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SOIL-GAS AND GEOPHYSICAL TECHNIQUES FOR DETECTION OF SUBSURFACE ORGANIC CONTAMINATION
Citation:
Pitchford, A., A. Mazzella, AND K. Scarbrough. SOIL-GAS AND GEOPHYSICAL TECHNIQUES FOR DETECTION OF SUBSURFACE ORGANIC CONTAMINATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/4-88/019 (NTIS PB88208194), 1988.
Description:
From 1985 through 1987, the Air Force Engineering and Services Center funded research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada through an interagency agreement. The agreement provided for investigations of subsurface contamination at Air Force Installation Restoration Program sites. The purpose of these investigations was to demonstrate and evaluate inexpensive and relatively rapid reconnaissance techniques which can detect and map subsurface organic contamination. The information can reduce the number and improve the placement of wells required in an investigation. The methods chosen for demonstrations included active and passive soil-gas sampling and analysis, and the geophysical techniques of electromagnetic induction (EM), and direct current resistivity. Field studies were performed at four Air Force Bases. The active soil-gas sampling technique successfully mapped solvents, gasoline, and JP-4 contamination at the four bases where it was used. The passive soil-gas technique was successful in some cases, but not as successful as the active technique. The geophysical methods were also successful for site characterization.