China - PCB Management and Disposal Demonstration Project : environmental assessment (Vol. 1 of 3) : Environmental impact assessment - Zhejiang Province

Environmental Impact Assessment of Zhejiang Province for PCB Management and Disposal Demonstration Project ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH & DESIGN INSTITUTE OF ZHEJIANG PROVINCE March 21, 2005  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE "PCB MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT" AND THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION........................................................................................................................1 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR PCB HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT IN CHINA AND IN THE ZHEJIANG PROVINCE. .........................................................................................................2 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR C HINA.................................................................................................................2 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR THE ZHEJIANG PROVINCE .................................................................................3 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK. .................................................................................................................2 CHINA INSTITUTIONS FOR POPS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ..............................................................................3 ZHEJIANG INSTITUTIONS FOR POPS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT.........................................................................4 ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AND QUALITY CRIT ERIA FOR PCB......................................5 NATIONAL STANDARDS............................................................................................................................................5 WESTERN COUNTRIES STANDARDS........................................................................................................................6 BASELINE AND ENVIRONMENT QUALITY INFORMATION IN ZHEJIANG BEFORE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE "PCB MANAGEMENT AND D ISPOSAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT"...............................................................................................................................................................6 DESCRIPTION OF ACTIO NS AND EQUIPMENT REQUIRED BY THE "PCB MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT".................................................8 PRIORITY RANKING.................................................................................................................................................8 SITE SAMPLING.......................................................................................................................................................8 DECONTAMINATION OF PCBCONTAMINATED SITES............................................................................................8 STORAGE FACILITY FOR PCBWASTES...................................................................................................................9 TRANSPORT.............................................................................................................................................................9 MOBILE THERMAL DESORPTION PLANT ................................................................................................................9 ONLINE DECONTAMINATION FOR TRANSFORMERS.............................................................................................10 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ACTIONS AND EQUIPMENT REQUIRED BY THE "PCB MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL DEMONSTRATION PROJEC T"..................10 DECONTAMINATION OF PCBCONTAMINATED SITES..........................................................................................10 STORAGE FACILITY FOR PCBWASTES................................................................................................................. 11 THERMAL DESORPTION PLAN...............................................................................................................................13 ONLINE DECONTAMINATION FOR TRANSFORMERS.............................................................................................13 CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL EVALUATION............................................................................................14 I  CONTENTS 1.BACKGROUND OF THIS PROJECT .......................................................................................................15 1.1INTRODUCTION OF THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTIONON POPS...............................................................15 1.1.1 Main contents .......................................................................................................................................16 1.1.2 Situation of China's participation.....................................................................................................16 1.2BACKGROUND OF THIS PROJECT.................................................................................................................18 1.3GENERAL SITUATIONS ONPCBS MANAGEMENT IN ZHEJIANG...............................................................19 1.3.1 Overall evaluation on PCBs management in China......................................................................19 1.3.2 Evaluation of PCB management in the national and Zhejiang provincial plans.....................21 2 REGULATORY FRAMEWO RK .................................................................................................................23 2.1LAWS AND REGULATIONS SYSTEM FOR HAZARDOUS WASTES IN C HINA...............................................23 2.1.1 National laws .......................................................................................................................................23 2.1.2 Administrative statutes and legal documents ..................................................................................23 2.1.3 Department regulations and criterion documents .........................................................................26 2.1.4 Environment Standards and Technology Guidelines.....................................................................35 2.2PCBS RELATED POLICY, REGULATION AND STANDARD .......................................................................36 2.2.2 About PCBs Electric Equipment and PCBs Waste ........................................................................36 2.2.2 PCBs Commodities ..............................................................................................................................40 2.2.3 On Environmental and Health Quality Standard of PCBS...........................................................41 2.2.4 The US. Requirements for PCBs cleanup ........................................................................................41 2.2.5 Policies on wastes management and PCB management and treatment of Zhejiang Province ..........................................................................................................................................................................44 3. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................49 3.1INTRODUCTION OF THE C ONVENTION IMPLEMENTATION IN CHINA......................................................49 3.2PCBS MANAGEMENT ADOPTED BYTHE SEPA & OTHER RELEVANT INSTITUTIONS...........................50 3.2.1 Institutions Related to PCB Management .......................................................................................50 3.2.2 Other Institution Concerning PCB...................................................................................................52 3.3 PROVINCIAL EPB AND OTHER PROVINCIAL INSTITUTIONS OF PCBS MANAGEMENT E.G. ZHEJIANG PROVINCE.............................................................................................................................................................56 3.3.1 Relevant Management Institutions ...................................................................................................56 3.3.2 Other PCBs related institutes ............................................................................................................57 II  3.4THEPCBS MANAGEMENT OF LOCALENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BUREAUS AND OTHER RELATED LOCAL INSTITUTES . THE Z HEJIANG PROVINCE AS AN EXAMPLE...................................................................60 3.4.1 Hazardous waste management institute..........................................................................................60 3.4.2 Other PCBs related institutes ............................................................................................................63 3.5THE RELATIONSHIP OF EACH INSTITUTE....................................................................................................64 4. INVENTORY OF PCBS WASTES IN THE ZHEJIANG PROVINCE............................................66 4.1CHINA PCBS INVENTORYM ETHODOLOGY GUIDELINE ..........................................................................66 4. 