In-situ remediation of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated soils - New Jersey, USA case study
Executive Summary
A New Jersey utility company operated a regulator station on the site of a former manufactured gas plant in central New Jersey. The gas transfer station contained a large natural gas feeder main that fed major population centers in the southern part of the state. The regulator station contained an area approximately 3,600 ft2 contaminated to a depth of 1 meter with both PCBs and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Given the complexity of the site (see picture below) and the importance of the feeder main, the owner prohibited any excavation of the site. Further complicating the treatment issue was the owner’s requirement that the treatment and any associated hardware be confined within the fenced area surrounding the transfer station and contaminated area.
As a result of the complexity of the contaminants and the restrictions on the site, Nordevco developed a treatability study to model and demonstrate the capability of Nordevco’s BactiDomus® Technology to solve the contamination problem affecting the site. Results of the four-month treatability study were submitted for review to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy (NJDEPE) and Metcalf and Eddy, the site owner’s supervising Consultants. Based on that review, Nordevco was granted permission, by the NJDEP, to use its BactiDomus® Technology to remediate the site.
While this report focuses specifically on the PAH treatment, information on the PCB treatment is also available from Nordevco – see In-Situ Remediation of PCB Aroclor 1248 Contaminated Soil –New Jersey, USA.
The Technology
Nordevco’s BactiDomus® Technology was developed by a diversified group of research scientists working together at Universities in Belgium and France. Their goal was to create a mechanism with the flexibility to delivery biological solutions to a range of environmental issues more effectively and efficiently.
The foundation for the success of the BactiDomus® Technology was the development team’s clear understands that for any carrier material to be successful it had to meet specific underlying needs of the organisms:
- Regardless of the organisms used, they would be cultured in a sterile laboratory and would require time to acclimate to the environment they were activated in.
- Microorganisms, like humans, do not exist or thrive in isolation of each other but rather rely on others for stimulation and competition;
- Organisms prefer to grow and live in colonies or flocs and prefer to attach to something to anchor these colonies;
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