There is well-established precedent for using empirical attenuation factors for considering vapour intrusion risk and there are several existing collections of empirical attenuation factors including the US EPA’s Vapour Intrusion Database (2012) that has been considered in some Australia vapour attenuation guidance.

The South Australian EPA administers a program that investigates “orphaned” site contamination and since 2012 has undertaken vapour intrusion testing at over 60 residential dwellings across metropolitan Adelaide including measuring concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons in indoor air, crawlspace air, soil vapour and groundwater.

This dataset, whilst relatively modest in size, crucially provides empirical measurement of vapour attenuation from subsurface to indoor air relevant to the Adelaide metropolitan plains and interrogation of this dataset can reveal factors pertinent to the assessment of vapour intrusion in similar settings.

Bio:

James is a Senior Adviser at the South Australia Environment Protection Authority working within the Site Contamination Branch to manage the assessment and remediation of orphaned site contamination.

James has over 15 years’ experience in site contamination assessment with particular expertise in vapour intrusion assessment and mitigation with experience in community and resident engagement around vapour intrusion.