The following is a detailed report about the site contamination which is as a result of metal finishing in Sewfit, Inc in the Mid-western USA. This report will discuss the site, contaminants, and conceptual models for groundwater, surface water and soil, the remedies which have been suggested and on how the site can be managed.
Sewfit, Inc. is located in the Mid-Western, USA, and it covers 7 hectares. The facility has been in operation since 1967. The west of the site is bounded by Middlesex Avenue, a nursing home which is under construction, residential properties to the north, residential properties which are along the river to the south and 80-slip marina, railroad and other residential properties to the east.
Considering the broader context of the site the Sewfit, Inc facility is mainly surrounded by physical settings which include the Crystal River about 1,300 feet east of the site and by gently rolling and glaciated topography. Elevations in the vicinity of the Sewfit Inc. site range from approximately 5 feet above mean sea level at the Crystal River to just over 100 feet on the crest of a drumlin located north-northwest of the property. Unconsolidated deposits generally 75 feet or less in thickness overlies much of the area. Much of the westerly margin of the Crystal River near the site consists of low-lying swamp wetlands which are part of the Crystal River floodplain.
Inclusions
The report includes: Analysing all the provided site data. Identifying the major potential sources of the contaminants at the site. Critically reviewing the information about the contaminants that is their sources and distribution onsite. Establishing the contaminants pathway. Developing a conceptual model for groundwater, surface water and soil water. Finding out the contaminant transport processes. Constructing a schematic conceptual model for risk assessment. Reviewing available site information and identify a list of remedial technology options that are potentially applicable to the remediation of the identified contaminated media at the Site and Identifying short-term management actions that are needed to minimise contaminant exposure to the surrounding environment (Cairney, 2015, p. 34).
Exclusions
The report was not to include the following: any data which was obtained outside the site, air pollutions which are caused by the contaminants. Also recommendations about metal wastes disposal (Asante-Duah, 2014, p. 237).
Assumptions
The following assumptions were made;
It was assumed that all the contaminants were tested for and were found to be present on the site.
The response of the former employee of Sewfit, Inc that the waste lagoon was wholly removed from where they were once stored in a pile was true.
Operational history
The facility has been in operation since 1967 and it is well recognised as a large scale manufacturer of crochet hooks, knitting needles and other related metal products. The production of crochet hooks and other related metal products which uses different metallic finishing processes, especially anodising and nickel plating. Sewfit, Inc. has been involved in the production of the metal products for 50 years now (Chishti, 2011, p. 121). Most of the products from this company are mainly consumed in Mid-western and other parts of the United States of America.
Regulatory history
From the review which was done on land use activities, it was found out that there are some human activities which might have contributed to the availability of the contaminants on the site. It was of great significance to make a list of the land uses activities to ensure that there was no potential contaminant was left out (Claig, 2012, p. 431).
|
Land use ( human activities) |
Potential contaminants which are of significant concerns. |
|
Manufacture of , crochet hooks ,knitting needles and other metal related products |
The following chemicals were likely to be disposed into the site; nickel, lead, barium, aluminium hydroxide and chromium. |
Waste characteristics.
From the results of the tests which were conducted on groundwater, soil, surface water and sediments it was revealed that there were contaminants present.
The waste waters discharged which contains the contaminants are from the generators and water used in rinsing metal finishing operations (Greeno, 2011, p. 45). The metals used as raw materials on site came into contact with water most of the time resulting to contamination. Afterward the water was discharged into Crystal River as waste water.
The availability of the contaminants at the site made the process of carrying out the tests to be very complicated due to the irregular distribution of the pollutants.
Petroleum was the only organic contaminant which was at the facility believed to have been stored in a storage tank above the ground. The petroleum tank was removed in 1989.No evidence found regarding the other units of waste managements on site.
The following is the review of the contaminant, their sources and distribution.
The groundwater of the site consists of two water aquifers, the upper water-table aquifer which is located at the unconsolidated sediments (till) and the bedrock aquifer which located at the fractured gneiss bedrock. The flow of underground water is greatly influenced by the slope of the site. The areas which discharge the underground water are directed towards the tributary streams, Crystal River and wetlands.
The area is dominated by shallow aquifers resulting in wells with low yield of about 4-12 litres of water per minute. Areas which are adjacent to the Crystal River, associated with alluvial deposits and composed of stratified glacial drift, the range of good yields is from 800 l/min to 8000 l/min. In this area bedrock is consists of crystalline metamorphic rocks which contains no primary porosity the yields of the well are actually low (4 l/min to 20 l/min) Bedrock in this area consists of having essentially no primary porosity. Bedrock well yields are typically low (4 to 20 l/min) (Harris, 2012, p. 231).
At the centre of the property the depths of water table lie at approximately 8 ½ feet underground and 15 feet underground near the western and eastern perimeters of the site. (Johnson, 2016, p. 521).
The hydrogeology and the geology of the property have been established from drilling of 5 monitoring wells and published data associated with past waste lagoon. The network of monitoring wells is made up of two deeper overburden MW (2A, B, and 3 A,) and three shallow overburden (MW 1, 4, 5) wells.
Within the surrounding of the site the ground water is preferred as safe for drinking without any treatment. The ground water flows in is in an east-north easterly direction across the half of the site. The groundwater flows at an average velocity of 0.35ft/day (Philis, 2012, p. 67).
The data was tabulated for easy understanding of how the contaminants are moving through the groundwater.
|
Well |
Toluene (ug/L) |
Chromium (vi) (ug/L) |
Barium (ug/L) |
Nickel (ug/L) |
Lead (ug/L) |
|
MW-1A |
60 |
<5 |
<1 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-2A |
75 |
120 |
3500 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-2B |
18 |
<5 |
<1 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-3A |
<1 |
250 |
4700 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-3B |
<1 |
<5 |
<1 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-4A |
<1 |
<5 |
<1 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
MW-5A |
5700 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
|
Smith residential well |
<1 |
<5 |
<1 |
<20 |
<30 |
|
Ground water investigation level |
80 |
50 |
700 |
<20 |
10 |
NA- Not available: A- Shallow overburden; B-Deep overburden
The groundwater contaminants which were provided even though they were not compressive, they provided a rough idea about the potential contaminants of concern. There is no other data which is available regarding the subject (Rahman, 2012, p. 342).
A cross section across the site was prepared by use of the elevations of the bedrock, description of the sediments which are not consolidated, examined bedrock during drilling and grading the monitoring of the wells.
Groundwater collected from well 5A contained Toluene. When a former employee at the property was interviewed it was revealed that at one time the sludge from the waste lagoon was stored at a pile which was located at a site near the manufacturing building before it was later disposed elsewhere. (Reible, 2013, p. 65).
In addition, recently two rounds of sampling have been carried out from the Smith potable well ;one conducted by Sewfit, Inc and another by the Health Dept. The sampling did not reveal any amount of contamination which was above levels of concern. Since the detection of the Toluene the property has undertaken quarterly monitoring of well 5A.
For several years the post-closure monitoring was conducted. From the ground level investigation conducted on the wells 2A and 3A, Barium and Chromium (VI) have been detected. During the monitoring of well 1A small amount of Toluene were found, which was an up-gradient from the waste lagoon. Also monitoring of wells 2A and 2B. The waste lagoon was not considered to be the main source of toluene contamination. In 1992 the monitoring well 5A was installed (Sarsby, 2017, p. 548).
The investigation which was carried out to find the presence of the contaminants was up to standards. The Post-closure monitoring was conducted for several years clearly show how much time and resources were invested in the investigations. The methods of data collection also ensured that the outcome of the study was very accurate and there was no contaminant left out.
Contamination of surface water
Information which is give in this report regarding the surface water contamination is insufficient. Also, it is very evident that there was contamination of the surface water from the records that shows approximately 14 cubic metres sludge of metal hydroxide produced from the wastewater treatment systems (Sarsby, 2017, p. 429).
There is no any other additional results available on contaminants and this was excluded from the discussions. The full picture on the surface water contamination can be made clear if the additional results were provided.
There is insufficient data provided regarding the soil contamination. It’s of great significance that other existing data in vicinity are reviewed. Data which include sediments data, surface water and groundwater (Tavin, 2013, p. 765).
A cross-sectional profiles through the site showing contaminant sources and potential contaminant distributions.
There was total agreement on the distribution of the Chromium and Barium on the site. That was as a result of their close relationship in the chemical and physical properties. By having similar properties, they had the same media of transportation within site. Which contributed to their distribution.
