5, EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Office of Research and Development
Washington, DC 20460
January 1995
PROGRAM FACT SHEET
Demonstration of the
EnviroMetal Technologies, Inc.
Metal-Enhanced Abiotic Degradation Technology
This fact sheet will tell you about..
¦	The SITE demonstration of the
metal-enhanced abiotic degrada-
tion technology at the SGL site.
¦	A public Visitors' Day for the SITE
demonstration, which is scheduled
for February 8, 1995. To attend
the Visitors' Day, complete the
enclosed registration form.
Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) identifies new methods
for hazardous waste cleanup through
its Superfund Innovative Technology
Evaluation (SITE) Program. Created
in 1986, this program demonstrates
and evaluates innovative treatment
technologies that may significantly
reduce the toxicity, mobility, or volume
of hazardous waste. The SITE
Program also generates reliable
performance and cost information on
the technologies for use in evaluating
cleanup alternatives for similarly
contaminated sites.
The technology proposed for
demonstration is the metal-enhanced
abiotic degradation technology,
developed by EnviroMetal
Technologies, Inc. (ETI), of Ontario,
Canada. The purpose of the
demonstration is to evaluate the
technology's effectiveness in reducing
concentrations of trichloroethene
(TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE),
dichloroethene isomers, and vinyl
chloride found in groundwater at the
SGL Printed Circuits (SGL) site in
Wayne, New Jersey.
EPA's SITE Program
Each year, EPA solicits proposals from
private technology developers to
demonstrate innovative technologies
under the SITE Program. For each
technology selected, EPA does the
following, often with input from state
and regional agencies:
Identifies a site with wastes
suitable for treatment
Prepares a technology quality
assurance project plan (QAPP)
Notifies appropriate agencies for
intergovernmental and community
reviews
Prepares a fact sheet for the
public, describing the site and the
technology
Prepares the demonstration site
Conducts and audits field
sampling and laboratory analyses
Organizes a Visitors' Day for the
public to view the technology
demonstration
Evaluates technology
performance
Prepares an Innovative
Technology Evaluation Report
(ITER) summarizing the
demonstration results, as well as
a Technology Capsule,
Demonstration Bulletin, and a
videotape
Public Involvement
During this SITE demonstration, the
public is invited to attend a Visitors'
Day scheduled for February 8, 1995.
The Visitors' Day will enable the
community to become familiar with the
SITE Program, the SGL site, and the
ETI technology. To attend the Visitors'
Day, complete the enclosed
registration form. This form may be
reproduced for multiple registrations.
Site History
SGL manufactured printed circuit
boards at the SGL site in Wayne, New
Jersey until 1984. After selling the
property in 1984, SGL changed its
name to SL Industries, which is
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Figure 1: Layout of the SGL site
currently involved with remedial
investigation activities and cleanup of
the site under an economic cleanup
responsibility act plan administered by
the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
Figure 1 shows the layout of the SGL
site. The site.covers about-3.5 acres
and contains three buildings, one
storage yard, and two former drum
storage areas (not shown).
Chemicals commonly used on site to
manufacture printed circuit boards
included TCE, PCE, and other
chlorinated compounds. The areas
behind buildings 1 and 3 were used
for drum storage, and spills or leaks
may have occurred in these areas. In
addition, an underground heating oil
tank located behind building 2 leaked
fuel hydrocarbons into the subsurface.
Groundwater samples collected from
on-site monitoring wells show elevated
levels of TCE and PCE. Based on
available data, the highest
concentration of TCE was reported at
23,000 micrograms per liter (jxg/L) in
February 1992; the highest
concentration of PCE was reported at
120,000 fig/L in July 1992.
Technology Description
The metal-enhanced abiotic
degradation technology is designed to
dechlorinate organic compounds in
groundwater. Before construction of
a full-scale in situ reactive wall, an
aboveground treatment reactor is
sometimes installed and operated to
allow for measurement, control,
modification, and optimization of
design and operating parameters. ETI
claims that the reactor simulates the
full-scale treatment process at the
pilot-scale level or it may be used as
a treatment unit itself. This SITE
demonstration will evaluate the
treatment reactor's effectiveness at
removing contaminants from
groundwater at the SGL site.
In full-scale use of this technology, an
in situ permeable reactive wall is
constructed by filling a trench with
granular iron and inert materials.
Groundwater either moves naturally
through the wall or is directed through
the wall by one or more impermeable
sheet piles or slurry walls built outward
at the side of the trench. ETI will
demonstrate a pilot-scale, in situ
treatment wall in spring 1995 at a site
in upstate New York.
