Trichloroethylene (TCE) Release
A manufacturing plant formerly used TCE and
other VOCs for parts degreasing and they had severely impacted soil
and groundwater beneath their plant. Furthermore, the same chemicals
were identified in drinking water wells in the adjacent residential
neighborhood. Obviously, this was not a good scenario.
As the "stakes" were very high, the parent company of the plant felt
it was necessary for corporate management to become engaged in the
project, and they asked The Dragun Corporation to peer review the
site characterization report that was prepared by the plant's then
current environmental consultant. The consultant had recommended a
$9,000,000 groundwater pump-and-treat cleanup. Upon completion of
our peer review, we were brutally honest. We said the remedial
action plan was a disaster waiting to happen: they entirely missed
one aquifer, they reported impossibly fast groundwater velocities,
and they had groundwater flow in the wrong direction.
The plant manager subsequently asked The Dragun Corporation to take
over the project and close the site quickly to take advantage of
conditions of sale. The Dragun Corporation met with regulator to
discuss a work plan; conducted an expedited, focused remedial
investigation; and met with the regulators again to explain the new
site characterization and outline a new remedial action plan. The
Dragun Corporation provided a remedial action plan to the client and
the regulators within six months.
The Result: The total cost for our remedial
investigation, remediation of four process water lagoons, and 15
years of long-term monitoring was less than $1 million. While $1
million is a lot of money, it was $8
million less than the cleanup previously proposed and which
would not have worked.