Some contaminants which had similar physical and chemical properties such as Toluene and lead did not distribute equally on the site has expected. The differences in their distributions can be attributed to other factors such as the media in which they were transferred from their source. The media were totally different from each other which resulted in the uneven distribution.
Risk assessment model
For human health risks, the following contaminants were identified;
|
Contaminant |
source |
Pathway |
Receptors |
|
Toluene |
sludge from the waste lagoon |
inhalation |
The human breathing system |
|
Chromium |
Industrial metals which are used in Sewfit, Inc. |
dermal contact |
The human skin which came into contact with the contaminants. |
|
Barium |
Industrial metals which are used in Sewfit, Inc. |
Ingestion |
The digestion system parts. |
There were sensitive environmental receptors which were present such as the Crystal River and tributary streams which were neighbouring the site and in most cases, the industrial wastes were dumped into them making them to be very potential receptors.
The residences near the facility obtain their drinking water from private potable wells completed in the bedrock aquifer.
The potable wells are approximately 500 ft. from the probable point of entry (PPE). The depths of the remaining potable wells located adjacent to the facility range from 150 to 200 feet. Clean wells in this area typically are cased with steel 50 feet into the bedrock.
The groundwater supplies drinking water to the residents. The aquifers which are used include water-table aquifer in the unconsolidated sediments (till) and a bedrock aquifer in the fractured gneiss/schist bedrock.
From the response of the former employee on site indicated that once the sludge from the waste lagoon was at least at one time stored in a pile on site near the manufacturing building the worker can be impacted by dermal contact with the contaminants.
Remediation assessment
The metal wastes are the most common contaminants in the groundwater, surface water and soil water at the site in Mid-western united states of America. There are many remediation technologies which can be put in place to revert the situation such as;
Soil vapour Extraction and Derivatives.
This technology applies an induced flow of air through the zones of the soil which are not saturated to remove the volatile compounds which are present in the form of vapour. The method used involves a vacuum source such as the vacuum pump or blower and the connection to the well which is to be screened at contaminated intervals (Sarsby, 2017, p. 565).
The chemical and physical principles which are associated with this technology include; the portioning of components among phases. The compounds which are usually dissolved in the groundwater, absorbed in the soil or dissolved in the atmospheric air.
In application this remediation technology is the most simple design SVE systems of one or more vertical wells which are installed by the conventional drilling methods. In the cases where there is no surface covering, the well tops screens are supposed to be located in a meter or more below the surface of the ground that is aimed at preventing short-circuiting of the air.
Their performance in most cases has been very successful in controlling the spread of contaminants. This method has been applied in many sites which are contaminated with metal contaminants, and the outcome has been very impressive. This technology can be ranked five due to its performance.
This method had many advantages as discussed below.
Air Sparging
Air sparging technology involves injecting air or any other gas directly into the groundwater to recover and vaporise the contaminants. The contaminants will vaporise and move upwards to the Vapour extraction system which is installed or disappear into the atmosphere.
The physical and chemical principals which are associated with this technology are; the process of vaporisation of the volatile chemicals is well understood, the injected air driven laterally by the injected pressure. The vaporised contaminants move upwards due to the principle of buoyancy of air (Teeter, 2010, p. 565).
The Air Sparging technology is commonly applied in the cleanup of the fuel spills. From the previous cases where this technology has been applied it is revealed that it will be effective if the contaminants deposits are very few on site. Air sparging technology cannot be very effective in the control of the contaminants on site. It is ranked 1out of 5.
Alcohol or Cosolvent Flushing technology.
This technology of Alcohol or Cosolvent Flushing involves pumping of one or more solvents at a given concentration which ranges from a few to 80 percent. In most cases, alcohol is used as a solvent, but any other organic solvent can be used.
The chemical and physical properties of this technology include solvent and alcohol flooding which relies on an increase in the solubility of the organic contaminants due to the increase of a solvent to the readily available water.
The system of this technology consists of arrays of extraction and ejection which are arranged in a given way to provide an efficient flood of the solvent at the source of the water. Horizontal trenches, wells, or any other system of delivery of the solvent may be used.
From the results which have been obtained from the field trials of this technology, it shows that this technology can be used to reduce the number of contaminants which were observed at the site (Telford, 2014, p. 564).
This method has the advantage of having the chemical principles which are relatively easier. Alcohols are in most cases considered to be very effective solvents. This technology can be used in the removal of contaminants when they are at very high levels of concentrations. It is ranked 4 out of 5.
