24    EVALUATION OF SOIL STABILIZATION/SOLIDIFICATION
PROCESS AS A REMEDIAL ALTERNATIVE AT A
HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITY
Saad Ghalib, Senior Project Engineer
Woodward-Clyde Consultants
Livonia, Michigan 48152
Cem B. Avci, Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering,
Bogazici University, Bebek P.K. 2, Istanbul, Turkey
BACKGROUND
Remedial investigations were performed at a hazardous waste site located in the state of Michigan, U.S.A. in order to characterize the nature and extent of waste sources. The major chemicals of
concern found in the site soils consisted of metals, volatile organics compounds (VOCs), and semi-
volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). The SVOCs that were detected on the site included the "C-
series" compounds such as Hexachlorobenzene, Oetachlorocyclopentene and Hexachlorocyclopenta-
diene. Risk assessment studies indicated thati remediation of contaminated site soils was necessary.
A feasibility study was performed to assess the effectiveness, implementability and cost of various
potentially applicable technologies for the remediation of contaminated soils. Stabilization/
solidification of wastes represented one of the proven technologies available for the containment and
remediation of waste sources. The selection of this technology has also been supported by recent
developments in the environmental regulations such as the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act signed in 1976.' The waste stabilization
alternative is included in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP)- as a
method of remedying releases of hazardous materials and controlling release of waste to surface
water; waste solidification is also referred to as a technique available for on-site treatment of contaminated soils.
Solidification and stabilization are treatment processes used on waste materials that use pozzolanic
binding materials and cement to react with water and create a cemented "monolith". The process
creates either a hard, low permeability, durable monolith (solidification) or a less hard/soil-like
material that binds free liquids and chemicals (stabilization).3 There is considerable research data to
suggest that stabilization and solidification agents can stabilize a wide range of materials including
metals, volatiles, waste oil and solvents.4""
OBJECTIVES
The prime objectives of the treatability bench scale study were to:
• assess the effectiveness of stabilization/solidification in reducing the mobility, or toxicity
of contaminants,
• identify the teachability of the samples to assess the ability to place the treated materials
into a proper Type of landfill (Type I, II or III),
• determine the bulking effect of the treatment agents, and
• provide conceptual design parameters for the soil stabilization/solidification process
Five types of stabilization/solidification agents were included in the performance of the bench scale
study; the selected treatment agents were:
• Portland Cement,
• Portland Cement plus 10% Chloranan (a proprietary reagent manufactured by Hazcon,
Inc., Brookshire, TX)
47th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, 1992 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
Printed in U.S.A.
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