K051 RCRA waste code Toxic sludge from the oil-water separators at a refinery.

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Based on 40 CFR 261.32 and EPA hazardous-waste rules
Nothing is stored

K-listed waste
API oil-water separator sludge from petroleum refining

Industry: Petroleum refining.

Toxic K-listed waste from petroleum refineries. Sludge from American Petroleum Institute (API) separators.

Is K051 hazardous waste?

Yes. K051 is nonacute K-listed hazardous waste when the waste comes from the named process and matches the named stream. The federal table gives it hazard code (T), toxicity.

A K listing depends on where and how the waste was made, not on a test result alone. A test may add a characteristic code, but it doesn't remove the listing.

On a required hazardous waste manifest, put K051 in Item 13. Check the VSQG exemptions and empty-container rules too.

What does K051 cover?

API separator sludge from petroleum refining. The 261.4(a)(12)(i) recycling exclusion applies only if the sludge goes back into refining with no land placement or speculative accumulation first. For thermal cracking, the coke must also be nonhazardous.

Hazard code: (T), toxicity
Industry: Petroleum refining
Rule: 40 CFR 261.32

Is API separator sludge from a refinery always K051?

Code	When it fits
K051	API separator sludge from the petroleum refining industry.
K048	Dissolved air flotation (DAF) float from the petroleum refining industry.
K052	Tank bottoms (leaded) from the petroleum refining industry.
K049	Slop oil emulsion solids from the petroleum refining industry.
K050	Heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge from the petroleum refining industry.

The industry, production step and waste form tell these K listings apart, not the chemicals in the waste. The rows above are only the nearby listed streams, so also add any characteristic or other listing that fits. One waste can carry more than one federal code.

Which wastes take K051?

Waste	When it’s K051
Petroleum refinery API separator sludge	It is API separator sludge from the petroleum refining industry

Which codes sit beside K051?

Code	What it is
K045	Spent carbon from treating explosives wastewater
K046	Wastewater sludge from making or loading lead-based explosive initiators
K047	Pink or red wastewater from TNT operations
K060	Lime sludge from a coke-plant ammonia still
K061	Electric-furnace dust or sludge from primary steelmaking
K062	Spent acid pickling liquor from iron or steel finishing
K069	Air-pollution-control dust or sludge from secondary lead smelting
K071	Brine-purification mud from mercury-cell chlorine production