residuals behind that must eventually be deposited in a controlled sanitary landfill facility.

At all levels of society, we must take appropriate action to abate pollution and to preserve the environment by properly disposing of solid waste material.

Since all Navy facilities must conform to the laws and regulations of federal, state, and local environmental agencies, the Navy has produced its own instruction and guidelines. The information developed specifically for Navy use is as follows: 29 CFR 1910 (OSHA), 40 CFR 240-262 (series), OPNAVINST 5090.1 (series), Environmental and Natural Resources Protection Manual; NAVFAC MO-213, Solid Waste Management; and NAVFAC DM 5.10, Solid Waste Disposal.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CONTROL

The Hazardous Material Control Program is a Navy-wide program that enforces the correct storage, handling, usage, and disposition of hazardous material. Hazardous waste disposal is a serious concern to the NCF today. Cleaners, acids, mastics, sealers, and even paints are just a few of the hazardous materials that may be present in your shop or on your project site. As a crew leader, you are responsible for the safety and protection of your crew.

PROPERTIES OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

Few discarded materials are so compatible with the environment or so inert as to have no short- or long-term impact. Hazards that appear minor may have unexpected impacts long after disposal. When two or more hazards pertain to a material, the lesser may not receive the necessary consideration. When two discarded substances are mixed, a chemical reaction with severe and unexpected consequences may result.

Since waste is generally a mixture of many components, its physical and chemical properties cannot be defined with any degree of accuracy. Whenever possible, the approximate composition of a hazardous waste should be ascertained from the originating source or from the manifest accompanying the waste being transported. Generally, when one component predominates, the physical and chemical properties of the waste mixture are nearly those of the major component. This is not true for the hazardous properties of waste mixtures consisting of relatively harmless major components and small amounts of highly toxic, radioactive, or etiologically (disease-producing) active components. The hazard, in this case, is determined by the smaller component.

The EPA defines hazardous solid waste as any material that has the potential to produce the following results:

Cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or any serious, reversible, or incapacitating reversible illness.

Pose a substantial hazard to human health or the environment when the hazardous material is improperly stored, treated, transported, or disposed of.

By EPA standards, the determining factor for a material to be classified as hazardous waste is that it must meet one or more of the conditions of being ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic, as covered in the following information.

Ignitable

It is a liquid, other than an aqueous solution, containing less than 24 percent alcohol by volume and has a closed-cup flash point of less than 60°C (140°F).

It is not a liquid, but is capable under standard temperature and pressure of causing fire through friction, absorption of moisture, or spontaneous chemical changes, and when ignited, burns so vigorously and persistently that it creates a hazard.

It is an ignitable, flammable compressed gas, which is defined as a gas that forms a flammable mixture when mixed with air at a concentration less than 13 percent (by volume) or has a flammability range with air that is greater than 12 percent, regardless of its lower flammable limit.

It is an oxidizer, such as a chlorate, permanganate, inorganic peroxide, nitrocarbo nitrate, or a nitrate that yields oxygen readily, and stimulates the combustion of organic matter.

Corrosive

It is a watery solution with a pH less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5.

It is a liquid, that corrodes steel at a rate greater than 6.35 mm (0.25 inch) per year at a test temperature of 55°C (130°F).

Reactivity

It is normally unstable and readily undergoes violent change without detonating.