liquid waste disposal

[Steven Hand <SHAND%UMDACC.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>]

From: shand


Response to Sue Dupre on liquid waste disposal

Liquid waste disposal at the University of Maryland will continue
as usual during the period of closure of waste facilities.

Aqueous waste will continue to be disposed of to the sewer. About
90 - 95 % of the liquid waste falls into this category for disposal.
The other 5 - 10 % is scintillation cocktail and mixed organic waste.
Mixed waste that is long half-life will be stored (indefinitely)
since the cost of disposal is pretty high for this category.
With scintillation cocktails you can utilize the 0.05 uCi/gram(ml)
exemption for disposal of radioactive material without regard for
its radioactivity if it is less than this concentration.
Stress to the user to attempt to keep within this limit for
experiments and for separating for purposes of waste minimization
and disposal.

I agree that solidification is not the route to go - it takes up
to much space and costs more in the long run as far as supplies
and disposal goes.

As a last comment the university is renovating and expanding the
existing TSD facility to handle solid and the small percentage of
liquid waste generated during the closure period.  Construction
has begun as of this writing.

As an aside the university has also purchased a much needed and
long awaited compactor (8/1) ratio with a shredder for solid waste.

steve hand
UMCP (301)-405-3985