1. Hazardous Waste

2. Every year, 3.36 billion lbs of toxic waste is disposed of or released into the environment
Waste categories can include solid waste, exploration and production waste, universal waste, and hazardous waste

3. Hazardous waste is a solid, liquid, or gaseous material with certain properties that could be dangerous to human health or the environment

4. In regulatory terms, hazardous waste is waste that appears on one of the four Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste lists or displays one of the four characteristics of hazardous waste: ignitable, corrosive, reactive, and toxic

5. Characteristic
Description
Ignitable
Catches fire under certain conditions
Corrosive
Corrodes metal or has a very high or low pH
Reactive
Unstable and explodes or produces toxic fumes, gases, and vapors when mixed with water or under other conditions, such as heat or pressure
Toxic
Harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed, or it leaches toxic chemicals into the soil or ground water when disposed of on land

6. Hazardous waste is generated from many sources, such as
Metal production
Metal fabrication
Petroleum processing
Chemical manufacturing

7. Some ways to reduce waste include
Using catalysts to speed up chemical reactions and convert oil into useful products efficiently
Recovering products from process waters
Using cogeneration (generating electricity and steam for facility use; allows waste heat to be captured for use in refinery processes)
Using collection sites to properly dispose of motor oil

8. Many companies are required to have a waste management plan that gives workers information on proper disposal procedures

9. It is your company’s responsibility to make sure every effort is made to prevent hazardous waste spills and to clean them up immediately

10. The purpose of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule is to help facilities prevent a discharge of oil into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines

11. The SPCC applies to a facility that
Stores, transfers, uses, or consumes oil or oil products, such as diesel fuel, gasoline, and lube oil
Stores more than 1,320 US gal in aboveground containers (only count containers with 55 gal or greater storage capacity) or more than 42,000 gal in completely buried containers
Could reasonably be expected to discharge oil into navigable waters of the US or adjoining shorelines, such as lakes, rivers, and streams

12. The SPCC rule requires facility owners or operators to create and use an SPCC plan
The plan
Must be in writing and maintained at the facility
May include the facility’s storage capacity, discharge prevention measures and drainage controls, ways to dispose of recovered materials, and emergency contact lists and phone numbers

13. Some safety precautions for storing and handling hazardous waste drums and containers to prevent leaks and spills include
Unlabeled drums and containers must be considered hazardous and handled accordingly until the contents are positively identified and labeled
Fire extinguishing equipment must be on hand and ready for use to control incipient fires
Workers not actually involved in opening drums or containers must be kept a safe distance away from the drums or containers being opened

14. The first step of an emergency response operation is to observe that a spill or release has happened

15. Signs of a hazardous release can include
Workers can usually detect an emergency release through their senses
Signs of a hazardous release can include
Liquid in unusual places
Visible vapors, fumes, bubbles, or foam
A high pitched whistling sound
Strange odors

16. Review your company’s emergency response plan to find out what the company considers an emergency release
Depending on the size and location of the release, it may be necessary to get state and local emergency response organizations and agencies involved

17. Untrained workers must not respond to a hazardous spill
Workers who perform hazardous waste cleanup operations or perform hazardous waste operations at treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facilities in both general and construction industries require special training

18. There are five levels of HAZWOPER training
Training Level
Duty
First Responder – Awareness Level
Workers who may witness or discover a hazardous substance release and have been trained to start an emergency response sequence by notifying the proper authorities about the release; do nothing beyond notifying the authorities
First Responder – Operations Level
Workers who respond defensively to releases or potential releases of hazardous substances by containing the release from a safe distance, keeping the release from spreading, and preventing nearby workers from being exposed; must not attempt to plug, patch, or stop the release; must only set up initial site control

19. Training Level Duty Hazardous Materials Technician
Responds to stop the release and knows how to implement the company’s plan and carry out decontamination
Hazardous Materials Specialist
Requires specific knowledge of the substances to be contained and acts as the point of contact with all government authorities
On-scene incident commander
Assumes control of the scene and implements the command system, the company’s plan, and state and local emergency response plans

20. Hazardous waste can be dangerous to human health and the environment, and must be managed by trained workers. Stay informed and know how to act if there is a leak or spill.