Vapor extraction system closure criteria considerations for Bay Area, California sites
- California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Oakland, CA (United States)
Operation and post operation data from 13 Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) systems in Northern California Bay Area with oversight by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), which were granted closure between 1993 and 1996, are evaluated to identify common closure criteria for use by future sites seeking SVE closure. The case studies include SVE operation from six months to over five years. SVE technology is widely applied, particularly in the California environment, because of the dry climate, relative simplicity of design and installation, mass recovery rates achievable to recover the common volatile organic compounds (VOCs), total petroleum hydrocarbons, the petroleum constituents BTEX, and the comparative quickness of the remediation effort relative to other alternatives. Soil cleanup levels for VOCs that are protective of groundwater quality are identified as a function of the physical properties of the impacted site and the chemical properties of the VOCs. Common physio-chemical properties from the 13 SVE site closures were examined and evaluation criteria developed for use in assessing future applications for closure. A subset of three of the 13 case studies were selected for further analyses bases on their representativeness of the Bay Area SVE systems and the completeness of the data collected for them. Characteristics of the contaminants, regulatory cleanup standards, soil type and depth to groundwater, SVE operation and performance, mass recovery and groundwater impact criteria are examined to determine the granting of site regulatory closure status. SVE closure has often been based solely on post remediation soil sampling. Variability in the vadose zone makes this an uncertain predictor of adequate soil remediation. Regulatory agencies are increasingly relying on other criteria to evaluate SVE closure requests.
- OSTI ID:
- 569997
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971116-; TRN: 98:000778-0054
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1997 petroleum hydrocarbons and organic chemicals in ground water: prevention, detection, and remediation conference, Houston, TX (United States), 12-14 Nov 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 1997 petroleum hydrocarbons & organic chemicals in ground water: Prevention, detection, and remediation; PB: 811 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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