Understanding complex LNAPL sites: Illustrated handbook of LNAPL transport and fate in the subsurface

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to highlight the management of the complexities and risks for light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) sites, and how the Illustrated Handbook of LNAPL Transport and Fate in the Subsurface (CL:AIRE, London. ISBN 978-1-905046-24-9. http://www.claire.co.uk/LNAPL; “LNAPL illustrated handbook”) is useful guidance and a tool for professionals to understand these complexities and risks. The LNAPL illustrated handbook provides a clear and concise best-practice guidance document, which is a valuable decision support tool for use in discussions and negotiations regarding LNAPL impacted sites with respect to the risks of LNAPL. The LNAPL illustrated handbook is a user-friendly overview of the nature of LNAPL contamination in various geological settings including unconsolidated, consolidated, and fractured rock environments to best understand its fate and behavior leading to the appropriate management and/or remedial approach of the two major risks associated with a LNAPL source. As a source term, LNAPL has chemicals that form dissolved- and vapor-phase plumes, which are referred to as composition-based risks; and being a liquid there is the risk that the source may expand impacting a greater volume of the aquifer, which are referred to as saturation-based risks. There have been significant developments in recent years on the understanding of the complex behavior of LNAPL and associated groundwater and vapor plumes; however, the state of practice has often lagged these improvements in knowledge. The LNAPL illustrated handbook aids the site investigator, site owners, and regulators to understand these risks, and understand how these risks behave through better conceptual understanding of LNAPL transport and fate in the subsurface.