TOXIC WASTE DISPOSAL William F. Jopling Hazardous Waste Management Branch, Department of Health Services The regulation and control of toxic or hazardous waste is one of the more recently imposed regulatory activities for health and environmental pro­ tection. A recognition of a need for special controls and regulation of these wastes does not go back a great number of years. In the 1950's obviously polluted rivers and lakes spurred state and federal water quality control programs with large grants for treatment systems. At this time the organic chemical industry was in its infancy, and was just beginning its growth from the production of one bi Ilion pounds of substances in the immediate post-war years to 400 billion pounds in the late 1970's. In the 1960's, air pollution control programs came into effect to attack obvious air quality problems. It wasn't unti 1 the 1970's that the problems associated with various types of hazardous wastes such as "Love Canal" and "Valley of the Drums" became well documented and demonstrated a need for a comprehensive control program. The development of a hazardous waste control program essentially closed the last major gap in environmental control--the regulation of harmful wastes which, for the most part, are discarded into or onto land. Hazardous wastes are wastes which, because of their characteristics can pose a substantial threat to health or hazard to the envi~onment. Wastes can be hazardous because they are toxic, corrosive, flammable, reactive (generating heat or pressure). infectious or otherwise can cause sub­ stantial injury. Typical hazardous wastes are pesticide residues, solvents, arsenic or cyanide compounds, and spent caustics or acids. For a while, it seemed as though there was a hazardous waste "chemical of the month", each of which was associated with a series of situations which threat­ ened health or environmental quality. Some of the earlier problems were associated with DDT, lead, mercury and arsenic-bearing waste. Many of the more recent chemicals have had convenient labels which make them easy to remember--DBCP, TCE, PCB, Pere, Penta, dioxen, etc. PCB's or polychlori­ nated biphenyls is probably the world leader as far as public and media attention is concerned. Millions of pounds of PCB's have been incorpor- ated in hydralic fluids, light ballast, transformer fluid~ and even car­ bonless copy paper. Residues have found their way into all parts of the environment through highway spills, transformer leaks, industrial operations and other sources. California has experienced a wide variety of problems associated with hazardous wastes--we have had fires at waste solvent and paint storage yards, accumulations of corroding waste acid barrels, reactions of incom­ patable wastes, and emissions of noxious vapors from waste deposits. Barrelled wastes have been left in vacant lots, in desert areas, rai 1- road box-cars, and on road right-of-ways. We had one innovative person who allegedly left newly painted drums of hazardous waste in front of his business where they were conveniently stolen. 162 The episodes associated with toxic wastes made it apparent that the systems used for the management and disposal of more usual wastes such as garbage and sewage were not good enough to handle safely the wide range of sub­ stances and their unusual characteristics that label them as hazardous. Put them in an evaporation pond and the groundwater was contaminated. Bury them in the dump and there may be dangerous reactions. We have documented over 70 explosions, emissions or dangerous situations which resulted from landfilling hazardous wastes with municipal refuse. The increasing number of dangerous experiences resulted in the development of a comprehensive regulatory program, first at the state level in California and then at the federa 1 leve 1, which ca 1 led for the 11 cradle-to-grave11 regulation of hazardous waste--essentially, a program which starts at the back door of industry, follows the transportation of wastes and regulates the storage, treatment, recovery or ultimate disposal. This basic regulatory program began in 1973 in California and was signifi­ cantly reinforced and augmented in 1978. Both the executive and legis­ lative arms of state government have given hazardous waste management an extremely high priority. Over thirty legislative bills were introduced in 1980 and 1981 which added various controls and other features to the basic laws. One bi 11 now requires a buffer zone of 2000 feet around any new dis­ posal site. Another bill would share fines assessed against violators with the citizen supplying the information leading to the fine--sort of a bounty bi 11. There are two major new programs in addition to the basic regulatory pro­ gram which might well affect those involved in weed control operations. I would like to briefly cover these. First, the regulatory program. Currently, there are about 10,000 hazardous waste generators, 700 