Onsite disposal of crushed asbestos-cement pipe

EPA has recently responded to a question regarding the onsite disposal of crushed asbestos- cement pipe, a Category II material. The response is applicable as well to the burying of Category I material which has been sanded, ground, cut or abraded.

In its correspondence EPA stated that the practice of backfilling and burying crushed asbestos-cement pipe in place causes these locations to become active waste disposal sites.

Furthermore, if no additional asbestos-containing waste material is buried at that location for a year, the site becomes an inactive waste disposal site. Consequently, the owner of the land would be required to comply with the requirements for active and inactive waste disposal sites.

In order to avoid the creation of a waste disposal site which is subject to the Asbestos NESHAP, it was suggested that the owners or operators of the pipe consider other options for dealing with it. If the pipe is left in place or removed in such a way that it is not crumbled, pulverized or reduced to power, it would not be subject to the NESHAP. If the pipe must be crushed, the creation of an active waste disposal site can be avoided by removing the pipe from the site and transporting it to a landfill which accepts asbestos waste material.

An alternative method suggested involved the pumping of grout into the buried lines which are no longer in service.

Courtesy of The EPA