Marine shale and the Hazwaste recycling debate

This paper reports that Marine Shale Processors, Inc. (St. Rose, La.), and the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council (Washington, D.C.), an industry trade association, are at the focus of a controversy whose resolution has significant implications for the respective definitions, concepts and legal statuses of hazardous-waste incineration and recycling. Marine Shale Processors (MSP) claims it recycles hazardous wastes from a variety of government and commercial sources by blending it and treating it thermally in a large rotary kiln to produce non-hazardous aggregate material, which is sold for construction, road-building or other purposes. The Hazardous Waste Treatment Council (HWTC) and others allege that, under the provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), MSP is operating an unpermitted hazardous-waste incinerator. According to HWTC officials, MSP's identification as a recycler is inappropriate and has allowed the company unfairly to avoid permitting costs and formal compliance with RCRA standards and regulations. Recently, the Louisiana legislature passed laws declaring that hazardous-waste recyclers in the state must meet the same standards as permitted hazardous-waste incinerators. At press time, a hearing before the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to determine MSP's status as a recycler under the new laws was set for Sept. 29. Since all parties in the debate over Marine Shale's industry role appear to agree that the controversy is central to the emerging issue of establishing clear distinctions between recycling and hazardous-waste destruction, this article describes the arguments on both sides as these stood in mid-September