Section Two
SITE REMEDIATION
8    USE OF A BATCH ASPHALT PLANT FOR REMEDIATION
OF
SOILS CONTAMINATED BY VOLATILE ORGANIC
COMPOUNDS
Loren C. Trick, Senior Process Chemist
Marcia A. Kuehl, Chemist
Robert M. Uschan, Senior Chemical Engineer
Donohue & Associates, Inc.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53083
INTRODUCTION
In 1980, volatile organic compounds (VOC) were found at trace concentrations in the well water
supply of the City of New Brighton, Minnesota. A consultant under contract to the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) examined local industrial operations and listed potential sources of
VOC in the drinking water. The primary suspected source was the Twin City Army Ammunition Plant
(TCAAP); however, several other potential sources outside the boundaries of TCAAP were identified. Numerous private wells southwest of TCAAP were reported to contain organic solvent concentrations in excess of current health standards. Municipal wells at the City of St. Anthony and Fridley
also contained organic solvents. Major solvent concentrations identified in regional wells include: I)
1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE); 2) cis-l,2-dichloroethylene (cis-l,2-DCE); 3) 1,1,1-trichloroethane
(TCA); and 4) trichloroethylene (TCE). A number of other chlorinated solvents including known
degradation products of those listed were found in lower concentrations.
As a result of this early work, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requested owners
or operators at other identified potential sources to submit site history information. The MPCA also
acted under authority of the Superfund Program to conduct further area-wide investigations.
One site selected for further investigation is an area approximately one mile southwest of TCAAP
and one-half mile northeast of the City of New Brighton. The property was previously owned by the
Minnesota Transfer Railway Company (MTR) which in recent history leased portions to various light
industrial and commercial enterprises. One lessee was the Trio Solvents Company, a recycler of waste
solvents. The site, generally known as the Trio Solvents (Trio) area, is listed on the National Priorities
List.
Representatives of MPCA and USEPA indicated that known compounds of interest at the site
include those identified in regional water supply wells.
Several site investigations were conducted at the Trio Site between 1982 and 1985. Reports from
these investigations indicated that monitoring wells located in the vicinity of the former Trio Solvents
operation contained chlorinated and nonchlorinated organic solvents.
In April 1985 the consultant for MTR initiated an additional investigation at the Trio site. The
investigation included soil sampling from borings and backhoe pits, installation of groundwater
monitoring wells, a magnetometer survey to determine whether drums were present beneath the
surface, borehole logging, field permeability tests and water elevation measurements to determine the
geologic and hydrogeologic characteristics of the site, and groundwater sampling and analysis to
determine water quality at the site. Water elevations and groundwater samples were collected from
wells installed by other investigators during previous studies and from new wells. The purpose of the
investigation was to determine if past site operations had introduced chemicals into the various
43rd Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, £  1989 Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
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