This case study reviews a former dry-cleaning facility in Sacramento, California that had released chlorinated solvents and petroleum hydrocarbon compounds, impacting soil, soil vapor, and groundwater. Thermal desorption using Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH) was selected to remove contaminant mass in the source area. During ERH activities, 3-D Microemulsion® was used for Enhanced Reductive Dechlorination in order to treat the distal plume. Fugro USA Land, Inc. and REGENESIS collaborated on the site design and remedial application, resulting in a reduction in the tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume to nearly one-third its original size and reduced the highest PCE concentrations by 2 orders of magnitude.
Case study highlights:
- Plume size reduced to nearly one-third its original size
- Coordinated remediation in a high-density urban setting with local businesses, busy streets, and utility corridors nearby
- Combined remedy approach reduced shallow solvent plume by two orders of magnitude
About the Environmental Consultant:
Fugro USA Land, Inc.
Fugro is a global geotechnical engineering, geo-science, and construction materials engineering and testing firm. With 13,200 employees operating in 278 offices worldwide, Fugro has the resources and expertise to customize investigations and develop solutions for its clients. In the United States, Fugro has more than 2,000 employees in 43 offices, including approximately 120 professionals located in six California offices.
Within Fugro, there is a tight knit group of professional engineers and geologists, and environmental scientists that specialize in the assessment and remediation of impacts to soil, soil-vapor, groundwater, surface water, and building materials related to past and current releases of fuels and chemicals. Fugro routinely performs field investigations to evaluate spatial and temporal trends in groundwater quality. Examples of water quality studies include assessing impacts to native groundwater due to discharging of treated wastewater or surface water, assessing general well water quality with respect to drinking water standards (e.g., iron, manganese, etc.), and regional-scale groundwater quality characterizations (e.g., total dissolved solids, chloride, nitrate, etc.). Water quality assessments also have been performed for clients in support of groundwater discharge permit applications (WDR).