Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-5lx2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-25T14:12:18.198Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Research Article: Factors Affecting Hydrocarbon Vapor Transport from Leaking Petroleum Storage Tanks to Buildings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

John P. Tiefenbacher  and
Christine W. Chandler
John P. Tiefenbacher*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
Christine W. Chandler
Affiliation:
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Austin, Texas
*
Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Southwest Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666; (fax) 512-245-8353; (e-mail) jt04@swt.edu
Get access

Abstract

Leaking underground storage tanks present threats to groundwater, aquatic resources, and drinking water quality. Beyond that, however, migrating contaminants present a range of threats to residential, commercial, and industrial structures as vapors move through soils and accumulate indoors. The most severe vapor impact threats are explosion and fire. A less dramatic effect is diminished health due to reduced air quality. This study is a preliminary analysis of the geophysical site characteristics that contribute to vapor impacts in Texas. Bivariate analysis is used to evaluate the strength of prediction of vapor impacts using soil characteristics, groundwater depth, distances to impacted structures, presence of free products, and rainfall amounts. Analysis indicates that tanks leaking gasoline products that phase separate in clayey soils with shallow water tables and that are near structures are more likely to generate vapor impacts after a heavy rain.

Type
Features & Reviews
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 239 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, W.D., and Golden, J.E.. 1992. Comparison of the Effects of Geologic Environment on Volatile Organic Plume Development. Journal of Hazardous Materials 29(1):17–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthurs, P., Stiver, W.H., and Zytner, R.G.. 1995. Passive Volatilization of Gasoline from Soil Journal of Soil Contamination 4(2):123–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batterman, S., Kulshrestha, A., and Cheng, H.-Y.. 1995. Hydrocarbon Vapor Transport in Low Moisture Soils. Environmental Science & Technology 29(1):171–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bomar, G.W. 1995. Texas Weather University of Texas Press, Austin, 295 pp.Google Scholar
Bruce, L.G. 1993. Refined Gasoline in the Subsurface. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 77(2):212–224.Google Scholar
Culver, T.B., Shoemaker, Ga., and Lion, Lw.. 1991. Impact of Vapor Sorption of the Subsurface Transport of Volatile Organic Compounds: A Numerical Model and Analysis. Water Resources Research 27(9):2259–2270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guldberg, P.H. 1992. Gasoline and Vapor Exposures in Service Station and Leaking Underground Storage Tank Scenarios. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2(1):97–1O7.Google ScholarPubMed
Gupta, G., and Li, Y.. 1993. Toxicity of Gasoline Aqueous-Leachate through Sand-Clay Columns. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A 28(4):933–94O.Google Scholar
Henke, S. 1994. Underground Storage Tanks: The Environmental Health Role. Journal of Environmental Health 56(8):13–15.Google Scholar
Johnson, P.C., Hertz, M.B., and Beyers, D.L.. 1989. Estimates for Hydrocarbon Vapor Emissions Resulting from Service Station Remediation and Buried Gasoline-Contaminated Soils. In Petroleum Contaminated Soils, vol. 3, Kostecki, P. T. and Calabrese, E. J., eds. Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI, 295–334.Google Scholar
Kliest, J., Fast, T., and Boley, J.S.M.. 1989. The Relationship between Soil Contaminated with Volatile Organic Compounds and Indoor Air Pollution. Environment International 15:419–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, J.C., Daisey, J.M., and Nazaroff, W.W.. 1992. Transport of Subsurface Contaminants into Buildings; An Exposure Pathway for Volatile Organics. Environmental Science & Technology 26(11):2058–2066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moseley, C.L., and Meyer, M.R.. 1992. Petroleum Contamination of an Elementary School: A Case History Involving Air, Soil-Gas, and Groundwater Monitoring. Environmental Science & Technology 26(1):185–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ong, S.K., Culver, T.B., Lion, Lw., and Shoemaker, C.A.. 1992. Effects of Soil Moisture and Physical-Chemical Properties of Organic Pollutants on Vapor-Phase Transport in the Vadose Zone. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 11(3–4):273–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, A.L, Sextro, R.G., and Riley, W.J.. 1997. Soil-Gas Entry into Houses Driven by Atmospheric Pressure Fluctuations-The Influence of Soil Properties. Atmospheric Environment 31(10):1487–1495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simons, Ra., Bowen, W., and Sementelli, A. 1997. The Effect of Underground Storage Tanks on Residential Property Values in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The Journal of Real Estate Research 14(1/2):29–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Environmental Data Service. 1986 to 1997. Climatological Data, Texas. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville, NC.Google Scholar
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1999. Overview of the Federal UST Program. http://www.epa.gov/swerusti/overview.htm. 26 07.Google Scholar