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Base Catalyzed Decomposition (BCD) of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS) Contaminated Soils at the Warren County Landfill, NC
EPA remediated PCB contaminated soils after a waste oil hauling company illegally disposed of PCB contaminated waste oil on hundreds of miles of North Carolina roadway berms. The soil that was excavated was buried in a newly constructed landfill in Warren County, much to the dismay of the local minority citizens. Their protests led to the first US Environmental Justice case. The governor of North Carolina's compromise solution to the problem was a promise that when a remediation technology other than incineration became available, the State would provide the funding to remove and treat the contents of the landfill. The State selected the Base Catalyzed Decomposition (BCD) process to treat the PCB contaminated soil in the landfill. With EPA's support the State moved and treated all the PCB contaminated soil using the first phase of the BCD process (thermal desorption). The resulting contaminated residual oil was sent for disposal at an out of state incinerator. ORD was able to collect a sample of this highly contaminated residual oil which was used in bench-scale studies to verify the ability of the BCD process to decontaminate the residual oil. Those bench-scale tests are presently underway.
Contact: Terrence Lyons, USEPA, (EIMS#56585)