Tf. Mcgowan et al., THERMAL-TREATMENT AND NONTHERMAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR REMEDIATION OF MANUFACTURED-GAS PLANT SITES, Waste management, 16(8), 1996, pp. 691-698
More than 1500 manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites exist throughout the
U.S. Many are contaminated with coal tar from coal-fueled gas works w
hich produced 'town gas' from the mid-1800s through the 1950s.(1,2) Vi
rtually all old U.S. cities have such sites. Most are in downtown area
s as they were installed for central distribution of manufactured gas.
While a few sites are CERCLA/Superfund, most are not. However, the co
ntaminants and methods used for remediation are similar to those used
for Superfund clean-ups of coal tar contamination from wood-treating a
nd coke oven facilities. Clean-up of sites is triggered by regulatory
pressure, property transfers and re-development as well as releases to
the environment - in particular, via groundwater migration. Due to ut
ility de-regulation, site clean-ups may also be triggered by sale of a
utility or of a specific utility site to other utilities. Utilities h
ave used two approaches in dealing with their MGP sites. The first is
'do nothing and hope for the best'. History suggests that, sooner or l
ater, these sites become a bigger problem via a release, citizen lawsu
it or regulatory/public service commission intervention. The second, f
ar better approach is to define the problem now and make plans for was
te treatment or immobilization. This paper describes recent experience
with a high capacity/low cost thermal desorption process for this was
te and reviews non-thermal technology, such as bio-treatment, capping,
recycling, and dig and haul. Cost data is provided for all technologi
es, and a case study for thermal treatment is also presented. (C) 1997
Elsevier Science Ltd.