Investigation of Coal Tar Mobility at a Former MGP Site

Abstract

The presence of coal tar in the subsurface of former manufactured gas plant sites poses an environmental hazard and a potential threat to public health. Coal tar can release various chemical compounds that are transported into the groundwater. Before any efforts can be made to remove coal tar from contaminated subsurface soils, it is recommended to characterize coal tar properties and composition and to delineate the residual saturation point between mobile and immobile coal tar. This paper presents a new innovative field device, the Res-SAT field tool, and laboratory procedures that can be used to determine the saturation-capillary pressure relationship for a soil-water coal-tar system and the critical pressure for coal tar mobility.