You are the owner of Multi-Step Platers of Ohio, Inc. Your business has several plating lines where it processes materials. Three of the plating lines are in one building, and one of the plating lines is three miles away at another facility. Your company generates very little hazardous waste and what it does generate it accumulates at three different satellite accumulation areas. U.S. EPA defined satellite accumulation areas as locations where waste is initially generated and accumulated, often in small amounts, prior to consolidation at centralized accumulation areas (See 48 Fed. Reg. 118, January 3, 1983, and 49 Fed. Reg. 49568, December 20, 1984). These satellite accumulation areas allow your company to accumulate waste in containers at or near the point of generation where wastes initially are generated without a permit and without complying with the maximum storage time for hazardous wastes specified in OAC 3745-52-34. (See Legal Alert for December 1996 and April, 1997).
Your company has established three satellite accumulation areas. The first two satellite accumulation areas your company has established are from two different waste streams from the same production process. The employees place the wastes into two 55-gallon drums placed side-by-side. Each drum, as you see it, would constitute a separate satellite accumulation area. When a drum is full, it is dated, and shipped off as hazardous waste.
The third satellite accumulation area is at the company's main facility. However, it receives waste from the facility located three miles away in addition to the waste generated at the main plant. At the facility three miles away, your company generates ignitable waste in small batches. When a batch is generated, the waste is moved to your main facility. Since the waste generated three miles away is identical to the ignitable waste generated at the main facility, you combine it with the ignitable waste generated on an occasional basis at the main facility. You have constructed a locked area in a separate building approximately 20 feet away from the point of generation at the main facility for storing this ignitable waste. Previously, you had located this satellite accumulation area inside the main facility, but a forklift operator pierced the accumulation drum, causing a fire and injuring a worker. In your opinion, moving the satellite accumulation area for this ignitable waste outside is much safer than the previous location.
To remain satellite accumulation areas, U.S. EPA and the State of Ohio set the maximum accumulation limit for hazardous waste at any satellite accumulation area to be 55 gallons for hazardous wastes, the size of a common industry container. Acutely hazardous wastes are limited to one quart, but fortunately your company uses no acutely hazardous wastes. So far, you have had no problem shipping your wastes each time a 55-gallon drum is filled.
Your satellite accumulation areas are, in your opinion, "safe and legal." Yesterday, however, an Ohio EPA inspector showed up to inspect your facility and informed you otherwise. After inspecting your satellite accumulation areas, the inspector advised you that you are in violation of the hazardous waste laws and you must make immediate changes or face enforcement action. You are shocked and ask for an explanation.
The inspector explains that for an area to be considered a satellite accumulation area for hazardous wastes, and thus not subject to the more stringent requirements found in the regulations, the satellite accumulation area must be on-site, at or near the point of generation and under the control of the operator of the process generating the hazardous waste. The inspector explains that with respect to the term, "under the control of the operator," the word "operator" in this context does not refer to the definition in OAC Rule 3745-50-10(78). The definition in OAC Rule 3745-50-10 refers to the person responsible for the overall operation of a facility. The term "operator" used in OAC Rule 3745-52-34(c) with respect to a satellite accumulation area refers to the operator of the process generating the waste, i.e., the actual employee operating the production process generating the waste or the immediate supervisor.
The inspector further explains that he examines several factors when looking at the acceptability of a satellite accumulation area. Safety is the factor given the highest priority in making satellite accumulation area determinations. Normally, a satellite accumulation area must be at the point of production. However, if the waste poses a storage hazard or a danger to workers when stored directly next to the process area, then a satellite accumulation area removed from the point of production may be acceptable.
Other factors are also considered when evaluating the point of production requirement. A container at or near the point of generation could force the generator to violate OSHA requirements, insurance requirements or might otherwise create a safety hazard to employees or neighbors. In such cases, allowing a satellite accumulation area away from the immediate point of production is warranted. However, if accumulating the waste farther away creates a safety problem, or if the container is out of visual range from the operator or is not secured, the issues of how would the generator prevent an accident or mismanagement of the waste must be addressed.
The physical features of the satellite accumulation area must also be considered. If the satellite accumulation area at the point of generation is less protective than an area farther away, an area farther away might be acceptable. If the area farther away has additional safety features like a secondary containment system, closer to emergency equipment or spill control equipment, a sealed floor, or out of employee traffic, it may be the preferable satellite accumulation area.
