Power Company

A MARCOR technician works in the excavated holder, 60 feet in diameter.

Project Details

• Client: Power Company
• Contaminant: PAHs
• Regulatory Agency: PA DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection)
• Contract Value: $200,000

Related Services

• Waste Management

Background

Contaminants frequently found at former MGP sites include polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, benzene, toulene, ethyl benzene, xylene, cyanide, and various other volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

For well over a century (from the 1820s to 1950s), commercial production of lamp gas from coal was a common practice. The invention and subsequent development of natural gas transmission pipelines heralded the new commercialization of natural gas, and the manufactured gas industry became obsolete. Plants were closed and many were completely dismantled, but their environmental legacies remained. Based on a U.S. EPA study, approximately 1,500 former MGP sites in the United States require some degree of soil and groundwater remediation. There are many more former MGP sites overseas.

Job Description

Non-hazardous soil was removed from a holder, and petroleum/hydro -carbon -contaminated water was removed from the system's three coal tar separators. The site was then restored to original elevation.

Despite handling nearly 75% more non-hazardous and hazardous solids than projected for the ten-day scope of work, and encountering and removing an additional metal tank, MARCOR was able to complete the project ahead of schedule in just eight and a half days. First, our technicians removed non-hazardous soil from the holder with a track-mounted hydraulic excavator, and the resulting 820 tons of excavated soil were sent to a thermal desorption facility in Delaware. Then the interior surface of the holder was scraped clean and lined with polyethylene sheeting pending the final site restoration. The separators presented a difficult problem: They contained free liquids which required solidification in order to pass a paint filter test, a DOT requisite for shipping material as a solid. MARCOR used a cement kiln dust method to accomplish this. Then the material was loaded into dump trailers and shipped to a hazardous waste landfill in Michigan. The concrete walls and floors of the separators were then broken into pieces with a hydraulic ram-hammer and loaded into trucks for shipment to the same landfill. A total of 378 tons of hazardous waste were manifested from the site. In addition, dewatering of the separators generated 500 gallons of petroleum-impacted water. This was transported by tanker truck to a local oil/water recycling facility.

Next, MARCOR installed a total of 823 cubic yards of flowable fill into the holder and separator system. The area was then covered with a four-inch layer of 2A modified stone and graded to original elevation. The client commented that the site restoration was excellent. It was difficult to tell the area had ever been disturbed. Successful completion of the project culminated with the receipt of letters commending MARCOR and expressing gratitude for a job well done.

For additional information, call MARCOR's corporate headquarters at 1-800-547-0128 or send email to info@marcor.com.