Land ban rule hikes chemical waste disposal cost

Abstract

Continuing to meet its Congressionally mandated deadlines, the Environmental Protection Agency has restricted land disposal of nearly one third of all regulated hazardous wastes. The regulation, required by the 1984 amendments to the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, restricts disposal of an estimated 861 million gal of a wide range of industrial wastes and costs $950 million a year for companies to comply. The regulation, published in the Aug. 17 issue of the Federal Register, requires prior treatment for 39 specific industrial waste streams, including five that specifically come from the petroleum refining industry. EPA has set treatment standards for each and recommends specific technologies that can be used to meet those standards. This action provides significant protection to the public from the potential hazards of land disposal, says J. Winston Porter, EPA assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response. These restrictions have prompted technological advances and increased th...