium ore such as yellow
5 cake, then it's^ not the subject of this hearing.
6 MR. MEUINIER: I was under misunderstanding. I
7 thought—
8 MR. ROBERTS (interrupting): This hearing will
9 deal mainly with radium, material of that type, and not
10 get into enriched uranium, spent nuclear tools, or anything
11 of that type.
12 CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: If you have some comments
13 on — that seem to be applicable to low-level, transpor-
14 tation of low—level radioactive wastes, we'd be happy
15 to hear them.
16 STATEMENT OF RICHARD MEUNIER
17 MR. MEUNIER: Well, just that we've had several
18 hazardous waste spills in Missouri fairly recently. One
19 wasn't radioactive:wastes. It was a train spill in Stur-
20 geon. And we had a truck accident out here on 1-70 with
2i low-level. Now that was yellow cake and you say that's
22 not the subject here.
23 MR. ROBERTS: That was a load of specific radio-
24 active material. That is not the subject of this hearing.
25 That was virgin material and it was not lethal. '
-------
80
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MR, MEUNIER,: Yesf J- guess my question to the
panel here is you have no control of this. Is this totally
NRG or does the EPA have any kind of a say in what—
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: If you want to ask us those
kinds of questions, we'd be happy to talk to you after
the close of the hearing.
MR. MEUNIER: O.K., I rm sorry. I was understand-
ing that this was part of this hearing and that's what
my statements were going to pertain to,
MR, ROBERTS: Well, I do strongly suggest that if
you have something to say about the transportation of radio-
active materials, if it's the routing of radioactive ma-
terials — in other words, the route followed by the .ve-
hicles transporting those materials—
MR. MEUNIER (interrupting): Right.
MR. ROBERTS (continuing): —if you'd make a note,
jot down Docket 164. In the back of the room on the table
there is a document with my name and address on it, and
you may write to us and discuss, under Docket 164, the
routing of radioactive material.
If you want to talk on the other rulemaking
docket which is, like I said, A to Zit, the whole business
other than routing, you better give me your name and
address and I'll mail you the rulemaking. And it will
probably take you about a month to review it. .1- dpn't mean
-------
81
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
479
that facetiously. I mean that seriously,
MR. MEUNIER: Right.
MR. ROBERTS: If you started at the time it came
back, it would probably take you at least a month.
MR. MEUNIER: All right, thank you.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Thank you for coming.
Is there anybody else that would like to speak
or has comments on 3001, 2 or 4 of the RCRA regulations?
(No response.)
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Is anybody for the Coalition
for the Environment here?
MR; MEUNIER: I think their interest is the
same is mine. Maybe they found out before I did and
that's why they didn't show up.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., thank you.
O.K., we will close the official record of this
hearing and we'll pass out three by five cards if somebody
has — now for people who have not been here during the
daytime hearings, anybody here tonight who has questions
on how the regulations are meant to apply, if they are
not clear, if you need some help from us, write down your
questions and we'll have people bring them to us and try
to answer them,
(Seersepacateetca'fia czipt rf or rqueat ion and "answer
s}d.)
-------
SEPARATE TRANSCRIPT, .FOR QUESTION AND
ANSWER SESSION
St. Louis, Missouri
February 15, 1979
-------
480
82
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MR. ROBERTS: I have one. The handwriting looks
familiar. "Would you explain the requirements of proposed
Regulation 171.3 Ce}_, especially 171.3 (e) 3. We're
almost as bad as EPA, I think, on that.
And by the way, put on the table back here are
copies of our notice of proposed rulemaking and also there
are more than 100 of them down at the registration desk.
And I apologize but I was not here this afternoon. I
was having a lovely time touring the airport of Kansas
City and I finally came over from Kansas City by Greyhound
Bus. So I just couldn't make it this afternoon.
Proposed 171.3 deals with the preempted aspects
of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1964.
And I guess in the simplest way to say it is that in terms
of the transportation of materials, we are saying that
any state or local requirement that's inconsistent with
the Federal requirement for the transportation of hazardous
wastes is — I better read it because if I start to inter-
pret it before I read it, we might run into trouble.
What it says is, "With regard to a hazardous
waste subject to this subchapter, any requirement of a
state or its political subdivision is inconsistent with
this subchapter if it applies because that material is
a waste material and applies differently from or in addi-
tion to the requirements of this subchapter concerning
packaging, marking, labeling and placarding, or the format
-------
481
83
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
or content of discharge reports except immediate reports
for emergency response "—'- that's excluded from the pre-
emption, obviously- ,"or the format or contents of shipping
papers, except any additional requirements of the state
or locality of consignment, which is part of an authorized
state hazardous waste management program under 42USC692.6."
The simplest way to explain this is that we are
dealing with thousands of jurisdictions in the United
States. In order to have an orderly system for the move-
ment of hazardous waste to their authorized or permitted
disposal locations, chaos would prevail if every jurisdic-
tion within the United States would decide to write its
own rules.
Visualize the packaging of a given material and
it comes into some local jurisdiction and they decide they
want it in a concrete vault and then the next jurisdiction
says it has to be in a steel tank. And in many cases we
would have wastes in the transportation cycle for months
while we were just trying to move it through these juris-
dictions if everybody wrote their own rules.
One of the reasons why we've been very desirous
of actively participating in all these hearings with the
EPA, is to receive comments on our proposed rulemaking and
also consideration of our proposed rulemaking in regard
to the 800 pages of Federal regulations presently set forth
-------
482
84
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
for shippers and carriers of hazardous materials. We have
one of the fattest CFR's in the U. S. Government system,
including 400 pages of packaging specifications. Now that
doesn't mean that a state or local jurisdiction may not
be able to do a better job of specifying packaging but
we must have a consistent and harmonious system or chaos
would prevail. And I hope you will all understand that.
What we have done, though, we've recognized that
in the proposal, and it's already been objected to by
a number of commentors, we have recognized that destination
state may require certain additional information to be
set forth on the document relative to its aetermihatmon of
the appropriateness of the disposal of the material.
In other words, we've said, in terms of the
destination state, we are not requiring a preempted situa-
tion to exist if it's done under a state-authorized, auth-
orized state hazardous waste management program. And
I think someone from the EPA can explain that better than .1,
What this means is that when a man prepares
a document, say, in New Jersey and for some reason the
material is going to Ohio, the document prepared consis-
tent with the EPA and the DOT regulations for that material
would be acceptable in the state of Pennsylvania, an inter-
ception of that shipment within the state of Pennsylvania/':;
when it is only transiting that state, would be considered
-------
483
85
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
having the potential for being declared inconsistent under
the provisions of the Hazardous Materials Transportation
Act, However, the state of Ohio may have some require-
ments concerning the preparation of documents under its
state-approved plan and I would again suggest that some-
body from the EPA could explain some of the situations
that would illustrate the desirability of permitting that
type of requirement to exis.t..
And I must again emphasize at previous hearings
and some of the commentary, this has been strongly ob-
jected to from the standpoint of the railroad industry,
for example, I can understand some of the distress with
this proposal.
