B-6028 TEX★A★Syst Reducing the Risk of Ground Water Contamination by Improving Hazardous Waste Rural Well Water Management Assessment B.L. Harris, D.W. Hoffman and F.J. Mazac, Jr.* 1. Do you store hazardous products (pesticides, fertilizers, cleaning supplies, petroleum prod- ucts, summer pool chemicals, etc.) closer than 150 feet from your water well or an aban- doned water well site? 2. Have you ever stored hazardous products in an unmarked container or something other than the original container? 3. Do you burn household trash? 4. Do you burn any empty pesticide bags and/or containers? 5. Do you dispose of hazardous household chemicals (such as pesticides, paints, wood stains, cleaners or petroleum products) in your sewage system or on your property? 6. Do you dispose of used motor oil or antifreeze in your sewage system or on your property? 7. Do you periodically flush or wash down your shop floor to clean drip or spill areas? 8. Do you store hazardous wastes generated from equipment maintenance or used batteries? If these questions create doubt about the safety of your management practices, this publication will provide helpful information. *Professor and Extension Soils Specialist; Research Scientist, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station; and Extension Associate-Water Quality, The Texas A&M University System. Texas Agricultural Extension Service ¥ Zerle L. Carpenter, Director ¥ The Texas A&M University System ¥ College Station, Texas Hazardous Waste Management Overview 5) Cleaners and chemicals Consider the variety of products commonly 6) Storage of chemicals and waste used in households and on farms: paints, sol- 7) Evaluation table vents, oils, cleaners, wood preservatives, batter- ies, adhesives, and pesticides. Handling and disposal of excess or unwanted chemicals can Hazardous Waste Use become a big problem. Some common disposal Carefully consider how to use products safe- practices not only threaten ground water but ly. Recycle or reuse them when possible, and also may be illegal. dispose of remaining products in a way that Small, unusable amounts of these products will not pose a risk to your drinking water. A often wind up spilled, buried, dumped, or few simple management principles apply in flushed onto a property. Minimizing the every situation: amounts of these substances used on the home- ★ Keep hazardous products 150 feet or more stead, along with practicing proper disposal from your well and preferably to the side practices, can reduce both health risks and the or downhill from it, even when all your potential for ground water contamination. spills and drips will be contained. Some people are familiar with the hazards of pesticides, but they may be less aware of the ★ Return excess product, spills or drips to hazards of other commonly used chemicals. the original container. Collect waste paint, solvents, antifreeze, oil and grease, and Improper use of hazardous products may other hazardous chemicals for community cause toxic health problems. Improper storage recycling. Dispose of pesticide container may allow chemicals to leak, causing potential- rinse water by spreading it on fields or ly dangerous chemical reactions, toxic health lawns at the proper application rate. effects or ground water contamination. Improper disposal may allow these chemicals ★ Contain any unusable wastes, spills and to enter drinking water through surface water drips for appropriate disposal. or ground water. ★ Locate all hazardous waste products and Two key steps to minimizing the risk of pol- activities, including mixing and storage, on lution on your property from farm and house- a surface which will prevent spilled mate- hold wastes are to reduce the amount of waste rials from entering ground water. The produced and recycle when possible. cumulative effects of small spills may Hazardous wastes are defined as materials that have as great an impact on ground water are ignitable, toxic, corrosive or explosive as a larger spill. (TWC, 1990). Lists of hazardous wastes are ★ Segregate different types of waste in stor- contained in 40 Code of Federal Regulations age to prevent dangerous chemical reac- (CFR), Part 261.31 through 261.34. tions that could release the products. Some hazardous materials, such as lubricat- ★ Have emergency equipment, such as ing oils or solvents for cleaning metal parts, are adsorbents and shovels, ready to contain an unavoidable part of life. Examine your use spills. of hazardous materials to make sure you really need all the products you are using. Keep in mind that hazardous waste must be managed Farm and Household Waste in accordance with state and federal rules. A This category of potentially hazardous sub- glossary at the back of this publication will stances includes the following items: assist with terminology. This publication focus- es on managing hazardous waste and covers ★ Ash and sludge from burned farm, home the following areas: and garage trash; 1) Hazardous waste use ★ Plastic wraps and containers; 2) Farm and household waste ★ Personal care products, such as spot removers, dry cleaning