Management controls of the container to be used by the generator is also an important factor to be considered. If a 55-gallon drum is outside visual range of the operator, access to the container must be limited by some means, such as placing it in a locked enclosure or securing it with a locked bung lid. Administrative controls over the drum alone, such as a sign or a written administrative procedure, are not considered adequate. Although not required by the regulations, routine documented inspections may alleviate concerns that leaks or spills will not be detected in a reasonable time period. If waste is added frequently to the drum, this again may alleviate concerns that leaks or spills will not be detected. Although not required in OAC Rule 3745-52-34(C) for satellite accumulation areas, training employees who handle hazardous wastes may alleviate concerns that inadequately trained employees may cause an accident.
The inspector also explains that the farther away from the point of generation, the less acceptable the area will be as a satellite accumulation area. If the area is too far from the production process that generated the waste, the practicality of requiring the generator to operate the area as a 90-day (or 180-day) accumulation area will be evaluated. If the operator has a ninety day accumulation area just feet away from the satellite accumulation area, it may be more practical to require the operator to forego designating a satellite accumulation area.
The inspector also explains that previous compliance problems with the generator will be considered. A facility operator who has been out of compliance will receive less flexibility from the regulators with respect to satellite accumulation areas than will an operator who has been cooperative and compliant in the past.
Using the above guidelines, the inspector goes on to inform you that certain changes must be made to your satellite accumulation areas. With respect to your side-by-side satellite accumulation areas, the inspector informs you that the 55 gallon limit for a satellite accumulation area applies to the area itself and not to each individual waste stream accumulated in the area. Two waste streams may be stored in one satellite accumulation area in different containers as long as the drums are dated when the total quantity of waste exceeds 55 gallons and the waste in excess of 55 gallons is removed within three days of that date. When the inspector informs you of this, you propose establishing two satellite accumulation areas by moving one of the drums a couple of feet away from the other. The inspector informs you that since the only reason you are separating the drums is to avoid the 90-day accumulation area standards, and since the waste streams were generated from the same point of generation, this would not be acceptable. If wastes are generated at two distinct points in a process line, a company may be able to operate two satellite areas along one process line, but where the wastes are generated at the same point, and the wastes are then physically separated to create multiple satellite accumulation areas, the sites are treated as a single satellite accumulation area. However, since no specific distance is defined in the regulations, the distance between the point where the wastes are generated and the location of the satellite accumulation area will be left to the inspector's best professional judgment as to whether there are two distinct points of generation. Ultimately, you agree that when the cumulative total of the wastes in the two drums reaches 55 gallons, under OAC 3745-52-34(C)(2), your company will remove the excess over 55 gallons from the satellite accumulation area within three days. As a practical matter, this means that you will date and ship whichever drum first reaches the point of being half full.
As to your satellite accumulation area that receives wastes shipped to it from your facility three miles away, the inspector informs you that this does not meet the requirements of being "at or near the point of generation" or "under the control of the operator" as required by the regulations. A satellite accumulation area must be on contiguous property to the generator to meet the definition of "on-site" in OAC Rule 3745-50-10. Therefore, a satellite accumulation area must either be located at the point of generation, or the area where the waste is currently being stored must be operated as a 90-day (or 180-day) accumulation area. You agree to locate the satellite accumulation area at the point of generation.
Finally, with respect to the wastes generated at the main facility, but stored outside in a separate building, the inspector is willing to leave this area as a satellite accumulation area provided that a daily inspection is conducted of the container and recorded. The inspector explains that this will alleviate the agency's concern that a spill or problem with the container would not be addressed promptly. Since the facility had previously stored the drum directly at the point of generation and the forklift had run into it, causing a fire and injuring an employee, the inspector agreed that the accumulation area could be located slightly away from the point of production, but still under the control of the operator provided a recorded daily inspection occurs. After you agreed to make all of the changes recommended by the inspector, the inspector advises you that he considers your modified satellite accumulation areas "safe and legal."
The above information was derived from "Guidance on the Location of Satellite Accumulation Areas - DHWM-008," published by Ohio EPA in November of 1994. I always advise clients that satellite accumulation areas are a way of saving money, but that the agency can cause a lot of trouble for companies due to the wide degree of latitude given to the inspectors to declare a satellite inspection area inadequate. I encourage people to work with their attorneys, the agency, and the inspectors to determine what is and is not acceptable as a satellite inspection area. In the above examples, only minor modifications had to be made to accommodate the agency's regulatory intent with respect to all but one of the waste streams being generated. As to the off-site waste stream which was being combined with the waste stream at the main facility, it may seem logical, and maybe even safer, to combine identical waste streams and operate only one satellite accumulation area, but it's not legal.