08/08/01 WED 16:36 FAX 607 762 8451 NYSEG LIC & ENV
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON. O.C. 20460
OFPICE OF
ADR 9 R IQOA SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE
MEMORAKPDM
SUBJECT: Remediation of Historic Manufactured Gas Plant
Sites
FROM: Sylvia K. Lowrance, Direc
Office of Solid Waste
TO: Regional Waste Management Division Directors
Attached please find a document that describes a strategy
for voluntary remediation of historic manufactured gas plant
(MGP) sites. There are in excess of 1500 historic manufactured
gas plant utilities. The utility industry is interested in
initiating voluntary assessment and remediation of the sites.
Last year, under the aegis of the Edison Electric Institute, the
industry requested the Agency's assistance in clarifying the
applicability of existing RCRA regulations to certain remediation
activities and materials at these sites. At the direction of the
Assistant Administrator, a group was established under the
leadership of the Office of Solid Waste to work with Edison
Electric Institute (EEI) to clarify the regulations and thereby
facilitate early voluntary clean-up. The EPA working group
included representatives from various Headquarters offices as
well as Region VII, who has had extensive experience in
addressing MGP sites.
The attached strategy document was developed by EEI for use
by its member companies. Its purpose is to clarify the RCRA
regulations and other requirements applicable to MGP sites. It
has been reviewed and commented on by the EPA working group.
The strategy document consists of legal interpretations of
EPA rules and regulations as well as technical and procedural
guidance that either draws directly on published EPA guidance or
constitutes EEI's best engineering or technical judgement based
on their experience at MGP sites. OSW expects that the strategy
would be implemented taking into account site-specific
circumstances and that it would not necessarily be appropriate or
practical at all sites. The strategy does not supersede existing
regulations; it is not intended to be the presumptive remedy
under CERCLA; nor can it serve as a shield against enforcement
under RCRA or any other statute. Rather, it is intended to
provide useful, practical advice on how to address materials at
Primed on Recycled Paper
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these sites that may exhibit the RCRA characteristics.
It is my view that the strategy described in the document
can be implemented in a fashion that is consistent with existing
federal RCRA regulations and, thus, protective of human health
and the environment. I encourage Regions and States to work with
site owners in implementing the strategy, thus promoting early
and voluntary clean—up.
The remediation strategy is based on the fact that
contaminated soils generated at these sites are capable of being
burned with coal and other fuel in high efficiency utility
boilers. Prior to the burning of these materials in utility
boilers, remediation waste that exhibits a hazardous
characteristic will be rendered non-hazardous before it leaves
the generation site. This may be accomplished without the delays
caused by RCRA permitting through the use of 90-day tanks,
containers, or containment buildings covered by 40 CFR Section
262.34(a). Under federal regulations, waste may be treated in
such units during the 90-day accumulation period without a
permit, and if the waste thereafter no longer exhibits a
hazardous characteristic, any further management of the waste,
including the burning of such materials in utility boilers, no
longer would be subject to Subtitle C of RCRA.
Contaminated soils addressed in this strategy are those that
are former Bevill wastes and are hazardous under the
characteristics. Land disposal restrictions do not currently
apply to these wastes arid therefore LDR compliance should not be
an issue at this time. However, it should be noted that LDRs
will be promulgated in the future. The recent "Third Third"
court decision, however, may have an impact on the approach
discussed in the strategy sometime in the future. In the
development of strategies to conduct remediation activities, it
would be appropriate to consider treatment in anticipation of
future LDR requirements. I will keep the Regions informed as to
the effects of this decision on all aspects of our program.
Throughout the document, reference is made to consultation
with and obtaining approvals from appropriate governmental
authorities. The assumption underlying the document is that the
remediation activities are not being carried out under the
Federal Corrective Action or Superfund program but that they are
being voluntarily conducted with appropriate state and/or local
oversight. The document is not intended to provide detailed
procedural guidance on obtaining governmental approvals. And, as
always, state requirements can be more stringent than their
federal counterpart.
