Corrective action is required under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes. The Act requires hazardous waste facilities to investigate and clean up releases of hazardous waste or constituents in soil, groundwater, surface water and air.

Delaware is one of the states authorized to implement its own RCRA Corrective Action Program to work with hazardous waste facilities in investigating and cleaning up hazardous releases.

Corrective action is principally implemented through RCRA permits and orders. The Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances regulates releases of hazardous waste at sites in Delaware by issuing RCRA permits to authorize the implementation of corrective actions as necessary to protect human health and the environment. Requirements specified in state law regulations provide the legal and regulatory basis for this permitting action.

The public plays an important role in the permitting process for hazardous waste facilities. Public notices are provided in accordance with the regulations to announce opportunities for members of the public to review and provide comments on draft permits and site remedies.

RCRA Corrective Action Process

The RCRA corrective action process is designed to be site-specific, flexible and focused more on results than a fixed sequence of steps. Corrective actions generally fall into five major steps or phases:

RCRA Facility Assessment (RFA) — initial site assessment of site conditions, potential releases and exposure pathways to determine whether a cleanup may be needed.

RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) — determines the nature and extent of contamination of a site to support selection and implementation of appropriate remedies.

Interim Action — may be performed before a final remedy is selected to control or reduce site conditions that pose risks to human health and the environment.

Corrective Action Measures Study (CMS) — site-specific study to identify and evaluate remediation alternatives.

Corrective Measures Implementation (CMI) — detailed remedy design, remedy construction, remedy operation and maintenance and remedy completion.

Ensuring long-term protection after facility cleanup is also key to RCRA corrective action. Following remedy completion, appropriate institutional and engineering controls are established. This protects the integrity of the remedy by preventing or limiting exposure to the remaining hazardous waste at the facility. Institutional and engineering controls include environmental covenants restricting land use, requirements for contaminated materials management plans to be implemented during future earth-disturbing activities, as well as well drilling restrictions.

Corrective Action Facilities in Delaware

Delaware’s RCRA corrective action facilities include a variety of sites such as current and former chemical manufacturing and research facilities, an oil refinery and commercial landfills. The following corrective action facilities are located in Delaware:

Related Topics:  action, cleanup, corrective, remediation, waste and hazardous substances