Federal Street Petroleum Remediation

WHEM has been working with SB Collins on their 0.80-acre property at 96 Federal Street for over 15 years. Formerly operated by Clarence Brown as a fueling station and junk yard, the property is in an industrial part of St. Albans adjacent to the railroad line and the historic New England Railroad roundhouse. Since site redevelopment in 2016, there are now new gasoline and diesel pumps with 24-hr service, new paving/curbing, new utilities including an improved stormwater management system, and new landscaping. 

Due to extensive petroleum contamination in soil and groundwater from former uses, WHEM developed a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which was approved by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Sites Management Section. The CAP involved removal of the seven (7) existing petroleum underground storage tanks (USTs) and piping, replacement with new USTs and piping, management of soil during the re-grading and utility installation, and installation of a remediation system.

The remediation system incorporates a soil vapor extraction (SVE) and air sparging (AS) system for remediation of contaminated soils, leading to improved groundwater quality. An extensive groundwater monitoring well network surrounds the systems and encompasses the property. Contaminant concentrations in groundwater are generally trending downward at the site, with 200 gallons of hydrocarbon removal by the SVE and AS systems since 2016. WHEM is currently researching CAP amendment options for injections of oxygen-releasing compounds to stimulate naturally occurring microbes to break down the residual petroleum contamination at the core of the dissolved phase plume. Groundwater analytics will continue to be monitored to document the treatment process, with reporting to the VT DEC.

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