Braun Intertec conducted multi-media (soil, sediment [elutriate], surface water, and groundwater) sampling for a future marine terminal planned to be developed and located on the Texas City Ship Channel, Galveston County, Texas. The Site is scheduled to have three distinct phases of dredging over a period of 10 years. Approximately 7.24 million cubic yards of material will be dredged to deepen the Texas City channel and create five berths for oil tankers. Dredge material will be relocated to a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facility or private facility if not impacted. In preparation of dredge spoil management and placement, sampling and analysis of the in-place material was required to determine final placement and management specifications to meet USACE requirements as stated in the Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP).
Braun Intertec was retained to collect, analyze and evaluate the sediment, water, groundwater, elutriate and consolidated soil samples which were used to adequately characterize the proposed dredge materials. Sampling analysis, locations and collection were detailed in the negotiated SAP with USACE. Quality assurance and quality control were negotiated in the SAP and were performed on duplicate samples, matrix spike (MS) and matrix spike duplicate (MSD) samples. The SAP requirements for analytes included ammonia, Texas 12 metals, Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), Semi-volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), cyanide, dioxins/furans, pesticides, hexavalent (VI) chromium, percent moisture, grain size and tributyltin.
Braun Intertec completed data evaluation of collected field data and laboratory analytical results and utilized a statistical evaluation negotiated in the SAP. The completed summary reporting consisted of both hard copy and electronic versions of reports and data detailing the soil, groundwater and elutriate investigation according to USACE requirements as outlined in the SAP. The deliverables were provided by Braun Intertec to the City of Texas City and up to three other entities assigned on time and on budget.
