PFAS Waste Disposal Underground Injection Well

What is PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals.  PFAS have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries around the globe, including in the United States since the 1940s.  PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals. PFAS, are a family of approximately 5,000 – 10,000 man-made organic chemicals.  PFAS are used in our everyday used commodities such as non-stick cookware like pans, fabric stain-protective coatings, fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, personal care products, and firefighting foams.  The carbon-fluorine bonds of PFAS means these are resistant to degradation in the environment; can persist for decades in water and air; and accumulate in our bodies over time.Drinking water is the main pathway.  PFAS enter drinking water through firefighting foam used at military bases and commercial airports; industrial sites; and run-off or leaching from contaminated solids from wastewater treatment plants, landfill.  PFAS are present in our food supply due to leaching from packaging, processed with equipment that used PFAS (as for example, nonstick cookware), fish ingesting contaminated water, and irrigating vegetables with contaminated water.  Workers involved in making or processing PFAS and PFAS-containing materials may be exposed by inhaling them or absorbing them through their skin.  Also, in production facilities or industries (e.g., chrome plating, electronics manufacturing, or oil recovery) that use PFAS.  People, particularly infants and toddlers, may ingest PFAS from hand-to-mouth transfer from surfaces treated with PFAS-containing stain protectants such as carpet.  Living organisms, including fish, animals, and humans, where PFAS have the ability to build up and persist over time.

PFAS are very persistent in the environment and in the human body.  PFAS do not easily break down, and they can persist in human body and in the environment for decades.  There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects such as kidney cancer and testicular cancer (PFOA), impaired liver function, impaired fertility, impaired fetal development, chronic intestinal inflammation, disruption of critical thyroid hormones (PFOS), weakened immune system, high cholesterol, a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy called preeclampsia, and elevated blood pressure during pregnancy.

Several treatment technologies are used to treat PFAS, such as activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange resin, evaporator crystallizers, nanofiltration, and incineration.   Due to persistent nature, PFAS tends to remain mostly unchanged and shift from one media to another.  As for example removal of PFAS by granular activated carbon (GAC) is a physical mass transfer process from the aqueous phase onto solid media and the disposal of solid media to landfill just contribute concentrated PFAS to landfill leachate.

PFAS Disposal Methods

Several disposal methods are considered for PFAS such as, incineration, landfill disposal, and underground injection well.  Unfortunately, the effectiveness of incineration to destroy PFAS compounds and the tendency for formation of fluorinated or mixed halogenated organic byproducts is not well understood.  Incomplete destruction of PFAS compounds can result in the formation of smaller PFAS products, or products of incomplete combustion (PICs), which may not have been researched and thus could be a potential chemical of concern.  Landfill is another disposal option mostly suitable for solid or sludgy waste.  Disposal of PFAS in landfill also comes with lots of uncertainty as the PFAS remains mostly unchanged and defeat the inherited purpose of landfill treatment.

Options to Manage PFAS Liquids

• Ion Exchange Resin (IX)
• Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)
• Reverse Osmosis (RO)
• Deepwell Injection
• Landfills
• Other Technologies

Underground Injection Disposal for Liquid PFAS

Midway Environmental offers underground injection for liquid PFAS Disposal.  Underground injection control (UIC) well is like landfill disposal but most effective for liquid waste disposal.  Liquid wastes are injected in porous geologic formation at the depth where ground water is not usable.  These geologic formations, typically thousands of feet below the surface and mostly inaccessible to regular use of different environmental media.  UIC well can be very effective in direct disposal of liquid PFAS waste or the treatment residual of other PFAS treatment options.

Options to Manage PFAS Liquids Hazardous Underground Injection

Advantages

• No discharges to water.
• Meet potential regulation as a hazardous waste or hazardous substance today.
• Constituent level and variety are generally not an issue.
• Large Capacity
• No CAPEX
• Lower cost vs. incineration

Disadvantages

• • Transportation cost to disposal site.
  • Potentially cost effective in up to 5 to 10 million gallons per year.
  • Water properties should be amenable to underground injection.

Midway Environmental Services Underground Injection Well for PFAS Disposal

Midway Environmental Services, Inc. is the only commercial/industrial Class I injection well in Oklahoma. Midway Environmental Services has a state-of-the-art facility capable of handling PFAS waste securely and effectively and can be very effective in the disposal of PFAS waste. We service Oklahoma. Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. Contact us for more information.