A ten-year study on the removal of contaminated groundwaterand its impact to a run-off canal and coastal environment

Contamination of groundwater by organic contaminants is now widely recognized as a serious threat to the integrity of
many municipal and rural. water supplies. The source of this contamination includes various waste disposal activities (e.g.,
industrial impoundments, landfills, accidental spills, underground storage tank leaks, pesticide and fertilizer application, etc.)
This project is to illustrate a ten-year study on the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated groundwater. TCE is
a widely used solvent primarily for metal degreasing and dry cleaning operations (US EPA. 1975). In October 1978, a fitting on
a 1,890 L underground storage tank of trichloroethylene (TCE) was found to be leaking in Vero Beach, Florida. The tank had
been in place approximately three years, but the volume of the spill was undetermined since the duration and leak rate were
unknown. Trichloroethylene is soluble in water to 1,100 mg/L at 25°C and has a specific gravity of 1.466. This characteristic
enabled the TCE at the spill site to migrate at least 246m laterally and 18.3 m vertically to the Vero Beach City Production
Well. Samples of shallow groundwater adjacent to the storage tank revealed a TCE concentration of 39,000 ppb (Everglades,
19Contamination of groundwater by organic contaminants is now widely recognized as a serious threat to the integrity of
many municipal and rural. water supplies. The source of this contamination includes various waste disposal activities (e.g.,
industrial impoundments, landfills, accidental spills, underground storage tank leaks, pesticide and fertilizer application, etc.)
This project is to illustrate a ten-year study on the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated groundwater. TCE is
a widely used solvent primarily for metal degreasing and dry cleaning operations (US EPA. 1975). In October 1978, a fitting on
a 1,890 L underground storage tank of trichloroethylene (TCE) was found to be leaking in Vero Beach, Florida. The tank had
been in place approximately three years, but the volume of the spill was undetermined since the duration and leak rate were
unknown. Trichloroethylene is soluble in water to 1,100 mg/L at 25°C and has a specific gravity of 1.466. This characteristic
enabled the TCE at the spill site to migrate at least 246m laterally and 18.3 m vertically to the Vero Beach City Production
Well. Samples of shallow groundwater adjacent to the storage tank revealed a TCE concentration of 39,000 ppb (Everglades,
1978). Aware of this problem, the local and state authorities gave permission to pump out the contaminated water as a means
of reducing concentrations in the aquifer.
reducing concentrations in the aquifer.