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Full‐scale in‐situ biobarrier demonstration for containment and treatment of MTBE
Author(s) -
Miller Karen D.,
Johnson Paul C.,
Bruce Cristin L.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
remediation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6831
pISSN - 1051-5658
DOI - 10.1002/rem.1023
Subject(s) - btex , environmental remediation , environmental science , aquifer , bioremediation , groundwater , waste management , contamination , chemistry , engineering , ethylbenzene , ecology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , biology , benzene
The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC), Arizona State University, and EquilonEnterprises LLC are partners in an innovative Environmental Security Technology Certification Program cleanuptechnology demonstration designed to contain dissolved MTBE groundwater plumes. This full‐scaledemonstration is being performed to test the use of an oxygenated biobarrier at Naval Base Ventura County, in PortHueneme, California. Surprisingly, few cost‐effective in‐situ remedies are known for the cleanup ofMTBE‐impacted aquifers, and remediation by engineered in‐situ biodegradation was thought to be anunlikely candidate just a few years ago. This project demonstrates that MTBE‐impacted groundwater can beremediated in‐situ through engineered aerobic biodegradation under natural‐flow conditions. Withrespect to economics, the installation and operation costs associated with this innovative biobarrier system areat least 50 percent lower than those of a conventional pump and treat system. Furthermore, although it has beensuggested that aerobic MTBE biodegradation will not occur in mixed MTBE‐BTEX dissolved plumes, this projectdemonstrates otherwise. The biobarrier system discussed in this article is the largest of its kind everimplemented, spanning a dissolved MTBE plume that is over 500 feet wide. This biobarrier system has achieved anin‐situ treatment efficiency of greater than 99.9 percent for dissolved MTBE and BTEX concentrations.Perhaps of greater importance is the fact that extensive performance data has been collected, which is being usedto generate best‐practice design and cost information for this biobarrier technology. © 2001 JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.