This complex project involved the collection, transportation, and disposal of miscellaneous wastes resulting from the closing of a facility in the South Pacific. Waste materials included scrap metal from the demolition of site structures, abatement waste from lead-based paint and asbestos-containing materials, household and universal wastes, electrical equipment waste including PCB transformers, ballasts, and capacitors, fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, JP5, MOGAS, and lubricants, wastewaters and water treatment plant residuals, medical wastes, dioxin wastes, and contaminated soils.
Moving the wastes from an island location mandated the use of a specialized tug and barge configuration. Prior to departure from Seattle, WM outfitted the barge with ISO tanks (for liquid wastes), intermodal open-top shipping containers, flat racks, and roll-off containers. A large crane for container handling was also mobilized to the job site.
WM loaded over 30,000 yd3 of scrap metal onto the barge using the crane and support vehicles. Once all of the scrap metal was loaded, the barge and tug transported the scrap metal to Hawaii for transfer to a recycling facility.
WM then loaded and secured all of the out-going cargo, equipment, vehicles, and over 100 containers and tanks of miscellaneous wastes onto the barge for the return trip to Seattle. Wastes were transported to various disposal and recycling facilities including WM’s Subtitle C and Subtitle D landfills in Arlington, Oregon.
