Patent Number: 044538570
Section: summary

In recent years, the disposal of hazardous or toxic waste materials has become a matter of rapidly increasingly public concern, and an increasing burden to governmental agencies and industrial concerns who must provide storage. Radioactive wastes which require long term storage and some shielding to absorb radiation are among the most commonly known wastes requiring storage. Many chemical by-products and spent reactants have been discovered to have hazardous effects beyond those originally appreciated. Examples of problem compounds are halogenated poly bisphenols, as well as, halogenated resins and solvents. Disposal methods employed in the past which allowed chemical leakage into human water supplies and animal food chains are now found to be not only inadequate, but highly dangerous. Only recently have the long term effects of improper disposal and resulting exposure to the toxic substrates become apparent. The acceptable limits of human exposure to halogenated organic compounds have been steadily decreased. To maintain acceptable exposure levels, improved storage techniques are required. Also the storage techniques should have backup systems which will function to collect any escaping materials in the case of a partial failure of the primary system. Prior art systems have frequently allowed substantial leaching of contaminants into the surrounding soil or aquifers. Generally there has been no recovery mechanism associated with the disposal system and any recovery attempted was sporadic at best. The present invention is directed to the provision of a disposal method for storage of hazardous or toxic material. The system is designed to permanently confine the material to prevent its escape into the environment. The system can be furnished with a recovery system to collect and recover any leachate which by chance escapes confinement. The amount of leachate is minimized to assure the collection system can function at optimal levels. Briefly, the present invention is directed to the storage of hazardous or toxic material which cannot be conveniently destroyed or rendered harmless. The waste is sealed in containers of uniform size which are subsequently embedded or encased in solid concrete buried within the earth. The encasing process commences with the formation of an open top concrete chamber within an excavation at an appropriate depth below ground level. A relatively thick concrete floor is formed with upwardly projecting side and end walls which rise to a suitable height above the floor. A layer of sealed, filled containers is then placed upon the floor of the chamber and concrete is poured into the chamber to fill the spaces between the containers and to fill the chamber to a depth greater than the height of the containers. When the poured concrete is set, its upper surface provides a second floor upon which is placed a second layer of filled, sealed containers, and the pouring, curing, and container placing steps are continued until the chamber is substantially filled. The final step of pouring concrete atop the structure, extend to form a substantially thick top. Safety or collection means are provided to monitor, trap and recapture any leakage of hazardous wastes. Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings.