Cleanup Technologies in the United States

Cleanup Technologies in Environmental Law

Various methods used to destroy, alter, or dispose of hazardous substances and hazardous waste. Because of the Environmental Protection Agency’s involvement in cleaning up hazardous waste sites, it is often in the position to determine which technology should be used. This entry will briefly describe the cleanup technologies available.

Although the selection of cleanup technology seems to be separate from the legal questions, it is a major concern argued in cases involving Superfund site cleanups. Environmental attorneys must be familiar with waste treatment in order to participate productively in negotiations and lawsuits.

One of the biggest problems both regulators and neighborhoods face is how to deal with hazardous waste that is affecting the environment or health of the community. Generally the impacted persons want the waste taken away. That type of action reassures the community more than a cleanup that takes place on the property. But waste dug up from one site and carted to another is likely to generate anger from the community scheduled to receive it, and the transportation of hazardous waste can increase the exposure of the public and the environment far beyond the immediate vicinity.

For those reasons, the government favors onsite treatment. If the dangers of the waste can be neutralized without expanding the sphere of impact, the public benefits. Such reasoning does not impress an enraged community that has waited, most likely for years, for the government to begin dealing with the waste and making their lives safer and healthier. Ultimately competing interests will help shape the remedial plan.

For example, one preferred treatment is incineration on site. Communities often fight incineration, as they typically fight treating the waste onsite and leaving it there. Yet to remove the waste and dispose of it elsewhere involves the dangers inherent in transportation of hazardous waste, plus involving a different community. Meetings with community members will help the agency understand and address their concerns to the extent possible. Additional controls may be added, and the community may be given information on testing and progress.

The effectiveness of the treatment depends on the type of waste, its location (water, air, ground, or groundwater), its concentration, and the goals set by the government. Particular methods may work only in limited circumstances, but the science of hazardous waste treatment is constantly expanding, with new techniques emerging to meet the demand.

In the simplest terms, treatment technologies fall into just a few categories: chemical, thermal, mechanical/physical, and biological treatment. Another technique for dealing with waste, though not a cleanup method, is containment. Often several techniques are combined, and the waste goes through multiple processes.

The oldest and now the least favored method of dealing with hazardous waste is containment. The term may be used to describe land filling or leaving waste where it is already buried and making some attempt to keep it from migrating. The 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act made it clear that containment without treatment was to be avoided when possible.

Another law that limits the use of containment is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which prohibits land filling of virtually all hazardous wastes. See corrective action. When it is impossible to relocate hazardous wastes or when a licensed hazardous waste facility closes, a cap may be created over the area. The cap, a layered cover engineered for such sites, is designed to keep water from percolating into the wastes and carrying them elsewhere. Generally trenches and drains will be placed around the outside so the runoff and seeping fluids can be captured and treated.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.