IPA EVALUATION AND EFFICIENCY OF FREE PHASE REMEDIATION IN A FUEL RETAIL STATION AT THE MUNICIPALITY OF NATAL - RN: A CASE STUDY
Environmental liability, Fuel retail outlets, Free phase, Remediation
The activities involving the management of petroleum origin fuels are inherent to serious environmental risks when associated with the contact of these products with the environment by any means of entry, including cracks presents in underground storage tanks for liquid fuels at gas stations. The present research has the objective of evaluate the Environmental Passive Investigation carried out at a gas station in the city of Natal (RN), from which the free phase thicknesses were evaluated in the monitoring wells as a function of pluviometrics indices of the region and the remediation systems applied by signing a adjustment conduct term between the entrepreneur and the public ministry, with the purpose of correcting the environmental liabilities arising from the activities developed by the enterprise. The study area showed persistence of free phase along 18 consecutive months, during which time a positive response to the applied remediation technology was associated with the Multiphase Extraction and a coherent relationship was established between the free phase thickness measured with the seasonal variation of rainfall, which assumed an inverse proportional relationship. In these terms, could be assessed that rainfall is a factor that interferes with remediation. The resurgent free phase detected in 2015 after the remediation work stoppage was associated with possible new contamination sources or logistical failures in which the last free phase measurements were given at the end of 2013. After 29 months of remediation in which pumping was carried out, was verified a fuel recovery product in the order of 2,469.79 liters, conferring the importance of environmental liabilities in the environment quality preservation proposing effective mechanisms in the remediation of the impacts caused by economic activities developed at social environment.