Advances in hazardous waste remediation have forced the development and refinement of correlative activities such as the decontamination of field equipment. Specific decontamination procedures are routinely included in remediation requirements such as the quality assurance project plan (QAPP). The authors surveyed the decontamination practices of several states and major federal agencies in 1988 before ASTM promulgated D 5088-90, “Decontamination of field equipment used at nonradioactive sites. ” They found a diversity of practices with little consistency of detail or attention.

The authors revisited the practices of several states and the USEPA regions to assess the effect of D 5088-90. Their presumption was that the ASTM standard would make inroads on practices. They found that D 5088-90 has had less than the expected effect because too few practitioners are aware of it.