RCRA corrective action costs: An estimating model for nonfederal facilities

This article presents an analysis of the prospective costs of RCRA corrective action for private, nonfederal facilities. Two data bases developed by Research Triangle Institute and a remedial action cost model developed by CH2M Hill provide the foundation for this work. The methodology has two components, a remedial action knowledge base and a discrete-state Monte Carlo analysis. Under base case assumptions, it is estimated that the total costs of RCRA corrective action will be $240 billion, with a 5 percent chance the costs will be less than $170 billion and a 5 percent chance the costs will be more than $377 billion.     

Understanding the RCRA corrective action process

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was enacted in 1976. The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984 specify “corrective action” requirements for protecting human health and the environment from environmental contamination at active hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. RCRA and its corrective action requirements are designed to prevent the creation of new Superfund sites by regulating and remediating active facilities. The RCRA corrective action process has four basic components: the facility assessment, facility investigation, corrective measures study, and corrective measures implementation. This article presents an overview of the RCRA corrective action process and presents four case studies from three U.S. EPA regions.     

Estimating the costs of corrective action at land disposal facilities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations that would require corrective action (e.g., soil excavation and groundwater removal and treatment) at municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLFs) and hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs). This paper presents an overview of the proposed corrective action regulations, and discusses their relationship to proposed or existing closure and post-closure care regulations. The paper then presents estimated corrective action cost curves for various MSWLF scenarios defined by landfill area, average waste thickness, and the presence or absence of a clay liner. The paper finally illustrates the economic benefits of sound closure and postclosure care by comparing estimated costs of corrective action to estimated costs of closure and postclosure care at MSWLFs.     

Treatment of remediation wastes in RCRA corrective action management units

This article explains new EPA regulations that provide for use of corrective action management units (CAMUs) and temporary units (TUs) as cost-effective techniques for remediating hazardous wastes at facilities undergoing RCRA corrective action and at CERCLA remediation sites. The author outlines EPA criteria for approving the use of CAMUs, discusses the benefits and limitations of using them, and recommends possible ways to improve on the CAMU concept.     

Simulating the Impact of Cover Degradation on RCRA Landfill Performance

The ability of near‐surface disposal facility cover designs to meet percolation performance criteria is influenced by degradation occurring over long periods of time. This study was conducted to determine the effect of degradation on percolation based on probabilistic distributions derived from historical climate data. Water‐balance predictions were evaluated using the HELP model, employing several variations of degradation in a traditional Resource Conservation and Recovery Act disposal facility cover design over a 100‐year simulation period. Analysis results were evaluated relative to two different selected thresholds for annual percolation (1 mm and 3 mm). Approximately 20 percent of the results did not exceed both the 1‐mm and 3‐mm thresholds, while 10 percent of the realizations exceeded the 1‐mm threshold but not the 3‐mm threshold, with remaining cases exceeding the 3‐mm threshold. These results demonstrate the importance of considering degradation in designing near‐surface disposal facilities, especially given the very long performance periods desired by different regulators. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Optimal service regions for solid waste facilities

An empirical method to determine the optimal size of a service region for a solid waste facility is presented. Population data from a region surrounding Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. and published cost data are used to illustrate the use of the method and to provide insight into the optimal values of the radius of the region when the facility is a landfill or an incinerator.     

Approximate cost functions for solid waste treatment facilities.

Cost estimation is a basic requirement for planning municipal solid waste management systems. The variety of organizational, financial and management schemes and the continuously developing technological advancements render the economic analysis a complex task, made more complex by the scarcity of real cost data. The objectives of this paper were: (1) to explore the problems arising in getting cost estimates from scattered and limited published data; (2) to suggest a procedure for generating cost functions relating initial set-up cost and operating cost with facility size; and (3) to present such cost functions, relevant to European states, for selected types of solid waste treatment and disposal facilities. Regarding the problems of available scarce data, one needs to deal with cost figures which correspond to facilities with variations in size, technology, year of construction, working conditions, level of technological automation, environmental impacts, social acceptance, capacity utilization rate, composition of inflowing waste, waste management policies, degree of compliance with quality standards, etc. The paper addresses this issue and discusses the proper use of statistical analyses in such cases of fragmented data; moreover, it points out some usual misuses of statistics by analysts and the danger of getting erroneous results. The suggested process for generating cost functions acceptable to the decision-makers is pivoted around the question of acceptable approximation level. Finally, approximate cost curves are suggested for waste-to-energy facilities, landfilling facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities and composting facilities.     

