Innovative Solutions:

CCA strives to develop solutions no matter what the circumstances. While not all sites can be closed immediately, we have found that creative approaches to old roadblocks often result in a more satisfactory solution.

#6 Fuel Oil Release, Claremont, NC

Near Claremont, North Carolina, CCA assessed and remediated a 40,000-gallon release from 2 #6 heating oil USTs. Because the fuel is much more viscous than diesel or gasoline, excavation was the best method of treatment. The release was constrained by a mill building and a road. Patchy contamination remained at the practical limits of excavation. CCA devised a multi-tiered horizontal delivery system for bioremediation agents that was installed as the pit was backfilled.

Gasoline Terminal, Charlotte, NC

CCA dealt with multiple release sources while remediating a release at a former gasoline and fuel oil terminal in Charlotte, North Carolina,. About 6-inches of free product was present in one area. Our clients had the option of pursuing assessment and remediation that could be reimbursed from the trust fund, or to close the site within 18 months. Because a property transaction was pending, they chose to pursue a quick closure. In the primary release area, CCA excavated over 15,000 tons of contaminated soil. With the excavation still open, we pumped more than 43,000 gallons of water and free product from the pit.
Buildings, utilities, and a major highway limited excavation in another area of the terminal project. A 24-inch corrugated steel pipe with 1-inch blowtorch perforations was installed in the excavation. Stone was used to backfill the excavation around the perforated interval,and it was capped with soil. This allowed CCA to quickly removing large volumes of water in the contaminated area. Our modified well construction was approved by regulatory authorities before installation.

In effect, this was groundwater remediation through excavation. The property was ready for closure 5 months before the promised date.

First Risk-Based Closure, Concord, NC
CCA personnel excavated 6 concrete-filled UST at a former gasoline station in Concord, NC. A relatively thin layer of soil (about 11 feet) rested on fractured igneous rock. Soil was remediated and the groundwater plume was defined. The site could not have been closed under the guidelines in effect when the project started. The site was closed under the new risk-based rules—the first site to do so in the Mooresville Region. CCA later presented this site at a Department of Environment and Natural Resources informational session in Raleigh for other environmental consultants; it was offered as an example of how to close a site with groundwater contamination still present.