Management of the Polychlorinated Biphenyl Inventory in the Double Shell Tank (DST) System

Some Double-Shell Tanks (DST) have received small quantities of PCBs in historic waste shipments. For this reason at least some DST waste has been determined to be PCB remediation waste by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection (ORP) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This determination was documented on August 31, 2000 in the ''Framework Agreement for Management of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Hanford Tank Waste'' (Boston, et al.). PCB remediation waste is a new category of waste promulgated in the 1998 revision to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) commonly called the Mega-Rule. The applicability of TSCA to tank farm waste resulted in the application of new requirements and the necessity to manage and track PCBs in tank waste. This document describes the principal methods of managing PCBs in the DST system. This document also describes waste acceptance criteria to be used in evaluating the acceptability of waste containing PCBs. The main purpose behind the transfer controls and PCB waste acceptance criteria is to ensure that the waste can be adequately treated in the Waste Treatment (vitrification) Plant. These criteria may change as additional information on the treatment plant's capability becomes available