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Remediation & Excavation

Remediation Services
E² remediation professionals provide the technical capabilities and operational expertise to manage both small and large scale environmental projects. Our multidisciplinary technical and operations staff provides results-oriented systems and programs, incorporating both off-site removal and on-site treatment, as needed.

E² offers clients a full range of conventional and innovative site remediation services, including:

□ Installation of remedial systems for vapor
   extraction
□ Installation of remedial systems for air sparging
□ Installation of remedial systems for bioremediation
□ In-situ chemical oxidation
□ Soil solidification, stabilization, and fixation
□ Excavation and disposal
□ PCB decontamination
□ Pit, pond, and lagoon cleaning/closure
□ Drum overpacking and excavation
□ UST and AST removal and replacement
□ Facility decommissioning
□ Exploration services
□ Hazardous and special waste management

• Bioremediation
This treatment process uses microorganisms (yeast, fungi, or bacteria) to break down, or degrade substances into less toxic substances. Microorganisms, just like humans, eat and digest organic substances for nutrients and energy. In chemical terms, “organic” compounds are those that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms. Certain microorganisms can digest organic substances such as fuels or solvents that are hazardous to humans. The microorganisms break down the organic contaminates into harmless products – mainly carbon dioxide and water. After a site is bioremediated, the microbial populations return to a level consistent with the amount of food and water available by dying off or returning to a spore state.

E² assists in the recycling of your petroleum impacted soils, yard waste, and other waste streams through waste composting. We mix together these wastes with moisture, microbes, and air, process them, and render as “clean fill.” The soil can then be beneficially used instead of disposed into a landfill.

• Turnkey Operations for Plant or Remediation Sites
Project size does not matter when it come to E²’s Turnkey Operations. Our turnkey operations can be set up for daily operating needs at a fixed location, remediation projects, and new construction or expansions.

Soil/Media Removal - Excavation and removal of contaminated soil/media is utilized for localized contamination and point source removal. The scale of removal can range from 30 cubic yards of residential, oil-contaminated soil to 20,000 cubic yards of energetic, DNT-contaminated soil at a munitions facility.

On-site Remediation (Asphalt Batching, Stabilization) - Removal and on-site remediation normally involve a select range of contaminates that are amenable to conventional, reliable remediation techniques such as asphalt batching and chemical stabilization. On-site removal and treatment can often yield significant savings compared to off-site transportation and disposal. In addition, the treated soil may have beneficial secondary use as construction fill and road base material.

Thermal Desorption and Low Temperature Desorption (LTTD):

Thermal Desorption and Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (also know as low temperature volatilization, thermal stripping, and soil roasting) is an ex-situ remedial technology that uses heat to physically separate petroleum hydrocarbons from excavated soils. Thermal desorbers are designed to heat soils to temperatures sufficient to cause constituents to volatilize and desorb (physically separate) from the soil. Although they are not designed to decompose organic constituents, thermal desorbers can, depending upon the specific organics present and the temperature of the desorber system, cause some of the constituents to completely or partially decompose. The vaporized hydrocarbons are generally treated in a secondary treatment unit (e.g., an afterburner, catalytic oxidation chamber, condenser, or carbon absorption unit) prior to discharge to the atmosphere. Afterburners and oxidizers destroy the organic constituents. Condensers and carbon absorption units trap organic compounds for subsequent treatment or disposal. Some pre and post processing of soil is necessary when using LTTD. Excavated soils are first screened to remove large (>2 inches in diameter) objects. These may be sized (e.g., crushed or shredded) and then introduced back into the feed material. After leaving the desorber, soils are cooled, re-moistened to control dust, and stabilized (if necessary) to prepare them for disposal/reuse. Treated soil may be re-deposited onsite, used as cover in landfills, or incorporated into asphalt.

Soil Flushing:

In situ soil flushing is an innovative treatment technology that floods contaminated soils with a solution that moves the contaminants to an area where they are removed. “In situ” meaning “in place” refers to treating the contaminated soil without digging up or removing it.

The specific contaminants in the soil at any particular site determine the type of flushing solution needed in the treatment process. The flushing solution is typically one of two types of fluids: 1) water only; or 2) water plus additives such as acids (low pH), bases (high pH) or surfactants (like detergents).

Soil flushing is used primarily to treat halogenated and non-halogenated semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and ordnance compounds from in situ materials. Water, or water containing an additive to enhance contaminants solubility, is applied to the soil or injected or infiltrated into the groundwater to raise the water table into the contaminated soil zone. Contaminants are leached into the groundwater, which is then extracted and treated.

Contaminants in the material partition are put into the solution by mechanisms such as solubilization, emulsification, or chemical reaction. The contaminant-laden solutions are recovered to prevent uncontrolled transport of contaminants, and when possible, they are recycled. For biodegradable contaminants, it may be possible to add nutrients and distribute the solution on the material to promote contaminant bioremediation.

Soil Treatment:

Thermal desorption soil treatment is a phase applied to many different types of soil treatment technologies. All of these soil treatment technologies consist fundamentally of a two-step process, as illustrated below, heat is applied to a contaminated material, such as soil, sediment, sludge, or filter cake, to vaporize the contaminants into a gas stream that, in Step 2, is treated to meet regulatory requirements prior to discharge. A variety of gas treatment technologies are used to collect, condense, or destroy these volatized gases.

Thermal desorption is fundamentally a soil treatment process that thermally induces physical separation. Contaminants are vaporized from a solid matrix and are transferred into a gas stream where they can be more easily managed in Step 2. Options used to manage or treat the contaminant-laden gas stream may consist of condensation, collection, or combustion. For the first of these two options, the condensed or collected contaminants usually are treated off site at some time subsequent to Step 1. For the third option, combustion, treatment occurs on site, immediately after the gases exit Step 1 of the process.

In addition to volatilizing organic contaminants contained in the waste feed, moisture is volatilized and leaves with the off-gas. As a result, the thermal desorption system also functions as a dryer. In fact, many vendors refer to the primary treatment chamber of their system as the “rotary dryer,” highlighting its effect on the material, although the principal purpose is to evaporate and separate out the contaminants.