Environment

Spill Remediation

Spills come in three varieties: gasoline and diesel fuel, hazardous materials and heating oil used on the premises. Fuel and hazardous materials are regulated at the federal and state levels to prevent spills and when spills occur. Heating oil is exempt from regulation until a spill occurs that threatens the groundwater or moves outside the property lines. Then the state gets involved. The real driving force with heating oil spills, however, is normally the impact on property values and resale of the property. So while one saves money and time avoiding the UST design and reporting regulations, the situation is just as messy when a leak or spill occurs.

A variety of remediation techniques have been developed for these types of spills. They involve excavating and disposing of the soil in the simplest scenario; excavating, treating and returning the soil; treating the soil in-place or sometimes just containing the spread of the plume. Current thinking by federal and state regulators favors treating spills in-place whenever possible by encouraging the native aerobic soil bacteria through aeration to accelerate natural degradation rather than the addition of cultures or enzymes to the soil. Mildly petroleum contaminated soil makes great daily landfill cover, which is always in demand at landfills. Disposal in this manner still comes with a price, although lower than other options. For gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil contaminated soils the disposal cost is primarily for excavation and hauling, not the disposal.

Most of our experience has been in heating oil spill remediation from non-regulated tanks. Diesel fuel spills are similar since #2 heating oil is about the same as diesel. Abandoned gasoline stations for which we have engineered the demolitions have had small spills handled by excavation alone. We can “run the numbers” for the various remediation techniques for your spill and engineer the best option for you.

Spill Remediation Client List

• Department of Public Works, City of South BendSouth Bend, IN
• Memorial Hospital South Bend, IN
• Elkhart Community School Corporation Elkhart, IN
• Carmel Clay Schools Carmel, IN
• South Bend Heritage Foundation South Bend, IN