1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solidifying and stabilizing contaminants, and more particularly to an apparatus and process for solidifying and stabilizing contaminated soils, sludge, concentrated waste solids, slurries, liquid wastewaters, and the like, into a useful medium.
2) Description of the Related Art
The by-products of our industrialized society, namely contaminated materials, are beginning to pose a serious problem to our environment. Seepage of contaminated liquids into our water supply, unexplained ailments afflicting those living near contaminated waste sites, and soil contamination rendering land parcels unalienable, are just a few of the many serious problems associated with untreated contaminated waste. However, due to public outrage and legislation, gone are the days when contaminated soils and liquids were left untreated, in a hazardous and toxic form.
Today, our society realizes the consequences of leaving contaminated materials untreated and in a hazardous and toxic form. Society has placed concern for the environment and public health, over the economic cost involved in treating and disposing of contaminated material. Industry is required by government regulatory agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, to treat and dispose of contaminated materials within set parameters so as not to further contaminate our environment.
To meet these parameters, the inventive minds of the contaminated waste industry have brought forth several inventions to treat contaminated materials within these parameters. An example of these inventions is Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,558 which discloses a method of disposing of sludge contaminated with toxic materials. The Thompson invention entraps the sludge in a rock like solid insoluble in water formed by mixing a gallon of sludge with nine pounds of cement.
Thompson and other similar inventions have enabled the contaminated waste industry to meet the parameters for disposal of contaminated material. However, what is needed is a process which exceeds the parameters set by regulatory agencies and which is efficient, portable and provides a final product which is useful and non-toxic.