Characterization of Explosives Processing Waste Decomposition Due to Composting.
Abstract
Because at least 28 sites in the continental U.S. are contaminated with explosives and the high costs of remediation by incineration ($2O0-300/ton) (1), the U.S. Army has investigated alternative technologies for soil and sediment remediation. Laboratory and pilot-scale studies have shown that composting can be a viable alternative to incineration (2-6). Subsequent field-scale static pile and mechanically stirred composting experiments conducted at Army sites have demonstrated that decontamination and detoxification of soils and sediments contaminated with explosives can be achieved on a relatively large scale (7-11). However, the projected costs for remediation by composting were not strongly competitive with those for incineration. More efficient composting technologies were sought in a subsequent field composting experiment (12). This study assesses the efficacy of aerated and nonaerated windrow composting for bioremediation of explosives-contaminated sediments, based on reductions in extractable and leachable explosives, extractable mutagenicity, and leachable toxicity. The efficiencies achieved in the previous static pile and mechanically stirred composting experiments (7-11) are compared with those obtained using windrow composting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA294505
Entities
People
- A. A. Vass
- A. J. Stewart
- C. -h. Ho
- R. L. Tyndall
- W. H. Griest
Organizations
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory