Bioremediation of a Railroad Diesel Fuel Spill in Palmer, Massachusetts

Abstract

The nature of the railroad industry nearly ensures the release of petroleum hydrocarbons (in the form of diesel fuel, motor oil, lubricating oils, etc.) to the soils and subsoils along the thousands of miles of rail tracks throughout the United States. The operation of a locomotive, for obvious reasons, is dependent upon the use of these forms of petroleum hydrocarbons, and leaks, spills and accidents are unavoidable in many cases. Nevertheless, these releases may be regulated by state environmental agencies. In Massachusetts, for example, the regulations governing the cleanup of releases of oil and hazardous materials — the so-called Massachusetts Contingency Plan, 310 CMR 40.000 — do not exempt the railroad industry from remediating spills in excess of the 10 -gallon Reportable Quantity’. Cleanup of spills along active rail lines, however, can be quitechallenging. Rail traffic presents significant dangers to remediation personnel. Moreover,although excavation of contaminated soils is often the most expedient method for remediatinga spill, this option is not always available at sites along active lines, particularly those with noalternative routes, as interruption of rail traffic is not economically acceptable for the railcompany or its clientele. At the 2001 International Conference on Contaminated Soils,Sediments and Water, the authors presented the preliminary results of a bioremediationprogram that was implemented at the Palmer Railroad Yard to address the release of 700gallons of diesel fuel along 1,000 linear feet of railroad tracks. The initial results of theproject were inconclusive; however, in the intervening period additional inoculation ,fertilization and wetting of the affected soils has produced a reduction of soil petroleumhydrocarbon concentrations to levels that are less than the regulatory cleanup standards,thereby allowing site closure. In this paper we will present the details of the additionalremediation activities undertaken at the site since 2001 and report on the final analyticalresults to make the case for using this remediation approach successfully at other activerailroad sites.