Technology Transfer Report: Production Base Catalyzed Decomposition Process Guam, Mariana Islands

The first product base catalyzed decomposition process (BCDP) operated successfully on Guam April 1996 to June 1997. The unit treated 11,700 tons of soil at PCB levels over 2,000 ppm to below 0.05 ppm at rates up to 2 tons per hour. A novel air control system produces a stack gas cleaner that required by hazardous waste incinerators. The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center managed the development of the unit for the Navy's Pacific Division from the laboratory to a full production system over an 8-year period. Conventional remediation on Guam would have required that the contaminated material be placed in drums and shipped over 6,000 miles to a mainland disposal facility - a very expensive procedure. In finding a solution to this problem, the Navy created a remediation system that is cost-effective on the mainland as well as Guam, and environmentally safe to operate,