A program was instituted to study the feasibility of treating, controlling and monitoring spills of hazardous materials. Emphasis was placed on considering techniques and equipment which would be applicable to general classes of chemicals rather than to specific hazardous polluting substances. Several methods were investigated and found to be promising for removing or detoxifying spills of hazardous chemicals 'in situ'. These included: the use of sodium sulfide as a precipitating agent for spills of heavy metal ion solutions; the use of activated carbon packaged in porous fiber bags (carbon 'tea bags') for adsorbing a wide variety of soluble organic chemicals; and the use of various acids or bases to neutralize spill. Methods were studied to control spills on land and prevent their contaminating nearby surface or ground water. To this end, a four-component 'universal gelling agent' was developed to immobilize a spilled liquid. A 'cyclic colorimeter', a novel heavy metal ion detector, was perfected and laboratory tested, and a detection kit capable of sensing several chemicals was developed. A computer model was developed and refined to simulate the spread of a spill when certain stream parameters and material characteristics are known. Bioassay studies were conducted for several chemicals using at least three species of biota. In addition, bioassays were conducted to estimate the environmental effect of each of the various treatment methods developed.

Report prepared by Calapan Corporation, Buffalo, New York. Contract no. 68-01-0110; program element no. 1BB041. Includes bibliographical references (page 137).