A preliminary investigation of the potential for deep well waste disposal

The 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act provide for major changes to reduce and eventually eliminate water pollution by 1985. In contrast, projections indicate that the volume of wastes generated by population and economic growth in the near future will be very large and the cost of treating it by standard methods will be extremely high. Hence, all possible systems and methods of waste disposal must be considered and ways of reducing the amount of waste discharges sought. In attempting to reach the goal of zero waste discharges, one alternative which must be considered in certain situations is the employment of deep well waste disposal (DWWD). This method accomplishes long term isolation of highly toxic liquid industrial wastes in confined subsurface geologic strata. This study undertakes a preliminary investigation of the potential of DWWD as a waste management tool. The analysis is conducted from an economic standpoint with the relevant economic concepts and issues being identified and examined as they apply to both users and regulators of the method as well as the general public. The direct cost for the system and its operation was discussed with particular attention paid to its derivation. Numerous site specific variables prevent generalizations concerning the cost of DWWD relative to surface treatment methods. On occasions, however, the method appears to have a greater initial capital outlay requirement but a much less operating and maintenance cost than alternative forms of wastewater management achieving the same effect. The social costs and benefits of deep well waste disposal were viewed in detail. Suggestions were made as how society might compensate the firm for the creation of social benefits in excess of social costs, and how they may be internalized into the firm's decision making process. Finally, the industrial potential for employing DWWD in the study area, designated as the Mid and South Atlantic states, is derived and discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural Economics

Department dc:contributor.department

Agricultural Economics

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1974

Author dc:creator

• Vogelsang, James Charles

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-06122010-020107

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/43222