PROJECT
PROFILES:
RT - Innovator in Tank
and Remediation Projects
The solution-oriented engineering
approach used by RT Environmental Services, Inc. (RT) and its
commitment to high quality service require that it be an
innovator in the use of new remediation technologies. RT leads
the way in knowing if, when, and how to use these new
technologies.
RT has completed hundreds of tank
and petroleum pipeline groundwater investigation projects.
These include tank management programs for companies with 100+
tanks and major petroleum company multi-site
investigation/remediation projects.
In one project for a major car
rental company in the Atlantic City area, gas vapors were
detected while putting in sewers in a city street. When
another consultant was unable to rectify the problem and the
company was facing penalties from the Department of
Environmental Protection, RT was called.
RT avoided penalties by locating
the problem, identifying a solution, and designing a system
that accounted for the company's location on a barrier island
near the ocean. RT installed a groundwater recovery system of
modular design using Calgon carbon pretreatment units. A
special sensor was needed to detect salt water entering the
system because salt water will foul the carbon and negatively
affect the pretreatment system. On detection of salt water,
the autodialer system calls RT and shuts the system down until
the problem is corrected.
Other technologies employed on
the site included pulse-pumping and continuous monitoring of
the effluent.
The remedial cleanup project was
completed in 18 months and now requires monitoring
only.
In the New Jersey/Pennsylvania
area alone, RT has completed over 100 projects using one or
more of the investigation and remediation techniques described
below.
Subsurface Soil
Investigation
Detecting a release by installing
soil borings and monitoring wells around former or existing
underground storage tank systems is costly and provides
limited information.
RT uses the GEOPROBE to provide
more information at less cost to its clients. A hydraulically
powered Geoprobe mounted on a vehicle is typically used for
collecting soil core, soil gas and groundwater samples to
depths of 40 feet in unconsolidated deposits. Its advantages
are:
- Greater number of samples per
day with high productivity
- Discrete samples from exact
depths
- Collection of soil gas samples
- No disposal of soil cuttings
- Better accessibility into
tight spaces and under canopies and overhangs
- Delineation of plumes before
installing permanent monitoring wells, so that costly
monitoring wells are only installed where needed.
Field Screening Water and Soil
Analysis
The Hanby field test provides
rapid onsite analyses for aromatic compounds, including BTEX
(benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene), gasoline, diesel,
PCB's and more. The procedure extracts the aromatic compounds
from the sample and provides a colorimetric indication of the
concentration and type of contamination present.
The color of the reacted extract
solution indicates the type of fuel (diesel, kerosene or
gasoline) and the intensity of the color indicates the
concentration.
RT uses the Hanby field test to
screen samples and submit for laboratory confirmation only
those required for regulatory compliance. This greatly reduces
investigation costs.
Modular Pilot Test and
Remedial Systems
RT currently has available
modular systems for remediation. These allow for
cost-effective and efficient pilot testing and remediation,
with minimal need for design. As standard designs are used,
permitting costs are also minimized.
Technologies we regularly employ
as part of modular remedial systems include:
- Liquid Ring Pumping -
Efficiently recovers recent releases by withdrawing a
concentrated mixture of contaminated liquid and vapor at the
top of the water table.
- Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) -
Used to extract volatiles from soils above the water table.
- Air Sparging - Enhances the
effect of SVE by bubbling air into the water in wells and
releasing more contaminants
- Pulse Pumping - Used to cycle
wells to maximize contaminant recovery and minimize drawing
fresh water into the system.
- Carbon Treatment- Used in both
air and liquid phases, removes volatile organics from the
waste stream.
- Biological Treatment - Used to
efficiently treat mixed waste streams, in packed upflow
towers.
- Air Stripping - Used to
separate BTEX compounds from recovered groundwater.
Many of our modular systems are
trailer-mounted, which means low cost implementation. Our
trailer mounted modular equipment is now so popular that RT
has sold completely outfitted trailer remedial systems to a
major petroleum company and a national franchising chain with
several remedial projects.
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