Air Sparging, Soil Vapor Extraction, and Bioremediation in Low-Permeability Soils

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aelion CM ; Kirtland BC
• Description:
  A major problem facing public health and the environment is the release of petroleum from leaking underground storage tanks (UST) into soil and its migration into groundwater aquifers. Aquifers are a vital natural resource supplying more than 50% of the U.S. population with water for domestic use. Public health may be threatened with exposure to groundwater containing petroleum due to its toxic constituents, particularly benzene, which is classified as a human carcinogen, but also by less toxic constituents including toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that 100,000-400,000 USTs are currently leaking, mainly due to corrosion of the older bare-steel tanks. The potential threat exists for substantial increases in contaminant release, with several million UST systems in use in the United States containing petroleum or hazardous chemicals. It is estimated that service station gasoline tanks alone could be losing 11 million gal/year of product. The potential threat of leaking USTs was illustrated from a recent groundwater contamination survey in South Carolina which showed a dramatic increase in groundwater-contaminated sites due to leaking USTs. The number of reported groundwater-contaminated sites in South Carolina rose from 60 in 1980 to 3619 in 1998. The sharp increase coincided with the enactment of UST control legislation requiring increased groundwater monitoring efforts. Of the reported 3619 contaminated groundwater sites, 3028 were attributed to leaking USTs. Petroleum products accounted for more than 88% of all chemical contaminants reported at these contaminated sites, and air sparging/soil vapor extraction (AS/SVE) is well suited to address this type of contamination. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Petroleum Safety
• Keywords:
  Biodegradation Chemicals Environmental Contamination Environmental Monitoring Ground Water Soil Analysis
• ISBN:
  9780429080050
• Publisher:
  CRC Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 4 ; South Carolina
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  261-277
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057771
• Citation:
  Remediation engineering of contaminated soils. Wise DL ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press 2000 Jul; :261-277
• Editor(s):
  Wise DL
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19940701
• Source Full Name:
  Remediation engineering of contaminated soils
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e510036b5b476729a16056af5ea690331350e30238888c88c175383041e49ae7bb49c7a05ea7d158824b96df1b997dc5645447d548d26bfa27db98f25ae5d134
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215004/cdc_215004_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.59 MB ]