C&D News

CCA SEEN AS CRUCIAL ISSUE

Laws are being passed in several states confining scrapped CCA-treated wood to lined landfills, noted William Hinkley of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Hinkley, chief of the DEP’s Bureau of Solid and Hazardous Waste, cited Florida, Virginia and New York as having identified CCA-treated wood as a potential hazard due to the presence of arsenic and hexavalent chromium.

CCA-treated wood is most often used in outdoor applications such as decking, fences and exterior stairways, said Hinkley, who added that most C&D recyclers who process wood currently try to hand separate CCA-treated wood before it is shredded or otherwise processed.

When treated wood enters a recycled wood product such as landscaping mulch, it can boost the presence of arsenic and hexavalent chromium well above levels identified as unsafe by the U.S. EPA. Hinkley related one anecdote of two homeowners in Key Largo, Fla., who contracted arsenic poisoning allegedly from a load of contaminated mulch.

CCA-treated wood became popular in the late 1970s because of its ability to repel insect infestations. One study conducted for Florida estimates that more than 30,000 tons of arsenic has entered the Sunshine State in the form of treated wood since the 1970s. "Recyclers are seeing it now because it is being retired as building stock," Hinkley noted.

The good news is that CCA is being phased out in favor of less toxic copper-based treatments. But recyclers will continue to face the challenge of identifying and sorting the material out when it enters their facilities.

CCA-treated wood is also bringing scrutiny to C&D recyclers because of its ability to cause ground water contamination problems.

The C&D World conference, sponsored by the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), took place Jan. 19-22.

Regulators, contractors and recyclers in Massachusetts now have less than 12 months to figure out how to recycle every bit of asphalt, brick, concrete and wood generated by C&D activities.

A Bay State regulation banning the diposal of those materials, as well as scrap metal and corrugated containers, is tentatively scheduled to take effect Dec. 31, 2003.

A Construction and Demolition Debris Sub-Committee for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been meeting to discuss several issues, with the disposal ban among the primary topics.

The Rule Review Committee (a group assembled to work with DEP personnel in rewriting CMR 19.000, the DEP’s rulebook) has finished its work and the final document draft is being prepared. After internal review, it will be put out for public comment in the spring.

A companion guidance document has undergone review but is not yet complete. One delay on this document, according to sources in Massachusetts, is the argument by one rail-haul facility that it should be exempted from the ban. The DEP has largely decided that all waste handling facilities will be subject to the ban once it is effective.

Under the Solid Waste Advisory Committee there are two sub-committees, one for Organics and the other for C&D Debris. Under C&D Debris are four more work groups: Source Separation, Market Development, Processing, and Policy.

The work group on Source Separation has five projects under way. Fact sheets the work group is preparing will describe the projects in detail, including cost analyses so that other demolition contractors can use them as guidance.

The Georgia Pacific gypsum plant in Newington, N.H., recycled 50,000 tons of process waste and clean end cuts last year. In two years it will be able to handle triple that amount. So far it does not accept painted or used gypsum. The DEP wants to ban gypsum from disposal next, but admits that it will need a central collection point for clean gypsum first.

Two asphalt shingle recycling projects are being considered, but no formal applications have been submitted yet.

At present, wood chips—the leading end product under Massachusetts rules for wood taken from mixed C&D loads—can be sent to wood-fired power generators in Maine. The DEP has determined that such use shall be considered "diversion" and count towards its goals of reducing the tonnage sent to landfills.