$EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Office of Research and Development Washington, DC 20460 June 1994 PROGRAM FACT SHEET Demonstration of the COGNIS, Inc. TERRAMET® Lead Extraction Process THIS FACT SHEET TELLS YOU ABOUT ¦ An EPA demonstration of an innovative lead extraction process ¦ The remediation effort at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) " A Visitors' Day on June 29, 1994 at 10:00 a.m. at TCAAP Introduction The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies new methods for hazardous waste cleanup through its Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. Created in 1986, this program demonstrates and evaluates innovative treatment technologies that may significantly reduce the toxicity, mobility, or volume of hazardous waste. The SITE Program also generates reliable performance and cost information on the technologies that may be used to evaluate cleanup alternatives for similar sites. The technology proposed for the demonstration is the TERRAM ET® lead extraction process developed by COGNIS, Inc. (COGNIS), of Santa Rosa, California. The purpose of the demonstration is to determine the process' effectiveness in removing heavy metals, particularly lead, from soil at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) in New Brighton, Minnesota. EPA's SITE Program Each year, EPA solicits proposals from private technology developers to demonstrate innovative technologies under the SITE Program. For each technology selected, EPA performs the following tasks, often with input from state and regional agencies: Identifies a site with wastes suitable for demonstration of the technology Prepares a demonstration plan Notifies appropriate agencies for intergovernmental and community reviews regarding applicability of technology at the site Prepares a fact sheet for the public Prepares the demonstration site and conducts the demonstration Organizes a Visitors' Day for the public to view the technology demonstration Conducts and audits field sampling and laboratory analyses Evaluates technology performance Summarizes demonstration results in an Innovative Technology Evaluation Report, a technology capsule, a demonstration bulletin, and a videotape Technology Description The COGNIS TERRAMET8 process extracts and recovers metals from contaminated soil, dust, sludge, or sediment. The TERRAMET® lead extraction process can treat most types of lead contamination, including metallic lead, soluble ions, and insoluble lead oxides and salts. Certain lead compounds, like lead sulfide, are not amenable to treatment. Before the process can begin, oversized material must be removed. The second stage of the process separates soils by size fraction. Next, the extraction phase of the process works through a series of mixers and clarifiers where a proprietary aqueous leachant dissolves fine metallic fragments and ionic metals into solution (see Figure 1). The metals are 1 ------- BESCORP COGNIS Figure 1: BESCORP and COGNIS Systems Flow Diagram then recovered through an electrolytic deposition process. The aqueous leachant is then reused in the system. The end products of this treatment system are clean soil and recycled metal. No wastewater streams are generated during process operations. However, at the conclusion of the remediation project, a relatively small, fixed volume of contaminated water remaining in the equipment requires treatment and disposal. Site Description TCAAP is one of the nation's top 50 Superfund hazardous waste sites (see Figure 2). Through a Federal Facilities Agreement, the Army, EPA, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) are working to permanently clean up this site, allowing for future unrestricted use of the area. Part of this cleanup effort is located within a 10-acre area called Site F, found in the south-central part of TCAAP. Site F is being remediated under the authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The potential applicability of the COGNIS TERRAMET® lead extraction process to lead-contaminated soil at Superfund sites, and the full-scale operation of the process make the TCAAP Site F remediation an attractive SITE Program demonstration opportunity. At Site F, the Army burned scrap ammunition and powder, spread the ash and residue on the surface, and buried scrap cartridge casings in disposal trenches. These disposal practices were commonly accepted while the site was in use, between 1941 and 1985. Today, the soil at Site F is contaminated with heavy metals (primarily lead) which must be reduced from levels as high as 86,000 parts per million (ppm). The contamination lies in the upper 1 -2 feet of soil over a 3-acre area, and is as deep as 10 feet in the disposal trenches. Area groundwater is nearly 120 feet below the ground surface, and has not been affected. The TCAAP Site F Remediation Effort Site F remediation is a joint endeavor between COGNIS and Brice Environmental Services Corporation, Inc. (BESCORP). The untreated soil is blended to contain lead levels ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 ppm. MPCA has set an enforceable cleanup standard of 300 ppm for lead at the site; however, TCAAP has set a more stringent cleanup target of 175 ppm. BESCORP processes the whole soil and produces the following product streams: oversize, clean gravel; lead concentrate from the sands fraction; and partially-cleaned sands and fines. COGNIS then further treats the sands and 2 ------- Figure 2: Site Location Map fines streams to reduce the lead concentrations to acceptable levels. COGNIS also regenerates the leaching agent and recovers a lead concentrate as part of the regeneration process. Site F remediation began in late 1993. Work on the project was suspended throughout the winter months due to Minnesota weather conditions. Remediation will continue for 12-14 weeks in the spring and summer of 1994. The system will process about 8,000 to 10,000 tons of Site F soil during the course of the remediation, at an average process feed rate of 12 tons per hour. The SITE Program Demonstration The SITE Program is evaluating the performance of the TERRAMET® lead extraction process during the ongoing remediation activities at TCAAP. The SITE Program is evaluating the technology to obtain detailed performance, cost, and reliability data about the TERRAMET® process so that potential users can judge the technology's applicability to other sites. The SITE Program has prepared a detailed quality assurance project plan (QAPP) outlining the methods and procedures used to test and evaluate the technology. The demonstration will provide the following information: • The technology's effectiveness based on an assessment of sampling and analysis results • The potential need for pre-treatment and post-treatment processing of raw and treated materials • The site-specific wastes and media to which the technology can be applied • Any potential site-specific system operating problems and their possible resolutions • The approximate capital, short-term operating, and maintenance costs • The projected long-term operating and maintenance costs When the demonstration is complete, EPA will compile and analyze the findings in several reports published in series. Initial information about the technology is summarized in a demonstration bulletin and a technology capsule. A more detailed account of the technology's performance and applicability is presented in the Innovative Technology Evaluation Report. Copies of these documents will be available for review at Site F's information repository, located in Building 105 at TCAAP. 3 ------- Community Relations TCAAP has established an active community relations program to inform the public about site cleanup efforts. Tours of Site F and the treatment system area are offered every other week through August 1994. For details, contact Mr. Marty McCleery at the address listed in the following section. In addition, EPA will host a Visitors' Day on Wednesday, June 29,1994 that will include presentations about the EPA SITE Program, Site F, and the TE R RAM ET® process. Visitors will also have an opportunity to view remediation activities at Site F and the treatment area. Those individuals interested in attending the EPA Visitors' Day on June 29 should complete and return the enclosed registration form by June 23,1994 or call Cynthia Loney at (513) 241-0149. Additional Information Specific questions about TCAAP or Site F should be directed to: Mr. Marty McCleery Remedial Project Manager Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant New Brighton, Minnesota 55112-5700 Phone: (612) 633-2301 ext. 651 Fax: (612)633-3129 Specific questions about the TERRAMET® process should be directed to: Dr. William Fristad COGNIS, Inc. 2330 Circadian Way Santa Rosa, California 95407 Phone: (707) 576-6235 Fax: (707) 575-7833 Questions or comments about the SITE Program or the proposed demonstration should be forwarded to: Mr. Michael Royer Project Manager U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2890 Woodbridge Ave., Bldg. 10 (MS-104) Edison, New Jersey 08837-3679 Phone: (908) 321-6633 Fax: (908) 321-6640 ® EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, MS-214 Cincinnati, Ohio 45268 Attention: Mike Royer 4 ^ Photocopied on Recycled Paper ------- |