vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Research and
Development
Washington, DC 20460
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Washington, DC 20460
EPA/540/F-93/510E
September 1993
Bioremediation Field
Initiative Site Profile:
Park City Pipeline
SITE FACTS
r;'/:^;^"^^^
,, Location: :Park City, Kansas I
Laboratories/Agencies: U.S. >
, JEPARobertS.Kerr ] /
^Environmental Research '
** Laboratory (RSKERL);U,SJEFA
-"Region7 '< . : '
Media/Contaminants: Refined :
^'.petroleum (BTBX) fei ground
' «.\water" ,,*'"" '
^ X ^ ^4 V|
js Treatment^ BTEXfermentatioiv ' '
< -' BTEX denitrification, BTBX, '„;"
.". denittificsafion supplemented
,#, with oxygen - >*'>,»
'/ Date of Initiative Selection:
>";
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45 to 50 ft below the surface. Hydrocarbon contami-
nation is confined roughly to an interval between
the base of the clay layer and the top of the present
water table (see Figure 2).
Total Petroleum
Hydrocarbon
(mg/kg)
3000 6000
i i
Figure 2. Relationship among spilled hydrocarbons, layers of
geological materials, the water table, and monitoring wells.
Field Evaluation
In 1990, more than 400 shallow injection wells were
installed at the site. These wells are constructed on
a 20-ft grid and cover the entire area affected by the
spill. Researchers have divided an area affected by
the homogeneous fuel spill into three discrete
blocks of about 1 acre each and are applying one of
the following experimental treatments to each block:
• BTEX fermentation alone
• BTEX denitrification alone
• BTEX denitrification supplemented with oxygen
Water from a municipal supply well is pumped to
the surface, amended, and recirculated to the aqui-
fer through the injection wells. Each of the three
experimental plots receives approximately 125
gpm. At that rate, the water is estimated to require
an average of 6.4 days to recirculate. To maintain
the demonstration in a cone of depression, water
also is being pumped from a second nearby well.
The water distributed to all three plots is amended
with ammonium chloride at 5 mg/L. Two plots also
receive nitrate at 10 mg/L as nitrogen. The third
plot receives oxygen at 2 mg/L. To act as a tracer,
and to enable researchers to estimate the volume of
water in the recirculation loop, the recirculated
water is amended with sodium bromide at 50
mg/L.
Status
Researchers have completed microcosm studies on
the two denitrification technologies to predict the
duration of remediation required. Aquifer core
samples from two locations originally showed av-
erage BTEX concentrations of 42.6 mg/kg and 24.3
mg/kg, respectively. Toluene, ethylbenzene, m-
xylene, p-xylene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and
1,2,4-trimethylbenzene degraded to less than 5
|ig/L within 20 days in the clean aquifer micro-
cosms amended with nitrate. About half of the
o-xylene was removed. Benzene and 1,2,3-
trimethylbenzene were recalcitrant. Based on these
findings, researchers predict that 210 days of treat-
ment will be required to supply enough nitrate
to remediate the aquifer. Remediation began in
December 1992.
The Initiative's objectives are to more fully document the performance of full-scale applications of Wbremediatidn/; provide,1
technical assistance to regional and state site managers; and provide.informati6n on treatability studies, design; and' operation ,bf •
bioremediation projects. The Initiative currently is performing field evaluations of bioremediation at eight other hazardous waste
sites: Libby Ground Water Superfund site, Libby, MT; Behdix Corporation/Allied Automotive Superfund site, St. Joseph,"MI; West
KL Avenue Landfill Superfund site, Kalamazoo, MI; Eielson Air Force Base'Superfund site/Fairbanks, AK;yHill Air Force ,Base
Superfund site, Salt Lake City, UT; Escambia Wood Preserving Siter^Brookhaven, Brookha,ven,,MS; Reilly Tar,,and Chemical
contact Fran Kremer, Coordinator, Bioremediation Field Initiative, U.S. EPA/f Office of Research and Development, 26 West Martin
Luther Kong Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268; or Michael Forlini, U.S. EPA,*Technoiogy'lnnovation,Office,xOffice'bf Solid'Waste.and
Emergency Response, 401M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. '',' - ""V ^'- , ~^'4 "''>-'*^ <*'''< •> ' " *
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