Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering, Volume I and II

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H

HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The development of the Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act of 1976 dates to the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal

Act of 1965, which first addressed the issues of waste dis-

posal on a nationwide basis. Prior to the 1960s land disposal

practices frequently included open burning of wastes to

reduce volume, and were controlled only by the general need

to avoid creating a public health impact and nuisance, such

as a bad smell or visual blight—problems that one could see,

smell, taste or touch. At that time, what few landfill con-

trols existed were generally focused only on the basics of

sanitation, such as rodent control, and the prevention of fires.

The early concept of the “sanitary” landfill was to cover the

waste with soil to reduce pests and vermin, create separate

chambers of earth to reduce the spread of fire, and control

odor and unsightly appearance—the key environmental con-

cerns of the time.

Throughout the ’60s and into the ’70s, the use of indus-

trial pits, ponds or lagoons on the land were viewed as legit-

imate treatment systems intended to separate solids from

liquids and to dissipate much of the liquids. They were not

only intended to store waste, but also to treat it. That is,

solids would sink when settling occurred and the liquid

could be drained, evaporated, or allowed to percolate into

the ground. The accumulated solids ultimately would be

landfilled.

Similarly for protection of receiving waters, pollu-

tion control laws prior to the mid-1960s were generally

concerned with water-borne diseases and nuisances. The

concept of water pollution was far more closely linked to

the bacterial transmission of disease and physical obstruc-

tion or offense than it was to the impact of trace levels of

chemicals. Waterways were viewed as natural systems that

could handle waste if properly diluted and if the concentra-

tions were within the assimilative capacity of the rivers and

streams. The environmental concerns were primarily odor,

appearance, oxygen content, and bacterial levels. Individual

chemical constituents and compounds, at this time, were not

typically regulated in a waterway.

The science of testing for and measuring individual con-

taminants was unrefined and typically not chemical specific

until the 1970s. Water and wastewater analyses were gen-

erally limited to indicator parameters, such as Biochemical

Oxygen Demand, turbidity, suspended solids, coliform bac-

teria, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, color, odor and specific

heavy metals. Trace levels of individual chemical com-

pounds and hazardous substances as we know them today

were not among the parameters regularly analyzed.

“Hazardous waste” became a household word in the late

1970s with the publicity surrounding the Love Canal inci-

dent. How much waste has been disposed of is still ques-

tionable. Unfortunately, significant amounts were “thrown

away” over the past decades and have endured in the envi-

ronment in drum disposal sites such as “The Valley of the

Drums” and in land disposal facilities where they have not

degraded.

Throughout the ’70s and ’80s significant changes were

made in the laws governing environmental protection. New

laws adopted in the ’70s include the Clean Air Act, the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Safe Drinking Water

Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA),

Toxic Substance Control Act, Marine Protection Research

and Sanctuaries Act, and in 1980 the “Superfund” (CERCLA)

statute. Of all the laws passed in the ’70s, RCRA has had the

greatest impact on the definition of wastes and the manner

in which these wastes were to be managed, treated and

handled. RCRA^1 required the US Environmental Protection

Agency to establish management procedures for the proper

disposal of hazardous wastes. These procedures are part of

the Code of Federal Regulations dealing with environmental

protection. They cover a “cradle-to-grave” procedure which

regulates generators, transporters, storers and disposers of

hazardous materials. Regulations for generators and trans-

porters of hazardous wastes may also be found in the Code

of Federal Regulations. 2,3

Subsequent revisions to RCRA in 1984 included the pro-

visions dealing with underground tanks, the restriction of

land disposal of a variety of wastes, corrective action require-

ments for all releases, and the inclusion of a requirement of

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