Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE), V.6.3
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE), v.6.3 EPA/600/R-13/160 | August 15, 2013 www.epa.gov/ord Office of Research and Development National Homeland Security Research Center Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE), v.6.3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development National Homeland Security Research Center Decontamination and Consequence Management Division Research Triangle Park, NC NOTICE The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Office of Research and Development’s (ORD’s) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) and National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), directed and managed this work through Contract Number EP-D-11-006, Work Assignment 3-10 with Eastern Research Group. This report has been subjected to the Agency’s administrative review and approved for publication. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. Questions concerning this document or its application should be addressed to: Susan Thorneloe National Risk Management Research Laboratory Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mail Code E343-02 Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 919-541-2709 i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the event of an incident of national significance involving the deliberate or accidental contamination of buildings, outdoor areas, transportation infrastructure, or water treatment/distribution infrastructure, there will be a process of cleaning up the contaminated site and restoring it to normal operation. Waste is generated throughout the initial response and decontamination activities, and although the management of waste and debris is normally thought of as the final step in the restoration process, there are several waste management issues that are inextricably linked with the entire cleanup process, including: • The nature of the event and its impact on waste quantities and degree of contamination; • The impact of decontamination technologies on waste quantities and waste characteristics; • The consideration of tradeoffs between decontamination costs and treatment/disposal costs; and • The impact of waste characterization, decontamination effectiveness, and contamination levels on the classification of waste for transportation, treatment, and disposal. Although on-site waste treatment activities, either as a part of the decontamination processes on the contaminated facility, or specifically directed at treating the resultant waste, may have been completed, the properties of some potentially contaminated materials, laboratory capacity limitations, or limitations in analytical techniques may be such that no guarantee can be made that no residual agent is present (e.g., in porous materials) in the waste. Ideally, the treated waste must be characterized to determine the waste class (e.g., hazardous waste, solid waste, special waste), so that waste management options can be explored, but there is the possibility that treated waste may have to be managed as if it were still contaminated due to the lack of characterization. The primary decision makers involved in making waste management decisions include: 1) emergency response authorities and property owners who have to decide the most appropriate decontamination methods and management of the resulting waste(s); 2) tribal, state, and local permitting agencies who have to make decisions about which facilities will be allowed to manage the waste(s); and 3) the waste management industry that needs to accept and safely treat or dispose of decontamination waste(s) without affecting the operation of its facilities and without violating any of its environmental permits. The individuals tasked with removal and management of waste materials will need to access a great deal of technical information, regulations, and guidance to work through the series of decisions needed to assure safe and efficient removal, transport, and management of these materials. This report provides a high-level overview of the Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE). I-WASTE is a web-based decision support tool developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assist all of the previously listed decision makers through the process of planning the management of residual materials/waste from incidents of national significance. This tool was developed in close collaboration with stakeholders representing all of the important decision making entities as part of a larger program to investigate issues related to management of materials from these incidents. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. IV LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. V LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATION ....................................................................................... VI 1.0 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................. 1-2 1.2 Overview .............................................................................................................. 1-2 1.3 General Content ................................................................................................... 1-2 1.4 History.................................................................................................................. 1-3 1.5 Design Philosophy and Technical Approach ..................................................... 1-10 1.6 Stakeholder Involvement ................................................................................... 1-11 1.7 Uses and Application ......................................................................................... 1-12 1.7.1 Distribution of Users .............................................................................. 1-13 1.7.2 Outreach Efforts ..................................................................................... 1-14 2.0 ACCESSING THE DECISION SUPPORT TOOL ....................................................................... 2-1 3.0 DECISION TOOL NAVIGATION ........................................................................................... 3-1 4.0 INCIDENT PLANNING AND RESPONSE ................................................................................ 4-1 5.0 WASTE MATERIALS ESTIMATOR ...................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Accessing the Waste Materials Estimator ............................................................ 5-1 5.2 Waste Materials Estimator Page .......................................................................... 5-2 5.3 Parameter Values ................................................................................................. 5-3 5.4 Estimated Waste Materials .................................................................................. 5-4 6.0 TREATMENT & DISPOSAL FACILITIES ............................................................................... 6-1 6.1 Facility Data Sources ........................................................................................... 6-3 6.1.1 Landfill Facilities ..................................................................................... 6-3 6.1.2 Combustion Facilities .............................................................................. 6-4 6.1.3 Decontaminated Wastewater Facilities .................................................... 6-5 6.1.4 Other Facilities ......................................................................................... 6-5 6.2 Facility Information Summary ............................................................................. 6-9 7.0 GUIDANCE & INFORMATION ............................................................................................. 7-1 7.1 Quick Links .......................................................................................................... 7-1 7.2 Browse Documents and Reports .......................................................................... 7-2 7.3 Browse Guidance ................................................................................................. 7-2 7.4 Other Resources ................................................................................................... 7-2 7.5 Chemical/Biological Related Guidance ............................................................... 7-3 7.6 Natural Disaster Related Guidance ...................................................................... 7-3 7.7 Agricultural Incidents & Foreign Animal Diseases Related Guidance ............... 7-5 7.8 Radiological/Nuclear Related Guidance .............................................................. 7-6 7.9 Critical Infrastructure-Related Guidance ............................................................. 7-7 7.9.1 Water Systems (Chem/Bio Contamination)............................................. 7-8 8.0 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................