The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) will routinely produce secondary wastes during the closure phase. These wastes include items such as personal protective equipment, maintenance wastes, used equipment parts, carbon filters and decontamination solutions. The safe handling of those wastes is a top priority for plant personnel.
Secondary Waste Management
BGCAPP has a process to manage all secondary waste generated during closure. The process has been reviewed extensively by the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (KDEP) and meets or exceeds all environmental regulatory requirements to properly manage waste from its generation to its final disposal.
Secondary wastes may be classified as municipal solid waste, recyclable material, hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste or universal waste. These wastes are thoroughly evaluated by skilled employees for proper management, including potential agent contamination and other hazardous constituents.
Secondary wastes that are not agent-contaminated are shipped off site by commercial transportation and disposal companies that are verified to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards prior to being placed on contract. These wastes include used oil, scrap metal, expired or unused chemicals, trash and construction debris.
Agent-contaminated secondary waste may be treated on site or containerized for off-site shipment to an approved treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF). For example, the plant’s Metal Parts Treater (MPT) safely processed agent-contaminated, drained munition bodies and miscellaneous metal parts, which were then sent off site for recycling. However, when safety, efficiency or cost savings are better achieved by treating agent-contaminated secondary waste off site, BGCAPP partners with permitted facilities and community stakeholders to safely transport, treat and dispose of the waste. Off-site treatment and disposal of these types of wastes has been safely accomplished by BGCAPP and by other U.S. chemical weapons destruction sites at considerable savings to the taxpayer after acceptance by both the generating and receiving communities.
TSDFs selected to receive the waste must demonstrate excellent safety and environmental protection records, are subject to strict regulatory oversight, possess state-of-the-art equipment and processes and have established active public involvement programs with their surrounding communities. Transportation contractors responsible for safe shipment of agent-contaminated secondary waste are properly licensed hazardous material carriers with top safety and performance records. As appropriate for the nature of a particular waste, coordination may be made with emergency response agencies along selected transportation routes. BGCAPP environmental and waste management personnel visit each receiving TSDF to perform audits to ensure wastes are properly managed.
BGCAPP submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and KDEP a secondary waste certification detailing the waste streams and final disposal facilities that receive the secondary waste for subsequent treatment and disposal.
Secondary Waste Management Approaches at BGCAPP
| Waste | Source | Management Method | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon filters | Operations and closure activities | Permitted Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) | Active Waste Stream |
| Concrete | Maintenance and closure activities | Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Active Waste Stream |
| Projectile munition bodies | Projectile destruction operations | Metal Parts Treater (MPT) (no longer in use) followed by scrap metal recycling | Complete |
| Non-metallic debris (combustible solids) | Operations, maintenance and closure activities | MPT (no longer in use)Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Complete |
| Metal Parts Treater residue | Operations, maintenance and closure activities | Permitted TSDF (no longer in use) (non-agent contaminated) | Complete |
| Rubber/rubber-coated items | Operations, maintenance and closure activities | MPT (no longer in use)Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Active Waste Stream |
| Spent decontamination solution | Operations, maintenance and closure activities | Agent Neutralization ReactorPermitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Complete |
| Spill residue | Spill-response activities | MPT (no longer in use)Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Active Waste Stream |
| Expired shelf-life chemicals | Laboratory | Permitted TSDF (non-agent contaminated) | Active Waste Stream |
| Tank, sump and strainer sludge | Operations, maintenance and closure activities | MPT (no longer in use)Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Complete |
| Used oils | Maintenance and closure activities | Recycling (if not agent contaminated) | Active Waste Stream |
| Agent hydrolysate | Munition destruction operations | Permitted TSDF (all agent hydrolysate has been treated at TSDF) | Complete |
| Non-contaminated rocket motors | Rocket destruction operations | Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) | Complete |
| Contaminated rocket motors | Rocket destruction operations | On-site Static Detonation Chamber units (all contaminated rocket motors have been destroyed) | Complete |
| Shipping and firing tubes | Rocket destruction operations | Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration is below release criteria) (all shipping and firing tubes have been treated at TSDF) | Complete |
| Containerized rocket warheads containing residual amounts of GB or VX nerve agent | Rocket destruction operations | On-site Static Detonation Chamber units | Processing |
| Off Gas Treatment Condensate | Process gas scrubbing systems | Permitted TSDF (if agent contamination concentration meets release criteria) (all off-gas treatment condensate has been treated at TSDF) | Complete |
| Steel pallets | Storage and transport of containerized, drained rocket warheads | Scrap metal recycling (if agent contamination concentration meets release criteria) | Active Waste Stream |