Science Inventory

CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES FOR REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL AND WASTE DEPOSITS AT SUPERFUND LEAD BATTERY RECYCLING SITES

Citation:

Royer*, M D., A Selvakumar*, AND R. Gaire. CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES FOR REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL AND WASTE DEPOSITS AT SUPERFUND LEAD BATTERY RECYCLING SITES. JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION. AWMA, Pittsburgh, PA, 42(7):970-980, (1992).

Impact/Purpose:

information

Description:

This paper primarily addresses remediation of contaminated soils and waste deposits at defunct lead-acid battery recycling sites (LBRS) via immobilization and separation processes. A defunct LBRS is a facility at which battery breaking, secondary lead smelting, or both operations were performed for the primary purpose of reclaiming lead from spent lead-acid batteries. Metallic lead and lead compounds are generally the principal contaminants of concern in soils and waste deposits (i.e., buried, piled, landfilled waste) at these sites. Other metals (e.g., cadmium, copper, arsenic, antimony, and selenium) are often present at LBRS, but usually at much lower concentrations than lead and often present below hazardous concentrations. This article is primarily based on experience gained from: (1) Superfund site investigation, removal, and remedial actions, and (2) development and demonstration of control technologies under the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. The primary remedial options for lead contaminated soils and waste deposits include: (1) no action, (2) off-site disposal, (3) containment, (4) immobilization, (5) separation with resource recovery, and (6) separation without resource recovery. In spite of the toxicity of lead at low concentrations, the relative immobility of lead and site-specific risk assessments can still result in the selection of no action or containment remedies. Solidification/stabilization of lead-contaminated soils has been implemented at three Superfund sites and is the selected remedy at several others. Separation technologies (e.g., screening, extraction) are attractive because, if successful, they actually remove the contaminant from the environmental media. Separation technologies also offer the possibility that a valuable product (e.g., lead, plastic, energy) can be recovered, but careful consideration of economic and technical factors are required. Compared to the implementation of containment and solidification/stabilization remedies, separation technologies tend to be relatively novel, complex, and costly.

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( JOURNAL/ PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL)
Product Published Date:07/01/1992
Record Last Revised:11/12/2008
OMB Category:Other
Record ID: 128017