History
A 4,700-gallon jet fuel release at Altus Air Force Base resulted in petroleum impacts requiring mechanical excavation, vacuum excavation, contaminated soil removal, confirmation sampling, backfill, and site restoration. Hull’s was engaged to perform the field implementation portion of the remediation, including excavation support, hauling, disposal coordination, and restoration activities at the affected area on the base.
Challenge
The work was performed in an active military environment with controlled access, airfield driving requirements, designated truck routes, FOD-related procedures, and operational constraints that required careful coordination before field activities could begin. Once excavation was underway, the project became more complex than initially anticipated due to the way the released fuel migrated with the natural terrain. Wet weather, landfill access limitations, elevated vapor readings, and the need to avoid over-excavation while still achieving clean confirmation results added to the complexity of the project. Oklahoma DEQ ultimately required impacted areas to be excavated to a cutoff depth of 6 feet, provided the excavation walls were clean.
Solution
Hull’s mobilized labor, dump trucks, equipment trailers, a skid steer, mini excavator, sampling equipment, vacuum truck resources, and related field support equipment to execute the remediation. The team excavated and staged impacted soil, coordinated transportation and disposal, and used PID screening throughout the work to help define the limits of contamination and avoid removing more soil than necessary. Confirmation samples were collected in accordance with Oklahoma DEQ expectations, and where elevated results remained, Hull’s performed additional targeted removal before proceeding to backfill and reseeding.
Outcome
Hull’s completed a substantial remedial excavation and restoration effort at Altus Air Force Base. The excavation ultimately reached approximately 51’ x 105’ x 6’, and Hull’s removed approximately 1,820 tons of impacted soil in 95 loads for disposal. After additional targeted removal and follow-up confirmation sampling, the site was backfilled and restored. The project log states that final samples returned non-detect following the additional removal effort.