I believe that's just about as well as I'm able
to explain where we are on this particular part of the
scope and. application of the standard and I would be
delighted to answer further if I have not explained it
well enough.
On an earlier question that was raised deals
with tankcars. The commentor says, "Our plant receives
empty- railcars for the shipment of our products from our
plant. Frequently these empty cars contain up to several
hundred pounds of previous-ly shipped unknown materials.
Since railcars are frequently in. short supply, we must
empty the cars- or use them with the unknown material still
-------
484
86
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
in them, which is obviously unacceptable," I agree,
"We are therefore, frequently put in the position
of accumulation of other company's" —": then the word "waste"
is stricken ..-"products for our disposal.: Does EPA or DOT
have any recommendations on what we can do to resolve
this problem. Note: The railroad isn't interested in
keeping the material. Significant costs would be involved
in determining what this material is in order to adequately
comply with the RCRA regulations for disposal."
I think the only way I can answer that is that
if the inbound car contained a hazardous material subject
to DOT regulations and the car is not empty. Meaning in
our case, cleaned and purged, the car — if the car moves
out on the rails again, under Section 17.3.28, Paragraph
F, of our regulations, that car is subject to our regula-
tions in the same manner as when the car came in with a
full load, with one exception. At a certain level, a cer-
tain quantity of the material, and we are working on the
rulemaking to specify that, of the residue of the car,
they may turn the car and show the empty side of the
placard. Meaning when the empty placard in the railroad
industry means the car is not full and is virtually empty
of its contents. That's just about what it means. It
doesn't mean it's entirely empty or cleaned and purged. Or
otherwise the placard must be removed.
-------
87
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
485
As to how that material is dealt with, if they
clean the product from the car within the plant facility
and store it or do something with it — I again must re-
fer to my good neighbors here from the EPA as to what de-
termination would be done with that material.
I only deal with the transportation aspect of
these cars. And if they are on the plant facility and
the material is removed from the car, as to what happens
to it is not wxthin my purview.
"Do you see any way that DOT and EPA could de-
velop one regulation to cover transportation of hazardous
wastes rather than two regulations as proposed? What is
a way for a person who has not used DOT regs before to
develop a meaningful understanding of DOT regulations? Is
there a good summary document?"
First of all, if I'm not mistaken and, Mr. Trask,
I'm sure you'll correct me, there is an indication in the
EPA transporter document that there may be significant
modifications of that document if DOT proceeds to adopt
the regulations that it proposed last May 2.5. I believe
I'm correct on that.
MR. TRASK: That wording is in the proposal,
right.
MR. ROBERTS.: Maybe we ought to have a talk be-
fore we proceed.
-------
486
88
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I should point out that so far as the generator
part of DOT's. involvement, there's been a change in the
Act by the quad communities amendments, as I call them, of
a- few months ago. And where previously it talked about
regulations issued by the Secretary of Transportation under
the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, relative to
adoption of EPA rules, it used to say "Subtitle" meaning
Subtitle C and now it only refers to Section 300.3.
And of course most of our rulemaking deals with
matters that are covered by 3002 in terms of what the
shipper must do in giving the materials to the carrier.
Packaging, shipping documents, labeling, marking, things
of that type, EPA is no longer, as I see it, obligated
to promulgate regulations for generators that are consis-
tent with the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
And before somebody writes me a card and asks the
question about the origin of that modification, a few
months ago under the revision of this Act, I have no know-
ledge of how it was revised,, As a matter of fact, I was
not even aware of it until last week.
But I think if you look at the DOT and EPA pro-
posals, by and large, they are consistent, one with the
other. Obviously, in our case, we wrote them to fit within
the existing DOT regulations. So there are differences
in the language. But by and large, I think you will find
-------
48?
89
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
that they are very compatible„ If someone disagrees with
that, I think they should bring it to our attention.
As far as becoming aware of DOT regulations,
DOT holds seminars around the United States. We do make
some slots available at the Transportation Safety Insti-
tute in Oklahoma City to industry people who have a de-
sire to receive intensive training in this area. We have
regional and field offices around the United States,
hazardous material specialists. There is one in Kansas
City, Mr. Crowder from the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety,
who is a hazardous material specialist.
The first thing you must do if you're not fa-
miliar with this, though, is I would strongly recommend
get a copy of the regulations. And they are available
from the Superintendent of Documents and whoever asked
the question, later on I'11 be delighted to tell you how
to get it.
MR. CORSON: I have a three-part question.
"One of the main points of the past two days
of discussion has been a desire to classify wastes by
degree- of hazard. The League of Women Voters mentioned
that Maryland is- currently in the process of doing this.
Why aren't you following the example, if this is true,
since you keep asking for ways to do this?"
That does remind me, I should have thanked Ms.
-------
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
488
Wilson for reminding me about the Maryland work0
. But we did, in part of pur investigation leading
to the regulation as we have proposed it, looked at several
state regulations which looked at degree;: of hazard and
many of them were quite cumbersome and we felt required
quite a large amount of testing on each and every waste
to determine degree of hazard. We felt the approach which
we included in our December 18 proposal, which was to use
3001 as a yes-no gate^and then allow for the flexibility
of 3004 to accommodate to the waste-specific problems
with a site-specific solution to be an adequate answer to
the degree of hazard.
Now we did raise in the preamble the fact that
we will be looking, and we are, at relating degree of
hazard to the small quantity generation problem because
it does appear that, at least it certainly has been shown
in the last two days here and I think in New York, that
there is a fair amount of interest that relates to the
problem relating to small quantity at least, or the quan-
tity exclusion to various degrees of hazard we'11 be
looking at.
And we will certainly, at least now that we have
it on the record, it will be a visual reminder to review
the Maryland work and we will do s.o.
Second question: "Also isn't this a state which
-------
91
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1.0
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
489
classifies fly ash a natural resource, not a hazardous
waste?" And I cannot answer that question because I don't
know,
"Where may we view your data on fly ash leaching
studies.?" We have, between the work we have done in-house,
that's with a contractor, what we've done jointly and done
separately by the American Society £drr-Testi|ig::Materials,
has-'probably had some results on, perhaps, eight to ten
fly ash samples. My recollection of the data is we have
yet to come across a fly ash which, when exposed to the
extraction procedure, failed the analysis for the contami-
nents of concern and our toxicity teat. I believe there
was just one sample that was borderline with cadmium
but they are — you can contact us at our office in Washing-
ton, The problem is the next time we will be there is
the beginning of the week.-:starting February 2.6.
MR. LEHMAN: There's a question here which has
come up time and again and indicates the difficulty I
tnink the general public has in understanding our intent
with respect to the definition of discarded materials. And
also to some extent it illustrates the difficulty we had
in writing that definition and making it clear. But let's
try it once again.
Question: "Would incinerators beeused to^cofifcert
by-products streams which frequently are disposed of as
-------
490
92
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
waste to usable products and/or usable energy? And would
such incinerators- be covered in any manner by RCRA? If
such devices are covered by RCRA in any manner, are there
criteria that will determine coverage versus noncoverage?"
