Most heavy oil produced in the United States comes from reservoirs located in Kern County, California, which covers nearly 21,000 km/sup 2/ (>8000 mi/sup 2/) of land in the southcentral part of the State. Extraction of this heavy oil is accomplished primarily by steam-soak and steam-drive thermal recovery methods. Historically, a portion of the recovered heavy oil is used to fuel the steam generators needed for these procedures. Sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/) is a major gaseous emission from the combustion of heavy oil in these steam generators. To meet stringent air quality regulations in Kern County, generators are equipped with flue gas desulfurization systems. However, the sulfur-bearing wastes produced by such systems may become more difficult to manage as heavy oil production increases. We focus on environmental, technical, and economic factors associated with alternative methods of managing liquid and solid wastes derived from the control of SO/sub 2/ produced by the combustion of heavy oil in steam generators and by the combustion of coal in atmospheric fluidized-bed boilers. The primary methods of waste management addressed are surface disposal of liquid and solid wastes, subsurface injection of liquid wastes, and the recovery of usable material such as gypsum and salt cake.