Groundwater Remediation
In addition to the groundwater and surface water monitoring programs described above, DuPont has conducted numerous groundwater investigations that have helped to guide the selection of remediation alternatives to improve groundwater quality. After operating a pump-and-treat system in the 1990s, the second phase of groundwater remediation was completed in 2005, when DuPont installed a 485-foot-long, 117-foot-deep, underground Permeable Reactive Barrier, or PRB, to destroy carbon tetrachloride contaminants in groundwater. The first 110-foot segment of the PRB was installed in 2001 as a proof-of-concept experiment, or pilot test. A three-year monitoring program demonstrated the effectiveness of this pilot PRB, and the DTSC authorized DuPont to complete construction of the full-scale PRB system in 2005.
Over the last several years, DuPont has been working with the DTSC to select a combination of groundwater remedies in the former titanium dioxide manufacturing area. In 2011, a bench-scale pilot study is under way to test a promising remedy for groundwater upgradient of the PRB. Also in 2011, a sitewide Surficial Aquifer groundwater and soil vapor investigation will be completed to help select appropriate groundwater remedies consistent with future site re-use plans.
Groundwater investigations and remedy selection are an ongoing and important part of the complex corrective action program at the Oakley site. Our overall focus is to continue to protect human health and the environment, both now and in the future as the site is developed.
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Other pages in this section:
- Highlights
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The February 2005 Fact Sheet published by the Department of Toxic Substances Control describes how the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) works.