. O.K., now to answer the first part, no. In
other words, what you're really referring to here, I be-
lieve r are what we would call boilers rather than incinera-
tors. Boilers using by-products streams to generate ener-
gy or to use as fuel to generate steam for future process
use, whatever, as opposed to an incinerator which, in our
term, is used for the one and only purpose, being to de-
stroy the waste.
So if I can interpolate this question a little
bit, what I think is being asked here is if you have a by-
product of a manufacturing process and you feed that back
into an in-plant boiler, use it as fuel or use it to gene-
rate steam and so on, that is not covered under our defi-
nition of discarded materials under RCRA. Is not solid
waste ana therefore is not an hazardous waste.
So our intent here is to encourage, where you
feel it; is safe to do so, the reuse of these types of
materials for fuel or for other purposes.
If we find abuses to the intent behind all of
this, EPA can and will bring into regulatory control these
other types of uses, and we make that point in Section
-------
93
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
491
250.10, in a note where we have a statement that, "A
reserved section where we say that other materials and
their uses will be included by an amendment to this list
of controlled substances upon a finding by the EPA that
it is necessary to control such uses."
So we feel that we should go with the proposal
as we've indicated, encouraging people to do this0 But
if we find that there are environmental and public health
problems associated with it, then we will go back and
restructure that.
MR. TRASK: I have a question here that deals
with the 90-day storage period.
It says, "How does one handle, within the frame-
work of hazardous- wastes regulations-, secondary process
material which is destined for recycle but is held longer
than 90 days before sale or treatment?" And there's a
note: "The material fails the ET tes.t."
If it's- held longer than 90 days then a permit
is required. During the 90-day period, it must meet the
storage, requirements of the 3004 regulations and of course
when it's under the permit it must meet all of thos.e. But
it also must have the permit for more than 90 days.
MR. ROBERTS: I have a question here.
It says,. "It was stated this afternoon that the
DOT regulations may be amended to control hazardous wastes
-------
94
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
492
transported only intrastate." I think the question is
will it be amended to include intrastate as well as inter-
state, if I may interpret the question.
We regulate interstate transportation and have
and our predecessor agencies since 1908.
The question goes on, "Does DOT have this authori-
ty? Is- DOT attempting to obtain intrastate regulatory
authority?"
Now the answer is a& follows: first of all, this
particular ruleraaking, Docket 18145A, published last May
25, is from the standpoint of highway carriage. And
the highway carriage alone, this^ comment, is the first
time there has been a proposal to extend the DOT regula-
tions to cover intrastate transportation.
NOW as to whether we have the authority, the ans-
wer is yes, and I can only, without a long explanation,
cite 49. United States Code 1801, And the person who asked
the question should look that section up and find how we
obtained that authority in 1974.
And to the latter part, yes, DOT is proposing
to apply the hazardous waste transportation standards to
intrastate cominerce as well as interstate commerce.
There are two other rulemakings in the mill, both
of which will be in. the Federal Register within the next
two weeks that also deal with intrastate commerce. The other
-------
493
95
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
one that would have some relationship to this hearing is
the transportation of hazardous substances under Section
311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the
other deals with the transportation of flammable cryogenic
liquids.
So DOT is going into the intrastate regulatory
area on a selective case-by-case basis and not in the
broad sense of applying its standards for all materials
that are classed as hazardous materials jurisdictionally
to intrastate commerce,
MR. LEHMAN: I have a question here.
First of all, it says, "Comments are due March
12, '79." Well, first of all, it's March 16, '79 on
these proposed rules. "However, the issue of the degree
of hazard, need for classification systems, et cetera,
is clear." It's a statement by the writer. It's not neces-
sarily EPA's conclusion. "Upon submission of preliminary
or outlined alternative proposals of this nature by March
16f is there a mechanism to follow this with details, sup-
porting information at a later date? If so, how much time
would be available?"
The answer to that is no, the comment period,
when it closes on March 16, is the last date upon which
we are going to receive information concerning these pro-
posals. There is no mechanism to receive comment on these
-------
96
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
494
proposals after March 16.
MR, LINDSEY: If a company had a contract for
sale of hazardous wastes and must store it for more than
90 days before removal/ would this storage require permit?
The answer is yes, it would.
MR.- ROBERTS: Questioner says-, "I am not familiar
with the DOT regulations pertaining to containers for
hazardous materials. Would new steel barrels or drums
be required for containerizing hazardous wastes?"
This is depending on what the material is. Again
it would be too lengthy of an answer. Everybody would
fall asleep, I'm afraid, if I tried to explain it all. It
depends on the classification of the hazardous material
or, in certain cases, if it is a specifically named material
in our regulations as to what the packaging is called for.
For example, certain materials are incompatible
with steel and therefore we do not authorize them in steel
drums. Some material are allowed in fibre drums. Obviously
nitric acid is not authorized in fibre drums.
So the hazardous wastes regulations we are pro-
posing are a simple extension of the existing hazardous
materials regulation to the extent that we presently regu-
late the materials.
That comment enables me to answer another question
raised and I'll do them both together. The person is alleg-
-------
97
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ing that we would — what happens if he is hauling a hazar-
dous waste that is not a hazardous material?
I would suggest that that person read again care-
fully our notice of proposed rulemaking0 Because if it's
a hazardous waste subject to 40CFR250, it is a hazardous
material under the DOT proposal. And if you read our no-
tice, we have one category at the very tail end of our
entire list of two thousand and some entries which covers
this situation. The legal description, legal shipping
description, hazardous waste, and a lis.t. After you go
through and track through and find out it's not an explo-
sive, it's not a corrosive material, it's not a compressed
gas, et cetera, radioactive material, ediologic agent,
all the things we presently regulate, it points out at
the bottom of the pecking order, it's a hazardous waste
and unless, and it would shipped accordingly under that1
designation.
And the paper, the shipping document, would iden-
tify the EPA required description in parentheses following
that designation. So I think that answers both these ques-
tions as best as I*m able to in a few minutes0
MR. CORSON: I have a short one,
"In, 25.0.13," and I believe it's, referring to
Paragraph D, "does it make any difference if the elements
lis-ted may be in oxide form? In does make a difference
-------
98
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
4SI
insofar as the leaching characteristics of certain elements'.1
The answer, if you'•re referring just to the
question where is it, in fact, referring to the list of
substances we've extracted from the drinking water stan-
dardSo The topic is whether it be oxide form or not
and we are concerned only with the solubilization. So to
the extent that other forms may make them less soluble,
they would not be released and therefore they may not be
in the system.
MR. LINDSEY: "Do you have any credible evidence
that earthen built containment ponds for toxic and hazar-
dous material will, in fact, contain these materials? If
so, please explain how the containment works, liners work,"
containment liners, I suppose that is.
By earthen built, our regulation require more
than what I would call earthen liners. There are two
techniques in the regulations for constructing landfills
that are put forward. Where we are using natural materials
we are talking about clays and roll clay liners. Let me —
I think maybe it would be useful to talk about the overall
intent here of the way in which we've put together this
landfill criteria under Section 300.4.
I think what the person is getting at here is
that*there is no absolutely zero — notabsolute way to
insure absolute zero discharge.
