Equipment Decontamination Procedures for Ground Water and Vadose Zone Monitoring Programs: Status and Prospects

Abstract

AbstractA major portion of the work effort and, therefore, the money spent during investigations of ground water and the vadose zone at hazardous waste sites is associated with collecting chemical data. To that end, effective decontamination of reusable drilling equipment, sampling apparatus, and tools is critical to the credibility of chemical data. Samples representative of the site under study are essential.Several state and federal regulatory agencies have established guidelines for procedures that should be considered when developing decontamination protocols. These agencies were contacted and asked to furnish copies of their decontamination guidelines. The information received was reviewed, and comparisons were made to assess the status of standards of decontamination practices for ground water and vadose zone monitoring programs at hazardous waste sites. Summaries of a variety of decontamination protocols were prepared. From this review, it is apparent that there is a need to standardize, to the extent possible, procedures for the field decontamination of equipment.Two ASTM Subcommittees, D18.14 on Waste Management and D18.21 on Ground Water and Vadose Zone Monitoring, are currently working on developing standards for decontamination procedures. They, in cooperation with state and federal agencies and other interested technical groups, will develop standards for the field decontamination of equipment used to study ground water and the vadose zone.