United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-N-96-004
September 1996
Issue No. 24
vvEPA
The Applied Technologies Journal for Superf und Removals & Remedial Actions & RCRA Corrective Actions
FLASK TO FIELD RESEARCH CENTERS
I n this issue of Tech Trends we feature our
Hazardous Substance Research Centers
(HSRCs). The HSRCs provide a national
program of basic and applied research, tech-
nology transfer and training., JFiye,multi-. _ _ .
university centers, each located in a pair of
Federal regions, focus on different aspects of
hazardous substance management. They
bring together researchers from a variety of
disciplines to collaborate on integrated re-
search projects. They draw financial sup-
port from EPA and the Departments of En-
ergy and Defense, with additional funding
from academia, industry and other state and
Federal government agencies. The HSRC
research agendas are shaped with the assis-
tance of advisory committees made up of
representatives from industry, regulatory or-
ganizations, academic institutions and gov-
ernment. Under the leadership of center di-
rectors, these panels help to focus the
HSRCs' work on practical problems of haz-
ardous substance management as well as
long-term, exploratory research. The five
HSRCs and their main focus are described
below.
The Great Lakes & Mid-Atlantic HSRC
serves EPA Regions 3 and 5, with the
University of Michigan as lead institution,
with Howard University and Michigan
State University as the other two participa-
ting institutions. The center's Director is
Dr. Walter]. Weber, Jr. (313-763-1464).
Core funding conies from EPA and is matched
NEWS
FROM THE CENTERS
This Issue of Tech Trends features
news about our Hazardous Substances
Research Centers. We have featured ,
some of the research being conducted
at three of the Centers. Future issues
of Tech Trends will feature additional
Centers.
by the Michigan Department of Natural Re-
sources. The center's projects focus on re-
mediation of the hazardous organic com-
pounds found in soil and ground water.
-'Ongoing research focuses on improving un-
derstanding of fundamental processes of in-
situ bioremediation. The projects are orga-
nized into three cluster areas: in-situ biore-
mediation technologies; surfactant intro-
duction technologies and bioventing tech-
nologies. Additionally, the National Center
for Integrated Bioremediation Research and
Development (NCIBRD) has been estab-
lished to provide an accessible site and sup-
porting infrastructure for field projects and
is available for all HSRCs to use. We pro-
file NCIBRD elsewhere in this issue of Tech
Trends.
The Great Plains/Rocky Mountain HSRC
covers EPA Regions 7 and 8 under the lead-
ership of its Director, Dr. Larry E. Erick-
son (913-532-6519) at Kansas State Univer-
sity. Other participating universities are
Haskell Indian Nations University, Lincoln
University and Montana State University,
South Dakota State University, Utah State
University and the Universities of Iowa,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Utah and
Wyoming. Because the geographic area it
.represents has diverse interests in mineral
processing, mining and agriculture, this
HSRC's activities focus on contaminated
soils and mining wastes. Specific research
interests include: soil and water contaminat-
ed with heavy metals; soil and ground water
contaminated by organic chemicals; wood
preservatives that contaminate ground wa-
ter; pesticides identified as hazardous sub-
stances; improved technologies and meth-
ods to characterize and analyze contaminat-
ed soil; and waste minimization and pollu-
tion prevention methods and technologies.
The Northeast HSRC covers EPA Re-
gions 1 and 2, with the New Jersey Institute
of Technology serving as the lead institu-
tion under Director, Dr. Richard Magee
(201-596-3233). Other participating uni-
versities are: Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Princeton University, Rutgers
University, Stevens Institute of Technology,
Tufts University and the University of Med-
icine & Dentistry of New Jersey. This
HSRC's research programs are developing
and demonstrating treatment and remedia-
tion technologies in four broad areas: incin-
eration/thermal treatment; characterization
and monitoring; in-situ remediation; and
ex-situ treatment processes. This research
agenda reflects the unique attributes of Rer
gions 1 and 2: the age of much of their in-
dustrial base, as well as the population den-
sity, dominant types of economic activity,
concentration of chemical and pharmaceuti-
cal industries and rapidly developing base of
high-tech industry. Another factor shaping
the center's research focus is the large num-
ber of sites in its regions that are on the Na-
tional Priorities List. See the article in this
issue of Tech Trends by Peter Jaffd, one of
the researchers connected with the center,
on a novel slurry washing technology.
