Waste pond

Waste pond

A waste pond or chemical pond is a small impounded water body used for the disposal of water pollutants, and sometimes utilized as a method of recycling or decomposing toxic substances. Such waste ponds may be used for regular disposal of pollutant materials or may be used as upset receivers for special pollution events.[1] Often, chemical ponds themselves are addressed for cleanup action after their useful life is over or when a risk of groundwater contamination arises.[2] Peak usage of waste ponds in the United States occurred in the period 1955 to 1985, after which the environmental risks of pond technology were sufficiently understood,[3] such that alternative technologies for waste disposal gradually began to displace many of the waste ponds. Waste ponds often have pond liners, such as concrete or robust synthetic polymeric materials, to prevent infiltration of chemicals to soil or groundwater.

Contents

Examples

Piscataway chemical pond

One example of a chemical pond is situated in the woods of Piscataway, New Jersey. It was used by Union Carbide during the active phase of plant operation. Its main use was for drainage of chemicals. Hazardous and exotic chemicals would go down drains in the plant to the pond and later be pumped back to the factory via two large pumps. There it would be distilled to remove acetone and other hazardous chemicals from the mix. This process was overall harmful to the environment and polluted the groundwater.[4]

Oak Ridge waste pond

The United States Oak Ridge National Laboratory operated for more than 50 years, performing research and production at its facility in the Melton Valley area of the Oak Ridge Reservation, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, before it was decommissioned in the mid 1960s. One of the results of this activity was a waste pond, which was contaminated with radioactive waste including strontium-90, caesium-137; tritium, and transuranics. During the 1970s, the pond was backfilled with clay and shale, and finally capped with asphalt.

In the mid 1990s, as a temporary solution to concerns that soil and sediments could migrate into nearby streams and, ultimately, reservoirs used for recreation and drinking water supplies, Department of Energy officials installed a cryogenic stabilization system at the waste pond, freezing the soil and groundwater to a depth of approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) around the pond, thereby forming a barrier to groundwater leaching.

In February 2004, the cryogenic system was dismantled, replaced with a temporary thermal foam blanket to keep the soil cold, and the pond was excavated. The soil in the areas surrounding the frozen pond contained lower levels of contamination than the pond itself, but enough contamination that it had to be removed. Approximately 10,000 cubic yards (7,600 m3) of soil were removed from the surrounding areas. Another 5,400 cubic yards (4,100 m3) of soil were excavated from the pond itself.[5]

References

  1. ^ U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission details of handling certain upset events
  2. ^ Idaho National Laboratory: U.S. Department of Energy, EPA ID# ID4890008952
  3. ^ David Crimp, Leda Patmore et al., Environmental Assessment of Kaiser Refractories Waste Pond, Moss Landing, California, Earth Metrics Inc., Santa Cruz County, California and the State of California Environmental Clearinghouse (1976)
  4. ^ Map illustrating Union Carbide Chemical Pond, Piscataway, New Jersey
  5. ^ Gwenyth Laird Pernie, Crew Takes on Chemical Pond, Construction Equipment Guide (2005)

See also

  • Evaporation ponds
  • Odor

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cooling pond — Not to be confused with Spent fuel pool. Mount Storm Lake is a 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) cooling pond for a power plant in Grant County, West Virginia. A cooling pond is a man made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of supplying… …   Wikipedia

  • Dew pond — Typical example of downland dew pond near Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex. 50°53′47″N 0°23 …   Wikipedia

  • Duck pond — A duck pond in the Queen Elizabeth Park A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other water fowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink. Typically, such ponds are round, oval or kidney… …   Wikipedia

  • Melt pond — As ice melts, the liquid water collects in depressions on the surface and deepens them, forming these melt ponds in the Arctic. These fresh water ponds are separated from the salty sea below and around it, until breaks in the ice merge the two.… …   Wikipedia

  • Stabilization pond — technology sometimes also called facultative pond technology is a natural method for wastewater treatment. TechnologyStabilization ponds consist of shallow man made basins comprising a single or several series of anaerobic, facultative or… …   Wikipedia

  • Treatment pond — A treatment pond treats water fouled by anaerobic bacteria. It is largely used by tree nurseries, dairy farms and other agricultural companies near horse or cattle sheds or barns. The pond treats unclean rainwater and animal effluent so that it… …   Wikipedia

  • Wreck Pond — Infobox lake lake name = Wreck Pond image lake = caption lake = image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = Monmouth County, New Jersey coords = coord|40.140532|N|74.034355|W|region:US NJ type:waterbody|display=inline,title type = inflow …   Wikipedia

  • Collect Pond — A 1798 watercolor of the Collect Pond Bayard Mount, a 110 hillock, is in the left foreground. New York City, which then extended to a stockade which roughly parralled current Chambers Street, is visible beyond the southern shore. The Collect Pond …   Wikipedia

  • Savage Pond — Infobox VG title = Savage Pond developer = Gwyll Jones, Peter Judd publisher = Argus Press distributor = designer = engine = version = released = 1983 genre = Arcade modes = One player ratings = platforms = Acorn Electron, Atari 16k, BBC Micro,… …   Wikipedia

  • Solar pond — A solar pond is large scale solar thermal energy collector with integral heat storage for supplying thermal energy. A solar pond can be used for various applications, such as process heating, water desalination, refrigeration, drying and Solar… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”