fluids, moth balls 3) Household vs. farm business waste and shoe and leather polishes; 4) Burning ★ Hobby products, artist paints and solvents, law. Many communities sponsor household undiluted photography and swimming hazardous waste collection events to help users pool chemicals, and strong acids; dispose of products safely. For information about locations and dates of collection events, ★ Home cleaning and repair products, such call your county Extension office. as air fresheners and pest strips; furniture and wood polishes and waxes; paints, Hazardous waste must be disposed of stains and finishes; wood-preserving prod- through a permitted hazardous waste disposal ucts; and contractor or an agricultural waste pesticide collector, when available. For more information ★ Farm business hazardous waste, including about hazardous waste contractors, contact the unusable or waste cleaners, solvents, pesti- hazardous waste section of the Texas Natural cides and other hazardous chemicals. Resource Conservation Commission. Health concerns, product toxicity and the increased volume of waste guarantees that a Burning new approach to urban and rural disposal prac- Researchers estimate that ground-level con- tices is necessary to ensure that safe drinking centrations of 2,3,7,8,-TCDD dioxin resulting water supplies are available for property own- from burning household trash in a burn barrel ers and their neighbors now and in the future. are 7,000 times the amount formed when trash Updated local, state and federal laws also is burned in a municipal incinerator. Ash and reflect the increased concern with many dis- sludge from open burning also contain signifi- posal practices. For example, new rules require cant amounts of such toxic substances as lead, that environmentally protective conditions be cadmium, chromium, dioxin and furan com- met before some disposal practices are permit- pounds. ted. Other previously common disposal prac- tices are now illegal because of their potential Texas regulations prohibit the open burning risks to human health and the environment. of household garbage, wet combustible rub- bish, oily substances, asphalt, plastic or rubber This new approach suggests several changes products. Household trash can be burned only in traditional practices, including the following: in incinerators that meet state air quality regu- ★ The typical burning site should be elimi- lations. nated for all but a limited number of If not contaminated with other solvents, a needs. Don’t dispose of trash on your furnace designed for burning oil as a fuel can property, with the exception of organic burn waste oil. Contain and dispose of any waste that can be composted (such as resulting ash or sludge in a licensed landfill. household garbage, leaves and straw). Waste contaminated with solvents may be a ★ Recyclable materials should be taken to a hazardous waste and must be properly man- recycling facility and uncontaminated aged. trash to a licensed landfill or a municipal There are no specific design standards to incinerator. adequately protect the environment from air Farm and household waste is excluded from pollution or ground water contamination result- hazardous waste management regulations and ing from burning and ash disposal of wet trash, is often included with regular trash disposal. plastic containers, waste oil, and other haz- Neither household hazardous waste nor haz- ardous products used on the farm. ardous waste from a farm can be safely dis- Open burning sites, burn barrels and domes- posed of in a responsibly “pollution-free man- tic incinerators do not produce adequate tem- ner” on private property. peratures to eliminate the production of toxic substances such as dioxin compounds, chlorine Household Waste vs. Farm Business Waste products, solvent vapors, and a residue of Texas law divides hazardous waste into two heavy metals. management categories: waste produced from While burning may destroy some toxic sub- products used in the home; and waste pro- stances, others will become concentrated in the duced as part of a farm business. smoke, ash and sludge. Repeated burning at the Household quantities of hazardous waste are same location under similar weather conditions exempt from regulation under state and federal may cause the toxic substances in smoke (espe- cially heavy metals such as lead, mercury and Because of the volume of these products arsenic) to accumulate in a concentrated area used on the farm, even spills and drips can add around the burn barrel. These substances can up to a problem for ground water. Don’t per- in turn be absorbed into the soil and move form equipment maintenance activities within through the soil to ground water. Ash and 150 feet of your well. Conduct maintenance sludge disposed of by burying them or spread- activities in a location where spills and drips ing them on the land also can release toxic sub- can be contained, such as on a concrete pad. stances into the soil. Evaporate collected drips and dispose of the resulting sludge or hardened material in a Open burning of dry combustibles in small licensed landfill.