The South and Southwest HSRC in EPA
Regions 4 and 6 is under the leadership of
Dr. Danny D. Reible of Louisiana State
University. Other participating universities
are Georgia Institute of Technology and
Rice University. This center focuses on the
management of hazardous substances in
contaminated sediments and dredged mate-
rials, with more than half of the centers re-
search and technology transfer efforts relat-
ing to these problems. The contaminated
sediments and dredge materials of concern
contain organics, metals and conventional
pollutants that are either suspended in water
or are deposited on the bottoms of rivers,
bayous, lakes, harbors, estuaries, fresh water
wetlands and adjoining regions of the conti-
nental shelf. Specific topics of research
projects within the contaminated sediments/
dredge materials focus area include: in-situ
chemical mobilization processes in beds and
confined disposal facilities; in-situ remedia-
tion; and in-situ detection.
The Western HSRC is led by Stanford
University with Dr. Perry L. McCarty (415-
723-4131) as Director and with Oregon
State University participating. Its primary
(continued on page 3)
Recycled/Recyclable
I Printed with Soy/Canola Ink on paper
that contains at least 50% recycled fiber
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Northeast Center
NOVEL SLURRY WASHING FOR
HYDROPHOBIC ORGANICS
By Dr. Peter R. Jaffe, Princeton University
Nonionic organics
Slurry washing
Soils
Researchers Dr. Jae-Woo Park from the
University of Hawaii and Dr. Peter R.
Jaffd from Princeton University are look-
ing for a site to test their soil-slurry wash-
ing technique that has decontaminated
soils in standard bench treatability stud-
ies. The technique is particularly intrigu-
ing because it removes low-solubility
nonionic organic pollutants such as poly-
chlorinated biphcnyls (PCBs) which arc
not readily amenable to bioremediation
or conventional pump-and-treat meth-
ods. One of the factors contributing to
obstinate removal is that nonionic organ-
ic contaminants in the subsurface are ef-
fectively sorbed onto the naturally occur-
ring organic materials in the soil. The
technique is based on first transferring
the sorbcd pollutant from the soil to an-
ionic surfactant-coated oxide particles
and then separating these anionic surfac-
tant-coated oxide particles with the
sorbcd pollutant from the soil slurry via
a magnetic separation technique.
For the study, two different soils were
examined. Soil 1 was a sandy soil with a
relatively low organic carbon content.
Soil 2 was a topsoil with a higher organic
carbon content than Soil 1. The anionic
surfactant Emcol CNP-60 was used. The
oxide used in the research was Pferrico
3570 (cobalt treated gamma ferric oxide).
The nonionic organic contaminant was
phcnanthrenc.
The objective of the research was to:
(1) describe the distribution of an anionic
surfactant and a nonionic organic con-
taminant in a system consisting of oxide,
soil and water; (2) study the effectiveness
of the transfer of the nonionic organic
contaminant from soil to the treated ox-
ide in a soil slurry, followed by the sepa-
ration of the treated oxide from the soil
slurry; and (3) investigate the use of this
soil-slurry washing technique for practical
applications.
To prepare the soil for the bench treat-
ability study, 10 grams of soil and 54 mil-
liliccrs (mL) of deionized water were put
into a disposable glass centrifuge tube, to
which was added from 46.4 to 55.6 mi-
crograms of [1
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ELECTROCOAGULATION REMOVES METALS
FROM WASTEWATER
By Dr. Ronald C. Sims, Utah State University
Research funded through the Great
Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Sub-
stance Research Center will help engineers
in designing prepared bed treatment units
for soil contaminated with pblycyclic aro-
matic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pen-
tachlorophenol (PCP). The research
found that using prepared bed bioremedia-
tion technology and maintaining a mini-
__ mal supply of oxygen in contaminated soil
(lifts) applied to the bed will make it possi-
ble to apply a new lift of contaminated soil
more quickly. This will significantly re-
duce the time required to complete reme-
diation in prepared bed treatment systems.
The research used soils from the Champi-
on International Site, a former wood pre-
serving facility in Libby, Montana, which
used creosote and PCP.
