Edward Alan Ambler, John Matthews, Lawrence Pultz, Ryan Stowe
Papers # 2016 Berlin
This paper summarizes the design and implementation of the largest asbestos cement pipe bursting project performed to date within the United States. The paper also presents regulatory information required to properly track and document an asbestos cement pipe bursting project while meeting the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, a subsection of the Clean Air Act as adopted by US Congress and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The paper presents findings of Water Research Foundation Project #4465 which was solicited by the EPA and summarizes the environmental impacts of various asbestos cement pipe rehabilitation methods. The paper also outlines a direction to pursue the Administrator Approved Alternate, an alternate to existing Regulations that can be approved by the current EPA Administrator, to allow for a comprehensive standard for pipe bursting of asbestos cement pipe within the US.
The City of Casselberry completed its $10.3 million asbestos cement (AC) prechlorinated potable water main pipe bursting project in April of 2014, which replaced approximately 35 miles of AC pipe. City staff has worked closely with the contractor, engineers, and regulators from the local to federal government to fully understand the applicability of the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) to pipe bursting of asbestos cement pipe. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry representatives have recognized the need to understand the potential environmental impacts of AC pipe rehabilitation and commissioned a study to determine those impacts. The environmental impacts of pipe bursting AC pipe have been analyzed with the Casselberry Water Quality Improvement Project as its pilot project. Results of the study indicate that bursting AC pipe is environmentally friendly while providing the option to rehabilitate the existing pipeline in place. This paper will present the results of this impact study of pipe bursting AC pipe while clearly describing how to burst AC pipelines and meet all existing regulations. This paper will also describe the challenges and successes of implementing a pipe bursting project, from field application of pipe bursting technology to working directly with regulators and rightof-way controllers who may be skeptical about pipe bursting AC pipe. A potential path forward through submission of a potential Administrator Approved Alternate to EPA that accepts a streamlined AC pipe bursting process will also be presented.
