Presented by Randy St. Germain ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Dakota Technologies Inc.
Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Multi-component dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) such as coal tar and creosote are potent source terms for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) due to PAH’s affinity for NAPL vs water. But creosote, coal tar, and bunker fuel remain “fringe” contaminants of interest in the sense that while investigators recognize their risk, they often underestimate the difficulty involved in properly characterizing these complex materials. Because they are “black goos” it is often assumed you can delineate them accurately with basic sampling and field observations and/or the usual laundry list of chemical analyses that speciate components. But multi-component DNAPLs are highly variable and heterogeneously distributed contaminants that are very difficult to delineate accurately.  We’ll describe two innovative optical methods capable of rapidly and cost-effectively screening soils and sediments for these PAH-containing DNAPLs.

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