After a very long wait, it’s finally here. Thirteen years in the making and spanning multiple Presidential administrations, it’s finally being released to the public.
I bet you think I’m talking about the new Star Wars movie, right? Wrong, as it’s only been 10 years since the last Star Wars movie was released. Rather, I’m talking about the Oswer Technical Guide For Assessing And Mitigating The Vapor Intrusion Pathway From Subsurface Vapor Sources To Indoor Air and Technical Guide For Addressing Petroleum Vapor Intrusion At Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites.
Since our Federal government was so prompt in getting us a final document after releasing the Draft in 2002, many State agencies developed and adopted their own rules. Over the next several years the State and Federal agencies will (maybe) get on the same page on Vapor Intrusion (VI).
So what is the big deal? From what I can tell, one of the biggest differences between the 2002 and 2015 documents is the guidance document specific to the UST releases. UST releases are responsible for the bulk of the VI issues found in the USA as the 2002 Draft document was geared more toward Superfund sites. The 123 page 2015 Draft document is filled with useful flow charts and diagrams, but is mostly a page of text followed by two pages of references.
Lucky for those of us in the environmental remediation business, technology has not been standing still for the last 13 years. If you are interested in finding out about the latest monitoring, assessment, and mitigation devices for VI, please contact us at [email protected].