Gowanus Canal Superfund Site. V: Evaluation of ISS Cylinder Sample Crusts Formed During EPA 1315M Testing
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 27, Issue 3
Abstract
The main purpose of treatability testing is to tailor a proposed remedial approach and related testing to site-specific conditions to ensure the maximum possible applicability of the bench-scale results at the full scale, and thus the success of the approach. One such adaption involves the use of modified (“M”) EPA 1315 tests to assess the leaching of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under simulated brackish-water conditions to provide insights into the mass transfer rates that result from the in situ stabilization/solidification (ISS) of sediments at coastal sites heavily impacted by nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs). As shown in this study, the use of saltwater (SW) baths during EPA 1315M testing can result in the formation of surface crusts on ISS samples and mass-transfer reductions in naphthalene, this effect being very pronounced in Gowanus Canal sediments. At the same time, the pH of the SW bath can drop from greater than 11 for a corresponding deionized water (DIW) bath to approximately 8, thus enabling biological activity. The newly formed ISS sample crusts (primarily aragonite and brucite) were similar in many respects to crusts that form on concrete under marine exposure conditions, based on mineralogical and x-ray-based analyses. However, surprisingly, while some SW baths were shown to be biologically active based on gene-probing analyses, petroleum hydrocarbon degraders, when present, did not necessarily reduce the observed leaching rates. The authors concluded that, while the surface crusts do appear to be associated with mass-transfer reductions, to varying degrees, remedial design should conservatively proceed on the basis of EPA 1315M tests utilizing DIW baths only, and any crusts potentially occurring under field conditions constitute an inherent benefit.
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Acknowledgments
The data and analyses on which this paper is based were completed on behalf of USEPA under USACE Contract No. W912DQ-18-D-3009 (Task No. W912DQ-20-F-3042) using fresh ISS samples provided to USEPA by Geosyntec on behalf of the PRP Group. Geosyntec additionally provided the TarGOST boring information (Fig. 3) and much of the geotechnical data conducted on parallel QC samples, listed in Table 2. The EPA 1315M testing was executed by Jacobs’ staff hosted in the Eurofins/Test America Laboratories (Corvallis, OR), with follow-on analytical testing provided by Pace Analytical Laboratories (Melville, NY). All mineralogical testing (QXRD, XRF, and SEM–EDS) was completed by Pittsburgh Mineral and Environmental Technology (PMET) (New Brighton, PA). Microbial Insights, Inc. (Knoxville, TN) executed all the microbial analyses. Thanks to Prof. Mark Hernandez of the University of Colorado Boulder for his insight into microbial processes and biofilm formation, and their relation to cement systems and corrosion. Thanks to E. Hebling and G. Gee of Jacobs for their assistance with the summary tables and figures, as well as the long-serving Senior Technical Consultant Jeff Gentry for his review of the manuscript. The reference to any commercial product names is solely for identification purposes, no endorsement is implied by the authors. Any opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Jacobs, USEPA, and/or USACE.
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Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 27 • Issue 3 • July 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 2, 2022
Accepted: Feb 28, 2023
Published online: Apr 18, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 18, 2023
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