Groundwater collection trenches and
effluent injection wells support the
aboveground treatment reactor.
During the demonstration,
groundwater is extracted from the
overburden and shallow bedrock at the
site by passive recovery techniques,
using stone-filled collection trenches.
Groundwater from two artesian wells
is also fed into the collection trench.
Then, groundwater flows through the
collection trenches to a sump, where
it is pumped to the aboveground
treatment reactor. Groundwater from
two deep wells on the north side of
Sheffield Brook is also pumped to the
reactor. The flow rate of groundwater
pumped to the reactor is about 0.5
gallons per minute.
Groundwater then passes through an
influent line that contains an air
eliminator, a 5-micron water filter, and
a flow meter before entering the
treatment reactor (see Figure 2). The
air eliminator allows the passive
release of excess air from the highest
elevation of the influent line when
atmospheric pressure is exceeded.
The volume of air released is expected
to be less than 100 cubic yards over
the 3-month operation, and therefore
will not be treated.
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Inside the reactor, about 5.5 feet of the
reactive iron medium is placed on a
6-inch layer of well sand. The reactor
drains through a collector line located
in the well sand and then through the
effluent line. The effluent line is
plumbed so that about 1 foot of
groundwater remains ponded above
the reactive iron medium inside the
reactor during the demonstration.
Effluent will be returned to the aquifer
through six on-site injection wells.
Technology Demonstration
The ETI demonstration began in
November 1994 at the SGL site, and
will be completed in February 1995.
During this 3-month period, weekly
samples will be collected from the
following locations (see Figure 2):
The influent sampling location (II),
located in the influent line
Five reactor sampling locations
(R1 through R5), located within the
reactor tank (R1 is located in the
ponded water; R2 through R5 are
located in the reactive medium.)
• The effluent sampling location
(E1), located in the effluent line
Groundwater remains in the treatment
reactor for about 1 day. After
treatment, the groundwater is returned
to the aquifer on site. During the
demonstration, the ETI technology will
treat about 65,000 gallons of water.
Primary objectives for the
demonstration are to determine:
If the ETI technology reduces TCE
and PCE concentrations in
groundwater discharged from the
treatment reactor to meet NJDEP
discharge requirements
Whether the treatment reactor's
effectiveness at reducing TCE and
PCE concentrations in ground-
water is reduced over a
3-month operating period
PROFILE
Q -SampleLocation
SOURCE: Modified from ETI 1903
Figure 2: Schematic drawing ofETI Metal-Enhanced Abiotic
Degradation Technology to be Demonstrated
MAILING LIST
I If you would like to attend future SITE Visitors' Days or receive SITE publi-
I cations, please complete this form, detach and mail to:
| SITE Mailing List
I do PRC Environmental Management, Inc.
| 644 Linn Street, Suite 719
¦ Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
I ~ Future SITE Visitors' Days ~ SITE Publications
Name	
Company	
Address	
' City	 State	 Zip	
J^Phone ( )	
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If the technology generates
1.1-dichloroethene,
1.2-dichloroethene	isomers,
chloroethene, 1,1-dichloroethane,
1,2-dichloroethane, and
chloroethane as by-products
Secondary objectives for the
demonstration are to determine:
The degradation rate of TCE and
PCE in groundwater as it passes
through the treatment reactor
If the technology reduces
contaminants otherthan TCE and
PCE to meet NJDEP discharge
requirements
Geochemical changes in
groundwater as it moves through
the reactive media
Operating and design parameters
Treatment reactor air emissions
for TCE and PCE
EPA has prepared a detailed QAPP
outlining methods and procedures for
testing and evaluating the technology.
When the demonstration is complete,
the findings will be compiled and
analyzed in an ITER, Technology
Capsule, and Demonstration Bulletin.
These documents will be used to
evaluate alternatives for cleaning up
sites with similar wastes across the
country.
Additional Information
Questions or comments about the
proposed demonstration or the SITE
Program should be directed to:
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
Dr. Chien Chen
SITE Project Manager
Risk Reduction Engineering
Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
2890 Woodbridge Avenue
Building 10, MS-104
Edison, NJ 08837-3679
908-906-6985
Questions about the technology
should be directed to:
EnviroMetal Technologies, Inc.
John Vogan
EnviroMetal Technologies, Inc.
42 Arrow Road
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1K 1S6
519-824-0432
Questions about the SGL site should
be directed to:
SL Industries, Inc.
Ted Taubeneck
SL Industries, Inc.
520 Fellowship Road, Suite 306-C
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
609-727-1500, ext. 210
5EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
26 West Martin Luther King Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
Attention: Chien Chen
Photocopied on Recycled Paper

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