# News Article for a Project I am reviewing



## Guest (Dec 20, 2007)

It is a pretty cool story actually. A story about how an old abandoned hazardous waste landfill will be removed to make way for residential/commercial development interests.

I just love a happy ending to a story! 

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/de...al-undertaking/

JR


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## Dark Knight (Dec 20, 2007)

jregieng said:


> It is a pretty cool story actually. A story about how an old abandoned hazardous waste landfill will be removed to make way for residential/commercial development interests.
> I just love a happy ending to a story!
> 
> http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/de...al-undertaking/
> ...


JR,

Is that detoxification(is that right???) process reliable? How can they be sure they are not using contaminated soil as landfill somewhere else?


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## C-Dog (Dec 20, 2007)

How do you detoxicfy (sp?) lead?


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## Guest (Dec 20, 2007)

Actually, you are treating the toxicity characteristic of the lead by binding it to an insoluble precipiate (e.g. phosphate) so that it will not exihibit a toxic characteristic when you run the Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) analytical test.

This form of stabilization is pretty well understood and works well for most metals but VERY WELL for lead. It has been used in many applications for lead contaminated sites and has been field-verified in practically every case (at least the ones I am aware of). In my earlier days with this agency, I used a different phosphate proprietary agent for soils contaminated with lead at abandoned outdoor shooting ranges - it fixed the problem very well with very minimal cost associated with the treatment and the soils didn't have to be excavated and hauled for disposal. FYI - T &amp; D is typically the most expensive component of an excavation/disposal project.

Theoretically, one can claim that the lead precipitate could be 'un-bound' if the redox condition were to change. However, I have not come across a condition where the environment changed in such a way that it would allow enough lead to leach thereby rendering the material hazardous due to toxicity (e.g. undoing the precipitation). I am certainly not saying the condition could never exist, but I haven't seen it any any of the sites where this has been done in-situ (in the ground) or ex-situ (dig and dispose).

I have some pictures that I will add so you can see some of this once I get a chance to upload/post. 

JR


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2008)

A few pictures as promised .....

Landfill uncovering ...












Landfill excavation ...






Staging soil pile for treatment (stabilization)






Stabilization (adding Triphosphate powder)






JR


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## FLBuff PE (Jan 7, 2008)

This is VERY interesting to me, JR. I deal with a couple of sites in the Aspen, CO area that have 'mine waste rock' (not tailings!) deposits that are high in lead concentrations (I had a 1200 ppm nit on one sample) and high TCLP readings. We are not the environmental firm, but are the geotch. I oversaw the drilling/sampling of the site. Lots of pretty oranges and yellows. After you treat the soil with the triphosphate powder, does it get hauled to a different landfill? Or can it be used as fill at the existing site? The trucking costs to just dispose of the soil to an approved landfill from my Aspen site would be well with the millions, as the nearest haz-mat landfill is about 500 miles from the site! Can you theoretically dispose of the stabalized lead soil at a municipal Class D landfill?


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2008)

FLBuff said:


> Can you theoretically dispose of the stabalized lead soil at a municipal Class D landfill?


Absolutely!

On the federal level, 40 CFR 261.3(f) is often referred to as the "Contained-in Rule" - basically it addresses cases where environmental media (soil, groundwater, surface water and debris) are subject to Land Disposal Restrictions under 40 CFR 268.

Many states have developed thier own criteria (under EPA's guidance) to develop a road map that is referred to as the "Contained-*OUT* policy". Such policies have been developed to make it easier for people who are generators of contaminated media that is hazardous by virtue of either listing or characteristic to treat (stabilize) to a certain level whereby that media becomes NON-HAZARDOUS and therefore may be disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill (Class I lined landfill).

Florida has such a policy, Management of Contaminated Media Under RCRA, dated August 9, 2006. This most recent update includes a few updates from the previous policies and includes updated 'treatment standards' promulgated by the Department during rulemaking. I would encourage you (or anyone) to take a look at the policy if you have any interest in how you can take contaminated media that are considered 'hazardous' and render them 'stabilized' or 'non-hazardous' so that they may be disposed of in a Subtitle D landfill. It is a pretty twisted and tortuous path so be prepared to have a copy of the federal register handy. 

As far as lead is concerned, I think I mentioned earlier that I got my start with lead stabilization from evaluation and disposal of lead contaminated soils and outdoor shooting ranges. There is a very good understanding of the lead precipitates and thier relative stability - so much so that 'prescriptive' treatments have been recognized as stabilization measures for Subtitle D landfill facilities. In the case of THIS particular project, the soil is being taken off-site pursuant to the contaminated media policy because the property is going to be re-developed as a residential community. As you indicated, by virtue of applying this policy and getting concurrence from the regulatory agency, this particular responsible party has been able to substantially reduce the Transport and Disposal costs to make the clean-up FEASIBLE - from a cost and implementability perspective.

In the end, that is really the driving reason for such policy - to achieve a technically RATIONAL basis for AFFORDABLE disposal of contaminated media that become hazardous because of the point-of-generation issues (_e.g._ excavation, treatement).

One of my primary job responsibilities is rendering 'Contained-Out' determinations based on history and analytical data. If you would like to know more, please feel free to PM me - I think this topic would make most roll-over and want to die if I continued any further! :lmao: :lmao:

Regards,

JR


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2008)

And for those who would like to see the development aspect of this project ....

Rendered drawing presented by the developer:
















JR


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