A Practical Approach to the Design, Operation, and Monitoring of In Situ Soil‐Venting Systems

Abstract When operated properly, in situ soil venting or vapor extraction can be one of the most cost‐effective remediation processes for soils contaminated with gasoline, solvents, or other relatively, volatile compounds. The components of soil‐venting systems are typically off‐the‐shelf items, and the installation of wells and trenches can be done by reputable environmental firms. However, the design, operation, and monitoring of soil‐venting systems are not trivial. In fact, choosing whether or not venting should be applied at a given site is a difficult decision in itself. If one decides to utilize venting, design criteria involving the number of wells, well spacing, well location, well construction, and vapor treatment systems must be addressed. A series of questions must be addressed to decide if venting is appropriate at a given site and to design cost‐effective in situ soil‐venting systems. This series of steps and questions forms a “decision tree” process. The development of this approach is an attempt to identify the limitations of in situ soil venting, and subjects or behavior that are currently difficult to quantify and for which future study is needed.