Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Hydrogeologic Characterization

A major hazardous waste disposal facility near Arlington, Oregon serving the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska maintains numerous favorable environmental characteristics for siting of a hazardous waste disposal facility. The risk of contamination as a result of potential leakage from a waste management unit via primary pathways to surface water, groundwater or by direct contact and/or ingestion is thus reasonably low. However, these same characteristics which make the site most suitable for hazardous waste disposal often conflict with: 1) the demonstration of the groundwater monitoring system\u27s ability to adequately perform immediate leak detection monitoring as mandated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 40 CFR Part 264, part F, and, 2) the level of demonstration required for the site to be “properly characterized.