Periodically, when we are undertaking drilling for our environmental consultant clients who are undertaking contaminant investigations, we encounter waste asphalt in the split spoon samples we provide or in the auger cuttings exiting the borehole. When undertaking an investigation for petroleum hydrocarbons, does this material interfere with the investigations? Is this material soil as defined by the MOE Standards? Are the analytical techniques used appropriate for this material? A recent article produced by Investigative Science Incorporated (ISI) in Burlington discusses the analytical issues.
Check out Case #3 in their Volume 9, Number 2 edition of Watson’s Notes