[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8378-8381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3611]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5154-3]
Notice of Intent to Grant Chemical Waste Management, Inc. a
Modification of an Exemption From the Land Disposal Restrictions of the
Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) Regarding Injection
of Hazardous Waste
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Chemical Waste Management, Inc.
(CWM), of Oak Brook, Illinois, a modification of an exemption for the
injection of certain hazardous wastes.
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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or
Agency) is today proposing to grant a modification to the exemption
from the ban on disposal of certain hazardous wastes through injection
wells to CWM for its site at Vickery, Ohio. If granted, this
modification would allow CWM to inject additional Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulated wastes, identified by codes: F037,
F038, K086, K107, K108, K109, K110, K117, K118, K123, K124, K125, K126,
K141, K142, K143, K144, K145, K147, K148, K149, K150, and K151 through
four waste disposal wells (WDWs) numbered: 2, 4, 5, and 6. Wastes codes
F037, F038, K086, K107, K108, K109, K110, K123, K124, K125, and K126
were inadvertently omitted from the list for which CWM originally
requested exemptions. Waste codes K141, K142, K143, K144, K145, K147,
K148, K149, K150 and K151 became newly listed waste codes on September
19, 1994, and were banned from waste injection effective December 19,
1994. If granted, this modification would allow CWM to inject RCRA
wastes with these codes after that ban date. The Agency has established
June 30, 1995, as ban date for waste codes K131, and K132, after which,
disposal by injection would be prohibited. If granted, this
modification would allow CWM to continue to inject RCRA wastes with
these codes beyond that ban date. On August 8, 1990, the Agency issued
CWM an exemption for injection of certain hazardous wastes after
determining that there is a reasonable degree of certainty that CWM's
injected wastes will not migrate out of the injection zone within the
next 10,000 years.
DATES: The EPA is requesting public comments on its proposed decision
to exempt the wastes listed above. Comments will be accepted until
March 31, 1995. Comments postmarked after the close of the comment
period will be stamped ``Late''. A public information meeting and a
public hearing to allow comment on this action may be scheduled if
significant comments are received, and notice of these meetings will be
given in a local paper and to all people on a mailing list developed by
the Agency. If you wish to request that a public hearing be held, or to
be notified of the date and location of any public hearing held, please
contact the lead petition reviewers listed below.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments, by mail, to: United Sates
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Underground Injection
Control Section (WD-17J), 77 West Jackson Street, Chicago, Illinois
60604, Attention: Richard J. Zdanowicz, Chief.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harlan Gerrish or Nathan Wiser, Lead
Petition Reviewers, UIC Section, Water Division; Office Telephone
Numbers: (312) 886-2939 and (312) 353-9569, respectively; 17th Floor
Metcalfe Building, 77 West Jackson Street, Chicago, Illinois.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. Authority
The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA), enacted on
November 8, 1984, impose substantial new responsibilities on those who
handle hazardous waste. The amendments prohibit the land disposal of
untreated hazardous waste beyond specified dates, unless the
Administrator determines that the prohibition is not required in order
to protect human health and the environment for as long as the waste
remains hazardous (RCRA Sections 3004(d)(1), (e)(1), (f)(2), (g)(5)).
The statute specifically defined land disposal to include any placement
of hazardous waste in an injection well (RCRA Section 3004(k)). After
the effective date of prohibition, hazardous waste can be injected only
under two circumstances:
(1) When the waste has been treated in accordance with the
requirements of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR)
Part 268 pursuant to Section 3004(m) of RCRA, (the EPA has adopted the
same treatment standards for injected wastes in 40 CFR Part 148,
Subpart B); or
(2) When the owner/operator has demonstrated that there will be no
migration of hazardous constituents from the injection zone for as long
as the waste remains hazardous. Applicants seeking an exemption from
the ban must demonstrate to a reasonable degree of certainty that
hazardous waste will not leave the injection zone until:
(a) The waste undergoes a chemical transformation within the
injection zone through attenuation, transformation, or
immobilization of hazardous constituents so as to no longer pose a
threat to human health and the environment; or
(b) That fluid flow is such that injected fluids will not
migrate vertically upward out of the injection zone to a point of
discharge for a period of 10,000 years.
