Environmental fracturing has been used in the environmental remediation industry since the late 1980’s. The process uses a fluid to initiate and propagate fractures in the subsurface. The fluid is used to apply hydraulic pressure to the soil or rock mass until failure occurs, resulting in a tensile parting of the mass and creating a fracture. This fluid can be a solution such as sodium persulfate, a slurry containing remediation amendments such as zero valent iron, or a slurry carrying sand proppant.

Environmental fracturing is a technology used to:

• Distribute amendment solutions into mid to low permeability soils or bedrock;
• Emplace solid phase remediation amendments into most soil and bedrock types; and,
• Create sand propped fracture networks in mid to low permeability soils and bedrocks to enhance extraction and injection.

Environmental fracturing greatly improves the contact area of a treatment system or treatment amendments by effectively distributing sand proppant or remedial treatment amendments away from the fracture borehole. The increased radius of distribution makes environmental fracturing a valuable method for remediating difficult, low-permeability subsurface materials such as clays, silts, and bedrock.

Environmental fracturing can be an effective remediation process across a broad range of geological conditions, site constraints, and treatment methods.

Please call us to see if environmental fracturing is best choice for your site.

Environmental Fracturing