New Process Is Leading The Way To Cleaning Up Groundwater

Bennett Oil is partnering with a California company to make big strides toward cleaning up contaminated groundwater and soil in Arizona.

The company at 810 E. Sheldon St. is working with CalClean, Inc. out of Tustin, Calif., to clean up groundwater and soil that has been contaminated by petroleum from leaking underground tanks.

CalClean has developed a quicker, less invasive and more efficient way to treat contaminated groundwater that is more cost effective for business owners.

How the process works, according to supervisor/field operator Kevin Kaiser, is that a one-inch hose, or "stinger," is placed down inside the wells, which brings up the dirty water.

The water is then run through a variety of vacuums and filters located on a truck that cleans it. The cleaned water is collected in a large storage tank and trucked off to wastewater facilities or emptied into the city's sewer system. The completely "green" process eliminates the expense and inconvenience of jack hammering any concrete or pavement. Businesses also can stay open during the process.

The company, which has been in existence for more than 13 years, has helped cleanup areas in Florida, Idaho, and California, Kaiser said.

The company has helped cleanup and close more than 260 contamination cases, CalClean representative Jim Rodkey said.

"This is a real cutting edge technology that has been proven successful in California," Rodkey said. "The company is doing work for the Sam's Clubs. Chevron has made them a qualified vendor and they have over 21,000 gas stations."

Bennett Oil has been working on a remediation project to clean up contaminated ground water for nearly 30 years, Bennett Oil president Lenora Nelson said Saturday. The water was contaminated when the underground premium petroleum line was nicked during the installation of a fence around the property.

"CalClean has cleaned up more product in three days than we've been able to clean up in five years," Nelson said. "My dad was 46-years-old when this leak occurred, now he's 76.

"My goal is to have him see it cleaned up in his lifetime."

According to Nelson, who also is president of the Arizona Petroleum Market Association, there are more than 2,000 documented leaking systems in Arizona that are under remediation and cleanup.