SOIL GAS SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS IN PETROLEUM-CONTAMINATED TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT RIGHT OF WAY

The lateral distribution, approximate composition, and aerobic biodegradation potential of vapors from a petroleum hydrocarbon spill in a Massachusetts Highway Department right of way was inferred from soil gas sampling technology and analyses. Stainless steel vapor probes were driven into the heterogeneous, nonuniform, contaminated sand of the right of way by a drill rig-mounted hammer. Stainless steel tubing clusters with sintered stainless steel filters were installed at selected locations in the right of way as well. A metered vacuum pump transferred soil gas from the probes and clusters into Tedlar bags for on-site analysis by a combustible hydrocarbon meter, an oxygen analyzer, and a portable gas chromatograph. Floating product from existing monitoring wells was brought to the laboratory for headspace analysis by gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer to identify the hydrocarbon vapor constituents and estimate the saturated vapor pressure. This headspace sample was used to calibrate the portable gas chromatograph and integrate the meter readings and chromatograms into a common hydrocarbon data base used to delineate the horizontal extent of the petroleum spill. The observed oxygen levels were input to a simple coupled transport model that confirmed the aerobic biodegradation potential of naturally occurring microbes in the site soil.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1995/1475/1475-015.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=SOIL+GAS+SAMPLING+AND+ANALYSIS+IN+PETROLEUM-CONTAMINATED+TRANSPORTATION+DEPARTMENT+RIGHT+OF+WAY&author=D.+Ostendorf&author=A.+Lutenegger&author=S.+Pollock&publication_year=1995
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  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/030906113X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1475, Environmental Issues: Energy, Water, Noise, Waste, and Natural Resources. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Ostendorf, D W
  • Lutenegger, Alan J
  • Pollock, Samuel J
• Publication Date: 1995

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 110-120
• Monograph Title: Environmental issues: energy, water, noise, waste, and natural resources
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1475
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Biodeterioration; Contaminants; Gas chromatography; Gases; Hydrocarbons; Petroleum; Right of way (Land); Sampling; Soil components; Spills (Pollution)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Contamination
• Old TRIS Terms: Soil gas sampling; Tubing clusters; Vapor probes
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; I41: General Soil Surveys;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00711770
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 030906113X
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 18 1995 12:00AM