-------
99
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
When we first started xi\to these regulations
we thought what we would try to do would be determine and
try to model the movement of waste from a land disposal
site into the ground water in such a way that we could
predict, given the chronocologic requirements and so
forth, the movement of wastes in the ground water in such
a way we could predict the maximum concentrations thereof.
We found, after a lot of work, that we really
couldn't do that. So we went to a maximum containment
approach. In so doing we mandated the use of liners and
the main concept of the liners is that during site life
we will prevent the escape of materials from the landfill
site and then post-closure, and what we would be depending
on is the reduction of the elimination of movements of
liquids from the surface, namely rainfall, from the surface
into the contained site through capping techniques so that
you build up no driving head, that is no leaching which
can then leach out of the site. That is the concept.
*
With regard to credible evidence that earthen
built containment ponds — I'm talking about ponds, not
landfills, work. There are a great many of them around
and they are not doing any harm0 If someone would like
to share with us this kind of information — it gets kind
of involved. I would suggest that maybe if you look at
the background documents that we have for this work and, as
-------
498
100
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
an alternative to that, they can talk with our people. And
whoever wanted to do this, I can give the names of people
who would get right along with it, I think, here.
MR. LEHMAN: Question: "Can the Agency request
information or support data on the proposed regulations
from selected associations or individuals after March 16,
1979?"
The answer to that is yes, the Agency can and
does ask, for example, for clarification for comments re-
ceived, The Agency can and does gather supporting informa-
tion on particular issues that are raised during the com-
ment period. So, yes, the answer is yes, the Agency can
request information after closing the comment period.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Do you have a question
you were going to answer?
MR, ROBERTS: No, I just wanted to be sure to
insert in, the record and for the purpose of the meeting
tha,t the Federal Register of February 8, 1979, Page 7988,
states the closing date of the DOT rulemaking to be June
I, 1979, as* far as the receipt of public comment.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., we are going to re-
open the official record. We have one person who wants
to offer us comments who was- delayed getting here.
Court reporter, do you need a short break be-
fore we go?
-------
499
101
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
COURT REPORTER: Yes,
CHAIRPERSON DARRAF: If you wor^t mind, we'll
take about a five-minute break.
(Whereupon, the question and answer period was
temporarily closed,)
-------
-------
500
]02
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K,, would you identify
yourself for the record, please?
DRo PARKER: I'm Dr. James Parker, La Marque,
Texas. LaMarque is situated between Houston and Galveston,
It is some nine miles from the Galveston causeway in
the vicinity of Texas City and is a part of Texas City.
STATEMENT OF DR. JAMES P. PARKER
DR, PARKER: The two documents that I am going
to leave on file with the panelists is for their informa-
tion. One is to show today how many waste classification
systems that is currently in use by the Texas Department
of Water Resources which is a branch of the Texas Water
Commission.
%.
This is a waste classification code in which
there's 53 pages0 I think there's 25 to the page. The
idea that I would leave with the panelists is that the
classification/ and this is out of a computer and I think
this will be evident when they see it, is a highly inade-
quate classification in that is very general. And if
any of you care to look at this later, I would be happy
to go over it with yo.u.
I think that we will be, in Texas, breaking down
such thingsLasccommingled wastes and tank bottoms, et
cetera.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We'll submit it to the
-------
103
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
501
court reporter and they will make it as part of the record.
DR. PARKER: All right.
The next exhibit that I will present is some
Xerox pages from a book by Dr. Harry '"Gedergren, John
Wiley & Sons. I might, for the record, state that John
Wiley & Sons have given open permission to utilize this
material by my letter to them and their letter to me.
Now this, by no means, encompasses the work of
Harry bGedergren or Dr. CasaGrande or. Dr. Kerzage, but it
would give you men at least my view, from an engineering
point of view, of up-to-date work that is quite relevant
here to the question that I submitted on earthen built
levies for containment ponds.
The actual book I'm going to retain but I would
advise any of you to buy this book here. Harry Cedergren
is a consulting engineer in soil mechanics. He's currently
in Sacramento and I have his address, if any of you care
to consult with Dr. Cedergren. He is by no means the only
expert that I have utilized but I think that his book — it
is widely used in universities and engineering schools.
Now the slides that I have proposed to show to-
night are all from a rather small area. The Gulf Coast
of Texas. Primarily these are from the Galveston Bay.
Well, I would say they are all from Galveston in the
West Bay, the Houston Channel and an area designated as
-------
10.4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
502
Bayport, which is eastward extension of the Houston, Channel.
The slides, most will be in, a color reversal„ For.
those of you that are unfamiliar, I might just very briefly
explain the process of looking at an infrared film. Infra-
red is the film that was developed by Eastman in World War
IT for air reconnaissance. In utilizing its emulsion you
use a minus blue filter which will cut out the ultraviolet,
the violets and the blues0 And depending upon the filter
that is used, you may edge into cutting some green0
Now the advantage of using this emulsion in
pollution detection work is several. One is that you have
eliminated the troublesome shorter wave1length of light.
And the usual fuzziness, particularly in aerial work that
would come from reflected light off of moisture.
The other great advantage is that you do go into
A
the invisible spectrum, into about 900 dedometers. Now
I have utilized film that went much further but I'm not
exhibiting that here tonight. I speaking of rays that
almost go to the radio wave length. That type of emulsion
has to be used with liquid nitrogen.
This emulsion is common. I have used it in
medicine and I have used it in forestry work0 The basic
principle that you need to bear in mind is the reversal
of color. Anything that is blue will appear black because
we haye filtered out blue. Now anything that is blue —
-------
503
105
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
well, we're getting into chemicals here. Let's say that
anything that is red will appear green. And anything that
is green will appear blue with all the gradations.
The one thing that you might most bear in mind
is that polluted water, either by dissolved or suspended
material or simply by a lack of oxygen, will appear milky.
Now you will see vegetation here but it*s quite red. That
is healthy vegetation will be the color of this rug. We
call it magenta. That is the chlorophy.i:,. Now the damaged
or stressed plants will appear in various shades of yellow
and brown and this is important from the point of view of
tracking pollution.
Now I'll be glad to explain as we go along. We
will be looking at things that don't make any sense here
in a few minute.sf because of exotic chemicals. For
example now, a spigot of water out of a treatment plant,
if it's working right, should be black. Healthy water
will be black. Polluted water will be white. I may be
telling you something you already know here.
Let's go on to some of the slides now and we'll
have the rest of the lights out now, if you will.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: We.have allowed Dr. Parker
to show these slides. He has promised us they are exhi-
bits. He will supply us a copy within the time the record
remains open.
-------
504
106
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
DR. PARKER: I will give them to you tonight.
The kodachrome slide, this is not color reversal.
This is a picture of the Houston Channel,
This first slide is presented merely to give you
a comparison between kodachrome and the infrared which
will follow. I would call to your attention in the Houston
Channel, the containment pond that I'm concerned with.
You will note there immediately adjacent, direct-
ly adjacent to the Marine Waters of the United State.s.
In the channel alone there are well over 100 of these.
And as we go on down the coastline of Texas to .the south,
we find even more.
