PHOENIX, AZ – SCS Engineers, has recently been awarded several new contracts from State and Federal agencies, as well as private clients, to provide site investigation and remediation services to minimize impacts from Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUSTs). LUSTs can pose a threat to environmental health and safety. SCS’s services help avert impact and restore the environmental conditions of soil and groundwater resources affected by fuel releases and assist in ensuring the health and the safety of the people who work and live nearby.
According to the U.S. EPA, approximately 561,000 underground storage tanks (USTs) nationwide store petroleum or hazardous substances. The greatest potential threat from a leaking UST is contamination of groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans. EPA, states, and tribes work in partnership with industry to protect the environment and human health from potential releases.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of storage tank failures, primarily from single-walled fiberglass tanks installed in the 1990s,” said Randy Bauer, project director with SCS Engineers. “Some fuel additives, such as ethanol, are known to eventually dissolve the epoxy used in the fiberglass tanks, leading to cracks and failures.”
In February 2017, SCS Engineers successfully started two new soil vapor extraction and air sparge remediation systems in Tucson and Bullhead City. SCS currently has seven soil and groundwater remediation systems in operation in Arizona: two in Bullhead City, and one each in Tempe, Phoenix, Buckeye, Tucson, and Poston. Since 2014, SCS’s Arizona office has conducted 18 investigation and remediation projects at LUST release sites.
“SCS has an outstanding working relationship with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), the state regulatory agency responsible for the oversight of LUST sites,” said Bauer. “Our local team has the expertise to design, install and operate the most efficient remediation system at each location.”
