A pilot program to assess the efficacy of a larger oil remediation program designed to finally take care of residual oil left in the ground from a 1986 heating oil leak is now taking place at four well sites near the UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown.
Ken Kozel, President and CEO of UM Shore Health System officiated the overview of the project. Dane Bauer, VP of Diversified Building Solutions, Bud Ivey of Ivey International, technical teams including EBA Engineering, Brightfields, Inc., and Chestertown Utilities Manager Bob Sipes, Town Manager Bill Ingersoll and Town Councilwoman Liz Gross were also present. A Powerpoint demonstration illustrated the steps that would taken during the procedure.
The test, running from July 29 to August 1 will include injections of the certified OSHA non-hazardous Ivey-sol surfactant solution and the cyclical testing of soil samples as liquid is pumped out of the well.
Bud Ivey, inventor of Ivey-sol surfactant, talks about how the oil remediation could work.
Results of the test will be available September 1, 2014 and a town briefing will take place September 10, 2014 to update the community. An action plan for the next phase in the remediation process will be submitted to MBE for review on October 15.
Current pump and treat systems—the original EPA system used to keep residual oil from migrating toward the town water supply—will continue to run during the tests.
One question presented at the forum was about the relationship between an active pumping well in the proximity of the treated are and if the influence of an active well would disrupt the test results.
Bud Ivey of Ivey International—developer of Ivey-sol surfactant—believes that sufficient data can be gathered from the tests while the area is hydraulically controlled by these pumps during the process. The original plan did not include the continuation of the pumps during the tests, but was added after requests by the Town were made to Shore Health and their engineering consultants, Diversified Building Solutions.
Estimates about the amount of oil remaining in the ground have varied between 100, 000 and 150,000 gallons. Estimates of retrieved oil also vary from 83,452 gallons to less over three decades.
The EPA’s own study, “The behavior of hydrocarbons in subsurface“—the kind of pump and clean process that has been in place—states that only up to 50% of free product can be recoverable “with the balance remaining in the residual phase acting as a continuous source of groundwater contamination. Where a water supply is threatened by a release, recovery of free product may be only the first step.” The conflicting math leaves the questions, “how much oil is really still there and can the pilot study answer that question?”
Be that as it may, the town water supply system (not to be confused with the sewage water treatment plant) is only 1500 ft downhill from the original spill area, and monitoring wells have picked up traces of oil approximately halfway between the Hospital and town water supply. The pilot study hopes to find the correct EPA approved approach to deal with any remaining oil residue.
“This (the possibility of residual oil contaminating the water supply) is one of the biggest dangers to the town waterplant we’ve ever faced,” said Town Utilities Manager Bob Sipes.We don’t have a problem with a plan provided it keeps our water supply safe.”
Town Manager Bill Ingersoll stated that he was pleased to see the various entities working together for a solution. “We have high hopes,” he said.
[…] For more information about the meeting, go here. […]