I view the attached remediation strategy as another step in
the direction of achieving more risk-oriented and effective
application of RCRA regulations to environmental clean-up
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08/08/01 WED 16:37 FAX 607 762 8451 NYSEG LIC & ENV
1^003
activities. As the Regional Offices gain experience working with
these sites, I would appreciate hearing from you if the
recommended strategy is helpful in expediting clean-up and if you
encounter any problems that further or more specific guidance
would alleviate.
If you have any questions about this strategy document,
please call Ed Abrams, Chief, Listing Section at 202-260-4770, or
David Bussard, Director, of the Characterization and Assessment
Division at 202-260-4637.
Attachment
cc: OSW Division Directors
MGP workgroup
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08/08/01 WED 16:38 FAX 607 762 8451
'11/25/98 WED 15:50 FAX 518 457 9639
NYSEG LIC & ENV
BPM
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials, Room 488
50 Wolf Road, Albany, New York 1 2233-725O
Phone: (518) 457-6934 FAX: (518) 457-O629
UOV 1 9 1998
Ms. Elizabeth A. Cotsworth
Acting Director
Office of Solid Waste (530I-W)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401M Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20460
John P. Cahill
Commissioner
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Dear Ms. Cotsworth:
Re: LDRs and Decharacterizing MGP Coal Tar Wastes
Recently, this Department received copies of the August 21, 1998 letter from
your office to Piper & Marbury, L.L.P., concerning the effects the Phase IV LDR
Supplemental Rule might have on the cleanup of manufactured gas plant sites. Your
letter was in response to a May 11, 1998 letter requesting guidance on this subject and
submitted on behalf of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group.
Regarding processes for decharacterizing coal tar wastes, further EPA guidance is
needed. In New York State, for example, the elimination of the toxicity characteristic
(DO 18) has been accomplished by the addition of coal fines and activated carbon to reduce
the leachability of the contaminated media. Sufficient carbon and coal fines are added such
that the media no longer exhibits a characteristic. This admixture binds but does not .reduce
or destroy the principal or underlying hazardous constituents, virtually all of which are
organics. This treatment has occurred both within the excavation and in a. container
adjacent to the excavation. In New York State, the decharacterized material is then
transported to an approved combustion unit (i-e-., utility boiler) where the organics are
destroyed thermally after the material is combined with coal.
1. Is it acceptable under the LDRs to decharacterize DO 18 MGP waste, or soil
containing same, by treatment with carbon and/or coal fines, provided the
organic component of the decharacterized material is subsequently
permanently treated in a thermal destruction device?
Post-it* Fax Note 7671
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11/2S7-98 WED 15:51 FAX 518 457 9639 BPM 10002
Ms. Elizabeth A. Cotsworth 2.
2. Is it acceptable to add soil, either in the area of contamination or in
tanks/containers, to DO 18 MQP waste or soil containing same, in order (a) to
decharacterize the waste and (b) to allow the mixed material to be transported
to an off-site, non-RCRA "C" facility for thermal destruction? Is such soil
mixing impermissible dilution?
Given that we are presently faced with several important permitting and remediation
decisions concerning MGP wastes, we urgently need EPA's opinion relative to whether
these methods are acceptable under the LDR's.
If you have any questions, you may contact this office at (518) 457-6934 or have
your staff call Lawrence Nadler, of my staff, at (518) 485-8988.
Sincerely,
Stephen Hammond, P.E.
Director
Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials
cc: K. Callahan, EPA Region II
bcc: F. Bifera
E. Crotty
C.Johnson
S. Hammond (2)
J. Willson
M. O'Toole
C. Sullivan
P. Counterman
L. Nadler
M. Sheen
J. Miccoli
W. Yeman
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C:\OFFICE\WPWIN\WPDOCS\HAMMOND\EC.MGP
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