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COMPARISON OF THE EXTENT OF TREATMENT OF MTBE AND BENZENE BY ACTIVE REMEDIAL TECHNOLOGY AT UST SITES IN KANSAS
Citation:
Hattan, G., B. H. Wilson, AND J T. Wilson*. COMPARISON OF THE EXTENT OF TREATMENT OF MTBE AND BENZENE BY ACTIVE REMEDIAL TECHNOLOGY AT UST SITES IN KANSAS. Presented at 2003 NGWA Conf. on MTBE, Baltimore, MD, 06/4-6/2003.
Description:
Data were collected from 63 sites in Kansas where technology for active cleanup of gasoline contamination had been implemented; SVE and AS was used at 39 sites, SVE alone at 11 sites, SVE an AS and excavation at 6 sites, SVE and product recovery at 3 sites, excavation alone at 2 sites, ORC and excavation at 1 site and SVE and product recovery and excavation at 1 site. All sites were within 1/4 mile of a receptor well, and all sites were located in an aquifer used for drinking water.
In general the concentration of benzene in these sites was higher than the concentration of MTBE. At 25% of sites, the concentration of benzene exceeded 12,300 g/liter and the concentration of MTBE exceeded 3,350 g/liter. At 50% of sites, the concentration of benzene exceeded 2,840 g/liter and the concentration of MTBE exceeded 337 g/liter. At 75% of sites, the concentration of benzene exceeded 632 g/liter and the concentration of MTBE exceeded 108 g/liter.
The proportional reduction in concentration of the two contaminants at each site was calculated by dividing the maximum concentration of each contaminant by the current concentration of the contaminant. The reduction in concentration of contaminants in ground water was assigned to one of four categories: (1) no reduction, (2) from 1 to 10 fold, (3) from 10 fold to 100 fold, (4) and greater than 100 fold.
At 7 sites benzene showed no reduction, compared to 6 sites for MTBE. At 28 sites benzene showed reduction from 1 to 10 fold, compared to 17 sites for MTBE. The reduction of benzene was from 10 to 100 fold at 17 sites, compared to 20 sites for MTBE. At 10 sites benzene showed reduction from 100 to 1000 fold, compared to 17 sites for MTBE. There was one site with reduction in benzene greater than 1000 fold, compared to 3 sites for MTBE. The geometric mean of the proportional removal of benzene was a 11-fold reduction in concentration, while the geometric mean of the proportional removal of MTBE was a 24-fold reduction.
There was no practical difference in the extent of removal of benzene and MTBE. The suite of in situ remedial technologies that are used in Kansas work as well for MTBE as they work for benzene.