solid waste
Permit Background:
SW532 - The Area 5 asbestiform Solid Waste Disposal Site (SWDS) is a Class III SWDS located on the NNSS at the Area 5 RWMS. The Area 5 RWMS is located near the eastern edge of the NNSS, north of Mercury, Nevada. The Area 5 asbestiform SWDS includes five landfill cells that are used for the disposal of regulated asbestiform low-level waste (LLW). The asbestiform LLW is comingled in the permitted disposal cells with LLW subject only to the requirements of the NNSS Waste Acceptance Criteria (NNSSWAC).
SW 13 097 02 - The disposal site serves as the central repository for permissible waste generated at the NNSS. The original disposal site was designed by a federal engineer and constructed in 1988. The site opened in early 1989 and approximately 1.8 million kg (4 million lbs) of putrescible and non-putrescible waste, of which an estimated 70 percent was putrescible, was waste received until mid-1991. The site never proceeded into closure, since the total capacity of the landfill was never utilized. Due to the increasing need for an area for the disposal of construction waste, a request was made to NDEP/BFF to utilize the unused portion of this site for the disposal of the hydrocarbon-burdened solid waste generated by construction activities. The proposal was accepted in 1992, and a 1.5 (5 ft) barrier layer of compacted soil was installed with three neutron monitoring tubes set in the barrier layer to monitor the possible permeation of liquid into the compacted soil. In February 1993, NDEP/BFF approved the operation of this facility as a state of Nevada Class III Solid Waste Disposal Site (SWDS), after a critical review of the site’s O & M Plan. The site continued operation with NDEP/BFF interim approval until 1997, when a permit was issued.
SW 13 097 03 - The U10c Disposal Site is located in the northwest corner of Area 9 at the NNSS and is located in a subsidence crater created by two underground nuclear events, one in October 1962 and another in April 1964. The disposal site opened in 1971 for the disposal of rubbish, refuse, pathological waste, asbestos-containing material, and industrial solid waste. A Notice of Intent form to operate the disposal site as a Class II site was submitted to the state of Nevada on January 26, 1994, and was acknowledged in a letter to the DOE on February 8, 1994. It operated as a State of Nevada Class II Solid Waste Disposal Site until it closed on October 5, 1995, for retrofit as a Class III SWDS. The retrofit consisted of the installation of a minimum four-foot compacted soil layer to segregate the different waste types and function as a liner to inhibit leachate and water flow into the lower waste zone. Upon acceptance of the installed barrier and approval of an Operating Plan by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Federal Facilities (NDEP/BFF), the site reopened in January 1996 as a Class III SWDS for the disposal of industrial solid waste and other inert waste.
SW 13 097 04 - The Area 23 Class II SWDS is located in the southern tip of the NNSS adjacent to NNSS base operations in Mercury, NV. The site was permitted in 1994 and is utilized for disposal of rubbish, refuse and additional waste listed in the permit application.
Permit and Permit Documents:
Permit SW 532 Application - April 2024
Permit SW 532 Operating Plan - November 2023
Permit SW13 097 02 – February 2024
Permit SW13 097 02 Application - October 2023
Permit SW13 097 02 Operating Plan - October 2023
Permit SW13 097 03 – January 2023
Permit SW13 097 03 Application - December 2022