{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/84395"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/84395","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Evaluation of Impacts Resulting from Home Heating Oil Tank Discharges","abstract":"Diesel #2 is used to heat nearly 400,000 dwellings in Virginia. Home heating oil released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in unsaturated soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings, known as vapor intrusion, can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this look-back study, we assessed the potential for petroleum vapor intrusion by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants, in particular total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and naphthalene, were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were correlated to site variables (building type, remediation time, physiographic region) including previous abatement measures. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising predictive site variable, with visible trends downward in DEQ Category 2 sites with increased remediation time. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near basement-style dwellings, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of contaminants and the flow of oxygen to the release source zone. We found that many sites exceeded the sub-slab risk target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous abatement strategy efficacy.","abstract_html":"Diesel #2 is used to heat nearly 400,000 dwellings in Virginia. Home heating oil released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in unsaturated soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings, known as vapor intrusion, can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this look-back study, we assessed the potential for petroleum vapor intrusion by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants, in particular total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and naphthalene, were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were correlated to site variables (building type, remediation time, physiographic region) including previous abatement measures. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising predictive site variable, with visible trends downward in DEQ Category 2 sites with increased remediation time. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near basement-style dwellings, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of contaminants and the flow of oxygen to the release source zone. We found that many sites exceeded the sub-slab risk target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous abatement strategy efficacy.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Weiner, Ellen Rebecca"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Environmental Engineering","degree_department":"Environmental Sciences and Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Widdowson, Mark A."],"committee_members":["Little, John C.","Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel"],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-07-25","date_published":"2018-07-25","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:04Z","subjects":["unsaturated","petroleum hydrocarbon","pollutant attenuation","vapor transport","vadose","soil vapor intrusion","naphthalene","ethylbenzene","benzene","total petroleum hydrocarbon"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:16392"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:16392","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/84395","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Widdowson, Mark A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Little, John C.","Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Environmental Sciences and Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Weiner, Ellen Rebecca"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2018-07-26T08:00:17Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-07-26T08:00:17Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018-07-25"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["unsaturated","petroleum hydrocarbon","pollutant attenuation","vapor transport","vadose","soil vapor intrusion","naphthalene","ethylbenzene","benzene","total petroleum hydrocarbon"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:16392"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/84395"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Diesel #2 is used to heat nearly 400,000 dwellings in Virginia. Home heating oil released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in unsaturated soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings, known as vapor intrusion, can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this look-back study, we assessed the potential for petroleum vapor intrusion by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants, in particular total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and naphthalene, were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were correlated to site variables (building type, remediation time, physiographic region) including previous abatement measures. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising predictive site variable, with visible trends downward in DEQ Category 2 sites with increased remediation time. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near basement-style dwellings, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of contaminants and the flow of oxygen to the release source zone. We found that many sites exceeded the sub-slab risk target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous abatement strategy efficacy."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Diesel is used to heat nearly 400,000 residences in Virginia. Diesel released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this study, we assessed the potential for vapor migration by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were compared to site variables (building type, time since spill, soil type) including previous remediation activity. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising as a predictive site variable. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near dwellings with basements, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of vapors. We found that many sites exceeded the target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous remediation effectiveness."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Evaluation of Impacts Resulting from Home Heating Oil Tank Discharges"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Widdowson, Mark A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Little, John C.","Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel"],"dc:contributor.department":["Environmental Sciences and Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Weiner, Ellen Rebecca"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2018-07-26T08:00:17Z"],"dc:date.available":["2018-07-26T08:00:17Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018-07-25"],"dc:description.abstract":["Diesel #2 is used to heat nearly 400,000 dwellings in Virginia. Home heating oil released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in unsaturated soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings, known as vapor intrusion, can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this look-back study, we assessed the potential for petroleum vapor intrusion by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants, in particular total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and naphthalene, were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were correlated to site variables (building type, remediation time, physiographic region) including previous abatement measures. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising predictive site variable, with visible trends downward in DEQ Category 2 sites with increased remediation time. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near basement-style dwellings, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of contaminants and the flow of oxygen to the release source zone. We found that many sites exceeded the sub-slab risk target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous abatement strategy efficacy."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Diesel is used to heat nearly 400,000 residences in Virginia. Diesel released from leaking underground tanks located adjacent to homes and residing in soil adjacent to houses poses a potentially serious health risk. Specifically, the migration of hazardous vapors into buildings can negatively impact indoor air quality in homes and public buildings (USEPA 2015). In this study, we assessed the potential for vapor migration by sampling soil vapor at 25 previously remediated spill sites. Residual contaminants were detected in approximately 1/3 of the samples. Concentration levels were compared to site variables (building type, time since spill, soil type) including previous remediation activity. Spill category as assigned by the remediation contractor was investigated in conjunction with these three site variables. Remediation time was the most promising as a predictive site variable. Higher contaminant concentrations were found near dwellings with basements, which we hypothesize is due to the wall of the basement blocking horizontal migration of vapors. We found that many sites exceeded the target threshold in naphthalene concentration, which has negative implications on previous remediation effectiveness."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:16392"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/84395"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["unsaturated","petroleum hydrocarbon","pollutant attenuation","vapor transport","vadose","soil vapor intrusion","naphthalene","ethylbenzene","benzene","total petroleum hydrocarbon"],"dc:title":["Evaluation of Impacts Resulting from Home Heating Oil Tank Discharges"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Environmental Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:04Z"}