This technology involves the injection of a solution of water and surfactants into the sources of the contaminants. The removal process of the contaminants involves the combination of the displacement and dissolution. The importance of the dissolution compared to the displacement can be controlled in such a way by the formulation of the surfactant solution.
The Surfactant-Enhanced Aquifer Remediation is usually based on the two well –established properties. The properties include the abilities of the surfactants to decrease interfacial tension and also their ability to increase the solubility of the organic and inorganic contaminants.
Surfactant-Enhanced Aquifer Remediation system can rapidly remove mass contaminants. Many of the surfactants are very biodegrade, and in that case, they cannot aid in the spread of the contaminants. The costs are relatively low since the technology can be implemented by use of the conventional pump which is usually very cheap. The technology is also not sensitive to the parameters of the contaminants such as the flow and concentration. Thus it results in the high performance. This technique can be ranked at 5.
In Situ Oxidation
This technology works by injecting an oxidising compound into the source of the contaminants. The contaminants are usually destroyed by the chemical reactions with the oxidising agent. The system is designed in a given way to extract the excess oxidiser and the oxidised contaminants through the water treatment zone. In most cases, hydrogen peroxide has been used as an oxidising agent.
The technology is firmly based on the chemical principles of a robust oxidising agent to destroy the organic compound of which in this case refers to the contaminants.
From the research which has been carried out, it has been found out that oxidising agents such as potassium permanganate have significant potential for the effective destruction of the contaminants (Craig, 2016, p. 43). This technology is ranked 4 out 5.
Steam Injection
This technology involves the injection of superheated steam into the ground which is containing the contaminants. The steam is meant to mobilise and volatilize the contaminants. The condensed Vapour and the contaminants are usually collected at the extraction well. The specific variant of steam injection is uses hot water to mobilise the contaminants by reducing their viscosity. Another way through which this technology can be carried out is by incorporating direct injection of the steam with the electrical heating of the contaminants unit. The electrical heating is applied to drive the contaminants to the steamed zones.
Steam injections promote the removal of the contaminants by use of many mechanisms. For the case of the contaminants which usually have a lower boiling point than that of steam will automatically volatilize. The Vapour pressure for the example of the contaminants with a high boiling point will also increase as a result of the increased temperatures. Which will promote the volatilisation. Finally, the high temperatures will lower the viscosity of the contaminants.
This technology can be ranked 5A schematic diagram of the steam injection technology process.
There are some management actions which are to be put in place to control the spread of the contaminants to the neighbouring areas. Such actions include;
The media by which the contaminants are transferred should be well assessed to determine its potential and physical stability to influence the degradability and mobility of the contaminants which are present. Some-specific media management which will be put in place are discussed below.
Usually, the rate at which moisture flow through the contaminated media greatly affects the rate of contamination transport in soil. When there are volatile compounds which are presenting the vapour form, they might migrate the contaminated media.
The organic content of the media through which the contaminants are transported through can be correlated with the mobility of the organic compounds which non-ionized, also the PH of the media can provide essential information regarding the mobility of the ionized and some inorganic contaminants (Chishti, 2011, p. 454).
The media characteristics which are unrelated to the behaviour of the contaminants should also be greatly considered. Correct testing should be carried out to determine the resistance of the media to the settling or compacting. This is because the instability of the media could result in the damaged, cracked or otherwise a compromised cap. If there is the need which calls for installing of physical features in the media which is contaminated, the availability of obstacles that makes the installation of the features should also be assessed.
stormwater diversion.
Stormwater is usually associated with many contaminants. As the stormwater flows through its channels it comes across many contaminants which dissolve within it. The stormwater runs through different geographical locations where various land use activities are being carried out and in that way it carries a lot of contaminants with it either dissolved or not. Thus the stormwater should be diverted from other water source to avoid transferring the contaminants.
Institutional control of surface/underground water
The institutions which are in charge of the surface and subsurface water have come up with some management strategies which are aimed at controlling the spread of the contaminants. Some of the proposals which are put in place are to ensure that the land use activities which may be handling potential contaminants are located much far from the water sources.
