Project: Oil Truck Rollover

CHALLENGE

A winter delivery of heating oil to a residence turned into a problem when the truck slid off the ice-covered driveway, tipped over, and was punctured by a rock. The entire contents of the truck–approximately 1,700 gallons of oil–discharged onto the snow covered ground, with the homeowner’s water supply well located only 50 feet from the spill.

RESPONSE

St.Germain met with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and concluded that removal of contaminated snow and soil should be completed immediately.

St.Germain supervised the removal of 371 tons of contaminated soil as well as the washing of the bedrock exposed after soil removal. The wash water was captured with a vac truck and properly disposed of offsite, and product recovery wells were installed.

Maine DEP requested 5 bedrock monitoring wells to be installed and sampled repeatedly. A downhole geophysical survey was also completed on the residential supply well to determine where in the well water was entering, and this was compared with bedrock fractures at the spill site.

Finally, pumping tests were conducted on three of the bedrock wells to determine if there was a hydraulic connection between the supply well and monitoring wells. St.Germain concluded that the supply well was not at risk from the spill.

SATISFACTORY CLEAN UP

St.Germain supervised the placement of 2 feet of clean fill in the excavated areas followed by stabilization netting and seeded topsoil. Sampling of the monitoring wells and supply well continued until all tests were negative.