New EPA Interim Guidance on PFAS Destruction & Disposal

On April 9^th, EPA published Interim Guidance on the destruction and disposal of PFAS chemicals.  Click here to navigate to  the EPA website which provides the Guidance and the Fact Sheet on it.

Key points in the Guidance include:

• Advises that non-hazardous and hazardous waste injection wells, hazardous waste landfills, and hazardous waste combustors are all acceptable ways to destroy or release PFAS in a controlled manner.  But all have drawbacks, such as landfills potentially causing “higher PFAS releases to the environment than previously thought in 2020.”
• More research and data is needed when it comes to the methods used for destroying or disposing of PFAS.
• “Additional performance and testing data — including data on destruction and removal of PFAS in thermal treatment devices, ongoing research activities, and long-term performance data for landfills and underground injection — may change EPA’s understanding of each technology’s ability to control PFAS”.
• The EPA wants to continue to work with thermal treatment facilities in order to test the air emissions caused by using hazardous waste combustors.

The interim guidance is part of the EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap. Comments will be accepted for 180 days following publication in the Federal Register.