Faxback 11458


9444.1989(08)

August 21, 1989

Mr. Stephen J. Evans
Environmental Engineer
Modine Manufacturing Company
1500 De Koven Avenue
Racine, Wisconsin 53403

Dear Mr. Evans:

This letter is in response to your letter dated August 3,
1989, in which you as for classification, under the Resources
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), of wastewater treatment
sludges resulting from your metal cleaning process.

Your first and foremost question is whether the sludge
generated from the treatment of process wastewaters resulting
from your metal cleaning process meet the listing description for
RCRA Hazardous Waste No. F006. Based on the information in your
letter, Modine's cleaning operation is not associated with
electroplating. If this is the case, then the sludges generated
from treating these cleaning baths (in a wastewater form) are not
considered RCRA Hazardous Waste No. F006. This is based on the
fact that cleaning is a separate and distinct process from
chemical etching and milling. (See EPA's publication Development
Document for Existing Resource Pretreatment Standards for the
Electroplating Point Source Category, August 1979, publication
No. EPA440/1-79/003, pages 41 and 42 for the definitions of
chemical etching and milling. Note that this document was
referenced in the background document for the F006 listing). as
the December 2, 1986 Federal Register (51 FR 43350) states, "The
F006 listing included only common and precious metals
electroplating, anodizing, chemical etching and milling, and
cleaning and stripping when associated with these processes."
This continues to be EPA's policy; cleaning must be associated
with one of these three processes in order to be included in the
listing description for Hazardous Waste No. F006.

Your second question relates to whether an electrical
current is a prerequisite for a process to generate an F006
sludge. The application of an electrical current is not a
prerequisite; chemical etching, for example, does not involve the
application of an electrical current, but sludges generated by
treating wastewater from a chemical etching process are included
in the F006 listing. Unfortunately, the interpretation mentioned
in your letter that you received from the RCRA Hotline on May 15,
1989 relative to this question was incorrect.

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As you mention in your letter, however, the sludge generated
in your wastewater treatment process may be characteristically
hazardous (e.g., EP toxic); it is the generator's responsibility
to determine whether his/her waste exhibits one or more hazardous
waste characteristics as defined in 40 CFR Subpart C of Part 261.

Please be aware that many states have been authorized to run
their own RCRA programs. State regulations may be more stringent
or broader-in-scope that Federal regulations so you should always
contact the appropriate state agency.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free
to contact David Topping of my staff at (202) 382-7737.

Sincerely,


Devereaux Barnes, Director
Characterization and
Assessment Division