American Petroleum Institute

Guide to the Assessment and Remediation of Underground Petroleum Releases - Third Edition
 N PUBL 1628

Annotation

Purpose and Scope

This publication provides a basic overview of proven technologies for the assessment and remediation of petroleum releases in soil and groundwater. This document does not address assessment and remediation of releases to surface-water environments, such as rivers, lakes, and oceans although releases to soil and groundwater may migrate to these receptors.

This document is intended as a guide for those who must deal with accidental releases arising from the production, transportation, refining, and marketing of liquid petroleum products or unrefined crude oil. This publication may also be a useful manual for environmental professionals, regulatory agencies, consultants, attorneys, fire marshals, and citizens. The use of technical terms has been avoided where possible. Technical terms used are defined when first mentioned in the text.

Since publication of the second edition of API Publication 1628 in 1989, new technologies and improvements in existing technologies for the assessment, characterization, and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon releases have evolved. Examples include air sparging, passive bioremediation, and field screening and analytical techniques. Incorporation of risk and exposure assessment practices with the traditional components of corrective action, known as Risk-Based Corrective Action (RBCA), is gaining attention as a method to focus remedial measures and resources consistent with the level of risk posed by a site to human health and the environment. Moreover, ongoing research and field work in areas such as natural attenuation, optimization of liquid hydrocarbon and groundwater recovery, liquid hydrocarbon migration, and groundwater and vapor monitoring have resulted in effective and cost-efficient methods for assessing and remediating subsurface petroleum hydrocarbon releases. The development of new federal and state regulatory programs which require cleanup of petroleum releases has also contributed to the need for a supplemental publication. In conjunction with the revision of this document, API technical publications were prepared to provide additional detail on operation and maintenance considerations for remediation systems (1628E), optimization of hydrocarbon recovery (1628C), in-situ air sparging (1628D), risk-based decision making (1628B), and natural attenuation processes (1628A). These publications are available through API. Those seeking more information about specific topics are referred to Appendix A, a bibliography of technical papers, reports, and books.