Synergistic Approach for Siting and Design for Injection of Hazardous Liquid Wastes: Case Study in Western San Joaquin Valley, Kern County, California

Abstract

Abstract Subsurface injection of wastes is a technology on which a great deal has been written in the last 25 years. Some of the key references are mentioned in Subsurface Wastewater Injection by Warner and Lehr (1977). The earliest controlled waste water injection program outside of oilfield operations may have been in 1939 (Harlow, 1939 in Warner and Lehr, 1977). Its use has expanded in the last 30 years to the point that, nationally, 60% of the 15.6 billion gallons (59 million cubic meters) of hazardous waste legally disposed of in the U.S. is being injected through wells into deep aquifers (Gordon, 1984). In the past 30 years of hazardous waste injection, there has been a failure rate of only 2.4% (Morgan, 1986) where groundwater (either drinkable or non-drinkable) has been contaminated. In California, commercial hazardous waste is transported to one of seven approved sites located around the state (Figure 1). None of the currently operating sites utilize deep well injection as a final disposition for Class I liquids. However, the geologic setting of the Great Valley in California was determined to be potentially suitable for deep-well waste injection by Repenning (1960) and Warner and Lehr (1977). The most common form of Class II liquid disposal in California is deep well injection.