The EPA promulgated final regulations on July 26, 1988, (53 FR
28118) which govern the submission of petitions for exemption from the
disposal prohibition (40 CFR Part 148). Most companies seeking
exemption have opted to demonstrate waste confinement (option (a)
above, rather than waste transformation (option (b) above). A time
frame of 10,000 years was specified for the confinement demonstration
not because migration after that time is of no concern, but because a
demonstration which can meet a 10,000 year time frame will likely
provide containment for a substantially longer time period, and
[[Page 8379]] also to allow time for geochemical transformations which
would render the waste immobile. The Agency's confinement standard thus
does not imply that leakage will occur at some time after 10,000 years,
rather, it is a showing that leakage will not occur within that time
frame and probably much longer.
The EPA regulations at 40 CFR 148.20(f) provide that any person who
has been granted an exemption to the land disposal restrictions may
request that the Agency modify the exemption to include additional
wastes. If the EPA determines, to a reasonable degree of certainty,
that the new wastes will behave hydraulically and chemically in a
manner similar to previously exempted wastes and that injection thereof
will not interfere with the containment capability of the injection
zone, the modification may be granted.
Neither the existing exemption nor this modification exempts CWM
from the duty to comply with the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
B. Facility Operation
The CWM facility accepts wastes from manufacturers and disposes of
them as a commercial service. The wastes are tested to ensure that
reaction products which might plug the injection interval are not
formed, and mixed to ensure uniformity. The waste is filtered and
injected into the four wells for permanent disposal. The facility has
disposed of a total of 970,858,000 gallons of mostly hazardous wastes
since the first well was placed in operation on June 7, 1976.
C. Exemption
The existing exemption allows CWM to dispose of wastes denoted by
the following RCRA waste codes:
D001
D002
D003
D004
D005
D006
D007
D008
D009
D010
D011
D012
D013
D014
D015
D016
D017
F001
F002
F003
F004
F005
F006
F007
F008
F009
F010
F011
F012
F019
F024
F039
K001
K002
K003
K004
K005
K006
K007
K008
K009
K010
K011
K013
K014
K015
K016
K017
K018
K019
K020
K021
K022
K023
K024
K025
K026
K027
K028
K029
K030
K031
K032
K033
K034
K035
K036
K037
K038
K039
K040
K041
K042
K043
K044
K045
K046
K047
K048
K049
K050
K051
K052
K060
K061
K062
K069
K071
K073
K083
K084
K085
K087
K093
K094
K095
K096
K097
K098
K099
K101
K102
K103
K104
K105
K106
K111
K112
K113
K114
K115
K116
K136
P001
P002
P003
P004
P005
P006
P007
P008
P009
P010
P011
P012
P013
P014
P015
P016
P017
P018
P020
P021
P022
P023
P024
P026
P027
P028
P029
P030
P031
P033
P034
P036
P037
P038
P039
P040
P041
P042
P043
P044
P045
P046
P047
P048
P049
P050
P051
P054
P056
P057
P058
P059
P060
P062
P063
P064
P065
P066
P067
P068
P069 [[Page 8380]]
P070
P071
P072
P073
P074
P075
P076
P077
P078
P081
P082
P084
P085
P087
P088
P089
P092
P093
P094
P095
P096
P097
P098
P099
P101
P102
P103
P104
P105
P106
P107
P108
P109
P111
P112
P113
P114
P115
P116
P118
P119
P120
P121
P122
P123
U001
U002
U003
U003
U004
U005
U006
U007
U008
U009
U010
U011
U012
U013
U014
U015
U016
U017
U018
U019
U020
U021
U022
U023
U024
U025
U026
U027
U028
U029
U030
U031
U032
U033
U034
U035
U036
U037
U038
U039
U041
U042
U043
U044
U045
U046
U047
U048
U049
U050
U051
U052
U053
U055
U056
U057
U058
U059
U060
U061
U062
U063
U064
U066
U067
UO68
U069
U070
U071
U072
U073
U074
U075
U076
U077
U078
U079
U080
U081
U082
U083
U084
U085
U086
U087
U088
U089
U090
U091
U092
U093
U094
U095
U096
U097
U098
U099
U101
U102
U103
U105
U106
U107
U108
U109
U110
U111
U112
U113
U114
U115
U116
U117
U118
U119
U120
U121
U122
U123
U124
U125
U126
U127
U128
U129
U130
U131
U132
U133
U134
U135
U136
U137
U138
U139
U140
U141
U142
U143
U144
U145
U146
U147
U148
U149
UI50
U151
U152
U153
U154
U155
U156
U157
U158
U159
U160
U161
U162
U163
U164
U165
U166
U167
U168
U169
U170
U171
U172
U173
U174
U175
UI76
U177
UI78
U179
U180
U181
U182
U183
U184
U185
U186
U187 [[Page 8381]]
U188
U189
U190
U191
U192
U193
U194
U196
U197
U200
