EPA Uses Greener Cleanup Practices to Reduce Environmental Footprint at
Telles Ranch UST Site, Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation
When cleaning up contamination, EPA strives to reduce its environmental footprint by using greener cleanup
practices whenever possible. In 2017, EPA's Pacific Southwest Underground Storage Tank (UST) program
performed a greener cleanups evaluation at the Telles Ranch leaking UST site in Arizona, documented greener
cleanup practices already underway, and identified additional greener cleanup practices.
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Top of canal bank showing product skimmers used in the remedy at Telles Ranch
Photo by Scott Ruth, Bristol Environmental
Using the ASTM International Standard Guide for Greener Cleanups best
management practices checklist, EPA documented 18 greener cleanup practices
already underway, which reflect efficiency of site operations and reduction of
our environmental footprint at the Telles Ranch site. The best management
practices included recycling recovered petroleum and using a telemetry system
to monitor site conditions remotely. We also identified four best management
practices that could further reduce the environmental footprint while still
achieving the same protective cleanup at the site. The additional practices
included using a solar power pack system to power on-site activities and
driving alternative fuel vehicles for trips to and from the site.
Evaluating the Telles Ranch activities for greener cleanup practices provided good ideas for greening the cleanup,
and applying the best management practices checklist was straightforward and beneficial. See ASTM's website for
the greener cleanup report about Telles Ranch: www.astm.org/COMMIT/E2893 GreenerCleanupReports.html.
About the Telles Ranch Site
The Telles Ranch site is located 7 miles south of Poston, Arizona, on the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation.
The site is approximately 8 acres, and it is currently operated as a farm equipment maintenance facility. There are a
few homes nearby. Various activities at the property dating back to 1942 resulted in release of petroleum into the
subsurface. Petroleum product removal began in 1990 and continues to the present using skimmer pumps and a
product interceptor pipe.
For More Information
To learn more about underground storage tanks in Indian country: www.epa.gov/ust/underground-storage-tanks-
u s t s - p ro g ram -1 n d i an -co u n t p. . For information about greener cleanups: www.epa.gov/greenercleanups.
Transporting recovered product
for recycling
SEPA
Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Washington, D.C. 20460
vwKW.epa.gov/ust
February 2018

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