2 PCB INVENTORY DEVELOPMENT IN ZHEJIANGPROVINCE ...................................................................67 4. 2.1 Inventory development process ........................................................................................................67 4. 2. 2 The preliminary result of PCB inventory in Zhejiang.................................................................70 5. DETAILED DESCRIPT IONS AND PRIORITIES FOR THE CLEANUP OF THE PCB-CONTAMINATED SITES .......................................................................................................................78 5.1DETAILEDDESCRIPTIONAND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.....................................................................78 5.1.1 Analysis of Environmental Risks .......................................................................................................78 5.1.2 Detailed Descriptions of the PCB-Contaminated Sites ................................................................79 5.2THE PRIORITY ORDER FOR CLEANUP AND DISPOSAL..............................................................................100 5.3THE CLEANUP PLAN....................................................................................................................................105 6. REMEDIATION PROCEDURE FOR PCB SITES .............................................................................106 6.1MAINACTIVITIES .......................................................................................................................................106 6.2MAIN PROCEDURE......................................................................................................................................106 6.3DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE PROCEDURE........................................................................................106 7. THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR TEMPORARY STORAGE FACILITY OF PCBS.........................................................................................................................................119 7.1 SITING OF THE PCB STORAGE FACILITY.................................................................................................119 7.1.1. Identification of the General Locations for the PCBs Storage Facility ..........................119 7.1.2. Natural and Socio-Economic Environment of Chongxian and Qiaosi ............................120 7.2DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF PCB STORAGE SITES CONSIDERED IN CHONGXIAN AND QIAOSI.......124 7.2.1 Siting Requirements .......................................................................................................................125 7.2.2 Detailed Description of the Chongxian Site.............................................................................126 7.2.3 Detailed Description of the Qiaoxi Site.....................................................................................129 7.3EVALUATION OFALTERNATIVE SITES ......................................................................................................133 7.4DESIGN OF THE PCB STORAGE FACILITY...............................................................................................138 III  7.4.1 The rules for design.......................................................................................................................138 7.4.2 Structure facilities ..........................................................................................................................139 7.5ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTAND RISKASSESSMENTS.............................................................................140 7.5.1 Environmental Impact Assessment .............................................................................................140 7.5.2 Risk Assessment .............................................................................................................................140 7.6OPERATION OF THE PCB STORAGE FACILITY.........................................................................................141 7.7 SAFETY MEASURES....................................................................................................................................145 7.7.1. Preventive Measures .................................................................................................................145 7.7.2. Emergency Measure .................................................................................................................145 7.8EMPLOYEE TRAINING ................................................................................................................................146 7.9ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING...............................................................................................................147 7.9.1. Monitoring Phase.....................................................................................................................147 7.9.2. Criteria for Monitoring............................................................................................................147 7.9.3. Environmental Monitoring Scheme.......................................................................................148 7.10 CLOSURE OF THE PCB STORAGE FACILITY..........................................................................................149 8. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TH E PROPOSED SOIL AND TRANSFORMERS DECONTAMINATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR ZHEJIANG......................152 8.1. SELECTION OF SOIL DECONTAMINATIONTECHNOLOGY .....................................................................152 8.1.1 First Stage Evaluation ......................................................................................................................152 8.1.2 Second Stage Evaluation..................................................................................................................156 8.1.3 Third Stage Evaluation .....................................................................................................................158 8.2MODALITY FOR THE SITEOFTHE FACILITY............................................................................................161 8.2.1 Location of the Facility....................................................................................................................161 8.2.2 Determination of the Facility Capacity.........................................................................................161 8.2.3. Site Selection of the Thermal Desorption Facility ......................................................................162 8.2.4 Environmental Impact Estimation ..................................................................................................163 8.2.5 Operational Monitoring ...................................................................................................................164 8.3ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING FOR THE DISPOSAL PROCESS ............................................................164 8.3.1 Monitoring for PCBs.........................................................................................................................164 8.3.1.1. Collection and Storage of PCB Sample....................................................................................164 8.3.2 Monitoring for PCDDs/PCDFs ......................................................................................................165 8.4MANAGEMENTAND DECONTAMINAT ION OF PCB CONTAMINATED TRANSFORMERS ......................166 8.4.1CURRENT SITUATION OF PCB CONTAMINATED TRANSFORMERSIN ZHEJIANG.............................166 8.4.2 Main Points of Proper Technology Selection of Decontamination of PCB Contaminated IV  Transformers ................................................................................................................................................167 8.4.3 Available Technologies for Online Decontamination of Transformers ....................................167 8.4.4 Selection and Origin of Technology of Decontamination of Transformers .............................171 8.4.5 Test Execution of Decontamination of Transformer....................................................................171 8.5ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS..............................................................172 8.6ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING FOR THE DECONTAMINATION OF PCB.............................................173 8.6.1 Environmental Monitoring for the Decontamination of Transformer ......................................173 8.6.2 Monitoring for PCBs.........................................................................................................................174 8.6.3 Monitoring for PCDDs/PCDFs ......................................................................................................175 9. CAPACITY BUILDING IN ZHEJIANG ................................................................................................178 9.1INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING............................................................................................................178 9.2DEVELOPMENTOFA POLICY FRAMEWORK FORPCB MANAGEMENTAND DISPOSAL .....................178 9.3TRAININGS IN ZHEJIANG............................................................................................................................179 10 EMP IMPLEMENTATIO N PLAN AND PROJECT C OST ESTIMATION ...............................182 10.1 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ..........................................................................................................................182 10.2 COST ESTIMATION....................................................................................................................................185 11. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION......................................................................................................................187 11.1 OBJECTIVES AND FORMSOF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ............................................................................187 11.1.1 Objectives ..........................................................................................................................................187 11.1.2 Principles of public participation and investigation .................................................................187 11.1.3 Method of public participation......................................................................................................188 11.2 SITUATION OF WORKING ORGANIZATIONS OF PUB LICPARTICIPATION...............................................188 11.3 GENERAL PUBLIC CONCERN AND SUGGESTION....................................................................................191 11.4 PLAN FOR FURTHER INFORMATION EXCHANGE....................................................................................192 11.5 PLAN FOR FURTHER INFORMATION EXCHANGE....................................................................................193 11.6 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................194 ANNEX: QUESTIONNAIRE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION INVESTIGATIO ...........................196 V  Executive Summary The "PCB Management and Disposal Demonstration Project" and the Stockholm Convention Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are one of the twelve persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which, being noxious to human health and the environment, were identified for elimination by the Stockholm Convention, which came into force on May 17, 2004. China has been strongly committed to the development and implementation of the Stockholm Convention. It participated in all preparatory meetings and signed the Convention as soon as it opened for signature on May 23, 2001. China officially ratified the Stockholm Convention on August 13, 2004, and is a Party to the Convention. China has also advanced substantially in meeting the Convention requirement that Parties to the Convention submit a National Implementation Plan (NIP) to the Conference of Parties within two years after the Convention comes into force in that country. China started prepa ring its NIP in mid-2004 and is expected to complete it by the required date of August 13, 2006. China has been manufacturing PCBs from 1965 until early 1974. It produced approximately 10,000 tons, including 1,000 tons of pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB5) and 9,000 tons of trichlorobiphenyl (PCB3). PCB5 oils were generally used in a wide variety of open systems, such as in oil paints and exterior dopes. While some wastes may still be present at production or formulation facilities, it is reasonable to assume that most of this material has been released into the environment. PCB3 was mainly used in manufacturing capacitors that were used in the electricity supply industry. There is still very little information available concerning the PCB contamination of transformers and other electrical equipment in use, even though some progress in this direction has been made under the Inventory project. During the 1980s, on the grounds of growing health and environmental concerns, China removed most PCB-containing capacitors from service and placed them in temporary storage facilities (underground "concrete coffins" or in caves) intended to hold them for 3-20 years. Recent surveys and investigations indicate that most PCB-containing equipment remains in these temporary storage facilities, and that many of the facilities -- caves and burial sites -- are leaking PCBs into the environment. The project will address these sector issues in one province (Zhejiang) to determine and demonstrate the most cost-effective practices and technologies for disposing of PCBs in China's conditions. A big question still remaining open concerns the amount of PCB contaminated equipment still in use in China. While the available information is that domestic transformer producers have never used PCBs as dielectric, very little is known on improper maintenance as a possible cause of transformer contamination, on the number, of imported PCBs transformers from other countries, on the PCB content (if any) of the mineral oil used in the transformers. Therefore the project is also intended to address this issue, by performing sampling and analysis of the mineral oil in electrical 1  equipment and by testing available technologies for non destructive decontamination of these equipments. Thus, from the point of view of environmental impact, provided contaminated sites will be managed and decontaminated following good technical procedures, the project is expected to have a strong beneficial impact on the environment and on human health. Legislative Framework for PCB Hazardous Waste Management in China and in the Zhejiang Province Legislative Framework for China From 1974 to now, almost 100 National laws and acts on wastes and waste-related environmental issues have been enacted. 19 of them are specifically addressed toward the industrial, municipal or hazardous wastes regulation, 12 concern environmental issues in general, including wastes. 69 laws concerning hazardous wastes have been promulgated. The breakout of SARS in early 2003 has greatly alarmed the central government and raised much concern on hazardous waste and medical waste management. The government reacted in a very short time and issued the National Program on the Construction of Hazardous Waste and Medical Waste Disposal Facilities for the ultimate purpose of prevention of disease and protection of human health and the environment. As far as PCBs are concerned, the following regulation addresses explicitly and in some case exclusively the regulation of PCBs.