Indiana Administrative Code
Title 329 - SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DIVISION
Article 10 - SOLID WASTE LAND DISPOSAL FACILITIES
Rule 21 - Municipal Solid Waste Landfills; Ground Water Monitoring Programs and Corrective Action Program Requirements
Section 21-10 - Assessment ground water monitoring program

Universal Citation: 329 IN Admin Code 21-10

Current through September 18, 2024

Authority: IC 13-14-8-7; IC 13-15; IC 13-19-3

Affected: IC 13-20; IC 36-9-30

Sec. 10.

(a) Establishment of an assessment ground water monitoring program is required upon any of the following circumstances:

(1) When the owner, operator, or permittee has verified that a statistically significant increase over background levels has occurred for any constituent listed in section 15(a) of this rule (Table 1A) at any ground water monitoring well at the monitoring boundary of the MSWLF unit, and a demonstration pursuant to section 9 of this rule has not been approved by the commissioner.

(2) When the owner, operator, or permittee is engaged in a corrective action program specified under section 13 of this rule.

(3) When the owner, operator, or permittee of an existing MSWLF is conducting, as of April 13, 1996, a Phase II ground water monitoring program as specified under 329 IAC 2-16, which was repealed in 1996.

(b) The owner, operator, or permittee shall conduct an assessment ground water monitoring program in accordance with the following requirements:

(1) Within ninety (90) days after determining that the owner, operator, or permittee of an MSWLF must conduct assessment ground water monitoring, all ground water monitoring wells containing constituents with statistically significant elevated concentrations, and all ground water monitoring wells within six hundred (600) feet of the well with the statistically significant elevated concentrations and monitoring the same hydrogeologic unit of the well with the elevated concentrations, must be sampled and analyzed for all constituents listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2). The commissioner may require samples to be collected and analyzed from additional monitoring wells.

(2) Within fourteen (14) days after receiving certified laboratory results from the final sampling conducted under subdivision (1), the owner, operator, or permittee shall submit to the commissioner written notification of the following information for any constituent listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) that is detected:
(A) The identity and recorded concentration of the constituent.

(B) The identity of each ground water monitoring well where the constituent was detected.

(3) A copy of the notification required under subdivision (2) and a copy of the certified laboratory results must be placed in the operating record within thirty (30) days of receiving the original certified laboratory results.

(4) The owner, operator, or permittee shall collect and analyze a minimum of four (4) independent samples from each ground water monitoring well identified in subdivision (2) in order to establish background ground water quality. Certified laboratory analyses of the independent ground water samples must be submitted to the commissioner no later than thirty (30) days prior to the next scheduled semiannual sampling event.

(5) The owner, operator, or permittee shall establish a ground water protection standard as described in section 11 of this rule for any constituent that has been detected in ground water samples collected under subdivision (1).

(6) The owner, operator, or permittee shall, during subsequent sampling events, collect at least one (1) independent sample from each ground water monitoring well designated to be in an assessment monitoring program as identified in subdivision (2)(B). Each independent sample must be analyzed for all constituents detected and identified in subdivision (2)(A).

(c) For sampling events during assessment ground water monitoring, the commissioner may do the following:

(1) Specify an appropriate subset of ground water monitoring wells to sample and analyze for constituents in section 16 of this rule (Table 2).

(2) Specify a constituent or constituents from section 16 of this rule (Table 2) that may be deleted from the constituent monitoring list upon demonstration by the owner, operator, or permittee that the constituent to be deleted is:
(A) not reasonably expected to be in the solid waste;

(B) not derived from the solid waste;

(C) naturally occurring in the soil that underlies the site and would be soluble in ground water at the detected levels, even in the absence of the MSWLF unit; and

(D) not a constituent of concern based on historical ground water quality.

(3) Specify a constituent or constituents that may be added to the assessment monitoring constituent list, based on historical ground water quality, analysis of leachate derived from the MSWLF, wastes placed in the MSWLF unit.

(4) Specify an alternate frequency for repeated sampling and analysis of the ground water for the full set of constituents in section 16 of this rule (Table 2). The sampling frequency for constituents in section 15 (Table 1A and Table 1B) may be altered, provided it is at least an annual frequency. The alternate frequency must continue throughout the active life, closure, and post-closure care periods of the MSWLF. The alternate frequency must be based on consideration of the following factors:
(A) Sedimentology of the aquifer and unsaturated zone.

(B) Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and unsaturated zone.

(C) Ground water flow rates.

(D) Minimum distance between upgradient solid waste boundary of the MSWLF unit and downgradient monitoring well screen.

(E) Resource value of the aquifer.

(F) The fate of any constituents detected.

(G) The mode of transport of any detected constituents.

(H) Ground water quality data.

(I) Other information as required by the commissioner for the demonstration.

(d) After establishing background ground water quality described in subsection (b)(4), subsequent semiannual sampling events must include the following:

(1) At least one (1) independent sample from all the ground water monitoring wells that are included in both detection and assessment ground water monitoring programs and any other monitoring wells specified by the commissioner.