火电厂环保设施运行状态及性能评价技术研究

介绍了火电厂环保设施运行状态及性能评价技术的创新性研究,包括研究方法、评价方法、评价技术及实际应用情况。该研究是继火电厂工程减排、结构减排后的重要管理技术创新,为进一步促进火电厂环保设施安全、稳定、可靠、经济运行,确保达标排放,推进火电行业管理减排和技术监督提供了技术支持。     

Unit costs for decontamination and dismantlement of structures

A series of relationships have been developed for estimating unit costs for decontamination and dismantlement (D&D) of a number of structure types. These relationships may be applied in the absence of other data to obtain rough order-of-magnitude cost estimates for D&D activities. The relationships were developed using D&D costs estimated for various types of buildings at the U.S. Department of Energy Fernald site. These unit costs take into account the level of radiological contamination as well as the building size and type.     

Alternative contracting strategies for controlling costs and avoiding performance disputes on remediation projects

It is critical that all participants in the remediation effort develop comprehensive contracting strategies aimed at controlling remediation costs and avoiding performance disputes. Initially, greater emphasis should be placed on negotiated, cost-type contracts that fairly address the allocation of risk between contractor and owner. This article examines the use of this contracting method and discusses industry studies on contract risk allocation, reviewing several typical contract clauses. Moreover, the participants in the remediation process should commit to the use of partnering as a framework for contract performance, as well as alternative dispute resolution techniques to swiftly settle disagreements. Through partnering, the owner and contractor work cooperatively throughout performance, rather than focus solely on their contractual rights and remedies. The article examines the mechanics of the partnering process, identifying the critical stakeholders as well as potential pitfalls, and relates industry applications. Relying on an extension of the partnering concept to the resolution of performance disputes, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques are designed to encourage negotiated settlements of disputes. The article examines various ADR methods, including the use of a dispute escalation network, job-site dispute resolution, and post-performance ADR techniques.     

Gypsum treated fly ash as a liner for waste disposal facilities

Fly ash has potential application in the construction of base liners for waste containment facilities. While most of the fly ashes improve in the strength with curing, the ranges of permeabilities they attain may often not meet the basic requirement of a liner material. An attempt has been made in the present context to reduce the hydraulic conductivity by adding lime content up to 10% to two selected samples of class F fly ashes. The use of gypsum, which is known to accelerate the unconfined compressive strength by increasing the lime reactivity, has been investigated in further improving the hydraulic conductivity. Hydraulic conductivities of the compacted specimens have been determined in the laboratory using the falling head method. It has been observed that the addition of gypsum reduces the hydraulic conductivity of the lime treated fly ashes. The reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of the samples containing gypsum is significantly more for samples with high amounts of lime contents (as high as 1000 times) than those fly ashes with lower amounts of lime. However there is a relatively more increase in the strengths of the samples with the inclusion of gypsum to the fly ashes at lower lime contents. This is due to the fact that excess lime added to fly ash is not effectively converted into pozzolanic compounds. Even the presence of gypsum is observed not to activate these reactions with excess lime. On the other hand the higher amount of lime in the presence of sulphate is observed to produce more cementitious compounds which block the pores in the fly ash. The consequent reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of fly ash would be beneficial in reducing the leachability of trace elements present in the fly ash when used as a base liner.     

Centralization of dairy farming facilities for improved economics and environmental quality

In Japan, most farm animal excreta has been stored directly on farmland. Runoff from this storage has often caused water pollution. Biogasification is anticipated as an important technology to manage excreta properly, but complex problems hinder its introduction. Economic aspects of management have been especially difficult for dairy farmers. For this study, structural problems regarding introduction of biogasification into dairy farming were identified. Subsequently, a desirable system of dairy farming including biogasification was suggested, and an evaluation model of the financial balance was constructed. A case study using current financial balances of several systems of dairy farming was evaluated using the constructed model and actual data. The systems were based on several policy alternatives including the suggested system mentioned above. Results show that a farmer can obtain sufficient income from a system featuring centralization of dairy housing and biogasification facilities and coordinated management by over six farmers.     

