In Ukraine, numerous geological environment sites are contaminated with lost oil products. Among them, there are many that have a long history of pollution transformation and accumulation. Due to the lack of long-term monitoring, much of the pollution history remains unknown, resulting in inadequate conceptual models that have a negative impact on the design of remediation projects. This article examines a solution to this problem, focusing on studies of the territory of the former Bila Tserkva aircraft repair plant (BARP), bordering the State Arboretum «Olexandria». Since 1990, various organizations have assessed geological contamination and proposed remediation strategies for the factory site and surrounding areas. The article provides information on the main results of the performed research. Emphasis is placed on clarifying the reasons for the sharp difference in the data of hydrogeological investigations conducted in 1990 and 2007. Initially, in 1990, liquid petroleum products (aviation kerosene) were detected only at the site of natural groundwater discharge in the upper reaches of the Western Ravine within the arboretum. On the plant’s territory, where there were undoubtedly sources of pollution and migration pathways of petroleum products in the soil, the presence of pollution was recorded only by the specific smell and color of core samples. However, during prospecting and exploration work in 2007 in the same area, three clearly defined lenses of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) were discovered in sub-moraine sands. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the surface of groundwater, measured in 1990, dropped from a layer of moraine loams, where the mobility of light oil products is considered negligible, to sub-moraine sands, which are characterized by a much higher permeability.It should be noted that in the western part of the plant’s territory, where aviation fuel storage tanks were located, traces of contamination were found not only in sub-moraine sands and moraine loams, where the groundwater level fluctuates, but also in soils lying on the moraine. This supports the assumption that in the past, there were emergency releases (losses) of a large volume of fuel into the unsaturated soil layer and the subsequent relatively rapid lateral spread of the oil product in the aeration zone.
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