Abstract |
The Hardage/Criner site is located in McClain County, Oklahoma, approximately 15 miles southwest of Norman, Oklahoma. The area is agricultural with land on all sides of the site used for grazing cattle. From September 1972 to November 1980, the site was operated by the Royal Hardage Industrial - Hazardous Wasteland and Disposal Facility and was permitted to accept all types of industrial and hazardous wastes except radioactive materials. The types of waste included: oil, recycling wastes, chlorinated solvents, styrene tars, acids, caustics, paint sludges, lead, chromium, cyanide, arsenic, pesticides, inks, PCBs, and large quantities of unknown wastes from injection wells and other facilities including what became the Brio and Bioecology Superfund sites. Originally, two pits were excavated; liquids and sludges from drums and tank trucks were discharged directly into these unlined pits. However, both pits filled to capacity. Wastes from the pits were transferred to temporary ponds and then piled on a sludge mound. A total of 18 to 20 million gallons of waste was disposed at the site. |