A proposed new standard currently being developed by ASTM International Committee D18 on Soil and Rock will be a useful tool in assuring that an important technique for describing volatile organic contaminants in subsurface soils and ground water is properly performed in the field. The proposed standard, WK13569, Practice for Direct Push Technology for Volatile Contaminant Logging with the Membrane Interface Probe (MIP), is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D18.21 on Ground Water and Vadose Zone Investigations.
 
“The MIP system has become a widely accepted screening method over the past several years,” says Jonathan Terpening, member of the WK13569 task group and a chemist at Geoprobe Systems. “A standard practice is needed to ensure the comparability and repeatability between different operators.” The proposed new standard will assure the quality of work being performed in the field by giving regulators and consultants a means to compare data from different operators.
 
WK13569 describes how to obtain a real-time vertical log of volatile organic contaminants with depth. The data obtained is indicative of the total volatile organic contaminant concentration in the subsurface at depth.
 
Terpening says that the MIP system has been used for investigations of underground storage tanks, solvents, landfills and integrated plumes (chlorinated solvents in petroleum products). While operators of membrane interface probes will be the primary users of WK13569, Terpening notes that regulators and environmental consultants, including geologists and engineers, are among those experts who find MIP data useful to their work. The standard will also be useful to meet quality assurance plans required for hazardous waste site investigations and will serve as a standard operating procedure required under those plans.

For further technical information, contact Jonathan Terpening, Geoprobe Systems, Salina, Kan. (phone: 785/825-1851, ex. 177; terpeningj@geoprobe.com). Committee D18 meets Jan 28-31, 2007, during the January Committee Week in Costa Mesa, Calif. For membership or meeting information, contact Robert Morgan, manager, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9732; rmorgan@astm.org).

Release #7584