Projects › MtBE Contaminated Site
Project Background
Since
2000, RRM, Inc. (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 hydrocarbons
(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
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.