The cost of hazardous waste disposal in VHA
Hazardous Waste
from research activities was 4,896 or 46%
of the total VHA cost.
The EPA has designated hazardous waste as waste
that meets one or more of the following
characteristics: (1) ignitable, (2) corrosive, (3) reactive
The amount of halon remaining in extinguishing
and (4) toxic. RCRA regulates the storage, treatment
systems was 6,950 lbs.
and disposal of hazardous waste.
The Hazardous Waste section of the Waste
Minimization Survey asked for specific
responses from each VHA health care facility
as to the number of pounds generated, costs
for disposal from the waste disposal
manifests, spill control plans, date of last
chemical inventory, presence of a waste
minimization program, and waste disposal
Radioactive Waste
costs for research activities.
In addition,
questions were developed to identify the
The survey collected information on radioactive
number of pounds of halon present in
materials primarily subject to regulation by the
extinguishing systems and the status of any
Department of Transportation (DOT) and the
replacement projects.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and comes
from sources such as dry solid, biological waste,
The FY `99 total cost of hazardous waste disposal was
scintillation vials, absorbed, regulated, mixed and
||content||
,811,230, which represented a 16.7% increase over
other.
FY `96. The highest total cost per VISN of
hazardous waste disposal was 9,542. The lowest
In FY `99, 12,860 cubic feet of radioactive
was ,568 in VISN 2. It is important to note that
waste was generated with a disposal cost of
the cost per pound of disposal increased 116% to
2,487.
Compared to FY `96, this
.25 per pound during this period.
represents a decrease of 41.3%. The highest
total cost per VISN of radioactive waste
The FY `99 total pounds of hazardous waste
disposal was ,602, and the lowest was
generated were 875,669 lbs. Compared to FY
0 in VISN 6.
The most frequently
`96, this represents a decrease of 44.3%. The
identified land disposal site was Barnwell,
highest total pounds per VISN of hazardous
SC.
waste generated were 135,992 lbs.
The
lowest was 7,020 lbs in VISN 19.
Virtually every facility identified a waste minimization
program in place for hazardous waste, written
agreements with the local publicly-owned treatment
works (POTW) for effluent discharge, and a
completed chemical inventory within FY `99. Most
of the larger VHA health care facilities were using
Recycling Programs
solvent recovery systems with xylene and alcohols
being the most frequently recovered items and had
For the purpose of collecting accurate data on
developed pollution prevention (P2) plans.
recycling programs, VHA health care facilities were
4
Previous Page
