Tina Gupta, Utah Adams

Gas Station Exercise

Part A.
Areas of Concern:
- Underground gasoline storage tank areas. Prior to the installments of a metal encasement
around the UST’s, they used to be just buried in the ground. These tanks were made out
of bare steel (until the mid 1980’s) that easily corroded, leaking gasoline.
- Soil underneath the UST’s and the directions of the contaminant plume encompassing the
unsaturated and saturated zones (Fig 1.).
- Since the station was in operation before the mid 1980’s, by now, the contaminants have
reached the groundwater. Dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) have reached the
bottom of the groundwater and their nasty cousins, “light” NAPL’s will be at the top of
the groundwater.
Research Past Ownership
Contaminants of Concern:
- MTBE, Benzene, Gasoline, Lead, Xylene, PAHs, MMT, Toluene, TCE,PCE, DCE, Vinyl
chloride
Phase I Assessment
While all components of a phase I assessment should be completed it is imperative that a phase I
assessment includes a property description and use history, records search, property inspection
and findings. The description and use history gives insights about prior property uses and thus
can help make assumptions about which contaminants we may expect to see. Record searches
may reveal known releases of hazardous substances at or around the property while also
providing essential historical information about the property. Inspection and findings give actual
insight about the pollutants that must be dealt with. For example, releases of petroleum products
and hazardous substances that may have been found. A phase I assessment can help reveal
things like past, present and potential for spills, direct visual evidence of leaky tanks, pipes or
equipment, etc.
Figure 1. Schematic of the leaking underground storage tank impacted areas and location of
contaminants.

Part B.
Contaminant Location:
- Lead is tightly held in the surfaces of fine clay and organic matter particles. It will
accumulate in upper 1 to 2 inches of soil and become most concentrated in fine soil
particles.
- The following contaminants can be found in a gas station site:
- TCE, PCE and DCE (VOCs) is heavier than water, therefore it is likely to move
downwards through the subsurface. It often results in formation of a plume or pool of
DNAPL.
- Low concentrations of benzene in surface soils may be detectable in areas where spills of
gasoline or petroleum have occured
- MTBE (VOCs) is highly mobile in soil and can move into groundwater. It resists decay
where compared to other components like benzene.
 - Xylene below the soil surface may travel down through the soil and enter underground
water (groundwater). Xylene may remain in groundwater for several months before it is
finally broken down by small organisms.
- PAHs are most likely to stick tightly to particles and certain PAHs in soil will also
contaminate underground water.
- Vinyl Chloride released into soil can volatizes rapidly from soil surfaces or leaches
through soil entering groundwater.
- Toluene that is released into the soil will be lost by evaporation from near surface soil
and leaching to the groundwater.
- MMT can be leached to groundwater (octane enhancer in gasoline)
Part C.
Remediation of COC’s (see Fig. 2 for visualization)
- Gasoline and other petroleum hydrocarbons are immiscible with water and will be on the
surface, thus, they will require Pump & Treat remediation technology. However, this
might require heat application first to solubilize the LNAPL before pumping.

- Per figure 1, the volalization of VOCs like MTBE, TCE, DCE, PCE, Toluene, xylene etc.
will be exacerbated by air sparging, then accompanied by soil vapor extraction (SVE)
in the vadose (unsaturated) zone of soil. This will require the installation of extraction
wells on the site, as well and injection wells. A benefit of air sparging could be that it
would heighten the bioactivity of microorganisms, thus speeding up anaerobic
biodegradation. Note: SVE is most effective at shallow depths. If there are clay lenses
present in soil it will hinder remediation operations. Any SVE in the saturated zone will
not be effective, nor will it be effective for soil with a high organic content. If the site is
sandy and dry (increasing amount of air spaces) SVE will be ideal.

- If the site contains a high amount of clay, lead will most likely be found there. In which
case excavation or capping might be physical remediation techniques. For sandy soils
that contain lead, the soil washing method can be used with a surfactant or chelating
agents.

- If there are uncontrolled plumes emanating panoramically from the site, Biological
Permeable Reactive Barriers might be emplaced. This way, it can treat both the
organics & inorganics on the site. However, the disadvantage of this would be that it
required periodic upkeep due to the short lifespans of the biowalls.

- Lastly, the DNAPLS (some of the chlorinated solvents) on the site can be treated with in
situ chemical oxidation, particularly if the soil is sandy & gravely. Catalyzed hydrogen
peroxide with manganese-catalyzed technology could be used to generate oxide radicals
 that would speed up the elimination of the COCs. Note: pH might need to be adjusted for
to get it in the optimal range, and injection & vent wells would need to be emplaced.

Figure 2. Crude schematic showing the installation of each remediation measure. Note: not all
measures will be in such close proximity, or all at once. For pump and treat a treatment facility
must be in place as well as monitoring wells. Excavation not shown.