Beware Leaking Underground Storage Tanks, Says Expert

AUDUBON from page 3G play 25,000 rounds per year is weeks. It controls thatch, smooths and around 40. Members include speeds the surface, and improves water Terry Porter, Buck Williams percolation." and P.J. Carlissimo of the NBA's The course has Pennlinks greens and Portland Trailblazers. The day tees. Greens are mowed at %-inch, tees at LM visited the course, former Vi-inch and fairways at A- to %-inch or NFL quarterback Neil Lomax, slightly more. another member, was having "I also personally change the cups his annual golf "shootout," and every morning," says Anderson. "It's a Charles Barkley of the NBA's good way for me to monitor the greens. Phoenix Suns was among the The best pair of eyes on the golf course are participants. mine. I can see things long before they "We have a very family ori- happen, while the dew is still on the ented membership," Anderson greens." observes. "But a lot of our People like pro golfers Ben Crenshaw members haven't been country and Phil Mikkelsen, and Larry Gilhooley of club members before, so educa- the USGA Green Section say the club's tion is a key. A lot of them don't surfaces are "as good or better than any know golf etiquette. Our assis- playing surfaces (greens) they've ever tant golf pro and I did a video seen," Anderson contends. for the men's and women's Another part of his secret is a compe- associations last year. We also tent and proud staff of 22 people in the distribute a club newsletter, summer and 11 in the winter. Key employ- and we had a demonstration ees are assistant super Bruce Brown, head where we showed the associa- mechanic Sam Simonson, horticulturist tions how to repair divots." Dave Phipps and head irrigation specialist Yet Anderson considers him- Gil Goldsberry. self very lucky. "Peter and David Brown was with Anderson at Portland Jacobsen are the Greens Golf Club. Simonson is simply known as Committee, so political hassles the best mechanic in the Northwest, for Anderson: Spots trouble long before it has a don't exist. It's like being on both his inventiveness and his prior expe- chance to happen. vacation, not having those rience as a superintendent. Phipps has political problems. won awards for maintaining the clubhouse flower. (The course itself has 3,000 roses "If ever there was a dream job, this is landscape, which is brightly colored by on the 12th hole.) my own personal dream job." hundreds of roses, the late owner's favorite Average age of the 400 members who aquifer. This process stimulates Beware leaking underground bio-degradation of the pollu- tant. 3) Air sparging is the same storage tanks, says expert as bio-venting, except the air is blown right into the aquifer • "A good number of the underground stor- into aquifers at very high levels—parts per instead of into the saturated soil zone. age tanks in this country are leaking," says hundred—and the subsurface area cannot 4) Soil vacuum (vapor) extraction uses Purdue University's Dr. Ron Turco, "and clean itself. the bio-venting process in reverse to actu- you may run into a situation where you There are four ways to clean up ally recover the contaminating product. have to [pay to] clean up the environment." aquifers contaminated by leaking under- "Now, scientists are combining bio- The types of liquids that are likely to ground storage tanks—and none is cheap, venting and vapor extraction to more effi- leak from underground storage tanks on Turco is quick to point out. ciently remove contaminants from golf courses include gasoline, heating oil 1) Bio-remediation is a process in aquifers," Turco notes. and kerosene. They, along with airplane which biological (especially microbial) cat- The point? If your golf course includes fuels, are commonly referred to as LNAPLs alysts act on pollutants, thereby eliminat- underground storage tanks for fuels or (light non-aqueous phase liquids). ing contamination. Of the four, it is the other LNAPLs, make sure it is not leaking. "The real problem is when they con- most cost-effective means of aquifer It costs far less to have it removed and taminate aquifers," Turco notes. "LNAPLs decontamination. replaced than it would to clean up a con- float right on top of the aquifer." 2) Bio-venting is when air is pumped taminated environment. A tank leakage will introduce chemicals through the contaminated soil zone to the .

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