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Tragic Plane Crash Leaves 80 Tons of Contaminated Soil in its Aftermath
MARCOR Remediation Responds to Spill of 200 Gallons of Aviation Fuel in Residential Area
11/29/2007–PHOENIX, MD–The day started like any other for the residents of a neighborhood near Hillendale Country Club in Jacksonville, MD, Baltimore County, but a single-engine plane shattered the quiet and came crashing from the sky just 75 feet from one of the homes. Residents in the area heard the crash and rushed to the scene to help. The tragic accident left three men dead and approximately 200 gallons of volatile aviation fuel seeping into the ground.
While federal aviation investigators have yet to issue a final finding on the cause of the accident, the homeowners knew they had a hazardous condition on the property and consulted with their landscaper, TDH Nurseries & Landscaping in Monkton, to find the most qualified environmental contractor for the project. TDH brought in MARCOR Remediation Inc., a national environmental services contractor headquartered in Hunt Valley to handle the cleanup of some 80 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil. Project Manager Dennis Raver, CES, supervised the remediation process.
A crew using a skid steer excavator removed contaminated soil spread over a 3,500-sq.-ft area to a depth of a half-foot. A consultant engaged by the aircraft owner's insurance company studied the contamination and did not find any levels of contamination exceeding residential cleanup standards below the six-inch mark. When the project was completed, MARCOR technicians had loaded four 30-yard, lined dumpsters with the soil, which was transported to a recycling site in Brandywine, MD. There, the petroleum-contaminated soil was recycled using super heat, which burned off the petroleum, making it suitable for recycling into bricks and road mix.
The Piper aircraft had taken off from Harford County Airport just after 9:00 a.m. when it suddenly lost power. Witnesses said it appeared to be attempting to land on the Hillendale Country Club golf course. Instead, it plummeted from the sky, initially hitting trees on a property on County Club Lane, and then diving nose first into the ground. Since the plane had only been in the sky for a few minutes and had presumably taken off with a full tank, MARCOR's Raver estimated the fuel spill to be the entire contents of the fuel tanks in both wings.
Interestingly, the recent drought conditions may have helped preserve the environment around the crash, according to Raver. "Because we haven't had much rain, the aviation fuel did not seep far into the ground. If we had a rainy period, the rain would have caused a significant downward migration," Raver noted.
MARCOR Remediation, a specialty contracting company founded in 1980 with a current staff of 700 and headquarters in Hunt Valley, MD, performs a full range of environmental contracting services. These include industrial cleaning, MRSA decontamination, asbestos and lead hazard abatement, mold remediation, plant/process decommissioning and demolition, soil and groundwater remediation, emergency spill response, gun range remediation, storage tank management, and restorative cleaning projects. Customers typically include industrial hygienists, commercial and industrial clients, government agencies, environmental consultants, real estate development and property management firms, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), the hospitality industry, educational institutions, health care facilities, and others. Each of the company's 14 offices is staffed with the necessary mix of senior technical management, regulatory compliance experts, and experienced HAZMAT labor force. For more information, the Web site is www.marcor.com.
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