United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Environmental Research
Laboratory
Athens GA 30613-7799
Research and Development
EPA/600/S9-91/001 Apr. 1991
Project Summary
Biological Remediation of
Contaminated Sediments, with
Special Emphasis on the Great
Lakes: A Workshop Report
Chad T. Jafvert and John E. Rogers (Editors)
These proceedings describe a work-
shop held July 17-19, 1990 In
Manltowoc, Wl, at which biological
remediation of contaminated sediments
was discussed. For the purpose of the
workshop, contaminated sediments of
primary interest were those within six
of the Areas of Concern (AOC) identi-
fied by the U.S./Canada International
Joint Commission's Great Lakes Water
Quality Board; five of which are prior-
ity concerns of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Assessment and
Remediation of Contaminated Sedi-
ments (ARCS) program.
The workshop was organized around
four topic areas: (1) Overview of the
Areas of Concern; (2) Biological deg-
radation of PCBs; (3) Biological degra-
dation of PAHs; and (4) Biological
treatment of metal species. For the first
topic area, presentations were made
describing site characteristic of the
Ashtabula River, OH; Buffalo River, NY;
Sheboygan River, Wl; Grand Calumet
River, IN; Saginaw River and Bay, Ml;
and Hamilton Harbor, Ontario, Canada.
For the remaining topic areas, presen-
tations were made by investigators ac-
tively involved in either bench, pilot, or
full-scale studies concerning these ar-
eas. In this document extended ab-
stracts written by the presenters are
given, as well as brief summaries of
the presentations and discussion ses-
sions.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Environmental Research
Laboratory, Athens, GA, to announce
key findings of the research project
that Is fully documented In a separate
report of the same title (see Project
Report ordering Information at back).
Overview
The current state-of-the-science of bio-
logical remediation of contaminated sedi-
ments was discussed in a workshop held
July 17-19, 1990, in Manitowoc, Ml. Spe-
cial emphasis was devoted to remediation
alternatives for sediments within the Great
Lakes Basin. The workshop was supported
by the U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National
Program Office, through the Assessment
and Remediation of Contaminated Sedi-
ments (ARCS) Program, by Environment
Canada, and by EPA's Biosystems Tech-
nology Development Program. More than
60 scientists from state and federal agen-
cies, academia, and the private sector from
the United States, Canada, and The
Netherlands participated.
For the purpose of the workshop, the
sediments of primary interest were those
within the Areas of Concern identified by
the U.S./Canada International Joint
Committee's Great Lakes Water Quality
Board. Most of the 42 Areas of Concern
are located in harbors, bays, or river
mouths; 25 are located within U.S. waters,
12 within Canadian waters, and 5 within
international channels. Remedial Action
Plans currently are being developed for
these areas under the 1987 revision of
the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
A major purpose of EPA's ARCS Program
is to evaluate remediation alternatives for
the cleanup of these sites with special
emphasis given to five sites. These five
are Ashtabula River, OH; Buffalo River,
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NY; Sheboygan River. Wl; Grand Calu-
met River, IN; and Saginaw River and
Bay, Ml.
Presentations were organized around
four topic areas.
• Areas of Concern: Buffalo River Reme-
dial Action Plan Strategy (J.C.
McMahon), Reids Brook Superfund Site/
Ashtabula River Area (P. Sanders), Coal
Tar Contamination Near Rundle Reef,
Hamilton Harbor (T. Murphy et al.)t Indi-
ana Harbor/Grand Calumet River AOC
(R. Brunner). Saginaw River/Bay AOC
(G. Goudy), and Sheboygan River and
Harbor (B. L Eleder).
• Polychtorinated Biphenyls: Aerobic Bio-
degradation of PCBs (R. Unterman),
Anaerobic Dechlorination and
Bforemediation of PCBs (J. F. Quensen
et al.), Dechlorination and Biodegrada-
tion of PCBs (J. F. Quensen et al.),
Dechlorination and Biodegradation of
Chlorinated Biphenyls in Anaerobic
Sediments (G-Y. Rhee and B. Bush),
PCB Dechlorination in the Sheboygan
River (W. Cl Sonzogni), Anaerobic and
Aerobic Biodegradation of Endogenous
PCBs (D. A. Abramowicz and M. J.
Brennan), and Remediation Pilot Study
in the Sheboygan River (D. S. Foster).
1 Polychtorinated Aromatic Hydrocarbons:
Use of a Mycobacterium sp. in the
Remediation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hy-
drocarbons (C. E. Cerniglia), Fungal
Degradation; of PAHs (J. Glasser), Re-
cent Studies on the Microbial Degrada-
tion of PAHs and Their Relevance to
Bioremediatipn (J. Mueller), and Bio-
logical Remediation of Contaminated
Sediments ifi The Netherlands (H. J.
van Veen and G. J. Annokkee).
Metals: Bacterial Leaching of Metals
from -Various^Matrices Found»in-Sedk
ments, Removing Inorganics from Sedi-
ment Associated Waters Using
Bioaccumulation and/or Biofix Beads (P.
Altringer and S. Giddings), Biological
Treatment of Metal-contaminated Water
(H. Edenborn), Bioleaching of Ores (E.
G. Baglin), [Mechanisms of Bacterial
Metals Removal from Solids (A. E.
Torma and P. A, Pryfogle), and Linking
Biological and Hydrogeochemicai
Mechanisms of Sediment Leaching (R.
H. Lambeth and B. C. Williams).
Biological remediation to treat contami-
nated sediments may take several forms.
Each form (or process design) has its own
list of factors or parameters that must be
considered when optimizing treatment.
Hence, there are generally no simple an-
swers to questions regarding the feasibil-
ity of biological remediation alternatives.
Sediments generally are not contaminated
with single compounds or even classes of
compounds. Additionally, the interactions
among the various organisms responsible
for the decomposition of anthropogenic
• compounds~and the sediment matrix are
unknown in many cases. The intent, then,
of the Proceedings is to provide some
conclusions that will benefit scientists and
engineers who must make choices among
diverse treatment technologies.
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Tha EPA Editors, Chad T. Jafvert (also the EPA Project Officer, see below) and John
EL Rogers, are with the Environmental Research Laboratory, Athens, GA 30613-
7799. !
The complete report, entitled "Biological Remediation of Contaminated Sediments, with
Special Emphasis on the Great Lakes: A Workshop Report," (Order No. PB 91-161
673/AS; Cost: $15.00 subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Athens, GA 30613-7799
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental
Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/600/S9-91/001
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