{"id":16420,"date":"2021-07-27T09:35:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T13:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paawwa.org\/?p=16420"},"modified":"2021-07-27T09:35:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T13:35:47","slug":"wolf-administration-to-move-forward-with-radiological-testing-of-leachate-at-landfills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wolf-administration-to-move-forward-with-radiological-testing-of-leachate-at-landfills\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolf\u00a0Administration\u00a0to\u00a0Move\u00a0Forward\u00a0with\u00a0Radiological\u00a0Testing of Leachate at Landfills\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wolf\u00a0Administration\u00a0to\u00a0Move\u00a0Forward\u00a0with\u00a0Radiological\u00a0Testing of Leachate at Landfills\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harrisburg, PA\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>In an effort\u00a0to\u00a0further protect Pennsylvania\u2019s waterways and drinking water,\u00a0<\/strong>the\u00a0Wolf\u00a0Administration\u00a0announced\u00a0today that it will soon\u00a0require all Pennsylvania\u00a0landfills\u00a0\u2013\u00a0including those that accept\u00a0unconventional oil and gas waste \u2013\u00a0to\u00a0conduct quarterly\u00a0testing\u00a0of\u00a0leachate\u00a0for\u00a0radiological\u00a0contaminants.<\/p>\n

Landfills\u00a0are currently\u00a0required\u00a0to\u00a0test\u00a0leachate\u00a0\u2013 or liquid generated during waste decomposition \u2013\u00a0for\u00a0various contaminants before this liquid is either treated by an on-site\u00a0leachate\u00a0treatment facility or sent\u00a0to\u00a0wastewater treatment facilities. This additional step\u00a0of\u00a0including radium in the list of contaminants to be measured will allow the Department\u00a0of\u00a0Environmental Protection (DEP)\u00a0to\u00a0evaluate the presence\u00a0of\u00a0radium in\u00a0landfills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take seriously our\u00a0responsibility and duty as an environmental steward,\u201d said Gov. Tom Wolf. \u201cThis additional\u00a0requirement will improve public confidence that public drinking\u00a0water and our precious natural\u00a0resources are being appropriately protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

“This level\u00a0of\u00a0prevention ensures Pennsylvania residents and visitors are protected from potential health and environmental risks, our\u00a0top priority,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.<\/p>\n

DEP currently identifies contaminants in\u00a0leachate\u00a0through\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0sent from landfills on a quarterly basis. DEP has begun the process\u00a0of\u00a0updating its\u00a0reporting document\u00a0to\u00a0include radium-226 and radium-228\u200b, which will be implemented later this year. All landfills, including those that\u00a0accept oil and gas wastes, will be\u00a0required to test for these radiological contaminants.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier this year, my\u00a0office urged Governor\u00a0Wolf\u00a0to\u00a0direct DEP\u00a0to\u00a0prevent harmful radioactive materials from entering Pennsylvania waterways, and I commend this action,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General Josh Shapiro. \u201cPennsylvanians living next\u00a0to\u00a0landfills\u00a0and in the shadow\u00a0of\u00a0fracking wells have a constitutional right\u00a0to\u00a0clean\u00a0air and pure water, and the improved monitoring and promised analysis by DEP is a step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

DEP has\u00a0conducted several investigations into potential\u00a0radiological\u00a0contamination associated\u00a0with\u00a0unconventional oil and gas waste, including a\u00a0large-scale\u00a0investigatory study<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material\u00a0(TENORM)\u00a0in 2016, as well as\u00a0testing\u00a0of\u00a0leachate\u00a0from the Westmoreland Sanitary\u00a0Landfill (WSL). In both cases, DEP or DEP-certified laboratories have analyzed\u00a0leachate\u00a0collected\u00a0for\u00a0radium-226 and radium-228, which are naturally occurring\u00a0radiological\u00a0substances found deep underground. Specifically, samples taken of WSL’s leachate showed radium levels far below federal action levels.<\/p>\n

The study did not\u00a0identify significant differences in\u00a0radium levels between\u00a0landfills\u00a0that accept oil and gas waste compared\u00a0to\u00a0those that do not.\u00a0Testing\u00a0results in all cases were lower than effluent limits\u00a0for\u00a0radium-226 and radium-228 established\u00a0by the U.S. Nuclear\u00a0Regulatory Commission (NRC)\u00a0for\u00a0facilities under its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

However, the study also concluded that additional evaluation\u00a0of\u00a0the potential\u00a0for\u00a0oil and gas-derived\u00a0waste\u00a0to\u00a0radiologically impact landfill\u00a0leachate\u00a0was necessary.<\/p>\n

Since the study was published, DEP\u00a0has taken steps\u00a0to\u00a0address\u00a0radiation\u00a0concerns, including\u00a0requiring\u00a0Radiation\u00a0Protection Action Plans\u00a0for\u00a0unconventional oil and gas operations that generate TENORM and updating limitations, as well as applying enhanced tracking efforts\u00a0for\u00a0the landfill disposal\u00a0of\u00a0TENORM-containing waste.\u00a0Testing\u00a0for\u00a0radium in landfill\u00a0leachate\u00a0is another step in DEP\u2019s ongoing efforts\u00a0to\u00a0appropriately ensure public confidence and protect public health.<\/p>\n

DEP will also implement longer-range steps based on the data\u00a0reported by\u00a0landfills, including collecting and analyzing\u00a0two years\u00a0of\u00a0quarterly data so that fluctuations in oil and gas waste disposal\u00a0volume are adequately captured and take any immediate\u00a0action that is necessary\u00a0to\u00a0protect human health or the environment if it finds that federal action levels are exceeded.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wolf\u00a0Administration\u00a0to\u00a0Move\u00a0Forward\u00a0with\u00a0Radiological\u00a0Testing of Leachate at Landfills\u00a0 Harrisburg, PA\u00a0\u2013\u00a0In an effort\u00a0to\u00a0further protect Pennsylvania\u2019s waterways and drinking water,\u00a0the\u00a0Wolf\u00a0Administration\u00a0announced\u00a0today that it will soon\u00a0require all Pennsylvania\u00a0landfills\u00a0\u2013\u00a0including those that accept\u00a0unconventional oil and gas waste \u2013\u00a0to\u00a0conduct quarterly\u00a0testing\u00a0of\u00a0leachate\u00a0for\u00a0radiological\u00a0contaminants. Landfills\u00a0are currently\u00a0required\u00a0to\u00a0test\u00a0leachate\u00a0\u2013 or liquid generated during waste decomposition \u2013\u00a0for\u00a0various contaminants before this liquid is either treated by an on-site\u00a0leachate\u00a0treatment facility or sent\u00a0to\u00a0wastewater treatment facilities. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,14,7,5,11,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16421,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16420\/revisions\/16421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.linnflux.tech\/paawwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}