4 Source Analysis

4.1. A solvent distilling and recycling facility, which primarily recycles TCE, is under
investigation for the release of toxic air emissions. As the hazardous waste manager at the
site, your goal is to account for the solvents coming in and out of the facility using a waste
audit based on a mass balance. The wastes coming into the facility over a 1-year time period
include

Invoice Number Volume (L) TCE Concentration (mg/L)

204 10,000,000 130

205 5,000,000 210
206 5,000,000 200

These aqueous solutions were distilled to concentrate the TCE. The concentrated product
was then shipped (over the same 1-year time period) from the facility in tanker trucks as
90% (900 g/L) formulations (the other 10% were various impurities):

Shipping No. Volume (L) TCE Concentration (g/L)

1021 2200 900

1022 1400 900

The state regulatory agency allows 200 kg/year TCE emitted into the air from your facility.
Using a materials balance, show that the plant is meeting this regulatory criterion.

SOLUTION

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4.2. The following records are available for a small company that manufactures semiconductors.
The chemical used most at the plant is TCA, and the primary loss mechanism is
volatilization. Using the following data, estimate the loss of TCA from the plant by
volatilization.
Acquisitions:

Date Volume (L) Purity (%)

1/8 208 92
2/6 833 95
2/26 416 88
3/15 208 97
4/11 208 90
5/2 625 95

Discharges:
Wastewater characteristics: 18.9 × 106 L/day (5 MGD) at 0.5 mg/L TCA.
RCRA manifests:

Date RCRA Waste No. Volume (L) Concentration (%)

2/28 F001 1140 22
4/20 F001 386 13
5/21 F001 462 45
5/30 F001 1287 36

Based on these data, estimate the maximum volatilization rate.

SOLUTION

Density of TCI = 1.3390

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4.3. A plastic formulation facility receives one of its synthetic chemicals, dimethyl phthalate, by
steady flow through a supply pipe at a rate of 200 L/day. The dimethyl phthalate is used in
synthesis reactors for making a plasticized polymer at a rate of 0.8 mole/min. Partially
reacted polymers are precipitated from specific reactions containing fluids with 1200 mg/kg
(dry wt.) dimethyl phthalate. If 30,000 kg of the sludge (with an average water content of
85%) are generated each day, how much dimethyl phthalate is unaccounted for?

SOLUTION

4.4. You are the hazardous waste manager for an industrial shop. The primary activities at the
facility include electroplating, metal parts cleaning, and paint stripping. The monthly input
of hazardous chemicals to the plant is as follows:
Acetone Five 208-L (55-gal) drums
MEK Eight 208-L (55-gal) drums
Acrylonitrile Three 208-L (55-gal) drums
TCE Five 208-L (55-gal) drums
Sodium cyanide 227 kg (500 lb)
Potassium dichromate 22.7 kg (50 lb)
Sulfuric acid One 208-L (55-gal) drum

All of the chemicals purchased are at > 99% purity.

The usual monthly disposal of the wastes includes:

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 Acetone Ten 208-L (55-gal) drums (222,000 mg/L in water)
MEK Eighteen 208-L (55-gal) drums (50,000 mg/L in water)
Acrylonitrile Two 208-L (55-gal) drums (95% v/v)
TCE Two 208-L (55-gal) drums (90% v/v)
Sodium cyanide Five 208-L (55-gal) drums (174,000 mg/L)
Potassium Electroplating sludge (1020 kg solids at 216 ppm Cr and
dichromate 12,600 L of water)
Sulfuric acid 80% of a 208-L (55-gal) drum

The state regulatory agency has required you to perform a waste audit on the facility to
document losses. Provide a listing of losses of chemicals in the facility between
procurement and disposal. Based on the physical/chemical properties of these wastes, what
are some possible routes of these losses for each chemical?

SOLUTION

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4.5. A UST soil remediation operation is under the scrutiny of the state regulatory agency for
possible emissions of hydrocarbons during excavation and handling activities. The soil is
being excavated in lots of approximately 1000 kg, stockpiled for about 2 weeks, and then
transported to a RCRA landfill. The state regulatory agency is concerned about potential
volatilization of BTEX during the stockpiling. The following listings are lots of soil and
their documented BTEX concentrations.
Excavation records:

Excavation Lot BTEX Concentration (mg/kg) Soil Mass (kg)

1 2340 1030
2 1880 1320
3 3870 1000
4 3140 1220
5 2850 1460
6 4110 1190

Disposal records at RCRA landfill:

RCRA Manifest No. BTEX Concentration (mg/kg) Soil Mass (kg)

4763 2460 3400

4764 1840 2010
4765 2510 1810

The state regulatory agency is concerned about volatilization during the waste handling
activities and is enforcing a maximum emission standard of 1 kg/day. If volatilization is the
only significant loss mechanism, document that your remedial operation is in compliance.

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SOLUTION

4.6. Describe how you would approach the Phase I assessment of an abandoned petroleum
distributorship that is being sold to a real estate developer who plans to construct a housing
project.

SOLUTION

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4.7. A spill of a radioactive waste tanker truck containing 1000 L (264 gal.) of low-level 14C-
labeled compounds (12.5 mCi/L) has occurred. Estimate the mean specific activity of the
14
C-labeled compounds in the soil if it has been spilled on to a circular area 11 m in diameter
and has penetrated 6 cm deep. The soil bulk density = 1600 kg/m3.

