Passive Biobarrier for Treating Comingled Perchlorate and RDX in Groundwater at an Active Range
ER-201028
Objective
Perchlorate and explosives, particularly RDX, are widespread soil contaminants at former and current military facilities, including many operational Department of Defense (DoD) ranges. Because these compounds are readily transported through soils to the subsurface, they presently impact groundwater and drinking water at numerous military facilities across the country. One important objective for sustaining an operational range is to prevent off-site contaminant migration, while allowing typical range training and testing activities to occur uninterrupted. This project will install a passive subsurface biobarrier at an operational DoD range. The optimal areas for application of this technology include open burn/open detonation (OB/OD) sites, munitions test ranges, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training areas, target areas, munitions disposal sites, and other regions where high concentrations of munitions constituents are likely to occur. The barrier, which will be placed downgradient of one such area, will consist of an emulsified oil substrate applied using temporary injection wells. This barrier is expected to promote the rapid in situ biodegradation of perchlorate and explosives, including RDX, as well as HMX, TNT, DNTs, and tetryl. Important to the mission of operational DoD ranges, the barrier will have no surface structure (e.g., pumping wells, control building) and no significant impact on typical range activities. A key objective of this demonstration will be to apply an effective long-term solution for contaminant migration in groundwater with minimal impact to range activities.
Technology Description
An emulsified vegetable oil substrate will be injected through a series of temporary wells to form a passive in situ barrier downgradient of an RDX- and perchlorate-contaminated area on an operational DoD range. Based on recent laboratory studies, the oil substrate is expected to promote rapid and complete biodegradation of perchlorate and RDX, as well as other explosives typically found in groundwater at military ranges. Emulsified oil substrates have been successfully field-tested for passive treatment of perchlorate and chlorinated solvents (ESTCP project ER-200221) but have not been tested at the field scale for treatment of nitramine explosives or comingled explosives and perchlorate in a range environment. A series of wells will be installed upgradient and downgradient of the in situ barrier. These wells will be sampled periodically, and groundwater will be monitored for perchlorate, explosives, field parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, oxidation reduction potential, pH), total organic carbon (as a measure of oil concentration), biochemical oxygen demand, fatty acids, dissolved metals, and anions. In addition, studies will be conducted during the demonstration to quantify RDX biodegradation via compound-specific stable isotope analysis and to identify the specific bacteria that are biodegrading RDX through advanced molecular techniques such as real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gene probing, and stable isotope probing (SIP). These techniques are presently being developed and/or optimized under SERDP project ER-1607.
Benefits
This project will demonstrate and verify a passive remedial approach for treating explosives and perchlorate in groundwater at an operational DoD range. The longevity of the barrier and its long-term cost will be quantified. During the project, advanced techniques developed through SERDP research will be utilized to assess both the organisms responsible for in situ explosives biodegradation and the extent of isotopic fractionation occurring during biodegradation (which ultimately can be used to quantify natural attenuation or enhanced bioremediation of RDX and perchlorate at other sites). Most critically, the project will be implemented to show that groundwater treatment and protection can be implemented long term on an operational range without affecting range activities. The site assessment work, barrier installation, and monitoring will be planned and conducted to minimize impacts to typical range operations. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2014)
Points of Contact
Principal Investigator
Dr. Paul Hatzinger
CB&I Federal Services
Phone: 609-895-5356
Fax: 609-936-9221
Document Types
- Fact Sheet - Brief project summary with links to related documents and points of contact.
- Final Report - Comprehensive report for every completed SERDP and ESTCP project that contains all technical results.
- Cost & Performance Report - Overview of ESTCP demonstration activities, results, and conclusions, standardized to facilitate implementation decisions.
- Technical Report - Additional interim reports, laboratory reports, demonstration reports, and technology survey reports.
- Guidance - Instructional information on technical topics such as protocols and user’s guides.
- Workshop Report - Summary of workshop discussion and findings.
- Multimedia - On demand videos, animations, and webcasts highlighting featured initiatives or technologies.
- Model/Software - Computer programs and applications available for download.
- Database - Digitally organized collection of data available to search and access.