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Mr. Kevin Graves <br />April 28, 2006 <br />Page 3 <br />The request letter specified that the "work proposed should complete the investigation of the <br />lateral and vertical extent of the soil and groundwater contamination so that the mass of <br />contamination remaining can be calculated and evaluated (emphasis added). <br />Clearly, any hydrocarbon sample analytical results from the early 1990s from soil still in place in <br />2006, are no longer representative, nor valid. Consequently, it is impossible for anyone "to <br />complete the investigation of the lateral and vertical extent of the soil . . . contamination." <br />(Emphasis added.) <br />Section 1.0 - Lateral and Vertical Extent of the Soil Contamination of the work plan proposed <br />that soil samples be collected from a depth of four feet to the depth of first encountered <br />groundwater at twelve locations from around the former tank location remedial excavation and <br />from between the former tank location and the enclosure to Thornton Municipal Well No. 2. <br />Information provided by EHD indicates that first encountered ground water was previously <br />reported at depths of 12.3 to 16 feet when monitoring wells MW-1 to MW-4 were installed in <br />November 1990 and 16 to 17.5 feet when MW-5 and MW-6 were installed in October 1991. <br />Static water levels were reported as being from 0.15 to 3 feet higher at these times, indicating <br />that the first encountered aquifer is semi-confined to confined. <br />"The Work Plan is not approved" letter states, as the first sentence in paragraph two, that "The <br />lateral and vertical extent of soil contamination cannot be defined by collecting soil samples <br />from a depth of four feet to the depth of first encountered groundwater." The Tr-Regional <br />Board Staff Recommendations for Preliminary Site Evaluation and Investigation of Underground <br />Tank Sites established the remedial goal definition of soil as that occurring above first <br />encountered groundwater in Section III.1.a, wherein it is stated that "Soil samples are to be taken <br />... at a minimum of every five feet in the unsaturated zone ... ." <br />The second paragraph of "The Work Plan is not approved" letter goes on to summarize old data <br />from samples collected at a depth below first encountered groundwater as reported from the <br />monitoring well boreholes. Saturated earth materials from below the first encountered <br />groundwater, or the historically lowest water level in the event that it is below the first <br />encountered groundwater at the time of the investigation, are not representative of soil <br />conditions, but rather represent groundwater conditions. <br />The first sentence in paragraph three states - "H2OGEOL did not provide a technical justification <br />for the geoprobe investigation." Soil sampling to accomplish the EHD's requested extent <br />determinations by nearly continuous direct push technology, such as that under the brand name <br />of GeoprobeTm ,does not seem to warrant additional technical justification. The justification for <br />the locations of sample points shown on Figure 3 of the work plan is intuitively obvious from the <br />site configurations, particularly previous excavations and the location of the Thornton Municipal <br />Well. No. 2. No technical justification should be required beyond EHD's request. <br />A GROUNDWATER CONSULTANCY H2OGEOL