Lead-Acid Battery Waste: 90th South Battery Site, West Jordan, Utah
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| Mobile treatment plant at 90th South. |
An example of cement-based S/S being applied ex situ to metal-contaminated
soil is the 90th South Battery Site Project in West Jordan, Utah.
This project was conducted by EPA Region 8 as an Emergency Response.
At this site, EPA treated about 1,900 m3 (2,500 cu yd) of contaminated soil and waste. Contamination at the site
apparently resulted from "midnight dumping" of lead-acid battery
recycling wastes. Lead plates, lead slag, and battery casing materials
were found at the site. Soil was contaminated with lead, and small
areas were contaminated with sulfuric acid.
The waste piles and soil were treated ex situ by first excavating
the material, then screening and crushing oversized particles to
<32 mm (<1-1/4 inch). To adjust the pH of the material, approximately
5% by weight of limestone fines was mixed into the soil pile with
a front-end loader. A mobile pugmill was transported to the site.
The binding reagent used was a 3:1 blend of portland cement/cement
kiln dust.
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| View of interior of typical pugmill. |
The binding reagent was mixed into the contaminated material with a pugmill.
The binding reagent blend was added to the material in amounts ranging
from 15% to 17% by weight. About 10% of water by weight was also
added. Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) concentrations
for lead in the untreated soil at the site ranged from 5 ppm to
200 ppm.
The untreated soil had total lead concentrations between 5000 ppm
and 60,000 ppm and total arsenic concentrations up to 1600 ppm.
After treatment the TCLP concentrations for lead ranged from below
detection limits to 0.72 ppm. For arsenic, the TCLP concentrations
in the treated soil were undetectable. The treated waste was granular,
contrary to the common perception that the treatment always results
in monoliths.
The treated soil was beneficially reused, compacted as a subbase
for a pavement at the municipal landfill. The paved area was used
for composting operations.
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