EPA Hazardous Waste Clean-Up Testing from Hurricane Flooding
As Houston begins rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, one major hurdle they will face is how to cleanup hazardous waste sites affected by the storm. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) confirmed 13 of the Superfund sites hit by Harvey were flooded, potentially leaking toxic sludge and hazardous waste.
Hazardous waste can come from many different sources such as from industrial manufacturing, and can take any form. Any liquid, solid, or gas that is potentially dangerous to humans or the environment is considered hazardous waste. As retention ponds near hazardous waste sites flooded, chemicals such as ethylbenzene, chlorinated hydrocarbon, and other dangerous chemicals were released into the floodwaters and surrounding environment.
A framework was set up regarding proper management of hazardous waste, and the EPA created a program to ensure hazardous waste materials are safely managed from the time they’re created, while being transported, treated, and stored, until they’re disposed of.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was created to deal with managing hazardous waste. Together, RCRA and EPA developed methods for testing and evaluating hazardous waste, known as SW-846. Methods included in SW-846 detail sampling and analyzing hazardous such as air sampling, leaching, preparing samples, etc.
If you need a laboratory to test hazardous waste materials, submit a test request on our website!
