ABSTRACT
Competent site remediation requires an understanding of the processes of gas manufacture that were applied in the various operational periods of each gas plant. When this is understood, then the mechanics of the gas-making process can be discovered and, with this stage of knowledge, the nature, presence, and relative amounts and concentrations of related hazardous wastes can be predicted across the gasworks property. The town gasworks was once the pride of the city fathers, bringer of light to an otherwise dreary night of recuperating from the hardships of most people’s lives. The plant (Figure 2.1) occupied a distinctive location in the town, nearly always deŽned by its positional needs to supply the town:
• Adjacent to the river, railroad, or canal that brought the coal. • Found on the “wrong side of the tracks,” respectful of its noise, smoke, and general all-
around nuisance factor. • Near a source of cold, clear process water. • Next to a convenient point of discharge for its dirty process ef£uent. • As close as possible to the central business district, as a source of ready revenue at the
cheapest pipe-distribution cost. • At the lowest possible elevation in town, for its gas was lighter than air and naturally rose
in distribution. • Adjacent or near undesirable ground suitable for dumping its unwanted residuals and gen-
eral plant wastes.
