Treatment of Chlorinated Solvents in Groundwater Beneath an Occupied Building at the Young-Rainey STAR Center, Pinellas, FL
- Navarro Research and Engineering
- Dept. of Energy (DOE), Legacy Management
Groundwater contamination, consisting of two dissolved-phase plumes originating from chlorinated solvent source areas, in the southeastern portion of the Young- Rainey Star Center (also known as the Pinellas County, Florida, Site) in Largo, Florida, has migrated beyond the property boundary, beneath the roadways, and beneath adjacent properties to the south and east. Groundwater contamination will persist as long as the onsite contaminant source remains. The origin of the contamination appears to be multiple long-term point sources beneath Building 100, a 4.5 ha (11 acre) building that housed manufacturing facilities during US DOE operations at the site. The site is now owned by Pinellas County, and most of the space inside the building is leased to private companies, so DOE chose not to conduct characterization or remediation through the floor of the building, instead choosing to conduct all work from outside the building. Injection of emulsified soybean oil and a microbial culture has been used at other areas of the site to accelerate naturally occurring bacterial processes that degrade groundwater contaminants to harmless compounds, and that same approach was chosen for this task. The technical approach consisted of installing horizontal wells from outside the building footprint, extending through and around the identified subsurface treatment areas, and terminating beneath the building. Two 107 m (350 ft) long wells, two 122 m (400 ft) long wells, and four 137 m (450 ft) long wells have been installed to intersect the inferred source areas and confirmed contaminant plumes beneath the building. DOE then injected emulsified vegetable oil and a microbial culture into the horizontal wells at each of several target areas beneath the building where the highest groundwater contaminant concentrations have been detected. The target areas are the northwest corner of the building between the old drum storage pad locations and monitoring well PIN12-S35B, the vicinity of former monitoring well PIN12-S57B, and hydraulically upgradient from the south plume and the east plume at the points where they exit from beneath the building. We describe the details of designing and constructing horizontal injection wells for bioremediation beneath a large, occupied industrial production facility, including lessons learned; technical, logistical, and environmental challenges; community relations; and regulatory relations. Because of the expected lag in biological acclimation and response, distance between the treatment areas and associated monitoring points, and low groundwater velocity, it will likely be years before the full impact of the project will be realized.
- Research Organization:
- US Department of Energy/Office of Legacy Management
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Legacy Management (LM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-LM0000421
- OSTI ID:
- 1245981
- Report Number(s):
- 2016WM16342
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2016 Waste Management - Phoenix, AZ 3/8/16
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Management of multiple groundwater contaminant plumes extending beyond property boundaries at the young - Rainey STAR Center (Science, Technology, and Research Center) - 15623
Pinellas County, Florida, Site Environmental Restoration Project Sitewide Environmental Monitoring Semiannual Progress Report for the Young - Rainey STAR Center June Through November 2016, January 2017