Soil Sampling and Field Screening for Skurupey 1-9H Spill Cleanup, Billings County, North Dakota
Following the Skurupey 1-9H spill incident, North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) and the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) requested that Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR) conduct field screening for the spill cleanup effort according to Section V of the NDIC Guide with only a minor amount of laboratory analysis for quality assurance. CLR contracted Pioneer to complete soil sampling and field screening to determine the extent of the soil contamination from the spill incident and confirm that contaminated soils were removed and clear of the root zone.
Pioneer developed a work plan complete with a sampling grid for the soil sampling effort and the list of field parameters to be measured during the sampling event: pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPH), and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons (EPH)-screen. For quality assurance purposes, various soil sample would also sent to a laboratory to be analyzed for EC, pH and TPH. The regulatory agencies approved the work plan and proposed sampling grid.
Interval soil sampling and field screening efforts were completed over 80 acres to determine both the horizontal and vertical extent of soil contamination from the spill incident. Once soil was removed to the approximate extents outlined in the work plan, the field team collected and field screened 5-point composite samples of the surface soils (0 to 2 inches) to confirm contaminated soils were removed and clear of the root zone.
In addition to soil sampling, Pioneer collected two water samples from pooled water located on the well pad at the request of CLR. Collected water samples were sent to a laboratory to be analyzed for chloride, VPH, EPH, ethylene glycol, and methanol.
Pioneer compiled the field screening and laboratory results into a report for CLR.
