Nelson Environmental Remediation, Honolulu brownfield soil remediation, Honolulu, Hawaii: Aerial view of the Honolulu brownfield mid-remediation, with Honolulu harbor and the city beyond.

Nelson Environmental Remediation, Honolulu brownfield soil remediation, Honolulu, Hawaii: Nelson thermal desorption unit operating onsite in Honolulu, with CAT loaders and the city skyline in the background.

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Case Study

Hawaii Brownfield Remediation, Honolulu

On-site thermal treatment of a former Honolulu tank-farm brownfield, with controlled processing of heterogeneous fuel-impacted material.

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Hawaii Brownfield Remediation, Honolulu

An eight-month program

Capability Applied

Mobile Thermal Desorption→

Case Study Reel

Case study reel, Honolulu, Hawaii brownfield.

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Site background and contamination

The former fuel-storage property contained gasoline, jet fuel and diesel hydrocarbons, PAHs and solvents. Feed included sand, coral, ash and debris, with some material excavated below groundwater.

Site

Former tank farm brownfield, Honolulu, Hawaii

Contaminants

Gasoline, jet fuel and diesel hydrocarbons with PAHs and solvents

Nelson’s role and treatment selection

Nelson worked as thermal remediation subcontractor to the environmental consultant, supplying the RS-20, crew and operations alongside the owner and analytical providers.

Nelson role

Thermal remediation subcontractor: plant, crew and operations

Equipment, handling and logistics

The train combined a weigh-scale feed system, rotary drum desorber, baghouse, thermal oxidizer and treated-soil handling. Two 12-hour shifts, each with three operators, sustained approximately 250 m³ per day. Planned maintenance took roughly one day in fourteen.

Equipment

RS-20 low-temperature thermal desorption train with thermal oxidizer

Sampling, permits and verification

Operating temperatures were logged, with continuous process control and stack monitoring. Hawaii Department of Health Permit 0682-01-N specified treatment criteria of 100 mg/kg TPH-gasoline and 500 mg/kg for diesel and oil.

Documented outcomes

The cleanup cleared the property transfer and subsequent commercial redevelopment.

Material quantity

25,000 tons (16,000 m³) at approx. 250 m³/day

Result

All soil below criteria and reused on site. Property transfer completed

Last updated · September 2026

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Remediation Strategy Navigator

Start from a site like this one

Run the same diagnostic our engineers ran here. Five questions on contaminant, matrix, site context, driver, and scale, and the Strategy Navigator shows which treatment path your conditions point toward.

· A shortlist of treatment paths ranked against your answers

· The reasoning behind every technology that surfaces

· A shareable link that reopens the same strategy

· A downloadable strategy brief at the end

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Outputs are indicative. Reach out for site-specific refinements.

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