BTEX & PHC Remediation

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  2. BTEX & PHC Remediation Using Liquid Activated Carbon (LAC) in Whitby, Ontario
Brief

In the town of Whitby, on Lake Ontario, the site of a former retail gas station located in a residential area, required remediation to prepare the property for sale and redevelopment. The site’s heterogeneitic geology, with high hydraulic conductivity zones within lower hydraulic conductivity zones, created a challenging remedial situation. The client desired an expedient solution to enable them to sell the property.

The landowner retained an environmental contractor to remove the source of the impacts, along with the residual impacts in the soil and groundwater. The contractor removed the majority of impacts, but was not able to remediate the site to the applicable regulatory standards. The landowner tendered the remaining clean-up to multiple contractors; IRSL earned the contract based on their approach and cost.

Process

To develop an optimal injection design, IRSL used their proprietary analytical model, which incorporated observed contaminant concentrations, groundwater flow rates, reaction rates, temperature and inorganic parameters, within the subsurface. Through this process, they discovered the required mass and injection pattern that led to the successful remediation of the remaining impacts.

IRSL injected a mixture of PlumeStop® liquid activated carbon and Oxygen-Releasing Material (ORM) in the glacial till aquifer. The ORM stimulated the native aerobic bacteria, whereas the PlumeStop® allowed for the adsorption of the PHCs from the groundwater. This combination effectively reduced the PHCs within the groundwater to below the regulatory limits. It also created a geochemical environment that enhanced biological degradation reactions that resulted in the re-generation of the activated carbon itself.

Results

The BTEX and PHC plumes were treated to below the applicable regulatory standards and have remained below.

The remedial program was executed with one injection in two days. The first clean samples were obtained within three weeks of the injection.

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