This is simply another one showing that even
without the use of infrared, you will note the wastebed
here creating a line. You may argue that that's something
*else but I will show you very clearly that that is, in
fact, sewage from an earthen land.
This is again just another visual spectral film
showing the multiplicity of waste containment ponds on
the Houston Channel,
Now we go into the main usage that I have made
in many aerial reconnaissance missions in flying a plane
in the channel of the entire Gulf Coast of Texas,
That is a spill — not a spill. That is an
illegal discharge. I think it was visible to the unaided
-------
107
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
. 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
505
eye. This black would, as I have told youf be blue if the
eye could see i.t. This water here is channelled, part of
the Houston Channel or some add mixture with whatever is
being done. And there is a pond source here and I observed
it over two hours in circling over.
Now the water in the channel, and I call your
attention, has a murkiness, milkiness. If it was a
healthy water it would be black.
This is just another shot showing the proximity.
There is the channel. Here is your containment pond,
another pond there. These dikes are levies between them,
may not be more than 10 feet.
You can see Houston in the background. This is
the battlefield monument, a portion of channel back here
and within a few yards of the monument we have waste con-
tained in the ponds. This is the reflection pond there.
These are ones that have been built in the surrounding
area. And now- for the first time I'd like to show you what
a stress plant looks like in infrare.d.
Those have more of random color and that's because
of the season of the year. In the springtime this would
have been more of a yellow0
Out here on the freeboard or levee, you will see
the chlorophyll response, which is a magenta and those
plants are healthier.
-------
506
108
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Now in here you must bear in mind as winter comes
on some trees* shed and you will have that picture from
the wintertime on many of the trees.
The value of aerial reconnaissance I think is
well defended here. This is a little channel that goes
into .the Houston Channel, That's called VineeiBay.au. ?>-That
particular channel runs out to the international airport.
Where it divides in two0
You will note here someone is letting a stream
go. Now that is very characteristic, whether it is
municipal or whether it's industrial, it will have that
look. If that were treate.d water it would be black.
Now we're getting into the question, you might
say, is this a healthy body of water? Well, that Vince
Bayou is polluted at that point. And you might see here
the little containment pond. You can see three in this
picture. They are only separated by inches. The water
moves- freely in and out and I would be happy to go over
with any of the panelists the engineering data, they will
not work, they have never worked, they've^ totally polluted
the Gulf Coast of Texas and that's, why I'm here tonight.
This object here is the wing of the plane0 I
was using a wide angle lens so discount that object.
This is another illustration along the Houston Channel
waste pits and over there to that g±de> you can see where
-------
507
109
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
^5
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
it is seeping in at the edge of the channel and if you
can, perhaps, see from where you*re seated, the vegeta-
tion along that ledge has the characteristics of dying
vegetation. Now this will not be visible to the unaided
eye, Infrared is the only way you're going to detect this.
In background, I might say this, that infrared
does penetrate water about one foot. And that will vary
a little bit depending upon the time of the year and infra-
rays of the sun. And for the first time, the temperature
may have a little bit to do with it.
For those of you who are totally unfamiliar with
this, this is not photography. It has nothing to do with
any emission of infrared. It is primarily all reflectants
of infrared.
There is the same spill that I showed you earlier.
Now one of the ways of testing levies that should be done,
bore holes in the levee and bore hole inside the proposed
pond and one outside. Throughout this whole vast area
of Texas I have, perhaps, five hundred slides showing what
you can see very clearly, whatever this black material is
on the infrared is coming-out in a stream. This is called
piking. And when you build a levee, as you must, from
available materials, you build dissimilar styles and
that is a very important consideration.
The peeir.Biea-tOaLi^tiJfy of the pike clay versus the
-------
508
110
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
of a sand or a calciferous material will
vary into the billions. Now I want you to bear that in
mind. And when you saturate a levee, and it's going to
be saturated, either from tide rising — and in that part
of Texas we have some 1,300 tidal rises a year, you're
going to saturate and every time it's saturated, you're
going to have the more permeable material in essence
melting. And your ball of clay will act like oricle.
And this is- the one thought I mus-t leave.
This is just another example. I couldn't tell
you what's in there but from my experience I think it's.
styrene. Probably* vinyl chloride in styrene. I haven't
matched a great deal of these chemicals but itTs a very
risky thing to do. • .
All right, here is the bayou I showed you with
the illegal discharge. This is Vince Bayou or Little
Vince, one. Now a very good illustration here of polluted
water coming down in the little bayou. There are some
50 plants upstream and I don't know how I could show
you better the characteristics of highly polluted water.
The remainder of this channel is not healthy.
You can tell by this color there is chemicals. Now here
again you can see seepage out of the whole saturated
earth along the side.
I just guess this is just another illustration of
-------
509
ill
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
I guess we're advertising we have industries down there.
Wherever -you look you find these.
To this side is a portion of the channel and
this is made with a telephoto lens. Incidentally I used
in, this work largely wide angle lenses and primarily
light cameras and Nikons. The Nikon is excellent for
thi-s,
This material here reaches the water. It has
some pollution and changes color somewhat.
On a flight, this is a flight in January. All
of these were made in January, incidentally, I had ob-
served — I don't know whether you can see it or not,
the barges are tied up there and we observed a barge
spraying down. In water like this-, it*s not subject to
much tidal action up here. Not as much as you get in
the bay. The stream from a washed down vessel will be
visible for some two hours.
That's just another exposure of the same thing.
I don't think that this adds a great deal except
for the continued multiplicity of these earth containment
ponds. You can see them back in here and you can see
the dead construction of the plants which is indicative
of their seepage. And of course you always find the
material going in.
To the left you can see the ponds that are right
-------
510
112
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
at the water. They are all leaking.
Now I. don*t recall the precise distance from
the water that your guidelines proposal stated. I think
it was 75 feet. It might have been more.
But my point, gentlemen, is that wherever you
put them you are going to have them seep into the under-
groiond water and you're going to have them seep into any
adjacent"water because the first thing you have, wherever
on the Gulf Coast, you have stratification. You have
the first two or three feet of muck and then you have
a sandy, a calciferous and down to clay.
Now these materials, like water, will travel
along these interfacings between varying types of soil.
Incidentally, in this area, which is near^Bayport, the
entire shallow underground water, the entire bay is pol-
luted. We had the same thing in Galveston. The water
at 26 to 32 or 33 feet, wherever you have a waste pit, is
all polluted.
Now the great question that concerns us in
that area of the country, we're trying to go to over-
ground water supplies„ We're still in many places de-
pendent upon well water and the prospect that we
look at today is that this pollution of the shallow layers
will go down to the Algoa Sands or the Evangeline Cistern
which is some 6"00-700 feet down. There is no reason why
-------
511
113
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
it will not reach, there and then the entire underground
water supply of the largest industrial area of the United
States will be gone. And I don't know how far away we
are but we're down to 32 feet deep now.
The primary evil is the erroneous concept that
someone might have that you can contain anything in an
earthen pond.