U201
U202
U203
U204
U205
U206
U207
U208
U209
U210
U211
U213
U214
U215
U216
U217
U218
U219
U220
U221
U222
U223
U225
U226
U227
U228
U234
U235
U236
U237
U238
U239
U240
U243
U244
U246
U247
U248
U249
U328
U353
U359
This modification will add to the above list of approved codes in
the existing exemption, so that CWM may also dispose of wastes denoted
by the following RCRA waste codes: F037, F038, F086, K107, K108, K109,
K110, K123, K124, K125, K126, K141, K142, K143, K144, K145, K147, K148,
K149, K150, and K151 through its deep wells upon the effective date of
this petition modification. When K131 and K132 are banned from land
disposal on June 30, 1995, this modification will allow continued
disposal of those wastes through the deep-well system.
D. Submission
On September 12, 1994, and October 28, 1994, CWM submitted requests
to modify its existing petition for exemption from the land disposal
restrictions on hazardous waste disposal under the HSWA of RCRA (40 CFR
Part 148). The submissions were reviewed by staff at the EPA.
II. Basis for Determination
A. Waste Description and Analysis
CWM reports that the wastes codes for which this modification has
been requested have not been disposed of by the Vickery facility. The
actual chemical constituents found in the proposed codes are already
found in previously exempted waste codes, which CWM does accept. CWM
anticipates the possibility that manufacturers may proffer wastes
containing the waste codes for which this exemption is requested.
B. Model Demonstration of No Migration
The grant of an exemption from the land disposal restrictions
imposed by the HSWA of RCRA is based on a demonstration that disposed
wastes will not migrate out of the defined waste management unit for a
period of 10,000 years. This demonstration is based on the results of
computer simulations which use geological information collected at the
site or found to be appropriate for the site and mathematical models
which have been proven to be capable of simulating natural responses to
injection. The simulator is calibrated by matching simulator results
against observations at the site. In this case, CWM simulated movement
of a conservatively defined ion released at the top of the injection
interval. Using values for geological parameters which have been shown
to be exceptionally conservative (their use results in greater vertical
movement of waste constituents than can reasonably be expected), CWM
demonstrated that injected wastes will not migrate out of the defined
injection zone for a period of 10,000 years. The Agency accepted the
demonstration and granted the existing exemption in 1990.
A modification of an existing exemption to allow injection of
additional hazardous waste constituents must show that the waste
constituents denoted by the codes for which the modification is
requested must behave similarly to those constituents for which the
original demonstration of no migration was made. In this case, the
underlying waste constituents have been shown to behave similarly
because each is also a constituent of wastes denoted by codes which
have already been exempted. This approach eliminated the need to
reconsider each waste constituent individually. Comments on this
approach are solicited.
III. Conditions of Petition Approval
The existing petition was issued with conditions. Conditions
numbered: (5), (6), (7), and (8) required CWM to perform actions which
might provide additional confirmation that the conditions at the site
were conservatively considered in the demonstration of no migration
from the injection zone. The work required under these conditions has
been completed by CWM, and no additional work by CWM under these
conditions is anticipated, except that the Knox-Kerbel ground water
monitoring well (condition 5) must remain active at least as long as
the facility is active. The remaining conditions, those numbered: (1),
(2), (3), (4), and (9) place well operation conditions on CWM and
continue in force. No new conditions are attached to this modification.
Dated: February 6, 1995.
Edward P. Watters,
Acting Director, Water Division, Region 5, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 95-3611 Filed 2-13-95; 8:45 am]
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