Church Tank Release Cleanup
Pollard Environmental investigated a leaking underground oil tank at a church property inVirginia’s Piedmont region after they noticed excessive oil consumption. A soil test confirmed substantial petroleum contamination under the tank. The approximately 550-gallon steel tank was located about six feet from the building and, when removed, exhibited heavy corrosion with multiple visible holes. Soil borings identified diesel-range petroleum concentrations from 6,400 to 27,000milligrams per kilogram (PPM), prompting the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to upgrade the project to a Category 2 cleanup.
Our team obtained the required local permit, transferred usable heating oil to an aboveground storage tank, vacuumed and properly disposed of the remaining petroleum, sludge, and rinse water, removed the tank, and excavated approximately 16.82tons of petroleum-contaminated soil. We segregated clean soil for reuse, back-filled the excavation with crushed stone and clean soil, graded the disturbed area, and applied seed and straw. Groundwater was not encountered during excavation, and laboratory testing found no petroleum-related compounds in the property’s drinking-water well.
However, soil samples collected at depths greater than 13 feet still exceededVirginia’s petroleum-saturation threshold, leaving the vertical extent of contamination undefined. We therefore recommended installing groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate possible groundwater impact, flow direction, and risk to nearby drinking-water wells and the surrounding environment.