Abstract
Hazardous wastes exceeding 100,000,000 gallons per year are produced at over 7400 facilities in North Carolina, but needed depositories have not been sited. Industrial, municipal, and domestic “non-hazardous” solid wastes are currently produced at an annual rate of approximately 8,000,000 tons per year (over 6,000 acre feet per year) and are disposed of primarily in 176 sanitary landfills; about 20 new landfills and expansions are sited each year. There is a complex network of over 28 Federal and State laws and agencies controlling hazardous and solid wastes in North Carolina, in addition to the N.C. Mining Act which controls wastes from over 500 mines in the State. Though siting regulations require geologic study of any specifically proposed waste disposal sites, there is clearly a need for long range planning incorporating regionalized geologic study, especially for establishing sites for hazardous wastes. The regionalized geologic study should focus on lithologic, structural, and hydrologic factors to identify potentially favorable areas for detailed study, so that final siting will be established on the most rational geologic and engineering basis. The major sources of hazardous wastes in the State are reviewed. Some potentially favorable geologic terranes near the major industrial regions of the State are discussed to illustrate a regionalized geologic approach to long range site planning.
