Waste Generator Services--From Chaos and Confusion to Order and Compliance

Waste management practices at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) have dramatically improved during the past four years. Past methods had resulted in a backlog of inadequately characterized waste stored at numerous locations scattered throughout the INEEL site, lack of knowledge of treatment capabilities, and absence of waste accountability. Escalating Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations and associated fines averaged $800,000 annually. Since the implementation of Waste Generator Services (WGS), a centralized waste management organization, waste backlog has been significantly reduced and contracts have been established with numerous commercial facilities for treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, low-level waste, and mixed low-level waste. Waste traceability and accountability have improved, and the number of violations has significantly decreased. WGS has also made a significant contribution in fin e reduction, which averaged approximately $134,000 between 1998 through 2000, with Fiscal Year 2001 fines negotiated at just $12,000a. Temporary Accumulation Areas (TAAs) used for storage of waste for periods of less than 90 days, have been consolidated from 42 to 12. This consolidation has resulted in fewer areas that are more easily managed, each tracked and controlled by an assigned custodian. Additionally, the backlog of stored waste has been drastically decreased and there has been only one TAA storage area violation during the past four years