Alabama Administrative Code › Title 335 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT › LAND DIVISION - HAZARDOUS WASTE PROGRAM › Chapter 335-14-6 - INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES › Section 335-14-6-.06 - Groundwater Monitoring

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
Applicability
.
(a)
				The owner or operator of a surface impoundment, landfill, or land treatment
				facility which is used to manage hazardous waste must implement a groundwater
				monitoring program capable of determining the facility's impact on the quality
				of groundwater in the uppermost aquifer underlying the facility, except as
				335-14-6-.01(1)
				and 335-14-6-.06(1)(c)
				provides otherwise.
(b) Except as
				335-14-6-.06(1)(c) and
				(d) provide otherwise, the owner or operator
				must install, operate, and maintain a groundwater monitoring system which meets
				the requirements of
				335-14-6-.06(2),
				and must comply with
				335-14-6-.06(3), (4), and
				(5). This groundwater monitoring program must
				be carried out during the active life of the facility, and for disposal
				facilities, during the post-closure care period as well.
(c) All or part of the groundwater monitoring
				requirements of may be waived if the owner or operator can demonstrate that
				there is a low potential for migration of hazardous waste or hazardous waste
				constituents from the facility via the uppermost aquifer to water supply wells
				(domestic, industrial, or agricultural) or to surface water. This demonstration
				must be in writing, and must be kept at the facility. This demonstration must
				be certified by a licensed professional geologist and/or registered
				professional engineer and must establish the following:
1. The potential for migration of hazardous
				waste or hazardous waste constituents from the facility to the uppermost
				aquifer, by an evaluation of:
(i) A water
				balance of precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, and infiltration;
				and
(ii) Unsaturated zone
				characteristics (i.e., geologic materials, physical properties, and depth to
				groundwater); and
2. The
				potential for hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents which enter the
				uppermost aquifer to migrate to a water supply well or surface water, by an
				evaluation of:
(i) Saturated zone
				characteristics (i.e., geologic materials, physical properties and rate of
				groundwater flow); and
(ii) The
				proximity of the facility to water supply wells or surface water.
(d) If an owner or
				operator assumes (or knows) that groundwater monitoring of indicator parameters
				in accordance with
				335-14-6-.06(2) and
				(3) would show statistically significant
				increases (or decreases in the case of pH) when evaluated under
				335-14-6-.06(4)(b),
				he may, install, operate, and maintain an alternate groundwater monitoring
				system (other than the one described in
				335-14-6-.06(2) and
				(3)). If the owner or operator decides to use
				an alternate groundwater monitoring system he must:
1. Within one year after the effective date
				of these regulations, develop a specific plan, certified by a qualified
				geologist or geotechnical engineer, which satisfies the requirements of
				335-14-6-.06(4)(d)3.,
				for an alternate groundwater monitoring system. This plan is to be placed in
				the facility's operating record and maintained until closure of the
				facility;
2. Initiate the
				determinations specified in
				335-14-6-.06(4)(d)4.;
3. Prepare a report in accordance with
				335-14-6-.06(4)(d)5.
				and place it in the facility's operating record and maintain until closure of
				the facility;
4. Continue to make
				the determinations specified in
				335-14-6-.06(4)(d)4.
				on a quarterly basis until final closure of the facility; and
5. Comply with the recordkeeping and
				reporting requirements in
				335-14-6-.06(5)(b).
(e) The groundwater monitoring
				requirements of
				335-14-6-.06 may be waived with
				respect to any surface impoundment that:
1.
				Is used to neutralize wastes which are hazardous solely because they exhibit
				the corrosivity characteristic under
				335-14-2-.03(3)
				or are listed as hazardous wastes in
				335-14-2-.04 only for this
				reason; and
2. Contains no other
				hazardous wastes, if the owner or operator can demonstrate that there is no
				potential for migration of hazardous wastes from the impoundment. The
				demonstration must establish, based upon consideration of the characteristics
				of the wastes and the impoundment, that the corrosive wastes will be
				neutralized to the extent that they no longer meet the corrosivity
				characteristic before they can migrate out of the impoundment. The
				demonstration must be in writing and must be certified by an independent
				engineer.
(f) The
				Department may replace all or part of the requirements of applying to a
				regulated unit (as defined in 335-14-5-6-.06(1)), with alternative requirements
				developed for groundwater monitoring set out in an approved closure or
				post-closure plan or in an enforceable document (as defined in
				335-14-8-.01(1)(c)7.),
				where the Department determines that:
1. A
				regulated unit is situated among solid waste management units (or areas of
				concern), a release has occurred, and both the regulated unit and one or more
				solid waste management unit(s) (or areas of concern) are likely to have
				contributed to the release; and
2.
				It is not necessary to apply the requirements of because the alternative
				requirements will protect human health and the environment. The alternative
				standards for the regulated unit must meet the requirements of
				335-14-5-.06(12)(a).