Survey of carbonization facilities for municipal solid waste treatment in Japan

The operations of carbonization facilities for municipal solid waste treatment in Japan were examined. Input waste, system processes, material flows, quality of char and its utilization, fuel and chemical consumption, control of facility emissions, and trouble areas in facility operation were investigated and analyzed. Although carbonization is a technically available thermochemical conversion method for municipal solid waste treatment, problems of energy efficiency and char utilization must be solved for carbonization to be competitive. Possible solutions include (1) optimizing the composition of input waste, treatment scale, organization of unit processes, operational methods, and quality and yield of char on the basis of analysis and feedback of long-term operating data of present operating facilities and (2) securing stable char demands by linking with local industries such as thermal electric power companies, iron manufacturing plants, and cement production plants.     

Reducing costs by using value engineering on superfund projects

This article informs the remediation community about value technology and how the technologies of remediation and value engineering (VE) have been successfully combined. The article describes to the practitioner how the first value engineering study on Superfund work was initiated by the Corps of Engineers for EPA.     

Influences of chemical activators on incinerator bottom ash

This research has applied different chemical activators to mechanically and thermally treated fine fraction (<14 mm) of incinerator bottom ash (IBA), in order to investigate the influences of chemical activators on this new pozzolanic material. IBA has been milled and thermally treated at 800 degrees C (TIBA). The TIBA produced was blended with Ca(OH)(2) and evaluated for setting time, reactivity and compressive strength after the addition of 0.0565 mole of Na(2)SO(4), K(2)SO(4), Na(2)CO(3), K(2)CO(3), NaOH, KOH and CaCl(2) into 100g of binder (TIBA+Ca(OH)(2)). The microstructures of activated IBA and hydrated samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetry (TG) analysis. Thermal treatment is found to produce gehlenite (Ca(2)Al(2)SiO(7)), wollastonite (CaSiO(3)) and mayenite (Ca(12)Al(14)O(33)) phases. The thermally treated IBA samples are significantly more reactive than the milled IBA. The addition of Na(2)CO(3) can increase the compressive strength and calcium hydroxide consumption at 28-day curing ages. However, the addition of Na(2)SO(4), K(2)SO(4), K(2)CO(3), NaOH and KOH reduces the strength and hydration reaction. Moreover, these chemicals produce more porous samples due to increased generation of hydrogen gas. The addition of CaCl(2) has a negative effect on the hydration of TIBA samples. Calcium aluminium oxide carbonate sulphide hydrate (Ca(4)Al(2)O(6)(CO(3))(0.67)(SO(3))(0.33)(H(2)O)(11)) is the main hydration product in the samples with activated IBA, except for the sample containing CaCl(2).     

Waste disposal technology transfer matching requirement clusters for waste disposal facilities in China

Even though technology transfer has been part of development aid programmes for many decades, it has more often than not failed to come to fruition. One reason is the absence of simple guidelines or decision making tools that help operators or plant owners to decide on the most suitable technology to adopt. Practical suggestions for choosing the most suitable technology to combat a specific problem are hard to get and technology drawbacks are not sufficiently highlighted. Western counterparts in technology transfer or development projects often underestimate or don’t sufficiently account for the high investment costs for the imported incineration plant; the differing nature of Chinese MSW; the need for trained manpower; and the need to treat flue gas, bunker leakage water, and ash, all of which contain highly toxic elements.This article sets out requirements for municipal solid waste disposal plant owner/operators in China as well as giving an attribute assessment for the prevalent waste disposal plant types in order to assist individual decision makers in their evaluation process for what plant type might be most suitable in a given situation. There is no ‘best’ plant for all needs and purposes, and requirement constellations rely on generalisations meaning they cannot be blindly applied, but an alignment of a type of plant to a type of owner or operator can realistically be achieved. To this end, a four-step approach is suggested and a technology matrix is set out to ease the choice of technology to transfer and avoid past errors. The four steps are (1) Identification of plant owner/operator requirement clusters; (2) Determination of different municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment plant attributes; (3) Development of a matrix matching requirement clusters to plant attributes; (4) Application of Quality Function Deployment Method to aid in technology localisation.The technology transfer matrices thus derived show significant performance differences between the various technologies available. It is hoped that the resulting research can build a bridge between technology transfer research and waste disposal research in order to enhance the exchange of more sustainable solutions in future.     

火电厂烟气脱硝技术及其设备国产化建议

对目前主流的选择性催化氧化还原法(SCR)、选择性非催化氧化还原法(SNCR)脱硝工艺特点和设计要求进行了较为详细的论述，并结合苏源环保公司在FGD装置国产化方面的经验，对烟气脱硝技术自主化、装备国产化提出了若干建议。