Offsite Shipment of Secondary Waste and Hydrolysate

CDC’s Role

The Army has proposed and is pursuing a shift in its program to manage and dispose of secondary wastes from chemical agent disposal facilities. A key aspect of this proposal is to transition control and management of potential chemical agent-contaminated waste from the Army to off-site commercial hazardous waste-treatment facilities. CDC continues to monitor public health aspects of treating secondary waste by reviewing documentation provided by the Army and its contractors. The documents typically provided to CDC include information on characterization of the waste, specific plans for health and safety, and the risk associated with transportation.

CDC is aware of the scheduling and cost considerations of this new approach to managing secondary chemical agent wastes. However, CDC's position is that the approach used to assess risk for such a change must clearly demonstrate that human health and safety risks are fully considered and satisfactorily addressed.

More information about secondary chemical agent waste is available in the NRC's Review of Chemical Agent Secondary Waste Disposal and Regulatory Requirements, 2007.