A Laboratory Exercise for Compatibility Testing of Hazardous Wastes in an Environmental Analysis Course J. C. Chang, S. P. Levine', and M. S. SimThe University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
The Hazardous Waste Problem Todav Cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites in the U.S. is a priority issue. T o date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states have identified 17,000 potential hazardous waste sites. This numher is expected to rise to 22,000 by the end of 1985. The Reagan administration has asked for a 45% increase in FY 1986 funds for Superfund cleanup actions from $620 million to $900 million. The administration has also proposed a five-year renewal of the Suprrfund program, due tuexpire this yrar, with an increase from the current ceiling of$l.fi billion 1oS5.3 billion through
Compatibility testing was not performed prior to disposal. There are many different compatihility testing schemes available from sources such as the EPA's Office of Research and Development or Environmental Response Team (41, remedial action companies (5-7), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) @),and the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) (9).These schemes classify wastes into between 10 and 41 separate categories.
FY 1990. Uncontrolled hazardous waste sites are investigated in a svstematic manner followine the initial discoverv" (.I ,) . -If -a site is judged a serious hazar;, an immediate removal action may he undertaken to stabilize the situation. Sites with cleanup needsjudged to heserious enough to warrant the use of Superfund are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL currently contains 546 sites in need of long-term remedial action. This number is eventually expected to include some 2,000 sites. Chemlcal Analysts of Water and Hazardous Waste A major problem a t uncontrolled hazardous waste sites is a lack of information on the identity of materials involved. I t is important to know what is present in order to protect workers and the surrounding population. Toxic, flammable, or explosive materials need to he identified prior to handling, shipping, and disposal. Figure 1 is a flow diagram of the events on a hazardous waste remedial action site. All sites are somewhat individual in character hut they doshare commonalities, one of which is unit process drum hulking (2). Drums are the most common container for industrial wastes in the U.S. On small sites (