The institutions have also controlled the discharge of industrial wastes directly to the underground and surface water sources. Alternative for disposal of the industrial wastes has been proposed such as promoting recycling. In that way, the number of contaminants reaching the sources of water will be much reduced. The institutions which are in control requires that the upland cap (concrete, asphalt, soil, etc.)They should be addressed with the soil remedial action permit and that a specific plan for monitoring the site to be developed as part of the condition of the permit. Also, the extent to which the contamination process and the associated engineering controls are usually recorded a Deed notice. Therefore the Deed notice and the soil Remedial action permit are the administrative tools the institutions use to ensure that the spread of the contaminants is controlled and appropriately monitored. Due to the dynamic nature of the water environment, there is a serious need for monitoring the spread of the contaminants. This is to ensure that the effects that might be caused by the contaminants do not occur. A sediment cap is similar to any other engineering controls. In that way, for it to remain protective, it must remain in its intact form. Most of the contaminants which drive a sediment remedy are degrade very slow and long-lived.
site security.
The security of the site should be improved to ensure that the activities which are taking place on site do not result in the spread of the contaminants. Disposal of the waste water in the Crystal River was a clear indication of irresponsibility. Such occurrences can significantly reduce if the security of the site is improved. Close monitoring of the land use activities around the site can also lead to the reduction of the potential contaminants.
Conclusions
In conclusion the site contamination in the Sewfit, Inc, Mid-western USA is mainly caused by the metal wastes which are discharged together with the wastewaters to the Crystal River and other tributary streams. From the studies which were carried out such as the Post-closure monitoring which was conducted for several years it was identified that the contaminants were available on the site. Chromium (VI) and Barium were detected above Groundwater Investigation Levels in monitoring wells 2A, and 3A, low concentrations of toluene were also reported to be present in the monitoring well 1A.The presence of the toluene was attributed to the sludge from the waste lagoon which was initially stored at on the site before it was disposed of elsewhere.
Remedial technologies which can aid in the control or removal of the contaminants included; Stem injection, Surfactant-Enhanced Aquifer Remediation, in situ oxidation and the Soil vapour Extraction and Derivatives. The performance of this technologies was assessed regarding; Technology Status, acceptance of the technology by the community, Secondary Treatment Requirements, identification of additional treatment requirements including the disposal of wastes.
Also, the site management actions which were to reduce the spread of the contaminants were given such as; improving the site security, exposure notification, and inter-media contaminant transfer of the contaminants. From the research and the data which was gathered, it is very evident that the land use and the human activities which are carried at any given place contributes to the amount of the contaminants which are available.
References
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Cairney, T., 2015. Reclaiming Contaminated Land. 3rd ed. London: Springer Science & Business Media.
Chishti, H. M., 2011. Environmental Investigation Methodology for Contaminated Sites. 2nd ed. Berlin: Trafford Publishing.
Craig, J., 2012. Without Site Investigation, Ground is a Hazard. 4th ed. London: Thomas Telford.
Craig, C., 2016. Advances in Site Investigation Practice: Proceedings of the International Conference. 2nd ed. London: Thomas Telford.
Greeno, R., 2011. Mitchell’s Introduction to Building. 1st ed. London: Routledge.
Harris, M., 2012. Contaminated Land: Investigation, Assessment and Remediation. 3rd ed. London: Thomas Telford.
Johnson, S., 2016. European Directory of Hazardous Waste Management. 1st ed. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.
Philis, J., 2012. Guidelines for the Safe Investigation by Drilling of Landfills and Contaminated Land. 2nd ed. Texas: Thomas Telford.
Rahman, H., 2012. UK Specification for Ground Investigation. 2nd ed. London: ICE Publishing.
Reible, D., 2013. Innovative Approaches to the On-Site Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sites. 1st ed. Chicago: Springer Science & Business Media.
Reible, D., 2013. Innovative Approaches to the On-Site Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sites. 5th ed. London: Springer Science & Business Media.
Sarsby, R. W., 2017. Environmental Geotechnics. Paris: Thomas Telford.
Tavin, M., 2013. Technical Approaches to Characterizing and Cleaning Up Brownfields Sites: Railroad Yards. 2nd ed. Texas: DIANE Publishing.
Teeter, C. L., 2010. Site Investigation of Potential Metal Contamination at the United States Marine Corps Parris Island Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. 2nd ed. Texas: U.S. Army, Waterways Experiment Station, Environmental Laboratory.
Telford, T., 2014. Ice Conditions of Contract Ground Investigation Version. 3rd ed. Paris: Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain), .
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