That is more pollution out of another bayou
and I didn't identify it. These are all in the Houston
channel. If you look with care you can see the skyline
of Houston in the background,
I said there were 100 of these things. There
must be 300. This is a vast area*. Here is one over here.
You see the stress. There isn't any vegetation all around
it. This is the simplest way in the world to detect
pollutiono
I don't think that shows anything essentially
that we had not seen before. Just another shot. You
can go upstream here, a whole complex of these things,
and see where they were going. And I might add that this
is a major dogfight in the state of Texas in which I have
been involved for now some 30-odd weeks and we're re-
suming the fight on Tuesday. And I'd. like some of you to
join me in Austin.
I would tell you quite frankly it is very unlikely
-------
512
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the state of Texas will ever allow this, whatever the
guidelines are here. Because we've had Court rulings re-
cently and this past year from our own Court that in re-
gard to pumping underground water, that the people, and
we're now talking largely about these industries that
you've been looking at, must be responsible for their
damage. And that's where it weflLfengn.toToeeite just what
we've seen in the Love Canal area, industry. We're
talking about chemical,, Industry is responsible for its
spill waters. And one of my great concerns in these
guidelines is that there should be some effort on the
part of the Federal Government to shield industry.
And I will tell you that Texas will not apply
because we've already had a ruling to the effect and the ;
people who are pumping underground water and further
siting, and this whole area has undergone perhaps three
to five feet of subsidence. Those industries that continue
that are now paying. And industries that will pollute
with these earthen built things are going to pay.
This is more of a panorama shot. Here is an
open pollutant. This is again near the monument. And
wherever you look you can see it streaming into the water.
This isn't a waste containment pond but itfis. seepage from
somewhere back of the plane. It will all seek its own
level just like water.
-------
513
115
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
This is at Bayport, a Gulf Coast waste disposal
authority they have in Texas — a facility in, Texas also.
I think if you had to pick the one major polluter in
that part of the state of Texas, they have polluted, I
suppose, more of the bay than any other single entity.
Well, this is a good.picture here of a totally
polluted — this is a little basin for boats to put in
being polluted. Several of these containment ponds have
concrete around the outer portions. Incidentally, I
don't think concrete will work either. You can move
gasses through concrete, you can move water through
just about as readily.
Now we come back again to the kodachrome as
the eye would see it. This is again,, in my opinion, a
number one polluter. This is a treatment facility. One
of the things he has done in our area is bubble air
through waste materials and these are solid wastes,
Ciass I toxic hazardous materials, on the idea that he may
have either aerobic or a fibel type of degradation. Some
of it may exist but in this particular facility, they
are taking in, perhaps, 4,000,000 gallons and they have
discharge point there back of- that barge. And I made
three flights. There are two barges there. The barges
are being fake loaded. The material is being pumped out
the back end. Those barges have a designated destination
-------
116
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
514
of 1,000,, QQ.Q gallons a, day down in the. mine area,.
We're still on kodachrome9 Even on kodachrome
you can see — and this is Vince Bayou again. You can see
the contents- of this Gulf Coast waste pouring right on
out into the Bayou. That's unusual to see it. that clearly.
I would again call your attention to the barge,
and that's the subject of the current hearings in Austin.
Illegally, totally illegally discharging. There are two
of them. As you will see in a moment.
That's just another view. I don't think that
adds anything new.
Now you can see the two barges and on another
film at the other end, you will notice another one dis-
charging.
Now in three successive missions covering 32-
days. period, this situation was constant. That Agency,
under the present state law, has a political immunity. And
I know a lot of people don't like to listen to political
things but it was created by an Act of Legislature. The
executive director, former campaign manager of United
States Senator Tower, the President's campaign manager
and fund raiser for Senator Schwartz. The assistant man,
Joe Teller, appointed by a former Governor of Texas and
so they have license to do anything. And this is what we
are looking at. And this is the name of the game in Texas.
-------
515
117
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Now in this particular one you can see the blue.
I couldn't tell you the outfit, r have no idea, but those
barges are permitted on the destination site. They were
headed for 1,000,000 gallons a day. Or about --"rather
480,000 each.
We're still on regular color, put on a telephoto
lens. They are a little bit better in finding them. This
is an unusual circumstance. This is the current rule
in Texas. Now I have called the attention of the Coast
Guard and Dallas EPA. Of course the Texas Water Commission
would have nothing to do with it. There isn't a Federal
Agency nor a state agency that will make one move against
this type of thing. And this might be very discouraging
to some of the young people in this game. It doesn't
bother me that much.- Here is their NiPDS discharge.
I 'm not going to bore you with what the bottom
seven samples revealed, but I will tell you that they run'
the whole gamut of chemistry.
Now we're into the infrared. Actually infrared
didn't help us a lot here but it will get better — little
bit better delineates the discharge, illegal discharge
of the barges. Now a good contras.t. This water here
is discolored by the various chemicals that went into
it. The other water is just a good example of pollution.
On the second flight, which was in January, they
-------
516
118
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
were putting out for their normal permitted area, an, ac-
celerated amount. I don't, know whether that's permissible
or not. But with this going on in Calveston Bayr the
Governor, ex-Governor, recently declared it a disaster.
It is the largest bay on the whole coastal United States,
The largest in our state. It's the second bay to be so
declared a disaster and not usable for many purposes,
including dragging. The oysters I have examined here
are highly contaminated with chromium, cadmium, lead, to
name just a few of them. And the contaminents in the
crabs and oysters parallels pretty well what the stream
analysis- from the various industries- will show.
Well, thatrs just another one with the infrared.
I don't know that you need all of it but you're welcome
to it,
This is coming on down toward Calveston. If
you've ever been in that area, it's dividing line between
Harris County to my right and Galveston County to the left,
I present this slide really to show what an incoming tide
looks like and the contrast as it moves the accumulated
polluted water out of the way.
Now on this particular day, we had a bad winter
there. The chill factor in that area that day was 11.
The highly polluted little bayou coming back in there, I
think you can see. The municipal discharge outfit is here,
The homes down in there, most of them do not have a tie-in
-------
517
119
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
and you can see the pollutants moving into the water. Now
as the tide goes in you can see it pushing it all up into
the clear lake. On up into Clear Lake, well, you're only
a mile from NASA at this point. Some of you might have
been there. Portions of this volume of water is going
into the NASA area0
This is simply another shot showing what the
tide does. That's a great dream of most polluters, that
the tide will exchange it. Now I think I have one as the
tide moved out on a successive shot there.
Yeah, this is one as the tide was beginning to
leave.
You will note that in these areas you have had
exchange fresh water and you can still see the fresh water
moving out in a clearly dilineated line there.
That's just another shot made of the same area.
I might point out that infrared and you buy a carton of 20,
And the batch is, one or the other will vary, although
ihe relationships colors remain the same. This film has
to be kept in the deepfreeze and you really cannot load
or unload it in light. You either .need a darkroom or
use a changing bag.
We still have a lot of green trees in the winter-
time in Texas, as you can see. Up in those areas they
are quite healthy.
-------
518
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
That's just another showing the tide coming in
a little more.
Some of you might wonder is this is shallow
water. I'll tell you, I fished in this area a Io.t0
Water out there is eight or nine feet deep.
