BLOG NEIGHBORHOOD CONTACT ORION ENVIRONMENTAL INC. A CERTIFIED CALIFORNIA SBE COMPANY ABOUT CONTAMINANTS INDUSTRY SERVICES PROJECTS CONTAMINANTS compounds / concentrations / cognition / cometabolism Home / Contaminants Orion provides environmental services to remediate numerous contaminants in soil, soil vapor, surface water, air, and groundwater. Each project site presents a unique combination of historical use, hydrogeologic conditions, and contaminants; therefore, Orion creates site-specific remediation programs. These pages introduce technical and scientific information about different types of chemical and other compounds that become contaminants, along with cited references for students and other readers interested in doing more research. Click to see summaries of past and present projects related to the following contaminants » Crude Oil DNAPL Emerging Compounds LNAPL Metals Pesticides Petroleum VOCs FEATURED PROJECT > Former Oil Pumping Stations COALINGA, CALIFORNIA SEE ALL PROJECTS Crude Oil Crude oil is less toxic than refined petroleum products, but still may need to be removed from sites. Crude oil is liquid petroleum as it is recovered from the earth through wells. It is a naturally occurring, unprocessed material primarily composed of hydrocarbon molecules that contain carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) atoms. Crude oil may also contain other atoms such as nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen in its structure. Crude oil varies radically in its properties depending on its location. For example, crudes from Pennsylvania and New York deposit a waxy material when chilled and are known as “paraffin-base” oils. California and Gulf Coast crudes can be “naphthene-base” or “asphalt-base” oils. “Intermediate-base” oils, produced in the mid-continent fields, have some characteristics of both paraffin- and naphthene-base oils. Crude oil is seldom used as fuel because it is more valuable when refined to form other petroleum products. The first refining process is usually a simple distillation separating the crude oil into fractions corresponding approximately to gasoline, kerosene, gas oil, lubricating oil, and residuals. More gasoline is obtained by passing distillation fractions and sometimes the crude oil through cracking stills where, by action of heat and pressure, some of the heavier high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons break down to gasoline, gas, and coke. The residual products are marketed as industrial fuel or bunker oils. Crude oil contains molecules with a wide range of sizes (e.g., from 2 carbons to more than 40 carbons: C2 to C40+). The approximate boiling-point range or carbon range of crude oil and common products is shown on the figure below. SOURCES: American Petroleum Institute, 1996. A Guide to the Assessment and Remediation of Underground Petroleum Releases, Publication 1628, Washington, D.C. Marks, L.S., 1941. Marks’ Mechanical Engineers Handbook, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill. ORION ENVIRONMENTAL INC. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS Creating a safer world for our families and community soil & groundwater investigation, remediation, treatment system design, o&m, project management – long beach, newbury park, and berkeley, california; denver, colorado © 2021 ORION ENVIRONMENTAL, INC. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Long Beach 2955 Redondo Avenue Long Beach, California 90806 T: (562) 988-2755 | F: (562) 988-2759 Newbury Park 3481 Old Conejo Road, Suite 102 Newbury Park, California 91320 T: (562) 988-2755 | F: (562) 988-2759 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Berkeley – dba Arctos Environmental 2332 5th Street, Suite B Berkeley, California 94710 T: (510) 525-2180 | F: (510) 525-2392 COLORADO Denver P.O. Box 270245 Littleton, Colorado 80127 T: (562) 988-2755 | F: (562) 988-2759 FOLLOW: Orion Instagram Orion Linkedin ORION IS A CERTIFIED CALIFORNIA SBE COMPANY