ASSESSMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ENGINEERED WASTE CONTAINMENT BARRIERS
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Science (BER) Grant No. DE-FG02-06ER64259; Environmental Protection Agency, Grant No. CR-83211601; National Science Foundation, Grant No. CMS-0243338; and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Award No. NRC-04-02-081. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof.
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Cover: Scene from the Newcastle golf course, which was built near Seattle, Washington, over a landfill containing demolition and inert construction waste. Photograph courtesy of OK: Golf/Golf Club at Newcastle.
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COMMITTEE TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF ENGINEERED BARRIERS
JAMES K. MITCHELL, Chair,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
LISA ALVAREZ-COHEN,
University of California, Berkeley
ESTELLA A. ATEKWANA,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
SUSAN E. BURNS,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
ROBERT B. GILBERT,
University of Texas, Austin
EDWARD KAVAZANJIAN, JR.,
Arizona State University, Tempe
W. HUGH O’RIORDAN,
Givens Pursley LLP, Boise, Idaho
R. KERRY ROWE,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
CHARLES D. SHACKELFORD,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
HARI D. SHARMA,
Geosyntec Consultants, Oakland, California
NAZLI YESILLER, Independent Consultant,
San Luis Obispo, California
National Research Council Staff
ANNE M. LINN, Study Director
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Associate
JARED P. ENO, Senior Program Assistant
COMMITTEE ON GEOLOGICAL AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
GREGORY B. BAECHER, Chair,
University of Maryland, College Park
THOMAS W. DOE,
Golder Associates, Redmond, Washington
SANDRA HOUSTON,
Arizona State University, Tempe
WESLEY C. PATRICK,
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
J. CARLOS SANTAMARINA,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
A. KEITH TURNER,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden
National Research Council Staff
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Program Officer
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
GREGORY B. BAECHER,
University of Maryland, College Park
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
KEITH C. CLARKE,
University of California, Santa Barbara
DAVID COWEN,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
WILLIAM E. DIETRICH,
University of California, Berkeley
ROGER M. DOWNS,
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
JEFF DOZIER,
University of California, Santa Barbara
KATHERINE H. FREEMAN,
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
RHEA L. GRAHAM,
Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico
ROBYN HANNIGAN,
Arkansas State University, Jonesboro
RUSSELL J. HEMLEY,
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
MURRAY W. HITZMAN,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden
V. RAMA MURTHY,
University of Minnesota (retired), Minneapolis
CLAYTON R. NICHOLS,
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (retired), Standpoint
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
BARBARA A. ROMANOWICZ,
University of California, Berkeley
JOAQUIN RUIZ,
University of Arizona, Tucson
MARK SCHAEFER,
Global Environment and Technology Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
WILLIAM W. SHILTS,
Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign
RUSSELL STANDS-OVER-BULL,
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Billings, Montana
TERRY C. WALLACE, JR.,
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
THOMAS J. WILBANKS,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Officer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Officer
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Program Officer
RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative and Financial Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial Associate
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Associate
JARED P. ENO, Senior Program Assistant
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Senior Program Assistant
TONYA FONG YEE, Program Assistant
Preface
Engineered barriers to isolate potentially harmful waste from humans and ecosystems have been used for over 35 years, and much has been written about them and their constituent components. However, few reports have provided an overall assessment of the performance of engineered barrier systems. The last broad assessment was conducted in 1995 (Rumer and Mitchell, 1995). Since that time, new materials and sensor technologies have been introduced and models to predict contaminant transport have improved.
At the request of program managers at the Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy, the National Research Council established a committee to assess the effectiveness of surface and subsurface engineered barriers over the long term. The Committee to Assess the Performance of Engineered Barriers comprised academics and practitioners who collectively possessed expertise covering the science and technology of waste containment system regulations, analyses, design, construction, operations, maintenance, monitoring, and performance evaluation.
The study was guided by recognition that a defensible assessment of the long-term performance of engineered waste barriers must take into account the materials acting both individually and as part of a composite containment system, the type of waste contained, and performance indicators such as leakage rates, contaminant concentrations, and the condition of system components, all as a function of time and location. Information on these and other aspects of barrier systems was gleaned from the literature, briefings at committee meetings and field trips, discussions with colleagues, and the knowledge and experience of committee members. The committee met four times between October 2005 and August 2006 and visited four engineered barrier facilities: the McColl Superfund Site and the Puente Hills Landfill in southern California and the Love Canal treatment facility and the Model City Landfill in New York.
The committee thanks the following individuals for briefing the committee, hosting field trips, or providing background materials: Edmond Bourke, Rachel Detwiler, Brian Downie, Richard Fragaszy, John Hino, Ron Johnson, Jack Keener, Walter Kovalick, Kai Kuo, J. Michael Kuperberg, Kelly Madalinski, Don McLeod, Thomas Nicholson, Scott Parkhill, Jacob Philip, David Rothbart, Brian Sadowski, and Greg Zayatz. Special thanks go to Stephen Hammond and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who provided data and information on the effectiveness of the state’s modern engineered barrier systems. Finally, the committee extends its thanks and appreciation to Anne Linn, who served so ably and cheerfully as study director. Without her organizational and writing skills, knowledge, enthusiasm, and ability to keep the committee focused and on track, completion of this study would not have been possible.
James K. Mitchell, Chair
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Craig H. Benson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Rudolph Bonaparte, Geosyntec Consultants, Atlanta, Georgia
Jeffrey C. Evans, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
M. James Hendry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
Susan Hubbard, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
Stephan Jefferis, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
Robert M. Koerner, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kenneth A. Snyder, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by William L. Fisher, The University of Texas at Austin. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.