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Environmental
vs. Forensic Investigations of Soil Contamination
Dennis
L. Caputo,
REM, DABFET, Quest Consulting, Inc., 6700 West Loop South,
Suite 310,
Bellaire,
TX 77401, Tel: 713-667-6323, Email: dcaputo@questehs.com
Coby A. Scher, PE, DEE, NAFE Diplomat, Quest Consulting,
Inc., 6700 West Loop South, Suite 310, Bellaire, TX 77401,
Tel: 713-667-6323, Email: cscher@questehs.com
Environmental
professionals are frequented called upon to design
investigations to determine the nature and extent of
contamination at sites.
There are several models that can be used to
develop these investigations including the ASTM E1903-97
Standard Guide for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase
II Environmental Site Assessment Process as well as a
number of EPA and state environmental agency guidelines.
The
objective of a classic Phase II investigation is generally
to “confirm the presence of hazardous substances or
petroleum products” at a site or provide the
environmental professional with “sufficient information
to render a professional opinion that there is no
reasonable basis to suspect the presence of hazardous
substances or petroleum products” at a site.
However, in an environmental forensic
investigation, the goals also include identifying the
source(s) (both current and historic) of contamination
found at a site and its probable transport with a
certainty acceptable in a court of law.
To
design an effective environmental forensic site
investigation, the environmental professional must know:
-
Historic
and current operations on the subject and surrounding
sites.
-
Raw
materials, intermediate products, by products, final
products, and wastes from historic and current
operations.
-
Chemical
and physical characteristics of each of these
materials.
-
Transport
pathways and fate for each of these materials.
-
Site
geologic, hydraulic, and/or hydrogeologic conditions
at and surrounding the site.
While
the goals of a Phase II investigation may be met by
determining the presence of hazardous substances or
petroleum products, the environmental professional when
conducting an environmental forensic investigation will
usually need to determine the chemical form of each of
these substances. This
paper will provide two case comparisons of Phase II and
environmental forensic investigations of soil
contamination and compare the usefulness of each in
achieving forensic goals.
Apparent
versus Actual NAPL Thickness: How Much is Really There?
Case Studies and Site Closure
Frank
Ricciardi, P.E.,
Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc, 5 Centennial Drive,
Peabody, MA, 01960, Tel: 978-532-1900, Fax: 978-977-0100,
Email: ricciarf@wseinc.com
Kelley Race, P.G., LSP, Weston & Sampson Engineers,
Inc, 5 Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA, 01960, Tel:
978-532-1900, Fax: 978-977-0100, Email: racek@wseinc.com
In
a 1995 Ground Water Issue, The USEPA reports that
“proven field methods for accurate and reliable
estimation of mobile LNAPL volume using well thickness
information are not currently available. Further research
and development of methods for directly assessing
subsurface LNAPL distribution are warranted.” So what
has been done in the last decade to assess the actual
versus apparent LNAPL thickness in the subsurface? This
paper will seek to address current estimation methods for
correlating the actual versus apparent LNAPL thickness and
what field methods are most reliable for generating useful
data. We will also assess the role of the following
conditions on LNAPL thickness as observed in actual LNAPL
sites:
-
Site
stratigraphy and hydrogeologic characteristics
-
Temporal
changes in apparent LNAPL thickness
-
Water
table fluctuations
-
Petroleum
type, age, and physical/chemical parameters
-
Vertical
and horizontal migration of LNAPL in heterogeneous
aquifers
-
LNAPL
bail-down test results
-
Volume
released versus estimated in-situ volume observed
-
Monitoring
well diameter, construction methods, and materials of
well construction
This
paper will also present an analysis of the different field
methods used to estimate product thickness including
geophysics, direct-read field instruments, boring
programs, the TRIAD Approach, Rapid Optical Screening
Technology (ROST), cone penetrometer, and other screening
technologies. The Massachusetts Licensed Site Professional
Association (LSPA) has struggled with this issue and has
published a white paper on achieving site closure via a
Class A RAO (Permanent Solution) at LNAPL sites. We will
focus on methods to demonstrate that site closure has been
attained even though the apparent LNAPL thickness as
measured in monitoring wells may exceed regulatory cleanup
standards.
Difficult
Site Characterization Due to Topographic Site Conditions
and Historic Site Use
Ronald
Richards,
Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, 100 Technology
Center Drive, Stoughton, MA, 02072, Tel: 617-589-5499,
Fax: 617-589-2160, email: ronald.richards@shawgrp.com
Lester
Tyrala, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, 100
Technology Center Drive, Stoughton, MA, 02072, Tel:
617-589-8028, Fax: 617-589-2160, Email: lester.tryala@shawgrp.com
Christen Sardano, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure,
100 Technology Center Drive, Stoughton, MA, 02072, Tel:
617-589-7261, Fax: 617-589-2160, Email: christen.sardano@shawgrp.com
John Zupkus, Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection, 205B Lowell Street, Wilmington, MA, 01887,
Tel: 978-694-3381, Fax: 978-694-3499, Email: john.zupkus@state.ma.us
Many
Brownfield sites contain areas where intrusive
investigations cannot be readily conducted due to unstable
ground conditions. Described
in this paper are the means used at the Former Oxford
Paper Mill Site in Lawrence Massachusetts to assess and
remediate an unstable area containing asbestos and
elevated levels of PCBs.
