Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Quantitative soil vapor: An innovative tool for site characterization and remediation

Conference ·
OSTI ID:398114
This work has included comparisons of concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soil vapor with those in collected soil samples at several sites. Hundreds of soil/soil vapor sample pairs have been analyzed. This work has shown that quantitative soil vapor sampling is a better tool than traditionally collected soils for estimating VOCs in the vadose zone. These comparisons have shown that soil vapor provided a better VOC estimate than soils in more than 90% of the comparisons in various soil types. The authors discuss these comparisons, the QA/QC data required for quantitative soil vapor, various ways to analyze the data and sensitivity analyses performed on the data. In addition, they focus on using the vapor data as a tool to: locate non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) in the vadose zone; better conceptualize the VOC distribution in the vadose zone; better design remedial systems, specifically soil vapor extraction systems; better negotiate realistic cleanup levels and corresponding realistic remedial management strategies. A case study illustrating these issues, including cleanup levels in terms of vapor VOC concentrations, will be presented.
OSTI ID:
398114
Report Number(s):
CONF-960393--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English