18 AAC 60.820. Groundwater monitoring and corrective action

(a) Unless determined otherwise under (b) of this section, the groundwater monitoring and corrective action requirements of 18 AAC 60.820 - 18 AAC 60.860 apply to all solid waste disposal facilities except

(1) an asbestos monofill;

(2) an inactive reserve pit subject to 18 AAC 60.440;

(3) a biosolids application site;

(4) an inert waste monofill with a total volume of less than 1,000 cubic yards;

(5) a freezeback landfill under 18 AAC 60.228;

(6) a site subject to a general permit that does not require groundwater monitoring;

(7) a Class III MSWLF; or

(8) a Class II MSWLF, sewage solids monofill, wood waste monofill, or inert waste monofill located in an area that receives 25 inches or less in total precipitation each year.

(b) The department will require groundwater monitoring at a facility listed in (a) of this section if

(1) the owner or operator has knowledge that the facility is contaminating an aquifer of resource value;

(2) the department finds that groundwater monitoring and corrective action are necessary to protect an aquifer; or

(3) at a Class III MSWLF, the department has credible evidence that the water quality standards of 18 AAC 70 have been violated in a surface water body or an aquifer, or if conditions at the MSWLF are likely to result in harm to public health or the environment.

(c) The department will suspend the groundwater monitoring requirements of 18 AAC 60.820 - 18 AAC 60.860 for a Class I MSWLF if the owner or operator demonstrates that there is no potential for migration of a hazardous constituent from that MSWLF to an aquifer during the active life of the MSWLF and the post-closure care period. The department will suspend the groundwater monitoring requirements of 18 AAC 60.820 - 18 AAC 60.860 for a landfill other than a Class I MSWLF if the owner or operator demonstrates that there is no practical potential for migration of a hazardous constituent from that landfill to an aquifer of resource value during the active life of the landfill and post-closure care. The demonstration must be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist, approved by the department, and be based upon

(1) site-specific, field-collected measurements, sampling, and analyses of physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting fate and transport of hazardous constituents; and

(2) hazardous constituent fate and transport predictions that anticipate maximum, likely migration and that consider effects on public health and the environment.

(d) A new landfill must be in compliance with the applicable groundwater monitoring requirements of this section and 18 AAC 60.825 - 18 AAC 60.860 before waste may be placed in the landfill. The department will specify a schedule for the owner or operator of an existing or lateral expansion landfill to comply with the groundwater monitoring requirements specified in this section. In setting a compliance schedule under this subsection, the department will consider

(1) the potential for human exposure to pollution from the waste;

(2) the potential for environmental pollution;

(3) the design of the landfill;

(4) the age of the landfill;

(5) the potential for pollution of any nearby aquifer;

(6) the size of the landfill;

(7) types and amounts of waste disposed of in the landfill, including sewage solids; and

(8) the resource value of the underlying aquifer, including current and future uses, proximity and withdrawal rate of users, and groundwater quality and quantity.

(e) Once established at a landfill, groundwater sampling and analysis must be conducted as specified in 18 AAC 60.830 throughout the active life and post-closure care period of that landfill.

History: Eff. 1/28/96, Register 137; am 10/29/98, Register 148; am 9/7/2002, Register 163

Authority: AS 44.46.020

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