MtBE Cleanup Project
Location
Watsonville, CA
Project Cost
$300,000
Services Provided
- UST Fund application submittal
- Corrective Action Plan
- Groundwater remedial system design
- Installation, operation, and maintenance
- A and B level aquifer well installation
- MtBE/TBA bioreactor installation
- Groundwater monitoring
- Reporting
Project Background
Since 2000, RRM has consistently been awarded an annual environmental services contract with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD). Under this contract, RRM provides environmental engineering and geology services to monitor and remediate a gasoline-range total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHg) and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MtBE) plume associated with leaking underground storage tank (UST) systems at a PVUSD maintenance facility located in Watsonville, California.
In 1998, PVUSD staff noticed a loss of fuel in their inventory records and traced the problem back to fuel nozzle drive-off incident that resulted in pulling the fiberglass product piping partially away from the gasoline UST. Upon discovering the leak, PVUSD staff removed the gasoline UST and a diesel UST, performed limited soil over-excavation and vented the UST pit with a portable soil vapor extraction system. Several groundwater monitoring wells installed around and downgradient of the UST area indicated that a TPHg and MtBE plume resulted from the leaking product piping.
Client Requirements
The PVUSD had the following requirements for this contract:
- Full-service design/build engineering and geology capabilities.
- Familiarity with UST Cleanup Fund application, administration and reimbursement policies and procedures.
- Perform all work activities on High School property in a safe and cautious manner, safeguarding children and the general public from construction and chemical hazards.
- Perform all work activities under close public and local media scrutiny.
- Perform work in accordance with PVUSD public contracting guidelines and procedures.
Solutions Provided
RRM was successful in filing two separate UST Cleanup Fund claims and securing $3 million to cleanup the project following the receipt of a letter of commitment from the UST Cleanup Fund. RRM’s team of design engineers, geologists, hydrogeologists, scientists, and field staff efficiently designed and installed the PVUSD’s MtBE groundwater extraction and treatment system within budget and on schedule. RRM aided PVUSD in expanding the treatment system with a fluidized bed bioreactor. The bioreactor was specifically designed to promote the ingestion of petroleum hydrocarbons, especially MtBE and other fuel oxygenates like tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA), through maintaining a consortium of special MtBE-digesting micro-organisms developed at UC Davis.
In addition to environmental services associated with the leaking USTs, RRM provides PVUSD with a wide array of other environmental consulting services including:
- Monthly domestic well water bacteriological testing and reporting for three school sites.
- Preparation of Annual Water Quality Reports for three small domestic water supply systems.
- Phase II site assessment and remediation services.
- Lead and pesticide residue sampling and risk analysis and reporting.
- Preparation of US EPA Hazardous Waste Reports.
- Management of district-wide CalEPA DTSC hazardous waste manifest form filing, fee calculation, and payment.