CL439/CL954 Contaminated Land

Dr Christine Switzer
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
christine.switzer@strath.ac.uk
Syllabus
 Assessments
Formative assessments
• Online Quiz 1 (individual): 5%
• Quiz 2 (individual; online (DL-only) or in class): 5%
• Online Quiz 3 (individual): 5%

Summative assessments
• Assignment (individual): 10%
– Leading into group project
• Project (group or individual): 25%
– Contaminated land remediation case study
• Exam (individual): 50%
 Project Options
Provisional plan:
• UK-based site
• Niger Delta oil contamination

• Groups: 1-4 students

• Assignment is initial step to final project
• Project introductions next week
• Group sign-ups next Thursday
Recommended Reading…

Available as an e-book via Suprimo…

Recommended Reading…

https://clu-in.org
 Contaminated Land
Reclamation & reuse of land is a subject of increasing
importance due to pressure on land resources and the
principles of sustainable development.
 Site Investigation/Risk Assessment in a nutshell…

SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR

 Remediation in a nutshell…

SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR

 Remediation in a nutshell…

SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR

 Remediation in a nutshell…

SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR

 Inorganic contaminants
• Metals or “heavy metals”
• Metalloids
• Arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead, selenium, zinc,
chromium, thallium and antimony
• Characterised by
– High density
– Toxicity at low to moderate concentrations
– Potential to bioaccumulate
• Availability in solution varies by solution chemistry
Solubility vs. pH

http://www.advancedaquarist.com
Relevance of pH to exposure

http://www.leaching.net
 Organic contaminants
• Non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs)
• Petrochemicals
– Oil
– Fuel products (e.g., petrol, diesel, kerosene)
• Solvents
– Chlorinated (e.g., trichloroethylene (TCE))
– Non-chlorinated (e.g., benzene, toluene)
• Pesticides
• Coal Tar
• Creosote
 Infiltration of organics in soil

air

water
also includes
dissolved O2, NAPL
CO2, etc
dissolved NAPL in water

r = mass of fluid / unit volume of fluid (fluid density)

t = µ du/dy (µ = fluid viscosity – resistance to flow)
NAPL = non-aqueous phase liquid = hazardous organic liquid (e.g., petrochemicals)
 Capillary Rise

glass capillary tube

Recall:

air-water interface

hC

water

Pc = γhc
 Implications
• Water is wetting with respect to air
• NAPL is wetting with respect to air
• Water is wetting with respect to most NAPLs
• Water will always occupy the smallest pores
 Infiltration
NW

W
 Infiltration (continued)
1) PNW ≈ PW
PC = 0
no infiltration

2) PNW > PW
PC > 0
Infiltration – first pore is invaded

3)
PNW > PW (greater than in case 2)
PC > 0
Infiltration – many pores are invaded
 Infiltration (continued)
When does infiltration stop? When PNW = PW (i.e., PC=0).
Not enough NAPL to continue infiltrating or pore size too small
to allow infiltration (e.g., clay or rock)
 Infiltration (continued)
http://web.mst.edu http://www.cmdlet.com

Imbibition = infiltration
Infiltration (continued)
adapted from Pankow and Cherry (1996)

groundwater
well
 Infiltration (continued)
Inorganic species (metals)
• Total contaminant load =
mobile + immobile species
• Mobile = dissolved vs suspended species
– Dissolved = free ions + inorganic complexes
– Suspended = adsorbed + precipitated ions & complexes
• Mobile phase is chemistry-dependent
(e.g., pH, other compounds/ions, surfactants,
colloids)
• Extent of infiltration will depend on mobility, water
infiltration and diffusion
INFILTRATION (IMBIBITION and DRAINAGE) DISPERSION
ADVECTION RETARDATION (ADSORPTION) DIFFUSION

Contaminant Transport adapted from Pankow and Cherry (1996)

groundwater
well
 Site Investigation to Remediation
• Phase 1: Preliminary Risk Assessment (Desk
Study)
• Phase 2: Site Investigation and Risk
Assessment
– Ground investigation
– Soil & water sampling and analysis
– Exposure assessment modelling
• Phase 3: Remediation
• Phase 4: Verification
Contaminated Land Management

Site Risk
Remediation
Investigation Assessment

Conceptual
Site Models
(CSM)
Contaminated Land Management

Site Risk
Remediation
Investigation Assessment
This week Week 3 Weeks 4-12

Conceptual
Site Models
(CSM)
Week 4
Site Background
The Savannah River Site was constructed
during the early 1950s to produce the basic
materials used in the fabrication of nuclear
weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-
239. It has significant trichloroethylene
and tetrachloroethylene plumes.

In 1972, the SRS was designated as the

first National Environmental Research Park
in the USA.
 Site Background

trichloroethylene (TCE) plume discovered at the

C-Area Burning Rubble Pit (CBRP)
 Site Investigation
groundwater flow

15
14

7 8
6
13 2 9

1 3
5
4
12
10
11
 Subsurface Geology

CPT interpretation courtesy of Greg Flach and Mary Harris (SRTC)

Subsurface Geology (simplified)
Artificial cap (kaolin clay)

Sand with clay lenses

Clay (kaolinite and illite)

Sand with clay lenses

Shallow water table

Sand with clay lenses

 Subsurface
ppmv = ppm (gw)
Concentrations
290 480 320 220
660 820 890 240
1120 1240 1090 310
4100 11300 6100 410
5650 8310 13400 480
310 220 180 93
650 780 710 190
780 850 820 230
830 920 880 185
840 850 910 165
710 740 780 170
730 690 750 160
360 420 500 110
170 310 220 94

1 2 3 4
 Subsurface Concentrations
170 205 160 120
190 220 160 202
280 360 240 170
240 410 250 153
210 560 230 124
80 112 71 68
210 310 220 176
180 240 180 148
180 210 230 197
140 184 140 165
145 160 108 123
130 110 113 134
80 93 60 119
48 38 45 63

5 6 7 8
 Subsurface Concentrations
270 400 11 3.1
410 120 12 2.2
1280 12 2.8 3.3
2240 8.9 2.5 1.4
3210 11 8.6 4.8
580 12 11 4.3
450 4.2 2.2 1.9
480 20 1.8 2.9
380 16 7.8 10
890 18 4.3 7.4
1450 12 1.8 3.1
2230 11 11 6.3
1880 12 6.3 1.1
12 8.2 4.5 5.1

9 10 11 12
 Subsurface Concentrations
3.6 2.1 1.1
2.3 3.7 3.6
1.8 0.3 3.4
2.4 1.2 4.2
2.1 1.9 0.2
0.7 2.1 1.9
1.0 6.4 2.3
0.3 0.1 2.2
1.2 1.9 2.4
2.6 2.9 2.6
1.4 2.1 0.7
1.2 3.4 1.2
8.2 0.2 0.3
9.8 0.3 1.8

13 14 15
 Questions
• Where are the hotspots?
• What is the extent of contamination?
– Horizontally
– Vertically
• Are there any mistakes in the data? Likely causes?
• What are the sources of error?