The Development of Air Contaminant Emission Tables for Nonprocess Emissions

In New York State, the calculation of air contaminant emissions from a variety of sources is an essential part of comprehensive air pollution studies. The tables used to calculate emissions were obtained from an extensive literature search and modified to apply to New York State conditions. For example, sulfur dioxide emission factors for coal were selected to reflect the average sulfur content of the coal sold in New York State. Since the literature contains a wide array of emission factors, it was necessary to evaluate the factors and select those which would be most appropriate for the techniques used in conducting the comprehensive studies in New York State. This paper does not present the emission tables themselves but does outline the development of such tables for use in nonprocess calculations, i.e., combustion for heat and power of bituminous and anthracite coal, distillate and residual oil, natural and bottled gas; combustion of gasoline and diesel in internal combustion engines; burning of refuse in dumps and incinerators; and evaporation of gasoline from marketing operations.     

Case Studies of Minimizing Plating Bath Wastes in the Electronics Products Industry

In this paper the authors report on the results of case studies carried out under the sponsorship of the U.S. EPA to determine the effectiveness of four processes designed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste from plating operations. Data reported are based on the results of actual on-site sampling of the processes and encompass effectiveness, environmental, and economic considerations. Two of the case studies evaluating the use of sodium borohydride reduction as a substitute for lime/ferrous sulfate precipitation, found that the technology was a viable substitute in one case and was marginally acceptable in another. Another case study, involving carbon adsorption removal of organic contaminants from plating bath wastes, found that this technology significantly reduced both disposal costs and waste volume. A final case study of electrolytic recovery indicated that while acid copper electroplating rinses are amenable to electrolytic recovery, other metal-bearing rinses, such as those from solder (tin/lead) plating or etching are less appropriate.     

Passive to active tie‐in for soil gas surveys: Improved technique for source‐area,spatial variability,remediation‐monitoring,and vapor‐intrusion assessment

The mass‐to‐concentration tie‐in (MtoC Tie‐In) correlates passive soil gas (PSG) data in mass to active soil gas data in concentration determined by the US EPA Method TO‐17 or TO‐15. Passive soil gas surveys consist of rapid deployment of hydrophobic sorbents (dozens to several hundred locations typically installed in one day) to a depth of six inches to three feet in a grid pattern with exposure in the field from three days to two weeks to target a wide variety of organic compounds. A power function is used on a compound‐to‐compound basis to correlate spatially varying mass (nanograms) from selected locations within a passive soil gas survey to concentration (µg/m³) at those same locations. The correlation from selected PSG locations is applied to the remainder of the PSG grid. The MtoC Tie‐In correlations provide added value to a PSG survey, with the PSG data then used to estimate risk throughout the limits of the investigation for quantitative assessment. The results from a site in northern California show the MtoC Tie‐In correlations for both benzene and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The correlations are applied on a compound‐to‐compound basis to the remaining locations in the PSG grid to provide an estimate of concentration that can be used for comparison to risk/screening levels or fate‐and‐transport diagnostic tools (partitioning equations, solubility laws, etc.). An example of how the correlations are applied is presented in tabular form. The results from a chlorinated solvent survey show the MtoC Tie‐In correlation from a site in Maryland for tetrachloroethene (PCE). In this instance, there was a near‐perfect relationship between the PSG mass and the active soil gas concentration (R² value of 1). The concentration estimated throughout a PSG grid enables a vast new realm of interpretive power at sites. Several other sites are discussed, including an example application for groundwater. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.