Now you might see NASA, This little bayou here
went on out to the space center.
This one came back to my old friends, the Gulf
Coast Waste Disposal people. We^re now down on into
Galyeston's West Bay, swinging around to the south.
Texas City is another highly industrialized spo€ and this
pond here is Union Carbide, the Texas Division. I thought
it was interesting in that.whatever that material is,
you can match it coming out into the water.
But we had an incoming tide and I want to show
you a little bit what happens0 This is a lake known as
Swan Lake0 Now the water moves in and it will follow the
path of least resistance. You'll see the clear water fol-
lowing the perimeter of that little lake and the polluted
water remaining in the center.
In this channel here is a small manmade channel
going up to Highway 14.6. The tide is beginning to move
in. It is tracking material from here and here. And I
think I have some showing you what happens on an outgoing
tide.
-------
519
121
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
That's just another one of essentially the same
thing. The tide is now moving out. And you can see the
polluted pattern. Incidentally, for stress on plants,
you see that all through this area and over the other side
as well.
This stress on plants is one of the most valuable
things that you can do, I guess. One of the many ways
indirect. We use it in Texas analyzing cotton fields and
fruit orchards.
That's another one of the same thing. The dis-
charge point of that facility is there. And you can —
at the end of this channel and you can note the highly
polluted water. In that area, I found levels of chromium,
cadmium and lead. Some 15 to 20 times above the allowable
in shellfish. And of course the bay has been closed to
shellfish. By now since the crabs^in that area, it's even
worseo
The big question that's in Texas now is, "When
can you reopen the Calveston Bay complex?" And this is
the subject of many controversies. Great many people are
out of work, the commercial men, the sportsmen and the
monkey is now on the back of the Legislature. And some
of us may hang it around our new Republican Governor if
he doesn't wish to act.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Can you tell us how many more
slides you have?
-------
122
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
520
DR. PARKER: 15.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Let me just make one com-
ment. We have asked people in general to limit themselves
to about 10 minutes. A lot of people have been pretty
good about that and I take it that you do want some time
to discuss.
DR. PARKER: Well, I .will hurry through the
remainder. I think it was about 15.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O0K., if you would parti-
cularly contain yourself to what you think is going to
be relevant to your comment on a regulation.
DR. PARKER: All right. Well, this is all rele-
vant to the earthen ponds. Everything you've seen here,
these containment ponds have been built of earthen materi-
als. And that is the subject. All right, let's move on.
Here, is the Gulf Coast Waste facility at Texas
City, aereated, here is the polluted water outside. Highly
polluted. You can see the stress on the plants here.
This is the way it is in the summertime»
This is the same site on a different day. Booking
to the east.. Galveston Island is in the background. That
long thing right there is the dike. I call your attention
again to the highly polluted water here and here.
Well, I don't think that adds a great deal except
there is a tide moving outa But here you spot it and of
-------
123
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
521
course you see the aftermath of polluted water in the stress
to damaged plants.
This is the Gulf Coast Waste facility looking
at 14.6. I might point out the plants will pick up the
materials just like an oyster or crab and then you've
a different problem because, in fact, these are the chemi-
cals that were in the water. Some of that vegetation
is still alive, like this, more durable plants even
though those out there,, they are highly stressed.
I don't think that shows anything that you
ha.ven't seen before. You know that polluted water is
the center of that little thing and dying vegetation where-
ver you look.
This is another waste facility built on the edge,
the direct edge of our west plain,, And these are the ponds
without any levee. These are just dug. And there are four
of them there and I don't think I need to tell you what's
happening right here. There is an incoming tide there
and you can see the stressed and damaged material.
Now similar to this part of Texas — this authori-
ty in Texas, and this one in particular did not have a sol-
id waste permit. This particular operator has only a deep
well injection permit.
This is the same site. With a telephoto lens
and you see the polluted water, stressed and damaged vege-
-------
124
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
522
tation in an area and you can see the normal response.
That tells — that is still another. The tele-
photo tells the story. The tide was moving into the
channel here. You can se.e.
Still another. I don't, think we'll pause on
that. Well, that looks like one we've seen. Move on
that, if you would.
Those are the same site.0 I held that in there
•A
because this thing is under heavy controversy in Galves-
ton County. All right, move on.
That's the same thing with a different exposure
and the tide beginning to move out at the time.
This is another light in our area, the water
communities. They are built on marshes and trapped. These
waters in here, while they are dark, the darkness is not
from — it is not a sign of health. That is trapped water
and in most instances it is dead water0
That's another shot of the same thing except
that we go into a municipal thing. They have a.municipal
treatment plant. I think that is called KeKe Island
and here is a discharge point and here you go with the
stream. Now this was an incoming tide0 It doesn't track
too well.
You can better see here the treatment facility
and the channel over here is just white. And that was only
-------
523
125
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
about 15 per cent filled up at this time with houses. That
is next to Ga,lyeston, Cayseway, You approach the Causeway
from the mainland.
This is a regular color film of where I live,
about two miles from there. I'll, show you one in koda-
chrome. These are containment facilities for oil and
one way or the other the Texas coast will either have big
deep ports or off-shore facilities and all ready. They
•»L
were building literally hundreds and hundreds of storage
tanks^ and the cur— the storage tanks all have earthen -
levee around them and that's why I'm showing you this.
Now that's a backup view of the site that we
just looked at which would be in here.and that is a
bayou. This is the Gulf Freeway running between Galveston
and Houston, Now I think I have a telephoto lens for
the next shot.
Get another one. Well, keep on.
All right, that's the one I was thinking of.
This was made with a 135 milimeter lens at about 1,500
feet. But I want you to look at it carefully because I
think it well illustrates for the hundredth time my view
here.
This- is where the oil that you saw in the tele-
photo was being trapped. It was strained into all of
these. This is a railroad coming from Hitchcock over into
-------
524
126
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the industrial part of Texas City. The material has
seeped right on through and right on out into the bayou.
Well, now you say you see some good vegetation.
That's on the freeboard and it doesn't reflect here from
the aerial shot but those things that are healthy are
probably four feet above the level of the marsh.
Here is another water community, thanks to the
Corps of Engineers. These are highly polluting with miles
and miles of just water .that cannot circulate. And for many
years many of those spots there had septic tanks0 The ele-
vation there today was subsided. This is a minus. It
is below sea level actually, as you can see in here.
This whole area has undergone, at this point, about three
feet subsidence. And even if you stopped all ground
water, it just means it would retain it for over a decade.
And I would say that it would be that you would look at
five or six more feet .of subsidence in all of this area.
That is- the mainland Galveston area and Harris County. Not
so much on the Island.
Now to illustrate that community you just
looked at as over 1,200 residences and some of them are
up and down. There's probably 1,500-1,600 families with
one small facility and you see what the output is0 You
can trace it on into the water. As a matter of fact I
traced that last summer by air into the Gulf of Mexico and
-------
525
127
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
it run, I think, for over 20 miles to get out beyond the
lighthouse. It is always a billowy streak in the water.
It's a lot more visible in the summertime than it is
in the winter.
