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EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL FOR CHLORINATED SOLVENT DEGRADATION FROM HYDROGEN CONCENTRATIONS
Citation:
Wilson*, J T., D H. Kampbell*, AND M. Ferrey. EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL FOR CHLORINATED SOLVENT DEGRADATION FROM HYDROGEN CONCENTRATIONS. Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, Monterey, CA, 5/22-25/00.
Description:
Long-term monitoring of a large trichioroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) ground water plume in Minnesota indicated that these contaminants attenuated with distance from the source. Mathematical modelling indicated that sufficient time had passed for the plume to fully develop. However, the actual concentrations of contaminants in the ground water were much lower than would be expecte4 with dilution and dispersion alone, indicating that some other process was actively removing TCE and TCA along the flowpath. Although the presence of cis-l,2-dichloroethylene (cDCE) in the ground water was evidence of reductive dehalogenation, the absence of vinyl chloride (VC) and ethene suggested that the dechlorination process was incomplete, However, the concentrations of cDCE and other reduced products of degradation amounted to a small fraction of the missing TCE or TCA. Hydrogen concentrations exceeded 1.0 nM in ground water at many locations in the plume and at background locations, indicating that conditions are favorable for reductive transformation of chlorinated solvents throughout the entire plume. This suggests that a process other than reductive dehalogenation is removing the cDCE and preventing its accumulation along the ground water flowpath