The report provides the reader with a detailed background of the technologies available for the bioremediation of contaminated soil and ground water. The document has been prepared for scientists, consultants, regulatory personnel, and others who are associated in some way with the restoration of soil and ground water at hazardous waste sites. It provides the most recent scientific understanding of the processes involved with soil and ground-water remediation, as well as a definition of the state-of-the-art of these technologies with respect to circumstances of their applicability and their limitations. In addition to discussions and examples of developed technologies, the report also provides insights to emerging technologies which are at the research level of formation, ranging from theoretical concepts, through bench scale inquiries, to limited field-scale investigations. The report centers around a number of bioremediation technologies applicable to the various subsurface compartments into which contaminants are distributed. The processes which drive these remediation technologies are discussed in depth along with the attributes which direct their applicability and limitations according to the phases into which the contaminants have partitioned. These discussions include in-situ remediation systems, air sparging and bioventing, use of electron acceptors alternate to oxygen, natural bioremediation, and the introduction of organisms into the subsurface. The contaminants of major focus in the report are petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents.

"July 1993." Includes bibliographical references. "EPA/600-R-93-124."