EPA Allows Temporary Toxic Piles at Oklahoma Waste Facility
Published Date: 12/11/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The EPA is proposing to let Clean Harbors Lone Mountain in Oklahoma temporarily store certain treated hazardous wastes in special piles on-site, as long as the waste doesn’t leak harmful stuff. This change helps the facility manage up to 100 temporary piles while waiting for final safety checks, with strict rules to keep things safe. Public comments are open until January 12, 2026, so folks can weigh in before it’s final.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 3 costs, 1 mixed.
EPA May Allow 100 Temporary Put Piles
EPA proposes to grant Clean Harbors Lone Mountain a no-migration variance to temporarily store treated hazardous wastes in up to a combined 100 "put piles" at any one time within Landfill Cell 15 for nine specified waste categories/groups.
Six-Month Limit On Temporary Storage
Each put pile may be temporarily staged for no more than six (6) months from initial placement until final disposal in the working face of Landfill Cell 15; ODEQ may issue an extension if warranted.
Mandatory Engineered Put-Pile Controls
Put piles must sit on a single-piece polyethylene geomembrane liner at least 20-mil thick (with at least 12 inches of liner visible around the pile) and be covered with Posi-Shell® at a minimum 3/8-inch thickness; during adverse weather a 20-mil polyethylene sheeting cover anchored with sandbags may be used temporarily.
Inspection, Monitoring, And Reporting Duties
The facility must perform daily inspections of covered put piles; remedy identified deficiencies within one (1) week; suspend receipt at an affected pile and notify EPA Region 6 in writing within ten (10) days if a migration or an unremedied deficiency occurs; and submit a duplicate RCRA annual report to EPA Region 6.
Performance Thresholds And Approval Limits
If the initial verification failure rate for treated put piles exceeds 5% in a calendar month, Clean Harbors must conduct a root cause analysis and adjust treatment; Clean Harbors must request EPA Region 6 approval before creating more than 100 put piles or applying the variance to a future Cell 16; the NMV term may be no longer than the term of the facility's RCRA Subtitle C permit.
Conditional Expansion To Future Cell 16
Clean Harbors may submit an addendum to extend the NMV to future Landfill Cell 16 only if: (1) it is in compliance with the approved NMV; (2) the new cell uses the same engineered controls; (3) temporary placement duration remains six months or less; (4) the waste categories remain the same; and (5) the monitoring program is expanded to include the new cell.
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