Munitions Production Waste Generation at Army Installations. A Survey.
Abstract
A significant amount of energetic material waste (EM) and solid waste contaminated with energetic material (EMCW) is generated by U.S. Army installations that manufacture munitions. Disposal of this waste and outdated ammunition has to comply with Federal, state, and local regulations; and regulations vary significantly from state to state. Most munitions waste has been disposed of by open burning (OB) or open detonation (OD). But OB and OD continue to be an environmental concern, and few disposal alternatives have been developed. The first step in developing alternative disposal methods is to determine the amount of munitions waste generated. This report gives the results of a survey of nine installations for a 5-year period from 1988 to 1992; these results show that wastes from munitions production is significant. The total EM and EMCW generated annually by the nine installations were 1,600 and 6,100 tons, respectively. Although most installations generating EM and EMCW have used OB/OD for energetic waste disposal, some are beginning to use alternative methods. A realistic approach to establishing alternative energetic waste disposal methods can now be formulated based on this study that determined the amounts and types of energetic wastes generated at U.S. Army installations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA296829
Entities
People
- Bernard A. Donahue
- James M. Stratta
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory