Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 122 OF 1455

Main Title Biodegradation of Hydrocarbon Vapors in the Unsaturated Zone.
Author Ostendorf, D. W. ; Kampbell, D. H. ;
CORP Author Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Lab., Ada, OK. ;Massachusetts Univ., Amherst. Dept. of Civil Engineering.
Publisher c1991
Year Published 1991
Report Number EPA/600/J-91/084;
Stock Number PB91-196642
Additional Subjects Biodeterioration ; Hydrocarbons ; Soil contamination ; Air pollution abatement ; Water pollution abatement ; Oxygen ; Land pollution ; Zone of saturation ; Unsaturated flow ; Volatile organic compounds ; Michigan ; Time series analysis ; Environmental transport ; Soil gases ; Mathematical models ; Oil spills ; Concentration(Composition) ; Sampling ; Chemical reactions ; Reprints ; Traverse City(Michigan)
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NTIS  PB91-196642 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 12p
Abstract
The time-averaged concentration of hydrocarbon and oxygen vapors were measured in the unsaturated zone above the residually contaminated capillary fringe at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City, Michigan. Total hydrocarbon and oxygen vapor concentrations were observed over a 13-month period. Supplementary grain size, porosity, and moisture content data support the assumption of a uniform, homogenous site geology which, in view of the planar hydrocarbon source term, abundant oxygen, and sparse data base, is suitable for simple analytical modeling. In the assumed absence of advection, leaching, and transcience, the analysis is a straight-forward balance of gaseous diffusion and biological degradation coupled stoichiometrically in the two reacting constituents. Volatilization is shown to be a significant transport mechanism for hydrocarbons at Traverse City, and biodegradation prevents the escape of appreciable contamination to the atmosphere for most locations at the site. Little oxygen is expected to reach the water table because of the aerobic biodegradation process in the unsaturated zone. (Copyright (c) 1991 the American Geophysical Union.)