A treatment bed is prepared by lining it
with clay or plastic to retard the transport
of contaminants from the site or by adding
uncontaminated soil to provide additional
treatment medium. Treatment is generally
enhanced with physical and chemical
methods that stimulate the activity of in-
digenous microorganisms, including fertil-
izing, tilling, controlling moisture and ad-
justing pH. A prepared bed system func-
tions as a treatment unit for unsaturated soil
as well as an ultimate disposal site for the re-
mediated soil.
A two-year microcosm evaluation of Lib-
by soils was conducted by Dr. Ronald
Sims of Utah State University to deter-
mine effects of oxygen concentration in
the soil gas on biodegradation rates. This
was followed by a field study at Libby
wh'ere, after a lift of contaminated soil [an
amount of soil generally 9 to 12 inches
deep and applied across the land treatment
unit (LTU)] was treated to target remedia-
tion levels, another lift of contaminated
soil was added and treated until target re-
mediation levels were reached. To manage
the soil, nutrients and moisture were add-
ed periodically and the soil was tilled to in-
crease oxygen transfer into the prepared
bed. Chemical analyses indicated that the
target remediation levels were achieved at
each level of soil. In the evaluation, a new
lift of contaminated soil was placed on top
of another one in a LTU only after the
first lift reached target remediation levels
for individual chemicals. However, in-
formation about the decrease in oxygen,
obtained during the evaluation, indicated
that it might be possible to place a new
lift on top of a lift before the latter has
reached target remediation levels, but has
been treated to some significant level.
This led them back to the laboratory mi-
crocosm where it would be possible to
measure only biodegradation in relation
to a decrease in oxygen by measuring
mineralization (which cannot be mea-
sured in the field) as an indicator of bio-
degradation. The microcosm study dem-
onstrated that significant mineralization
occurred once oxygen concentration was
available at a concentration of 2 to 5%.
Additional enrichments of the soil with
oxygen did not produce significant in-
creases in mineralization rates. The re-
searchers confirmed that there is a rela-
tionship between the concentration of
oxygen in the soil in buried lifts and the
rate of PCP and PAH disappearance.
They are now in the process of going
back to the field to enhance buried lifts
to 2 to 5% oxygen to increase the rate at
which the PCPs and PAHs degrade.
These results will be used to further de-
fine the potential for decreasing the time
required to treat soil in LTUs.
In the full-scale prepared bed system,
initial concentrations of contaminants
and % reduction were: 101.4 milligrams
per kilogram (mg/kg) PCP reduced by
58% by day 54; 84.9 mg/kg pyrene re-
duced by 49%; 204.0 total carcinogenic
PAH reduced by 50%. Oxygen concen-
trations were 1-17% at 1 foot, 3-20% at
2 ft., 0-21% at 3 ft. In the second labo-
ratory microcosm study average concen-
trations before application of another lift
and after application of another lift were:
150 mg/kg PCP to 20 mg/kg 420 days
after application (and 120 days after cov-
ering); 175 mg/kg pyrene to 3 mg/kg; 32
mg/kg PAH compound (benzo(b)fluor-
anthrene) to 5 mg/kg.
As part of the research effort, a guid-
ance manual on the use of prepared beds
for the bio remediation of contaminated
soils will be developed. Additionally, an
PAHs, POP
Bioremediation
Soils
interactive computerized decision
support system incorporating the infor-
mation contained in the guidance manu-
al will be developed.
For more information on the research re-
sults, call Dr. Ronald Sims at Utah State
University at 801-797-2926 or send e-
mail to: rcsims @cc. usu. edu. To get on a
mailing list for information about avail-
ability of the manual and computer deci-
sion support system projected for May
1997, send a FAX to Dr. Sims at 801-
797-3663 or an e-mail at address above.
(continued from page 1)
interests are the hazardous substance prob-
lems most dominant in EPA Regions 9 and
10. Researchers in this HSRC are focusing
on problems of ground water cleanup and
site remediation, with a strong emphasis on
biological approaches. This center's re-
search, technology transfer and training are
addressing chlorinated and non-chlorinated
solvents, petroleum products and toxic in-
organic compounds including heavy met-
als. Environmental problems from these
substances result largely from the produc-
tion of electronic equipment, chemicals,
forestry products, food and mining and
military activities — all important indus-
tries in Regions 9 and 10. In addition to
chlorinated solvents, research projects are
focusing on halogenated aromatic com-
pounds such as pentachlorophenol and
PCBs; nonhalogenated aromatics including
petroleum derivatives; ordnance wastes
such as TNT; heavy metals; evaluation of
factors affecting the transport and fate of
the above chemicals in the environment;
and design and management issues for site
remediation.
