Residential Remediation – In Situ Chemical Oxidation
CommTank was asked by this homeowner to evaluate a potential oil tank spill that occurred at her home over 20 years ago. The woman living at this property had lost her husband to cancer and she suspected the contamination might be the cause. The oil tank leak had occurred under their family room floor in the lower level of a split-level home.
This project was unique in that it involved a non-intrusive test and remediation process. An oil company had been out to the property 20-years before and removed the oil tank after the customer complained of higher than normal usage. The customer switched to natural gas not long after the tank was removed but never addressed the potential of an oil spill. After the husband passed away from cancer, the homeowner decided she didn’t want to live in a house that was potentially contaminated with oil. CommTank proposed a site assessment and we installed 3 soil borings around the property. After testing the soil samples we determined there had been an oil leak, but it was contained to an area around the furnace. Because the contamination was 8 to 11 feet below the basement and above the water table, the LSP recommended that in-situ oxidation was the best course of action. To accomplish this, CommTank installed injection points around the furnace room and on the outside wall that was closest to this room. The soils around the injection points were tested for permeability and we created a plan for hydrogen peroxide injections. Three injections were scheduled for the low water table during the summer and two injections during the fall/winter season when the table was high. When the peroxide injections were complete, new monitoring wells were drilled to test the impacted soils and water. Lab results showed that the hydrogen peroxide injection program was a success and the site was determined to be clean by the LSP.
Dan Hoag has worked in the environmental and tank storage industry for 16 years. Dan’s range of expertise includes designing systems for oil spill clean-ups, treating soil contamination through "in situ" oxidation and testing, and inspecting underground storage tank systems. As head of Marketing and Information Technologies at CommTank, Dan draws from field experience to write about fuel, water and chemical storage technologies, and the regulations that affect them. He has developed training courses in home inspection, underground storage tank operator, ultrasonic thickness and tank tightness testing. Over the past decade, Dan has published over 60 articles about industry trends and has documented commercial, residential, and environmental projects through illustration, videos, and photography. When Dan unplugs from technology, he spends his time backyard farming, hiking, and kayaking, while masquerading as a hockey player during the wee hours of the morning.