OFR 49-83 - State-of-the-Art Environmental Assessment of Onshore Disposal of Manganese Nodule Rejects. 1983.
Dates
Publication Date
1983
Summary
An environmental assessment or impact statement for onshore waste disposal under the National Environmental Policy Act is expected to occur with the development of commercial deep seabed 1 mining. An environmental assessment was conducted in order that testing and refinement of nodule waste disposal techniques can be completed prior to 1988, when commercial seabed mining can begin under U.S. legislation. Within this study three classes of process and four classes of waste i disposal technique were 1 identified, and five sites were selected as representative of first -generation nodule operations. Each realistic site /process /disposal technique combination was compared against potential effects to determine important characteristics [...]
Summary
An environmental assessment or impact statement for onshore waste disposal under the National Environmental Policy Act is expected to occur with the development of commercial deep seabed 1 mining. An environmental assessment was conducted in order that testing and refinement of nodule
waste disposal techniques can be completed prior to 1988, when commercial seabed mining can begin under U.S. legislation. Within this study three classes of process and four classes of waste i disposal technique were 1 identified, and five sites were selected as representative of first -generation nodule operations.
Each realistic site /process /disposal technique combination was compared against potential effects to determine important characteristics of the rejects and the sites. Regulatory requirements were also considered at each site to identify important issues and their effect on the permitting process.
Principal conclusions in the report are the following: (I) uncertainties exist in the regulatory regimes for hydrometallurgical process tailings, primarily regarding classification as hazardous waste; (2) slags from nodule processing are expected to be inert and relatively easy to dispose of at all sites; and (3) additional physical and chemical information on properties of rejects from all processes i