An area totaling approximately 35 feet wide by 200
feet long contained many voids created by partial
demolition of basements and subsequent backfilling in the
early 1980’s. It
was known that PCB and asbestos contamination was present
in this area but the nature and extent was unknown.
The paper describes the use of remote intrusive
investigations combined with assumptions regarding site
characterization leading to a final assessment of soils in
place that was utilized to successfully address the
problem.
Perfluorooctane
Sulfonate and Perfluorooctanoate Concentrations in Yamato
River Water System in Japan
Yoshiyuki
Yokoyama, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry,
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kinki University,
3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan
Ryuji Takeda, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry,
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kinki University,
3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan
Kazuki Ikushima, Department of Agricultural Chemistry,
Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204,
Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan
Yoshikazu Sakagami, Department of Environmental
Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University,
3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan
Sadao Komemushi, Department of Environmental Management,
Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204,
Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan, Tel: +81-742-43-7437,
Fax: +81-742-1445
Akiyoshi
Sawabe,
Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of
Agriculture, Kinki University, 3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara,
631-8505, Japan, Tel: +81-742-43-7092, Fax: +81-742-1445
E-mail: sawabe@nara.kindai.ac.jp
In
recent years influence of human body by an internal
secretion disturbance chemical compound (environmental
endocrine disrupter) becomes a terrible problem.
It is mainly concerned about a cause of hypospadias,
thyroid gland aberration and sperm count decrease.
Perfluorooctane
sulfonate (PFOS) is special class of chemical used in
variety of applications that include lubricants, paints,
cosmetics and fire-fighting foams.
PFOS has been reported to be globally distributed
in variety of living organisms and humans.
Perrfluorooctanoate (PFOA) is also formed through
the degradation or metabolism of certain other manmade
fluorochemical products.
PFOA has been reported to cause diverse toxic
effects in laboratory animals including primates.
An epidemiological study of workers exposed to PFOA
revealed a significant increase in prostate cancer
mortality. A
cross-sectional study of PFOA perturbs sex hormone
homeostasis, but recent long-term follow-up studies on the
workers could not confirm the earlier adverse effects.
In this study, we evaluated the PFOA and PFOS
concentrations in Yamato River water system in Japan.
Quantitative
analyses of PFOS and PFOA are performed by LC/MS with a
solid phase extraction method.
In Yamato River water system, PFOS and PFOA were
present in the surface water which we obtained from a
place and confluence spot with much domestic wasted water.
Development
of Monitoring System for Studying of Radionuclide and
Chemical Contamination Level in Trans Boundary River’s
Basins of Caspian and Kara Seas at Russian Federation (RF)
Territory
A.N. Valyaev, S.V.
Kazakov, A.A.Shamaeva, Nuclear Safety Institute of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow
O.V. Stepanets, Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and
Analytical Chemistry, RAS, Moscow
H.D. Passel, Geosciences and Environment Center Sandia
National Laboratories, Cooperative
Monitoring Center, USA
V.P. Solodukhin V.P., Nuclear Physics Institute of
National Academy of Sciences, Kazakhstan Republic, Almaty
G.M. Alexanyan, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
Intensive and
insufficiently controlled
human industrial
activities, ignoring regional geological and
geochemical processes, resulted in considerable chemical
pollution and radioactive contamination of these river’s
basins, where some large nuclear power plants, uranium and chemical enterprises, oil and gas productions are
also located. This epidemiological and environmental situation aggravated
further after USSR collapse and the establishment of new
independent states due to lack of the appropriate
environmental monitoring in those countries and on their
near-border areas in particular, that
contributed to further aggravation of the political
tension and economic destabilization
between trans boundary countries. The environmental
situation here is
one of most unfavorable among world water ecosystems.
