EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-F-O1-O33
May 2001
www.epa.gov/tio
www.cluin.org
MTBE Treatment Case Studies
Website
EPA has prepared case studies of drinking water and remediation sites that treat soil and groundwater for
methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). The MTBE case studies are accessible at http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/
mtbe/mtberem. htm.
Why develop a website with MTBE treatment case studies?
Site managers need site-specific data to help select appropriate
treatment approaches at remediation sites and for drinking water
contaminated with MTBE.
What types of data does this website contain?
Case studies on the website contain data on completed and
ongoing applications of MTBE treatment for drinking water and
contaminated media. As of March 2001, information is available for
38 sites -18 pilot- and full-scale case studies, and a summary of
technology use at an additional 20 sites.
What MTBE treatment technologies are covered?
The website includes drinking water treatment (4 case studies) and
six remediation technologies (some sites use more than one
technology):
In situ bioremediation (14)
Multi-phase extraction (5)
In situ chemical oxidation (3)
• Air sparging (7)
« Pump and treat (5)
• Ex situ soil bioremediation (2)
What types of information does a case study provide?
;A case study describes the use of technologies to treat MTBE in
groundwater, soil, and drinking water at specific sites. Each case
study is 2-10 pages long; the level of detail varies, depending on the
data and information that was available.
What specific information does a case study contain?
Each case study contains the following types of information, as
available:
Site background and setting,
Waste source,
Contaminants and media treated, including other
contaminants present at the sites such as benzene, toluene,
ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX).
Technology design, operation, and scale,
Performance,
Cost,
Cleanup goals and other standards,
Points of contact,
Lessons learned, and
References
What information is provided for the other 20 sites?
Information for these sites is summarized in tables and includes a
brief description of the same data elements as provided in the case
studies.
What data sources were used to develop this website?
EPA collected data from site managers, regulatory officials, and
technology providers, as well as published reports, conference
proceedings, and other available reference materials.
How can I search this website?
The website can be searched in two ways - using a search engine
and using the summary tables.
How does the search engine work?
The search engine includes four pick lists - contaminant, media,
status, and technology scale. Search results are organized
alphabetically by site name, and include the same types of
information as is shown on the summary tables described above.
How can the summary tables be used to search?
"The summary tables are organized by technology - drinking water
treatment and the five remediation technologies listed above. The
user may "jump" to each technology and scroll through each
summary table.
Where are the full case studies on the website?
Sites that have more detailed case studies (in pdf format) are
identified with a -O
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