TITLE:
Managing Public Health Risks Using Air Monitoring at a Former Manufactured Gas Plant Site
AUTHORS:
Robin De Hate, Brian Skelly, Marie Bourgeois, Ushang Desai, Giffe T. Johnson, Raymond D. Harbison
KEYWORDS:
Risk Management, Remediation, Manufactured Gas Plant, Exposure Monitoring, Public Health
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.14,
November
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Monitoring
emissions from a former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site during remediation
was used to manage risks associated with inhalation of Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs) and contaminated particulates acting as an exposure conduit
for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals. This risk
management case study presents a USEPA-approved air monitoring program
implemented to manage public health risks during remediation at a former MGP
site located in the southeast United States. Risk-based Acceptable Air Concentrations
(AACs) were developed and a sampling regimen established to monitor potential
emissions to maintain contaminant concentrations below the AACs. The exposure
duration used was based on a twelve-month project duration and an exposure time
of 24 hours per day; equations, toxicity values and sources were based on
USEPA’s Regional Screening Levels. A total 535 twenty-four hour time weighted
samples (269 VOC samples and 266 PAH samples) were collected over the project
duration. Only minor levels of VOCs and PAHs were detected and no results were
above the AACs. These timeweighted averages demonstrate that the real-time air
monitoring and control measures implemented at the site effectively maintained
concentrations below the AACs and were protective of public health.