Hazardous Waste2011

Hazardous Waste Defined

Hazardous waste is a waste with properties that make it dangerous or potentially harmful to human health or the environment.

Forms of Hazardous Waste

Liquids

Solids

Contained gases

Sludges.

The EPA has a list of more than 500 specific hazardous wastes

Criteria

1. Contains one or more of 39 carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic compounds at levels that exceed established limits;

2.catches fire easily, such as gasoline, paints, and solvents;

Criteria Continued

3. Is reactive or unstable enough to explode or release toxic fumes or

4. is capable of corroding metal containers such as tanks, drums, and barrels

Characteristics

Ignitability – Create fires under certain conditions, are spontaneously combustible, or have a flash point less than 60 °C (140 °F). waste oils and used solvents.

Corrosivity – Acids or bases (pH less than or equal to 2, or greater than or equal to 12.5) capable of corroding metal containers. Battery acid is an example.

Reactivity – Unstable under "normal" conditions, can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when heated, compressed, or mixed with water. lithium-sulfur batteries and explosives.

Toxicity – Harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed, this is the issue with leachate

Hazardous Landfill Construction

Federal Legislation

RCRA (1976)- The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)

CERCLA (1980) –The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

SARA (1986)- Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act

RCRA

Manages listed and identified wastes.

Hazardous Material Look UpEPA RCRA

CERCLA

This law created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment.

Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

Specifically CERCLA

established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites;

provided for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites; and

established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be identified.

CERCLA Continued

The law authorizes two kinds of response actions: Short-term removals, where actions may

be taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response.

Long-term remedial response actions, that permanently and significantly reduce the dangers associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances that are serious

SARA

SARA amended CERCLA on October 17, 1986. SARA reflected EPA's experience in administering the complex Superfund Program during its first six years and made several important changes and additions to the program.

SARA

stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites;

provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools;

increased the focus on human health problems posed by hazardous waste sites;

encouraged greater citizen participation in making decisions on how sites should be cleaned up; and

increased the size of the trust fund to $8.5 billion.

Superfund

Superfund

Toxic Release Inventory

A publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain covered industry groups as well as federal facilities.

This inventory was established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and expanded by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.

Toxic Release Inventory

Toxic Release Inventory

BioremediationBioremediation

the use of microbes to enhance the elimination of toxic compounds in the environment.

Strategies for Strategies for bioremediationbioremediation

Using native (indigenous) microbes

Improving microbes living conditions

Adding selected microbes

Indigenous MicrobesIndigenous Microbes

There are many naturally occurring microbes that occur in the environment that will decompose (eat) small amounts of toxin over long periods of time. This works at a very, very slow rate

Improving living Improving living conditioncondition

People can add water and oxygen to the environment to speed up the growth rate of the microbes. Also by adding additional chemical such as fertilizers.

Adding more and Adding more and different microbesdifferent microbes

Adding additional non-native microbes can help degrade the toxins

What microbes to useWhat microbes to use

Toxins come in 2 categories Organic Inorganic

The type of toxin determines how and what microbes can be used

Top 10 contaminantsTop 10 contaminants

Lead

Trichloroethylene

Toulene

Benzene

PCB’s

Chloroform

Phenol

Arsenic

Cadmium

Chromium

Anarerobic Anarerobic tolulene tolulene degraderdegrader

Azoarcus tolulyticus

(dividing in photo)

•Found in a gasoline contaminated aquifer

•Tolulene is one of the most toxic components of gasoline

•Important find because it is anaerobic and can work in an underground environment.

BiodegradatioBiodegradationn

Using living organisms to breakdown organic compounds

2,4-D=Weed B Gone--Herbicides

Oil

PCB”s—insulator coolants in electric power plant transformers

DDT—pesticide

Plastic

Detergents

2,4-D2,4-DRoundUp,glyphosphatRoundUp,glyphosphat

ee

Three main microbes

Alclegenes eutrohus

Burkholderia cepia

Halomonas

Most widely used herbicide in the US. Between 54-60 million pounds annually

Can be degraded in 2 weeks in agricultural soils

Inorganic Inorganic WasteWaste

Inorganic wastes contain no Carbon, include heave metals

Although found in nature humans are responsible for accumulating them into abnormally found amounts

Mercury—in batteries

Nitrite—fertilizer runoff

Selenium, Arsenic

Uranium

Acid mine drainage

Bacterial communities Bacterial communities

Communities of bacteria can handle even nuclear wasteHighly contaminated waste sites have found bacteria eating the uranium and breaking it down to less water soluble compounds

Acid mine drainageAcid mine drainage

Using microbial communities to clean the heavy metals

Hazardous waste are Hazardous waste are creating new fields of creating new fields of

studystudy Microbial technology

Limiting factors for critical processes & significant organisms

Identification of key biotic interaction Structure and function of food webs

Environmental biotechnology Cleaning effluents of treatment waste Alternative and ecofriendly processes Alternative and ecofriendly products