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. ------- |