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BIOREMEDIATION FIELD EVALUATION: EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, ALASKA (EPA/540/R-95/533)
Citation:
U.S. EPA. BIOREMEDIATION FIELD EVALUATION: EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, ALASKA (EPA/540/R-95/533). 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
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Description:
This publication, one of a series presenting the findings of the Bioremediation Field Initiatives bioremediation field evaluations, provides a detailed summary of the evaluation conducted at the Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) Superfund site in Fairbanks, Alaska. At this site, the Initiative provided support for an evaluation of bioventing with soil warming systems to stimulate in situ bioremediation of soil contamination resulting from a JP-4 jet fuel spill. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the feasibility of using bioventing technology to remediate JP-4 jet fuel contamination in a cold climate. The evaluation was conducted as a joint effort of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPAs) National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL). The Air Force and NRMRL operated a bioventing system in a contaminated site at Eielson AFB. During most of the study, the system was operated as an air injection systemone of the first such systems ever evaluated. For comparison, the system was briefly operated in the air extraction mode. Extraction bioventing was found to be much less efficient than injection bioventing. To evaluate injection bioventing with and without soil warming, the Air Force and NRMRL operated the system in four contaminated Eielson AFB test plots: one in which the soil was warmed via circulation of heated ground water, one in which the soil was warmed via heat tape, one in which the soil was warmed via solar heating, and one with no soil warming (the control). The Air Force and NRMRL conducted a variety of tests to measure soil temperatures, microbial respiration/contaminant biodegradation rates, and extent of contaminant removal, as well as to determine whether air injection bioventing generates air emissions. All three soil warming methods raised soil temperatures and stimulated biodegradation, but the warm water and heat tape methods resulted in high soil temperatures year-round and respiration/biodegradation rates two to three times higher than the rates found in the unheated control. Significant contaminant removal occurred, and no significant air emission problems were detected.