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Assessment of Intrinsic Bioremediation of a Coal‐Tar‐Affected Aquifer Using Two‐Dimensional Reactive Transport and Biogeochemical Mass Balance Approaches
Author(s) -
Rogers Shane W.,
Ong Say Kee,
Stenback Greg A.,
Golchin Johanshir,
Kjartanson Bruce H.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143006x123120
Subject(s) - biogeochemical cycle , environmental remediation , environmental chemistry , chemistry , plume , coal , environmental science , groundwater pollution , bioremediation , aquifer , environmental engineering , groundwater , soil science , geology , contamination , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , biology , paleontology , bacteria
Expedited site characterization and groundwater monitoring using direct‐push technology and conventional monitoring wells were conducted at a former manufactured gas plant site. Biogeochemical data and heterotrophic plate counts support the presence of microbially mediated remediation. By superimposing solutions of a two‐dimensional reactive transport analytical model, first‐order degradation rate coefficients (day −1 ) of various compounds for the dissolved‐phase plume were estimated (i.e., benzene [0.0084], naphthalene [0.0058], and acenaphthene [0.0011]). The total mass transformed by aerobic respiration, nitrate reduction, and sulfate reduction around the free‐phase coal‐tar dense‐nonaqueous‐phase‐liquid region and in the plume was estimated to be approximately 4.5 kg/y using a biogeochemical mass‐balance approach. The total mass transformed using the degradation rate coefficients was estimated to be approximately 3.6 kg/y. Results showed that a simple two‐dimensional analytical model and a biochemical mass balance with geochemical data from expedited site characterization can be useful for rapid estimation of mass‐transformation rates.