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2.0 BACKGROUND <br /> 2.1 Waste Management History <br /> Three liquid waste disposal ponds were constructed at the McDonald Island Gas <br /> Storage Field in 1974 for disposal of designated and inert material associated with <br /> natural gas well drilling and production by-products generated at the facility. A site <br /> location map is presented as Figure 1. The ponds were located adjacent to an <br /> abandoned oxbow of Whiskey Slough and were originally constructed as agricultural <br /> silage pits. Dirt embankments or levees were constructed to divide the waste disposal <br /> site into three separate ponds. Ponds 1, 2 and 3 had approximate volumes of 10, 12, <br /> and 9 million gallons, respectively. A plan view of the ponds is shown in Figure 2. <br /> Of the three ponds, only Pond 3 received significant amounts of waste material from <br /> the following sources: Well drilling muds and completion fluids from gas well <br /> drilling and rework operations; natural gas production byproducts; and industrial <br /> wastewater from production platforms. <br /> Pond 3 was used between 1974 and 1986. Since August 1986, discharge of <br /> production fluids and spent drilling muds into Pond 3 ceased and these wastes have <br /> been disposed of offsite. Closure of the waste ponds was conducted August through <br /> November 1994. Ponds 1 and 2, which were not used for drilling mud disposal, were <br /> backfilled. Pond closure activities included removing and properly disposing of all <br /> drilling mud materials and six inches of underlying native soil from Pond 3. About <br /> 20,000 cubic yards (30,000 tons) of non-hazardous drilling mud and native soil were <br /> Z:\PROP-PUI999\1524-pWdchvble"\-1524-I dm <br /> 3 <br />