companies that haul hazardous waste and 1,000 storage, treatment and disposal facilities. The fewest requirements are imposed on the generator. Essentially the generator should manage the waste with reasonable care, identify the waste characteristics and supply this infor­ mation on a manifest or trip-ticket and see to it that the wastes are properly packaged and labelled. The worst problems associated with gen­ erators are the result of careless operations and spi 1 led or leaking materials which result in contaminated soil and groundwater or hazardous emissions. These problems often take years to develop and are very costly to correct. (In one instance cleaning up the results of past practices wi 11 cost a company about $30 million.) The hauler must be registered with the state, have required insurance, undergo an annual vehicle inspection, report any spills and take the waste to an approved facility. As costs of disposal go up and haul distances increase, illegal disposal becomes more attractive and less responsible outfits attempt to enter the field. For example, there are only two installations in the country approved for the disposal of PCB liquid wastes--one in Texas and one in Arkansas. The cost of disposal, exclusive of hauling costs may be $800 per barrel. 163 A facility operator (storage, treatment, disposal or resource recovery operator) must be permitted by the state and meet the very comprehensive permit conditions as well as pertinent state law and rP.gulations. In­ cidentally, both the waste generator and facility operator must submit a copy of the manifest for each load, to the State, and by matching the copies, we can track each of the 35-40,000 loads of waste that move annu­ ally. There are some variances provided in the basic regulatory program that would pertain to weed control. Where pesticide containers are triple rinsed the department does not consider these to be a hazardous waste which would require disposal at a Class I site. Also for farmers and other applicators moving their own containers, the hauler registration has been waived. A manifest still is required so that the facility operator will know what type of waste residues he is handling. Most of the Central Valley pesticide residues are transported to the Big Blue Hills site in Fresno County which is open for two weeks in the spring and fall to receive these wastes. That's the basic regulatory program. One of the two new programs that I mentioned is contained in SB 618. It is the so-called "State Superfund. 11 Thebillcreates a $10 million per year fund for clean up of abandoned sites (the state has identified about 75) and will be used to match federal Superfund money, respond to emergencies, conduct health effects studies, provide emergency response equipment and provide compensation for losses. The fund wi 11 come from an annual tiered tax assessed on the generators of hazardous waste where the wastes are disposed on land. The Board of Equali­ zation wi 11 be collecting the tax. The other program or direction that could indirectly affect weed control operations is in the Governor's recent Executive Order which calls for the reduction of waste disposal in landfills and that's where most go now. Six or seven categories of wastes have been identified as appropriate to ban because of their toxicity, persistence in the environment, ability to bio­ accumulate or mobility in a land disposal environment. These include: (1) Toxic metals such as arsenic, cadium, chromium, mercury and organic lead; (2) Cyanide compounds; (3) Strong acids; (4) Halogenated organics; (5) PCB's; (6) Extremely toxic wastes and certain volatile organic materials. The phase out schedule ranges from 1983-1984. While alternative technology to land disposal exists, there are not very many actual alternative systems currently in use, consequently, the ban dates are not very liberal. Faci li­ ties must be planned, funded, reviewed and approved, and constructed. The ban might well have an impact on the dipsosal of off-specification or dis­ carded pesticides, pesticide residues and other such wastes resulting from weed control operations. 164 Whether we have a ban or not, some alternatives to landfill are needed. Two years ago we had eleven class I sites and now we have seven. Several others are under strong local pressure to close. Only one new site, in Im­ perial County, has opened in recent years. This has been a very brief and partial look at toxic waste disposal. Up to 16 different agencies can play a role somewhere along the line. With pesticide applicators we have two issues--problems of the past; some contamination due to washing operations, etc.--and improvement of present operations. We are emphasizing the latter. Storage units will be subject to compliance with applicable standards and operating procedures. Aerial applicators, like land applicators can essentially get out of the system by spraying their tank rinse water on the last run.