NYSDOH ADDS EVALUATION GUIDANCE FOR THIRTEEN VOLATILE PETROLEUM COMPOUNDS

March 04, 2024 / Industry News

The New York State Department of Health (Health Department) developed new decision matrices for assessing soil vapor intrusion for 13 volatile petroleum compounds. This long-awaited update to the Health Department’s guidance for evaluating soil vapor intrusion will help property owners and their consultants evaluate if subsurface petroleum impacts may result in a health concern by contaminating the interior air of occupied buildings.

Since 2006, the Health Department’s decision matrices have been an important tool for evaluating if chlorinated solvent compounds released to the subsurface, commonly found at dry cleaning and metal finishing facilities, might create a soil vapor intrusion issue. The Health Department’s guidance is also used to determine if vapor mitigation measures such as sub-slab depressurization systems are warranted at buildings with such environmental concerns to protect the health of the building’s occupants. The addition of these 13 petroleum compounds to the Health Department’s guidance will help environmental consultants in New York make better decisions in accordance with health guidelines for sites with a history of petroleum usage such as auto repair facilities and gas stations that may warrant soil vapor mitigation measures.

You may view the updated Health Department guidance document that includes the new decision matrices for the 13 petroleum compounds along with the previously existing decision matrices for eight chlorinated solvent compounds by clicking here. We’d like to invite you to contact us anytime if you have questions regarding these regulatory updates or if you think your property may have a soil vapor intrusion issue due to possible petroleum impacts.

Additional information can also be found at NYSDOH’s website: https://health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/vapor_intrusion/update.htm