SHADOW MOUNTAIN MUSTANG GAS STATION: GRAND LAKE, CO

System Type:

Biological Reactive BioLuxing™ and BioWall™ (in situ bioaugmentation) Installed with teaming partner FRx
Location:

Shadow Mountain Mustang Gas Station, Grand Lake, Colorado
Client:

Hunt4 Solutions, Inc., Lakewood, CO

Project Description:

In September 1997 at a former retail gasoline station site in the Colorado mountains, FSI installed three BioNets containing three BioLuxes each to remediate BTEX contaminated soils and groundwater in the source area. As part of this X-PeRT™ System, Foremost also installed a 6-foot deep trenched BioWall in September 1998 to prevent off-site migration of contamination. Shadow Mountain Reservoir, a major Colorado drinking water source, was immediately down-gradient.
The design and remediation was performed under a State of Colorado approved Corrective Action Plan. The BioNets were installed using hydraulic fracturing techniques and the shallow trench was installed by traditional methods. The Isolite® carrier used in both the BioNets and the BioWall trench installation was inoculated with BTEX degrading microbes. After one year of remediation, BTEX concentrations in the source area had been reduced 66 percent. After three years only one source well exceeded benzene standards and all three compliance wells are below the standards for BTEX. The design and installation cost $130,000. New residential construction has been completed between the site and reservoir.

In 2005, the State of Colorado established regulatory standards for the gasoline additive MTBE. Since MTBE had been used at this site, the Colorado Oil Inspector required sampling to be completed in 2005-06 to determine if MTBE was present. MTBE was detected at levels below the state standards so no additional cleanup was necessary. The speculated reason for the low presence of MTBE was that existing indigenous microbes which degrade MTBE also utilized the enhanced treatment zones and were simultaneously biostimulated to remediate the additive.

Pictured above is the equipment used to inoculate ISOLITE on site and to fracture and inject simultaneously the microbe-laden pellets into the contaminated zone. Well caps covering recessed pipes to allow surface access to provide oxygen and nutrients to the BioLuxes, if necessary, are the only signs left behind to indicate that remediation has been conducted at the site. With the BioLuxing technique, once FOREMOST has "Worked the bugs in," the pampered microbes say, "Leave the cleaning to us!" (Installed in 2 Days)