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A <br /> Evaluation of Natural Attenuation: 7500 West Eleventh Street, Tracy, C4. .Page 34 <br /> at Monitoring Well MW-3 and the oxygen content of the groundwater begins to rise <br /> again as the BTEX concentrations decline with distance eastward from the axis of the <br /> plume. Unfortunately, the complete relationship, which would be expected to show a full <br /> } recovery of dissolved oxygen in groundwater to the same percentage as is the case at the <br /> western periphery, cannot be illustrated on Figure 32. The complete relationship between <br /> BTEX and dissolved oxygen along section B-B' would require geochemical data from a <br /> point beyond the eastern perimeter of the plume, which is estimated to be located <br /> between Monitoring Well MW-4 and the center line of Chrisman Road. SJC originally <br /> designed a monitoring well array that included a well along the alignment of B-B' that <br /> was to be installed along the eastern side of Chrisman Road and would have provided the <br /> missing geochemical data (The San Joaquin Company Inc. 1999), but the unlicensed <br /> SJCEHD staff that oversaw the project at that time would not permit its installation (San <br /> Joaquin County Public Health Services 2000). <br /> Figure 33 shows the relationship between BTEX and dissolved concentrations along the <br /> f line of section C-C'. Those plots also show that there is a significant depression in the <br /> dissolved oxygen in the groundwater in the area around Monitoring Well MW-7, where <br /> there are relatively high concentrations of fuel hydrocarbons. <br /> h�1 <br /> The relationship between BTEX concentrations within the plume and dissolved oxygen <br /> along longitudinal and cross sections of the affected area of groundwater provide <br /> persuasive secondary evidence that processes of natural attenuation are vigorously active <br /> at the 7500 West Eleventh Street site. <br /> 7.2.1.2 Oxidation Reduction Potential <br /> ;< Figures 34-36 are companions to Figures 31-33, but instead of showing the relationships <br /> between concentrations of BTEX and dissolved oxygen along lines A-A', B-B' and C-C', <br /> they illustrate the relationships between the concentrations of BTEX compounds and <br /> redox potential along those section lines. In areas where the redox potential is lower than <br /> some 500 mV, it is possible that some of the natural attenuation processes are reducing in <br /> nature. When the redox potential falls to a negative number, it is clear that all aerobic <br /> _ processes cease and the breakdown of the components of fuel hydrocarbons is solely due <br /> to anaerobic reactions. Examination of the redox potential curves on Figures 34-36 shows <br /> a well-developed inverse relationship between that parameter and the concentration of <br /> F.<. BTEX in groundwater. On both Figures 34 and 36, it is clear that in the area around <br /> Monitoring Wells MW-7 and MWFP-1, where redox potential falls into a negative range, <br /> anaerobic rather than aerobic conditions prevail. Supporting geochemical evidence for <br /> �:. that finding is discussed 7.2.2 below. <br /> 7.2.2 Evidence for Anaerobic Respiration <br /> i <br /> As has been discussed above, anaerobic bioremediation can occur in oxygen-starved <br /> environments. Such low oxygen conditions are often found at the sites of fuel <br /> hydrocarbon releases in portions of the plume where components of fuel hydrocarbons <br /> are at high concentrations. Direct indicators of anaerobic bioremediation are elevated <br /> i <br /> sic <br /> i� <br /> r. <br />