This is another shot of it and it doesn't add
anything essentially to the last one.
Well, this is a little big lighter exposure of
the same thing and of course it penetrates the water bet-
ter. That water is >— I wouldn't want to guess what
the DOT would be, but I will tell you that there are no
fish in it. Some might wander in there by mistake. All
right, move on.
Now this is the subject of some recent articles
in national magazines and some of our state magazines.
This is my town, LaMarque. This is,, you might say, the
Love Canal. This is the island. This was built back
some twelve years ago without any permi.t. The water is
only a few hundred feet from here. This is a confluence
of roads going to Calveston and back to Houston. It
contains styrene, chloride, kepon and I don't know what
else.
That's how it will look, same scene, in infrared,
This w. s made in September. This- .-vegetation.- — very
beautifully illustrates the stress along the shoulder of
the highway, you have a healthy good response0
This is simply another one of the .same thing.
-------
526
128
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Well, let's move on. That's just more stress
plants-.
These are ground level shots and you can't follow
pollution at ground level as satisfactorily as you can
in the air.
This is .part of the Bay right here now.
Now these are some aerials and here the material
goes to Texas and goes on up to LaMarque and my plane is
over the Gulf Freeway going from Houston to Calveston.
Here we can find the telltale stress -vegetation].and lawant
you to follow it.. This was done also in September, that
shot was. All right, let's move on.
Now a little further away, looking back toward
Texas City and LaMarque, which is this: view to the west,
the material is from here seeping right on down following
the power line and here you can trace .it very well, the
dying vegetation, and into Galveston's West Bay and with
every moving tide you suck it in and out.
Now the Texas Department of Water Resources
tried to get a bid to remove this and they advertised
it for $5,000,000 and they have yet to have a taker* And
I can understand why. And it's only 11 acres0
This is another shot made in the same direction
showing the track of it, coming on down into the Bay. It
has spread into the other outlying areas there. You have,
-------
527
129
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
in these things, they totally saturate the mass of earth
and the. disaster of Galveston Bay will last for a long
time even if you remove these sites.
This is simply another one. Showing more of
Galveston Bay, The Causeway to Galveston is seen to
my left. Straight ahead for 40 miles would be the city
of Houston. You can see the reflectants. values in
this the same as you say, probably styrene and vinyl
chloride, the same as you saw back in the pits. 4
These slides, here again now, is the subject
of controversy that I have engaged in with the Texas
Department of Water Resources since October. And this
is a 1,400-acre site built south of Hitchcock, seven miles
to the Causeway to the west and toward Freeport0
Now this is a dragline, red dragline. The
barge canal, highly polluted. Here's Rockaway Lake.
You can see the murky water. And I want to particularly
call the panel's attention to this, I observed the
building — this is the last containment probably built.
As it was built it filled with water. Here you have the
marsh, itself. As they made it, the water comes up. Now
they were borrowing dirt along the way. They had borrowed
some there and it had not filled up yet. Possibly that
had not filled up.
Now with stereoscopic negatives and I have some
-------
528
130
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
those. I don't, have them here. You can identify the height
of that ledge inside that, I didn^t calculate the ledge
at Rockaway Lake,,
This is a shot of the entire site — no, that's
back to Gulf Coast Waste.
This is^ a color, kodachrome, and not too much.
You get a suspicion in that inside pond. This is an
abandoned portion. It was abandoned as- a result of
some rather bitter fighting in 197.5. But really without
infrared you can see very little<,
This is a better view.- of the Guiness site, an
arm of Rockaway, another arm of Rockaway, an intercoastal
canal that runs on down to Freeport and back to Galveston.
I call your attention, this is shallow, about three feet
deep. You can see the streets and polluted water, this
bay not quite as polluted as that. Now also you will note
where the barge canal enters- the intercoastal there is
a very sharp line of demarcation.
This is a close up showing varying degrees of
stress, this canal being a hazardous yellow color under
stress, some kind of water plant. You see water one color
here, another color there. The entire mass is leaking
just like a sponge.
Now we use the term infrared, exotics. These
are some type of chemical matching closely to this. I
-------
529
131
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
couldn't tell you what it is but these were simply termed
exQtics in the marine envi^onmeivt.
There is another shot and I want you to look
very carefully,. This is probably styrene and we will match
it up with styrene inside as a color indicator.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Doctor, we'll ask you to
end your slide show now. If you'd, like to offer us some
comments. You've been going for 45 minutes or longer,
longer than anybody in here.
DR. PARKER: We only have two more I think.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: All right.
DR. BARKER: This- would' be sufficient to match
the styrenef if you can see it inside now with what we
were observing outside. And you can see in the background.
I appreciate the time you've given. It is a
big subject and I would be happy to answer any questions
here or possibly there's some of you that may be interested
to provide you with slides. I have some 400 of these
and we have only tonight here touched very lightly upon
it. Sort of a handle preview.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Can the slides be numbered
for us in the order in which they were shown here tonight
before you submit it, please?
DR. PARKER: All right, I will do that.
I would be happy to go over any of this at length
-------
530
132
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
while I'm up here in S.t, Louis or if any of you people
are in the Houston area. I would particularly like for
some of the panelists to visit in Austin where we are —
we are in no great hurry there. Hastiness might have
been the sin in the past and I think at this point I have
some 60, hours of recorded testimony that is going on yet
and will be starting again for eight hours on Tuesday.
And we're going to fight this out in Texas. I
don't know whether the problem is- this bad anywhere else
or not.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: Do you have any comments
specifically on our proposed standards under Section
30Q4 or one of the other sections?
DR. PARKER: Well, I must apologize in that I
*•
read the sections hurriedly. What I gathered from reading
it is there was a regulation on how far back from a
water*s; edge impoundment would be located.
Now I did not gather that there would be any
requirements for specific testing, which should be done
as you build an earthen bank, whether it's a dam or any-
thing else or all levies.
Now I may be mistaken because it is a big
volume0 They call it the Bible in Texas. I could easily
have overlooked the requirements, that I would have put.
in, standard engineering requirements as you build it and
-------
531
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
/
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the testing of it that must go along and the borings and
the soil prior to building, this book by Dr. Cedergren
and Dr, CasaGrande and Kerzage. They clearly point this
out. They point it out at every conceivable way and I'd
be happy for anyone that's interested technically to go
over the engineering of these men.
CHAIRPERSON DAKRAH: O.K., T have one other ques-
tion or comment for you. You have referred to this book.
If you write down for the court reporter the title and
the spelling of the author's name, that would help them
out. Not right this minute but before you leave.
DR. PARKER: All right, it is on that document
I submitted. I submitted the front sheet and the acknow-
ledgements. This is a part of the copyright agreement.
CHAIRPERSON DARRAH: O.K., thank you.
I will ask the panel members if they have any
questions.
MR. LINDSEY: I would just like to ask Dr.
Parker, if he would, to take a look at the proposed regu-
lations'^whi'chnwe have for surface impoundments and so
forth, and tell us, you know, if he has any problem with
those relative to his experience with the construction
of some of the lagoons that you have indicated have been
problems through your work.
In |