Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

DECONTAMINATION METHODS FOR WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER COLLECTION AND TREATMENT SYSTEMS

BRUCE M. BIWER, S.Y. CHEN, AND FREDERICK A. MONETTE

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois

JOHN MACKINNEY*

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

ROBERT JANKE

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio

1 CONTAMINATION AND DECONTAMINATION OVERVIEW

This article focuses on the decontamination of the internal workings (e.g. pipes, pumps, and tanks) of wastewater and stormwater systems contaminated as a result of a terrorist event involving chemical, biological, or radioactive agents. The decontamination of the external aspects of these systems (e.g. the interior walls and floors of a wastewater treatment plant that may be contaminated from open tanks or ponds) would be similar to that conducted for industrial operations.

1.1 System Contamination

Stormwater systems can be contaminated during precipitation events following a chemical, biological, or radioactive release or if contaminated runoff from decontamination activities is not collected. Contaminants can attach to the internal pipe walls of a stormwater system as well as follow any stormwater through leaks into the surrounding soil. If the stormwater system is not part of a combined sewer system, in which stormwater and sanitary wastes are collected and conveyed in the same pipe to a wastewater treatment plant, the contamination would be discharged directly into the environment, such as into streams, unlined ...