Determination and distribution of diesel components in igneous rock surrounding underground diesel storage facilities in Sweden.
In Sweden, a preliminary investigation of the contamination situation of igneous rock surrounding underground storage facilities of diesel showed that the situation was severe. The diesel was believed to have penetrated into the rock as far as 50 m from the walls of the vaults. Consequently, the risk for contamination of groundwater and recipients could not be neglected. To be able to assess the fate of diesel components in rock, both a suitable drilling method and a method for the determination of a wide range of diesel components were needed. The analytical method presented made it possible to quantify a number of hydrocarbons in rock samples collected with triple-tube core drilling. The samples were dissolved in hydrofluoric acid (HF) with hexane in Teflon centrifuge tubes. After digestion of the rock, extraction of the analytes with hexane was performed. Determination of the individual hydrocarbons present was done with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method was used to study the environmental impact of the underground storage of diesel. The drilling method enabled sampling without contamination risks. Our data show that the major transport of diesel components in rock occurs through fracture systems and that diffusion of diesel through the rock is of minor importance. The results have drastically changed the view of the contamination situation of diesel in the vicinity of storage facilities in hard rock in Sweden.