In recent years different
pollutants (radionuclides, toxins, organic substances and
heavy metals) activate reduction processes in bottom
sediments, that lead to changes in sulfur and carbon
cycles, the oxygen deficit in water, to eutrophication of
water reservoirs and their biological degradation. Today
the development of total environmental monitoring systems
is clearly necessary for
operative current control,
ensuring preparedness and
prediction of
any potential emergencies of global and local scales and
their long-term effects. The objectives
for presented
monitoring systems are to: (1)study sources and
mechanisms of chemical pollution and radioactive
contamination of
water basins
of Volga (the
largest river in Europe and
Russia), Terek
and Ural
rivers flowed into
Caspian Sea, and Ob, Irtysh and Tom ones, flowed into
Kara Sea in Arctic Ocean within
RF territory; (2) develop the well-ground database (DB) on contamination;
(3) the using of the obtained results
for the operative current trans boundary control,
monitoring and protection of freshwater resources; (4)
modeling of pollutant’s migration. There is no way to provide solution of
environmental protection problems by some separate region
or state and only the joint coordinated efforts of all
countries are necessary. The presented our development is
the important
part in two
International Programs: “Joint
International researches and creation of common system of
radiation and hydrochemical monitoring of rivers of
Caspian Sea Basin on the territories of Russia,
Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan for trans
boundary control
objectives” and
“Study of the sources and peculiarities of
radionuclide and chemical contamination
for the creation of joint radiation monitoring
system of the Ob –Irtysh rivers on the territories of RF
and Kazakhstan
Republic” In
result the new
data on contamination and pollution of these basins
will be obtained; the most contaminated areas and
objects will be identified and described from the
viewpoint of their potential and real hazard; the
developed detail
DB, comprising
a variety of information on ecological situation of these
basins, will be generated; scientifically-justified
recommendations and proposals on control, limitation and
prevention of the main possible mechanisms of
pollutant/contaminant discharges to the
river’s system will be developed and then used
for solution
of the problem of trans boundary control and water
resource protection. Two
well-grounded Program’s
schemes on the radioecological
and hydrochemical
monitoring with DB will provide to the development of the
geoinformation ecological
monitoring system (GIS), that will be used in
forecast of health effects and the degree of their
manifestation and spreading, decision making on
countermeasures and prophylaxis of local population,
protection of flora and fauna, agricultural production,
etc. These measures will result in enormous savings of
financial expenditures to cover consequences of ecological
disasters that can happen due to diseases following
environmental contamination and consumption of
contaminated products. In 21st century fresh water
is becoming a new great deficit source and also these
Programs will promote the development and realization of a
new international complex well-grounded ecological
politic, including
rational usage and management of
all fresh
water resources under trans-boundary influence. These
Programs will be promote the realization of concept
of substantial development with growth of economical
cooperation and stability, decreasing of political stress
not only for
the countries-
participants, but also at global scale for
all countries, located at the
continent.
Trace
Metal Speciation by the Sequential Extraction Method in
Sediments from Lis River (Portugal)
Student
Presenter
Judite
S. Vieira,
Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Technology and
Management and LSRE, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Porto, Portugal, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto, Tel: 225081636, Fax: 225081674, Email: jsv@fe.up.pt
Cidália
M. S. Botelho, LSRE, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Porto, Portugal, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto, Tel: 225081684, Fax:
225081674, Email: cbotelho@fe.up.pt
Rui
A. R. Boaventura, LSRE, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Porto, Portugal, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto, Tel: 225081683, Fax:
225081674, Email: bventura@fe.up.pt
Fernando
G. Martins, Department
of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Porto, Portugal, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto, Tel: 225081974, Fax:
225081674, Email: fgm@fe.up.pt
The
determination of extractable trace metals in sediments is
often used to gain an insight into chemical speciation.
The mobility of metals, as well as their bioavailability
and related eco-toxicity, depends strongly of their
specific chemical forms or ways of binding. Consequently,
these have to be determined rather than the total element
content in order to assess the toxic effects and study
geochemical pathways. However, the determination of
specific chemical species or binding forms is difficult
and often hardly possible. Therefore, determinations of
extractable forms can be a good compromise to give
information on environmental contamination risk.
In
this case study, Lis River sediments have been studied to
determine their environmental pollution levels. The Lis
River is an urban river located in the centre of Portugal
and is extremely polluted due to waste discharges and
incorrect water uses. Since this river constitutes the
main inland water resource for domestic, industrial and
irrigation purposes, it is imperative to prevent and
control the river pollution and to have reliable
information on mechanisms about trace metals
transportation and their complexes both in water and
sediments. The BCR sequential extraction procedure was
used to determine the distribution of trace metals (Cu,
Zn, Pb, Ni, Cr, Fe, Mn and Al) as exchangeable, water and
acid soluble, reducible, oxidisable and residual
fractions. The river sediments were monitored at different
sites located in relatively low, moderate and high
pollution regions, between 2003 and 2005. The dried
sediment samples were sieved through a 63 mm
screen and metal concentrations were analysed by AAS in
the fraction <63 mm.
The accuracy, assessed by comparing total metal
concentrations with the sum of the amounts given by the
three sequential extractions, proved to be satisfactory.
The
enrichment of Zn, Cu, Cr and Mn in the river, associated
with a high organic matter content, is indicative of the
influence of cattle-farm wastes, sewage and agricultural
runoff on the detected situation.
BCR
– Community Bureau Reference (European Commission)
AAS
– atomic absorption spectroscopy
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