Field Evidence for Co-Metabolism of Trichloroethene Stimulated by Addition of Electron Donor to Groundwater

For more than 10 years, electron donor has been injected into the Snake River aquifer beneath the Test Area North site of the Idaho National Laboratory for the purpose of stimulating microbial reductive dechlorination of trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater. This has resulted in significant TCE removal from the source area of the contaminant plume and elevated dissolved CH(4) in the groundwater extending 250 m from the injection well. The delta(13)C of the CH(4) increases from -56 per thousand in the source area to -13 per thousand with distance from the injection well, whereas the delta(13)C of dissolved inorganic carbon decreases from 8 per thousand to -13 per thousand, indicating a shift from methanogenesis to methane oxidation. This change in microbial activity along the plume axis is confirmed by PhyloChip microarray analyses of 16S rRNA genes obtained from groundwater microbial communities, which indicate decreasing abundances of reductive dechlorinating microorganisms (e.g., Dehalococcoides ethenogenes) and increasing CH(4)-oxidizing microorganisms capable of aerobic co-metabolism of TCE (e.g., Methylosinus trichosporium). Incubation experiments with (13)C-labeled TCE introduced into microcosms containing basalt and groundwater from the aquifer confirm that TCE co-metabolism is possible. The results of these studies indicate that electron donor amendment designed to stimulate reductive dechlorination of TCE may also stimulate co-metabolism of TCE.