ASTM International

Standard Guide for Beneficial Use of Landfills and Chemically Impacted Sites
 N E3033

Annotation

This guide provides a beneficial, acceptable use framework for the development of: (1) Inactive and pre-RCRA (or pre-regulatory) solid waste landfills that are considered orphan or latchkey to be repurposed, despite having offsite migration impacts of landfill gases and/or leachate, albeit at de minimis levels; (2) other types of unregulated waste landfills; (3) sites impacted by chemical releases; (4) legacy or ongoing, intentional, or unintentional fill placement; (5) closed, open, or operating post-RCRA landfills or landfills in the planning stages such that materials may be placed in ways that optimize a landfill’s use in future years; and (6) underutilized or heavily used (for example, pedestrian; recreational; or repetitive, entertainment, single event) chemically impacted sites. Also, this guide identifies land usage and conditions of adjacent/nonwaste portions of a landfill (that is, buffer areas not within the footprint of an actual landfill or chemically impacted site itself) that should be evaluated before a site use is considered acceptable.

Provided herein is instruction on evaluating and judging the acceptability of: (1) Chemical exposure barrier(s) (and other engineering and institutional control measures) in place between actual or potential chemically impacted soil; and/or (2) time of use restriction(s) established at a waste / chemically impacted site.

Additionally provided is instruction on assessing the terminal conditions at a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill; that is, flows of methane below which passive rather than active venting is recommended, and flows of leachate of a long-term, consistent quality that is clean enough to allow direct discharge of the liquid to surface waters. See Appendix X3 for additional information.

This guide complements solid waste regulatory programs where guidance on beneficial usage is unavailable or insufficient, thereby improving the chance that such sites may be repurposed for public and/or private benefit.