Location
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Start Date
16-5-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
16-5-2024 9:30 AM
Description
Design, CQA, and Legacy Rule Considerations for a Multi-phased CCP Unit Closure Authors Mr. Brendan Purcell - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Ms. Brittany Bradley - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Mr. Jason Obermeyer - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Abstract This paper presents the case history of an interesting closure certification project at a coal combustion product (CCP) landfill that was progressively closed over a period of more than 30 years as CCPs reached final grades. While progressive closure is recognized as a good management practice, the evolution of an increasingly stringent web of state and federal regulations and construction quality assurance (CQA) requirements over the intervening 30 years necessitated retroactive demonstrations to verify compliance with present-day closure requirements. Additionally, earlier-than-anticipated plant retirement meant that open areas of the landfill had not yet reached design grades, leaving low areas in the surface. This necessitated closure design adjustments to provide for suitable post-closure surface water management. The utility elected to relocate CCPs from an inactive facility into the landfill to provide some of the needed fill material and to consolidate CCPs into a single footprint. This appears to have been a prudent decision, with a new rule for legacy CCP deposits currently pending. The success of the project required careful navigation to “thread the needle” through state and federal regulations for earthen covers, along with inventive methods to retroactively demonstrate closure compliance across multiple construction phases.
Document Type
Event
Design, CQA, and Legacy Rule Considerations for a Multi-phased CCP Unit Closure
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Design, CQA, and Legacy Rule Considerations for a Multi-phased CCP Unit Closure Authors Mr. Brendan Purcell - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Ms. Brittany Bradley - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Mr. Jason Obermeyer - United States - WSP USA, Inc. Abstract This paper presents the case history of an interesting closure certification project at a coal combustion product (CCP) landfill that was progressively closed over a period of more than 30 years as CCPs reached final grades. While progressive closure is recognized as a good management practice, the evolution of an increasingly stringent web of state and federal regulations and construction quality assurance (CQA) requirements over the intervening 30 years necessitated retroactive demonstrations to verify compliance with present-day closure requirements. Additionally, earlier-than-anticipated plant retirement meant that open areas of the landfill had not yet reached design grades, leaving low areas in the surface. This necessitated closure design adjustments to provide for suitable post-closure surface water management. The utility elected to relocate CCPs from an inactive facility into the landfill to provide some of the needed fill material and to consolidate CCPs into a single footprint. This appears to have been a prudent decision, with a new rule for legacy CCP deposits currently pending. The success of the project required careful navigation to “thread the needle” through state and federal regulations for earthen covers, along with inventive methods to retroactively demonstrate closure compliance across multiple construction phases.
