Penn E&R personnel are currently completing an in situ bioremediation project to remediate soil and ground water at a former industrial site in Horsham, PA. Significant concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) including trichloroethene (TCE) have been observed at this site. This industrial property formerly contained two above ground solvent (TCE) storage tanks and various releases have resulted in significant impacts to site soils and ground water.
Penn E&R has designed and constructed an injection system to distribute a bioremediation treatment solution. Penn E&R will amend treated ground water by mixing in a vegetable oil-based carbon substrate and nutrients and then inject the resulting treatment solution into the aquifer to promote bioremediation. The carbon substrate and nutrients will create favorable geochemical conditions in the ground water for microbial populations and consequently promote a natural process of anaerobic biodegradation to reduce CVOCs to non-toxic daughter products.
Penn E&R will inject approximately 14,300 gallons of the treatment solution during July 2016. Once anaerobic conditions are established in the aquifer, bioaugmentation of the aquifer will be executed by Penn E&R by introducing Dehalococcoides, a cultured microbial population capable of degrading PCE and TCE completely to their non-toxic daughter product of ethene. CVOC concentrations in groundwater and an assortment of parameters will be monitored and analyzed monthly to monitor the effectiveness of the bioremediation for approximately 9 to 12 months.
KEY PROJECT FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Design, and Implementation of Bioremediation System
- Monitoring of Bioremediation System
- Installation and Development of Injection Wells
- Clean-Water Testing to Monitor Injection Rates, Pressures and Volumes
- Baseline, Interim and Attainment Ground Water Sampling
- Data Analysis and Reporting
