Also See: What's New for National Programs and/or What's New for EPA

2010 Kansas Solid Waste Management Plan Survey
Every five years, KDHE updates the Kansas Solid Waste Management Plan. The current 2005 plan is due to be updated by early 2010. The update process begins with surveying stakeholders and the general public. We are soliciting feedback to help us develop a revised plan which is responsive to the perceived needs of the citizens of Kansas and to the statutory requirements related to waste management. http://www.kdheks.gov/waste/

ADEQ Announces that 75 percent of Federal Stimulus Funds for cleaning up Leaking Storage Tanks at use in field
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality announced that 75 percent of funding provided through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 to clean up leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites throughout the state is already being used for ongoing projects.

Since receiving more than $3.2 million of ARRA funds through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in July 2009, ADEQ has entered contracts with 11 private contract firms to clean up petroleum contamination at 24 sites.

The majority of the LUST sites where ARRA funds are being used have no known or financially viable owner. The work activities include removing old underground storage tanks at sites with suspected contamination and cleaning up soil and groundwater impacted by gasoline or diesel contamination.

LUST cleanups are expected to continue through September 2011. For more information on ADEQ’s implementation of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, visit http://www.azdeq.gov/recovery/index.html

Removal of Underground Tanks at Recovery Act-funded Gas Station Site in Bucks County, PA
Workers are in the process of removing six underground storage tanks at the abandoned former Malcolm's gas station and auto repair facility in Warrington, Pa. to make way for a Recovery Act-funded project to determine possible contamination at the property. In August 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency distributed $6.16 million in Recovery Act funding to Pennsylvania to assess and clean up underground storage tank petroleum leaks. The abandoned Malcolm's gas station, located at 994 Easton Rd., will be assessed for soil and groundwater pollution. The project is being funded because the responsible parties are unable or unwilling to conduct the cleanup.

The greatest potential hazard from a leaking underground storage tank is that petroleum or other hazardous substances seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly one-third of all Americans.

Under a cooperative agreement with EPA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will manage the project. In 2002 PADEP inspected the underground storage tanks at Malcolm's and found a multitude of violations including the failure to install and maintain equipment to prevent releases and the failure to conduct regular leak detection on six underground storage tanks, including one 500-gallon tank that is still full of used oil and sludge from the auto repair side of the gas station. The other tanks (two 4,000-gallon tanks and three 6,000-gallon tanks) which held gasoline, diesel and kerosene, have already been removed and were empty. The tanks are between 20 and 30 years old and are made of bare steel, which is subject to corrosion.

After all the tanks are removed, PADEP will sample the surrounding soil and groundwater to determine if petroleum products have been released to the environment, and the nature and extent of any contamination.

Federal Aviation Administration Commits to Closing Vehicle Waste Disposal Wells in Alaska
The Federal Aviation Administration has pledged to permanently close over two dozen motor vehicle waste disposal wells in Alaska. The FAA action resulted from an administrative order on consent issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The FAA Alaska Region has committed to closing the wells, known as injections wells, by 2012. The injection wells, built mainly in the 1940s and 1950s and located across the state, were used by FAA to dispose of fluids collected through maintenance facility floor drains. Disposed fluids likely included motor vehicle waste such as engine oil, brake fluid, fuel, cleaning solvents and other materials. FAA has not used the injection wells for motor vehicle waste in years.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA banned this category of wells in 1999 and required their closure in Alaska by 2005. Motor vehicle waste disposal wells can contaminate underground sources of drinking water. Since FAA self-identified its wells to EPA in 1996, it has already closed half its inventory and has been actively working to close the rest of its injection wells to comply with the law.

FAA entered into the order voluntarily and is working with EPA to document the well closures.

For information about motor vehicle waste disposal wells, please visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/water.nsf/UIC/MVWDW

Updated 1/10

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