Farallon Receives Patent

Farallon is proud to announce that the Farallon VOC Monitoring Probe has been awarded a United States Patent. The Monitoring Probe was devised to address the growing need to easily monitor facilities handling hazardous chemicals for the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the subsurface.

The value of a reliable VOC monitoring system is its ability to detect VOCs in soil vapor, which may indicate that a release has occurred to the subsurface. Early identification of a potential release coupled with a timely response can help to minimize the scope and cost of VOC cleanup activities required by the Washington State Department of Ecology under the Washington State Model Toxics Control Act Cleanup Regulation. Although methods to monitor VOCs existed, the standard methods of installing monitoring ports were rudimentary and not well suited for permanent or semi-permanent installations.

Farallon Principal Engineer Richard McManus and Principal Hydrogeologist Clifford T. Schmitt collaborated to develop an effective permanent monitoring port that was easy and inexpensive to install and monitor, tamperproof, and inconspicuous. With the basic concept of the system in mind, Farallon hired a mechanical engineer to design the monitoring port, incorporating input from Principal Engineering Geologist Peter Jewett and Principal Hydrogeologist Riley Conkin.The mechanical engineer’s drawings were converted into a prototype that consisted of a monitoring port, a soil probe, and a sampling pump (pictured below).

The prototype was inaugurated at a dry cleaner facility where the dry cleaning solvent tetrachloroethene (PCE), a VOC, had been detected in soil several years earlier and reportedly had been remediated. Surprisingly, the Farallon VOC Monitoring Probe detected PCE in soil vapors at unexpected levels, confirming the need for ongoing monitoring for VOCs in subsurface soil vapor to enable a prompt response if a potential release to the subsurface was suggested. The Monitoring Probe has since been installed in multiple dry cleaning facilities and other sites where hazardous materials pose a potential threat.

For additional information on Farallon’s patented VOC Monitoring Probe, see Volatile Organic Compound Monitoring

Related articles that appeared in the Daily Journal of Commerce are available in Farallon’s News Archives:
Solvent Spill? and Taken to the Cleaners

VOC Monitoring Probe ordering information is available from AMS Sampling Equipment

To discuss an indoor air issue, contact Jeff Kaspar, Richard McManus, or Cliff Schmitt at the Farallon office (425) 295-0800