Abstract |
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), in conjunction with states, industry trade associations (the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG), and American Gas Association (AGA)), and individual utilities, has compiled a summary of innovative strategies and technical approaches for expediting site characterization and source material remediation at former manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites. Former MGP sites, as a category of inactive industrial waste disposal sites, contain many similarities in historical industrial activities and the types and distribution of MGP wastes and related contaminants. This trend, coupled with the fact that todays utilities are often the primary owners of (or accept remedial responsibility for) these sites, allows both the regulatory agencies and the utilities to develop approaches to achieving economies of scale and effort in addressing contamination at former MGP sites. Unlike remediation sites of other industries, MGP sites are typically not found at locations where utilities operate today, are often located in the midst of residential communities that have developed around these abandoned industrial locations, and are owned by entities unrelated to the modern utility. This document was prepared by the USEPA to provide current information on useful approaches and tools being applied at former MGP sites to the regulators and utilities characterizing and remediating these sites. The document outlines site management strategies and field tools for expediting site characterization at MGP sites; presents a summary of existing technologies for remediating MGP wastes in soils; provides sufficient information on the benefits, limitations, and costs of each technology, tool, or strategy for comparison and evaluation; and provides, by way of case studies, examples of the ways these tools and strategies can be implemented at MGP sites. Innovative strategies for managing former MGP
sites, as discussed in Chapter 3 of this document, include multi-site agreements, dynamic work planning, teaming approaches to expedite remedial action planning and execution, and methods for dealing with uncertainty at these sites. Technical innovations for site characterization include the availability of direct push and other field screening technologies to complement traditional analytical approaches. Finally, a variety of approaches and technologies have been employed to provide costeffective solutions to treating the wastes remaining at former MGP sites. The information presented in this document is applicable to the characterization and remediation of former MGP sites conducted under traditional remediation programs as well as the large number of MGP sites which are likely to be addressed under voluntary cleanup programs.
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