Field Demonstration of a Novel Risk-Based Approach for the Management of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon. W. Weisman, B. Albertson, J. Gustafson, I. Rhodes, H. Stroo, and E. Tuomi, Toxicology Division, Armstrong Laboratory, USAF
To assess the utility and limitations of the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Criteria Working Group’s protocol for establishing health-protective cleanup standards for petroleum contaminated soil, the approach was applied on a portion of a Defense Fuels Supply Center’s former JP-4 storage facility, located near Puget Sound in Mukilteo, Washington. Ten above-ground storage tanks, each with a capacity of three million gallons, were located at the facility. In addition to conducting standard TPH analytical methods, which were used to determine the extent of petroleum contamination at the site, the Working Group’s novel analytical procedure was used to quantify the presence of specific fate and transport fractions used to assess health risks from non-carcinogenic petroleum hydrocarbons. Risk Based Soil Screening Levels (RBSL) were calculated using the toxicity criteria developed through the Working Group’s paradigm and the conservative fate and transport models included in the ASTM 1739-95 (the RBCA standard). "Safe" concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons at the Mukilteo site, calculated using the Working Group’s approach, were fifteen times greater than the level deemed acceptable under Washington’s current regulatory scheme. Estimates of health risk at this site appear to be driven by the light aromatic fraction of the fuel. (This fraction will be the focus of future toxicity testing by the Air Force.) A series of leaching tests was conducted on soils from this site in order to verify the models which serve as the basis for deriving the fate and transport fractions used in facility. In addition to conducting standard TPH analytical methods, which were used to determine the extent of petroleum contamination at the site, the Working Group’s novel analytical procedure was used to quantify the . . . . . . . .[RiskWorld Note: Submitted abstract incomplete]