UFC 3-280-02A Hazardous Waste Land Disposal/Land Treatment ...

ial. All facilities must be designed for specialized problemssuch as seismic shaking in seismically active areas, oexpansive soils.3-4. Climatic elementsa. Climatic conditions, particularly precipitation,evaporation, temperature, and wind, can significantly influencethe selection, design and operation of land disposal facilities.Adverse climatic conditions can, for example:(1) Prevent use or operation of• Surface Impoundments practicing evaporativedisposal of wastes, if annual precipitation is greaterthan annual evaporation.• Land Treatment facilities, if soils in the treatment areaare frozen or saturated.(2) Restrict operation of—• Surface Impoundments, where heavy rainfall reducesstorage capacity.• Land Treatment facilities, where lower temperatureswill decrease biodegradation rates.• Landfills, where (1) freezing soil or wastes interferewith proper placement of compaction of wastes, soilcover or earthfills, (2) accumulation of snow mayrequire clearing, or (3) snow melt may increase themoisture content of the waste.(3) Impact closure practices at impoundments andlandfills• Disruption of the compacted soil zone through frostheave (water migration and freezing in layers, lensesor veins of ice).• Sliding resulting from thawing of a shallow, saturatedzone of soil cover.• Rainfall erosion of the soil cover.b. Generalized climatic data are available from theNational Climatic Center of the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service.Local meteorological data is often available at Armyinstallations that have air fields. In addition, some states haveofficial weather observation stations that offer climatic data.Selected publications which provide recorded data, frequencyand duration analyses, and general charts for various climaticelements are listed in the references (appendix A).c. Another source of information is the US WeatherBureau, whose 300 first-order weather stations provide dataon:• Daily and monthly temperature• Dewpoint• Precipitation• Pressure• Wind• Sunshine and cloud cover• Solar radiationd. Weather stations also publish climatic tables of3-4TM 5-814-7normal, mean and extreme values for long periods of recordand climatic maps of the United States. Design data directlyavailable from the US Weather Bureau include isobars for 24-hour rainfalls and for average annual lake evaporation.e. In addition, numerous theories, empirical correlations,modeling procedures and charts have been developed fordefining and predicting the impact of climatic elements ondesign. Those useful in designing land disposal facilitiesinclude equations for infiltration and run off, rainfall and winderosion, and wind waves; depth of freezing indices; andevaporation/evapotranspiration calculations. State and localagencies have used available climatic data to develop chartsand tables which can be used in these predictive calculationsincludingthe rainfall and storm recurrence tables and rainfallintensity/duration charts used for run-off calculations.3-5. Impact of site conditions on selection of disposalmethoda. Most regulations dealing with disposal to land clearlyreflect the sensitive relationship between waste type, disposalmethod, and potential for natural or engineered protection ofthe environment at the proposed disposal facility. Sites thatare designed to accept only solid, generally inert substances,obviously require fewer natural containment features than dothose intended for liquid hazardous waste. Similarly, siting ofwaste piles or land treatment facilities may be far lessrestrictive than siting of impoundments.b. Site conditions which obviously prohibit developmentof a disposal site of any type are wetlands and locations incritical aquifer recharge areas. Site conditions that impactselection of disposal methods fall into three basic areas (1)ability for ground-water protection, (2) potential for surfacewater contact with wastes, and (3) availability of materialsrequired by each disposal method. Almost any negative sitecondition can be overcome by engineering designs; however,these engineering solutions can often result in unacceptableeconomic impacts and/or regulatory monitoring requirements.(1) In selecting a disposal method, two key elementsregarding ground-water protection must be considered: (1)vertical separation of wastes from the uppermost groundwater,and (2) permeability of the subsurface materialproviding the hydraulic separation. These two elements areinterrelated. Far less separation between waste and groundwatercan be tolerated in a low permeability clay environmentthan in a site underlain by sand and gravel. However, designconsiderations of the natural ground-water setting can begreatly influenced by regulations mandated by 40 CFR 264requiring the placement of impermeable liners beneathlandfills, impoundments and waste piles.CANCELLED