--> Abstract: Environmental Cleanup of a Natural Gas Compression Station-A Case Study, #90907 (2000)

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ABSTRACT: Environmental Cleanup of a Natural Gas Compression Station-A Case Study

George W. Hermance, Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., Buffalo, New York, Joseph Hartleb, National Fuel Gas, Erie, Pennsylvania

The Compressor Station occupies both the southwest and northeast banks of a creek in the heart of the Pennsylvania oil patch. The Site is located approximately 1,200 feet northwest of the axial trace of a gently folded syncline, trending northeast-southwest, and plunging to the south-southwest. For 83 years, hydrocarbons were stripped from the natural gas, separated, and stored onsite for resale. After ceasing compressor operations, free-phase product was observed in the shallow bedrock wells that were used to supply cooling water for the compressors. The pumping of the cooling water supply wells had apparently drawn light free-phase product into the shallow, highly fractured, porous sandstone bedrock. After several years of product recovery using groundwater extraction and soil vapor extraction technology, recovery rates had slowed significantly. To address the remaining free-phase product and potential residual contamination in soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater, supplemental investigations, monitoring, and assessment of remedial alternatives was conducted. The site is now a candidate for closure or remediation using Pennsylvania Code Title 25, Chapter 250. The history and background of the compressor station, and the difficulties encountered in attempting to gain closure under the current regulations are discussed and evaluated in this study.

 

Search and Discovery Article #90907©2000 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, London, Ontario, Canada