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Soluble and Total. Soluble Designated Levels represent concentrations of soluble or <br /> extractable constituents in a solid waste (represented by the concentration of the <br /> constituent in the extract from the Waste Extraction Test)which threaten to degrade water <br /> quality if equalled or exceeded. Total Designated Levels represent total concentrations of <br /> constituents in a solid waste or total or dissolved concentrations of constituents in a liquid <br /> waste which threaten to degrade water quality if equalled or exceeded. The calculation of <br /> site-specific Soluble and Total Designated Levels for solid and liquid wastes is also <br /> discussed below. <br /> Since their values are based upon site-specific environmental attenuation,the calculation of <br /> Designated Levels from water quality goals must include factors which account for the <br /> environmental processes that can alter a constituent's ability to reach waters of the State in <br /> sufficient amounts to cause an adverse impact. <br /> 3.3.1 Environmental Attenuation Factors <br /> As constituents in a liquid waste or in leachate from a solid waste migrate through the <br /> environment from the place of waste discharge to surface or ground waters the <br /> opportunity exists for attenuation or reduction of the concentrations of these constituents. <br /> The degree of expected attenuation under reasonable worst-case conditions at the site of <br /> discharge may be approximated with "environmental attenuation factors" —the greater <br /> the degree of expected attenuation, the larger the factor. These factors may be used to <br /> transform water quality goals into site-specific Designated Levels,that is,concentrations of <br /> constituents in the waste that have the potential to degrade water quality at the site of <br /> discharge. <br /> The degree to which waste constituent concentrations become attenuated as they migrate <br /> toward grc und�a dd/or-surface waters is governed by a set of processes collectively termed <br /> "environmental fate'-'.-Environmental fate processes include adsorption of constituents to. <br /> E clay particles and organic matter in the soil, ionic or covalent binding of the constituents to <br /> t - -- -- soil-components;filtration of larger constituents by fiiie-grain soils,chemical or <br /> biochemical degradation, volatilization to the atmosphere or to air spaces within the <br /> unsaturated or vadose zone, and dispersion and dilution-with vadose zone waters,surface <br /> E waters or ground water. The total quantity of a waste constituent applied to a site(Le., <br /> ( mass loading)may be sufficient to saturate some of the key environmental fate processes at <br /> a site,rendering them unavailable to further attenuate waste constituent concentrations. <br /> i Other constituents in the waste, such as organic solvents, may increase the expected <br /> mobility of the constituent being considered. W <br /> UL <br /> Some of the key characteristics that influence the environmental fate of waste constituents <br /> are shown in Figure 10. Several of these characteristics involve hydrogeologic information <br /> on the site of waste discharge,while others involve the environmental chemistry of the <br /> Lwaste constituents themselves—how the constituents are expected to chemically interact <br /> with environmental characteristics. Je' <br /> Also shown in Figure 10 is how increases in the environmental characteristics effects the <br /> J <br /> selection of an environmental attenuation factor. If ground water is threatened by waste <br /> Designated Level Methodology Page 29 <br />