Charlotte Police and Fire Training Academy: potential perand polyfluorinated alkyl substances remedial alternatives

Abstract

LIBBEY, STEPHEN RICHARD. Charlotte Police and Fire Training Academy: potential perand polyfluorinated alkyl substances remedial alternatives (Under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Richmond-Bryant). Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have been used since the 1940s in many industry products as surfactants and in consumer products as water and oil repellents. Due to their widespread use, PFAS have been detected in environmental compartments and humans. Human exposure to PFAS has been associated with a variety of diseases and cancers. Currently, regulatory groundwater standards only exist for a few select PFAS compounds. Cleanup of PFAS impacted sites can be an expensive and long-term process due to their persistence in the environment. Impacts of PFAS on soil and groundwater have been associated with historical use of aqueous film-forming firefighting foams (AFFF), which have been identified at a municipal fire training facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. Based on a literature review and an evaluation of site conditions, several potential emerging technologies were identified that can be deployed at the training facility to meet the site remediation strategy. Of the potential technologies, the preferred remediation alternatives include source area soil excavation and reagent adsorbent solution injection for the shallow groundwater aquifer and pump and treat technology for the bedrock groundwater aquifer. Due to several literature data gaps, assessment activities and cost estimates are needed to determine if the preferred treatment alternative is the most economically and technologically feasible remedial alternative for the site.