(2) Analysis for all constituents included in both detection and assessment ground water monitoring programs.

(3) Determination if there is a verified statistically significant increase for all constituents identified in subdivision (2). The determination shall be in accordance with section 6 of this rule and subsection (f).

(4) Submittal of the information required in section 1(s) of this rule.

(e) Starting from the date that an assessment ground water monitoring program is required, ground water samples must be collected and analyzed for all constituents in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) on an annual basis, or at an alternate frequency specified by the commissioner. Samples for assessment monitoring must be collected from each ground water monitoring well identified in subsection (b)(2)(B). For these sampling events, the owner, operator, or permittee shall:

(1) submit written notification as described in subsection (b)(2);

(2) establish background ground water quality as described in subsection (b)(4) for any constituent that has been detected in ground water samples collected during each sampling event;

(3) establish a ground water protection standard as described in section 11 of this rule for any constituent that has been detected in ground water samples collected during the sampling event;

(4) for subsequent sampling events following the sampling event required under this section, include sampling for all constituents listed in subsection (b)(2)(A); and

(5) include the sampling event in the assessment monitoring sample event schedule.

(f) During assessment ground water monitoring, the owner, operator, or permittee shall proceed according to the following:

(1) If the concentration of a constituent listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) is determined to be less than or equal to background ground water quality, for two (2) consecutive semiannual sampling events, then the owner, operator, or permittee may request from the commissioner permission to remove the constituent from the assessment monitoring list. When the concentrations of all constituents listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) are determined to be less than or equal to background ground water quality, for two (2) consecutive semiannual sampling events, then the owner, operator, or permittee may request from the commissioner permission to return to a detection monitoring program.

(2) If the concentration of any constituent listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) is determined to be a statistically significant increase over background ground water quality, but below the ground water protection standard established in section 11 of this rule, then assessment ground water monitoring must continue in accordance with this section.

(3) If a statistically significant increase above the ground water protection standard is determined for any constituent listed in section 16 of this rule (Table 2), the owner, operator, or permittee shall perform the following:
(A) Notify the commissioner within fourteen (14) days of this determination. The notification to the commissioner must include the following information:
(i) A list of all constituents in section 16 of this rule (Table 2) that have a statistically significant increase above the ground water protection standard established under section 11 of this rule.

(ii) The identification of each ground water monitoring well from which samples indicated a statistically significant increase.

(iii) Whether or not the owner, operator, or permittee intends to institute verification procedures and resampling as described under section 8 of this rule.

(B) In the event that a corrective action program is to be implemented, notify all pertinent local officials, including the county commissioner, and officials of the solid waste management district and the county health department.

(C) Within ninety (90) days of a determination under this subdivision, submit to the commissioner an initial proposal for a corrective action program that is designed to meet the requirements of section 13(b) of this rule unless the owner, operator, or permittee chooses to:
(i) institute a verification resampling program described in section 8 of this rule; or

(ii) submit a demonstration pursuant to section 9 of this rule.

(D) Remain in an assessment ground water monitoring program, which the commissioner may modify.

(g) During assessment ground water monitoring, whenever the concentration of a secondary constituent identified in section 11(c) of this rule is found to exceed levels that are twice the ground water protection standard at the monitoring boundary, as established in section 11 of this rule, the owner, operator, or permittee shall perform the following:

(1) Notify the commissioner within fourteen (14) days of the finding. This notification must include the following information:
(A) The identity and most recent concentration of any secondary constituent found to have the excessive levels.

(B) The identification of each ground water monitoring well found to have excessive levels of a secondary constituent.

(C) Whether verification resampling, as described under section 8 of this rule, will be initiated.

(2) Submit, if so directed by the commissioner, a proposal for a corrective action program. The proposal must be submitted within ninety (90) days after receiving notification from the commissioner that the proposal is required and must be in accordance with the requirements of section 13(b) of this rule, provided the owner, operator, or permittee:
(A) does not institute a verification resampling program pursuant to section 8 of this rule; and

(B) does not choose to submit a demonstration pursuant to section 9 of this rule.

(3) Remain in an assessment ground water monitoring program, which the commissioner may modify.

(h) If it is determined that the MSWLF is the cause of concentrations exceeding the secondary maximum contaminant levels established for chloride, sulfate, and total dissolved solids at the real property boundary of the MSWLF, then the owner, operator, or permittee may be required to establish a corrective action program under section 13 of this rule to ensure that the elevated concentrations do not go beyond the real property boundary.

(i) For sampling events during assessment ground water monitoring, the commissioner may require that any of the constituents identified in Table 3 under section 17 of this rule [section 17 of this rule] be added to the assessment monitoring list based on wastes placed in the MSWLF unit, historical ground water quality, or geologic setting. Any constituent included in sampling from Table 3 must comply with all sections of this rule regarding statistical evaluation, establishment, and exceedance of the ground water protection standards.

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