A New Angle on Ground-Water Remediation

Reid, Vernon M.; Wyatt, Kennon W.; Horn, James A.; ,

A New Angle on Ground-Water Remediation

by Vernon M. Reid, (M.ASCE), Vice-President; Black & Veatch, Waste Science, Inc., Kansas City, MO,
Kennon W. Wyatt, Mechanical Engineer; Black & Veatch, Kansas City, MO,
James A. Horn, Project Manager; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, OK.,

Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1994, Vol. 64, Issue 4, Pg. 56-58

Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

When engineers from Black & Veatch Waste Science (BVWS) went to Tinker Air Force Base to examine the site of a hazardous waste cleanup job the service had hired them for, they found one thing in the way: A building. Some forty years of aircraft maintenance work, involving solvents and degreasers, in Building 3001 had resulted in contamination to the groundwater below. And though the Air Force has changed its procedures to prevent further contamination, the building is still in use as a maintenance site. Instead, BVWS opted for horizontal drilling, resulting in one of the longest and deepest cleanup related examples of horizontal directional drilling to date. Although the techniques are more difficult and expensive to install, they enable the building to remain in operation and provided a number of advantages, including higher accuracy and pumping rates. BVWS installed the system, and created wastewater treatment plant on the site. Once treated the water will be used in industrial processes on the base. Operation of the remediation system near Building 3001 is expected to continue for the next 15-30 years.

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