ARCADIS (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the international consulting and engineering company, today announced that a collaborative groundwater remediation project for TOTAL PETROCHEMICALS USA, INC. (TPI) in Greensboro, NC has been awarded the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) Outstanding Ground Water Remediation Project Award. The NGWA award recognizes excellence in restoring contaminated ground water including originality or uniqueness in providing new insights into ground water remediation; creativity and imagination in the engineered or constructed solution; and the use of solid ground water supply, protection and/or remediation principles. This project was designed and constructed by a Team of consultants and contractors working for TPI, who also are co-recipients to this award, including ARCADIS, team led; Lone Wolf Resources, LLC; Groundwater & Environmental Services, Inc.; Environmental Systems & Technology (ES&T); McMillan-McGee Corp. (Mc2); and MK Environmental, Inc. TPI’s process safety and security personnel were also integrated into the design process to help ensure safety of construction and operations personnel. Rick Charter, Senior Vice President of HSSE and Government Affairs in TPI’s Houston, TX office accepted this prestigious award at the NGWA Groundwater Expo in Orlando, Florida on December 6, 2007. 

The TPI Greensboro project involves the remediation of petroleum fuels in soil and groundwater below more than 6.5 acres of TPI’s former bulk fuel storage facility. In conjunction with TPI, the project team tested a number of remedial alternatives, and selected a strategy that employed the Electro-Thermal Dynamic Stripping Process TM, developed by Mc2, which heats the soil and groundwater by applying electrical energy to subsurface electrodes. Steam, heated groundwater, liquid-phase petroleum hydrocarbons, soil gases, and vapor-phase hydrocarbons are recovered and treated using conventional equipment. Sophisticated ground water modeling techniques developed by ES&T were used to estimate product migration rates, and determine the optimal duration of soil and groundwater heating. From March to October 2007, the remedial system extracted from the first treatment zone more than 80% of the estimated in-place mass of hydrocarbon. A similar treatment strategy will be employed in three additional treatment zones over the next 2 years.  Project completion is currently expected in 2009. This project currently is the largest electro-thermal remediation project ever constructed.

Chris Itin, Lone Wolf Resources, LLC,  acting project manager on behalf of TPI, stated, “this project is successful because of TPI’s commitment to excellence in environmental and health and safety performance, as well as the dedication and team work of the entire Greensboro Remediation Team.”

ARCADIS is an international company providing consultancy, engineering and management services in infrastructure, environment and facilities, to enhance mobility, sustainability and quality of life. ARCADIS develops, designs, implements, maintains and operates projects for companies and governments. With more than 12,000 employees and over $2 billion in gross revenue, the company has an extensive international network that is supported by strong local market positions.