Information about the HSRCs is now avail-
able on the Internet's World Wide Web
(WWW). The WWW site contains "pages"
about the national HSRC program and the
regional centers, electronic versions of HSRC
publications, project abstracts and links to
other pertinent Web sites. To visit this Web
site, the uniform resource locator (URL) ad-
dress of the HSRC site is: http://
www.gtri.gatech.edu/hsrc/. For more infor-
mation, call EPA's Director of the HSRC
Program, Dr. Dale Manty, at 202-260-
7454.
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Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic Center
NATIONAL, INTEGRATED
BIOREMEDIATION R&D TEST SITE
The National Center for Integrated
Biorcmcdiation Research and Develop-
ment (NCIBRD) has developed a unique
resource for research and development
cfibns at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in
Oscoda, Michigan. It provides a test site
for rigorously controlled field studies and
demonstrations where promising charac-
terization and remediation technologies
can be tested, evaluated and demonstrat-
ed. The focus of NCIBRD is to find in-
tegrated biorcmcdiation solutions to the
problems caused by contamination of
surface and subsurface environments by
petroleum, oils, lubricants and solvents.
ft was initiated by and is headquartered
at the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic
HSRC| and, it is supported by the Stra-
tegic Environmental Research and Devel-
opment Program of the Department of
Defense (DoD) and EPA. The
Wurtsmith site is part of the Department
of Defense National Environmental
Technology Demonstration Program
(DNETDP) network of test locations.
All the existing test locations, including
Wurtsmith and those to be established
within the DNETDP network in the fu-
ture represent a range of subsurface hy-
drogeologic and contaminant mixtures
that are common to thousands of hazard-
ous waste sites.
The site offers outstanding prospects
for study of the remediation of contami-
nated surface soils, sediments, v'adose
(unsaturated) zones and ground water.
Moreover, the aq( .with
three different type / sys-
tems: Lake Huron, si^ ..ands and
the Au Sable River. These"surface water
bodies, bottom sediments and their re-
spective interfaces with the aquifer
present outstanding and varied field con-
ditions for remediation research. A
number of sites to be remediated are
contaminated with a variety of adsorbed,
dissolved and non-aqueous phase petro-
leum hydrocarbon mixtures, chlorinated
solvents, heavy metals and PAHs.
A site-wide hydrogeochemical database
is being developed for Wurtsmith. The
database includes more than 600 borings
Petrochemicals
Bioremediation
Soils, sediments,
ground water
and wells. It provides information on the
hydrologic, geologic, meteorologic and
chemical conditions prevailing at more
than 43 sites contaminated by spills of
fuels and solvents and by landfill
leachates and at several ongoing pump-
and-treat hydraulic containment
situations.
Researchers outside the Great Lakes
and Mid-Atlantic HSRC are encouraged
To contact the NCIBRD officesTfT Ann
Arbor, Michigan, to explore potential use
of the site for their own research and
demonstrations of remediation technolo-
gies. Please direct inquires to either Walter
J. Weber, Jr., Executive Director or
Michael}. Barcelona, Director of Field
Operations and Research, by phone (313-
763-2274), by FAX (313-763-2275) or by
mail addressed to: The National Center for
Integrated Bioremediation Research and
Development, Suite 181, Environmental
and Water Resources Engineering Building,
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
MI 48109-2125.
MAILING LIST/ORDER INFO/ON-LINE ACCESS
To get on ihc permanent mailing list for Technology Innovation Office publications or to order additional copies of this or previous issues of Tech Trends, send a
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NCEPI. P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, OH 45242-2419. Please refer to die document number on the cover of the issue if available,
TcenTrcntk can be obtained by accessing EPA's Clean-Up Information (CLU-IN) WWW site (http://clu-in.com) or CLU-IN BBS (by modem at
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Tech Trends welcomes readers' comments and contributions. Address correspondence to: Tech Trends, NCEPI, P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, OH,
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-N-96-004
September 1996
Issue No. 24
xvEPA
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