Air, Soil Vapor, Surface Water,
and Groundwater Monitoring
WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC. • KETTLEMAN HILLS FACILITY

Department
of Toxic
Substances
Control
Air Monitoring
Three air monitoring stations collect air samples during a 24-hour period
every 12 days. This monitoring system also includes a meteorological
station. The monitoring stations are located to detect chemical
concentrations coming from facility operations. Regulatory agencies
have monitored facility air emissions at the site since 1986. DTSC has
analyzed site airborne data fora more comprehensive list of chemicals
since 2006. Predominant winds at the Kettleman Hills facility blow from
northwest to southeast. Kettleman City is northeast of the facility.
Soil Vapor
Soil vapor is found in the air between soil particles below the surface of the
ground. Soil vapor at the Kettleman Hills Facility is monitored and sampled
for chemical contaminants from two former unlined ponds and for methane
gas from landfill areas that contain municipal waste or trash. Regulating
agencies review data from the 11 methane monitoring wells and the nine
volatile organic compound monitoring wells.
United States
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Surface Water
Surface water is water that flows or collects on the surface of the ground.
No rainfall, stormwater or surface water that contacts hazardous waste
is allowed to flow outside the facility's boundaries. Runoff that contacts
hazardous waste is contained and managed as hazardous waste. Other
runoff is collected through ditches and culverts to lined retention basins
designed to handle the maximum rainfall. Runoff in the basins is allowed
to evaporate. Because the area has very low rainfall, surface water rarely
collects at the site.
Groundwater
There are 48 monitoring wells at the Kettleman Hills Facility to detect
and track any chemicals released into the groundwater. Samples have
been collected from monitoring wells four times yearly for the past 25
years. DTSC and other agencies review the results to determine whether
releases to groundwater have occurred. For the facility's future, DTSC will
continue to monitor groundwater at the site.

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