Ground Water Issue: Evaluation of Soil Venting Application

The ability of soil venting to inexpensively remove large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from contaminated soils is well established. However, the time required using venting to remediate soils to low contaminant levels often required by state and federal regulators has not been adequately investigated. Most field studies verify the ability of a venting system to circulate air in the subsurface and remove, at least initially, a large mass of VOCs. They do not generally provide insight into mass transport limitations which eventually limit performance, nor do field studies generally evaluate methods such as enhanced biodegradation which may optimize overall contaminant removal. Discussion is presented to aid in evaluating the feasibility of venting application. Methods to optimize venting application are also discussed.