LANDFILL CODISPOSAL OF PENTACHLOROPHENOL (PCP)-TREATED WASTE WOOD WITH MUNICIPAL SOLID-WASTE

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been used as a biocide and preservative fo r wood power poles and crossarms. If disposed in landfills, the natura l capacity of landfills to transform hazardous constituents to less ha zardous or inert substances may also apply to such PCP-treated materia ls. The principal reaction of interest in the anaerobic environment of a landfill is reductive dechlorination.The fate and transformation of PCP-treated wood was investigated in simulated landfill bioreactors o perated under single pass leaching and leachate recirculation. The woo d samples consisted of 2% of the total mass by weight loaded into the bioreactors. The PCP leaching potential was examined at varying pH con ditions with TCLP and Soxhlet extractions. Adsorption of PCP to the sy nthetic solid waste was used to determine its role in immobilizing lea chate PCP. Routine indicator parameters were used to describe the acid ogenic and methanogenic phases of landfill stabilization. Leached PCP was transformed without inhibitory effects on landfill stabilization, thereby affirming the acceptability of such a codisposal practice. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.