SOLUTION

4.8. A 1000-L (264-gal) tanker truck containing an 80% (v/v) formulation of carbofuran has
spilled onto a hardpan soil (a soil with a compacted subsurface layer). Emergency response
personnel estimate that the spill is approximately 20 m × 40 m × 40 cm deep, and that the
bulk density of the soil is about 2800 kg/m3. Estimate its concentration in the soil in ppm.

SOLUTION

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4.9. An aqueous solution of 500 mg/L Hg(NO3)2 has leaked from a ruptured 208-L (55-gal)
drum. Visual inspection of the area around the drum suggests that the compound is confined
to an area approximately 4 m in diameter and 0.2 m deep. Estimate the concentration of
mercury in the soil if the soil bulk density = 1800 kg/m3.

SOLUTION

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4.10. A transformer containing 80 kg of 0.5% (w/w) Aroclor 1260 has ruptured, resulting in a
spill approximately 5 cm deep in an area 12 m × 10 m. If the soil bulk density is
approximately 1800 kg/m3, estimate the PCB soil concentration.

SOLUTION

4.11. A pesticide application truck containing 1900 L (500 gal.) of 1800 mg/L butacarb tipped
over in an accident. The butacarb formulation spilled and flowed down-slope over an area
approximately 200 m2 and 0.5 m deep. If the soil bulk density is approximately 1.5 g/cm3,
estimate the mean concentration of butacarb in the soil.

SOLUTION

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4.12. The following data were collected from a sampling grid for octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
(OCDD) in the upper layer of a surface soil.

[Octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin], mg/kg:
23.4 22.2
13.1 2.9
30.7 11.6
8.8 34.7
16.2 19.0

Determine the mean, variance, standard deviation, and 95% confidence interval for these
data.

SOLUTION

4.13. Four samples have been collected randomly from a soil pit containing arsenic. These initial
TCLP concentrations are 6.1, 4.2, 5.8, and 6.5 mg/L. Determine the number of samples
required to estimate the true population mean at the 95% confidence level based on the
difference between the initial mean and the TCLP value.

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SOLUTION

4.14. An area 10 m × 10 m at a rural service station received waste oil, and is being assessed for
total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contamination. Simple random sampling is to be used
with sampling units of 0.5 m × 0.5 m × 0.75 m deep. Four initial samples were collected
randomly from the site, and their TPH concentrations were 18,100 mg/kg, 17,900 mg/kg,
18,400 mg/kg, and 17,500 mg/kg. If the maximum tolerance from the sample mean is 200
mg/kg, determine the number of samples required for a confidence level of 95%. Plot the
location of the samples on a grid.

SOLUTION

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4.15. An electroplating facility generates a chromium sludge. The facility management would
like to petition the State Department of Environmental Protection (SDEP—which has EPA
authority to regulate RCRA in the state) to delist the plating sludge as a RCRA hazardous
waste. Before it is delisted, SDEP must be reasonably certain that the sludge is not a RCRA
waste based on characteristics. The SDEP requires that the population mean for the Cr
TCLP be estimated at the 95% confidence level.
a. The plating sludge is pumped into a drying bed 20 m × 20 m. Five samples are collected
initially, and the Cr TCLP values are 4.2 mg/L, 5.8 mg/L, 2.9 mg/L, 5.2 mg/L, and 3.9
mg/L. Using these data, verify that 28 samples are required to estimate the population
mean at the 95% confidence level.
b. The following data have been provided from Cr TCLP analysis for the sludge.

Cr TCLP (mg/L)
4.8 3.6 5.8 4.3 2.5
4.9 6.1 4.1 5.8 3.4
4.0 5.2 3.7 6.0 4.2
2.9 4.4 6.1 4.8 5.3
4.3 4.1 3.9 4.0 4.2
3.9 4.6 5.1

Do the data show that the Cr TCLP concentration is less than the TCLP regulatory threshold
for Cr at the 95% confidence level?

SOLUTION

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 2.052 0.36

4.86

4.16. A subsurface system was sampled for 90Sr using stratified random sampling. The following
data were obtained for the concentrations of 90Sr in three strata of a subsurface system.
[90Sr], mCi
Depth = 0–0.25 m

130 243 135 304

111 188 219 107
214 202 164 207
144 121 198 186

Depth = 0.26–0.5 m

244 267 311 188

323 289 344 199
333 259 306 168
266 403 284 268

Depth = 0.51–0.75 m

344 198 278 397

326 363 388 290
307 278 272 415
326 282 336 432

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 Using these sampling results, determine (a) the total mean and variance, and (b) the mean
for each stratum and the variance between strata.

SOLUTION

4.17. An abandoned hazardous waste site received contamination from improper disposal of
nitroaromatic explosives. What 600 series EPA analysis would you recommend on
groundwater samples collected at the site?

SOLUTION

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4.18. Groundwater near a former unregulated dump site has been contaminated by wastes from a
dry cleaner, a circuit-board preparing operation, a pesticide manufacturing operation, and a
wood preservation company. What 600 series analyses would you recommend?

SOLUTION

4.19. A plastic manufacturing firm has over 100 drums containing an aqueous waste that must be
analyzed for the most likely contaminants. To save your client money, your supervisor
would like you to use only one EPA 600 series analysis. What analysis would you choose?

SOLUTION

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