"Plumathon" study available on Web

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The March, 1999 report, "Historical Case Analysis of Chlorinated
Volatile Organic Compound" is now available on the worldwide web as a
fairly large "pdf" file at
http://www-erd.llnl.gov/library/AR-133361.pdf. This is the "plumathon"
study, based upon the statistical analysis of site characterization data
from 65 properties contaminated with TCE, PCE, TCA, and other
chlorinated compounds. 

The study team, led by Walt McNab, Jr. and David Rice from the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory, came up with a number of useful findings.
For example, they concluded that plume length is primarily a function of
source strength and groundwater velocity. The authors assert, "Specific
hydrogeologic conditions and contaminant release scenarios at individual
sites are not so unique that expected overall trends in the data are
completely obscured." 

However, there is nothing in the report to suggest that remedy selection
decisions - that is, when and where to rely upon monitored natural
attenuation - can be made in the absence of detailed site-specific
information. As such, it does not provide the same type of "magic
bullet" analysis as the Livermore team's "Leaking Underground Fuel Tank"
study, which found that the natural breakdown of fuel compounds was so
prevalent that it dramatically altered strategies, across the nation,
for dealing with gasoline and other fuel leaks and spills.


-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org
(PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE PHASING OUT
MY OLD E-MAIL ADDRESS: lsiegel@igc.org)
http://www.cpeo.org