Environmental professionals help clients choose the best compliant plan for contaminated soil removal. Every site is different. The job starts with the facts.
Most projects begin with a review of available lab data. Those results identify the soil waste classifications that apply.
Lab reports may include:
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VOCs and SVOCs
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Metals
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Herbicides and pesticides
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PCBs
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Toxicity characteristic results
Professionals use these results to determine waste classification under EPA rules. They also check for any state-specific designations that apply to soil remediation.
Next, the team uses the classification data to choose the best disposal option. Cost matters, but compliance comes first.
During review, the lab results get compared to maximum concentration limits. Facilities set these limits in their permits. State agencies issue those permits. The limits control what each landfill, recycling facility, or reuse site can accept.
You can often speed up the review by checking a few common “decision drivers” first. These compounds and analytes frequently control approval:
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Total benzo(a)pyrene
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PCBs
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Lead
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Arsenic
Benzo(a)pyrene often acts as a bellwether for PAHs. When it falls below a facility’s acceptance limit, the other PAH values usually meet the limit too. Exceptions can happen, but they are less common.
Metals can work the same way. In many cases, when total lead and total arsenic meet the acceptance limits, the remaining TAL metals also meet them. This does not apply in every case. The full dataset still matters.
To manage contaminated soil projects well, environmental professionals need working knowledge of facility-specific acceptance criteria across their service region. That knowledge helps teams avoid delays, reduce risk, and keep disposal decisions defensible.
For more information, contact Rich Rivkin of Enviro-Disposal Group,