Confidential Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, Pennsylvania

Waste water treatment sludge and laboratory wastes had been disposed of by onsite landfilling at this major pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facility. Recent plans for significant new construction called for expansion into the disposal areas. The owner sought alternatives to excavation and offsite disposal for the waste material still in place after the first phase of building footprint excavations. The goals of an alternative treatment would be to remove the RCRA characteristic volatile and semi-volatile compounds, to eliminate the extremely noxious odors that made the first excavation work less than pleasant, and to convert the semifluid sludge into a soil like material that would be more easily removable or could support future surface loads.

A three part treatability study was designed including: sludge stabilization, bioremediation, and bioventing. The bioventing study included field work to determine what the air flow could be induced through the fine grained material in-situ and bench work conducted over a period of 8 weeks.

Application of vacuum to the in-place waste by way of specially constructed wells showed that flow could be induced and that volatile compounds could be removed in measurable (using a photo-ionization detector) quantities. The bench work showed that significant biological activity was stimulated by drawing air through the samples. The biological activity was indicated by the measured increase in CO2 concentrations across the tested soil columns and the visually evident growth of microbial colonies. The CO2 measured entering the columns was at the atmospheric concentration of about 300 ppm while it was in excess of 6000 ppm exiting the columns during the early stages of treatment. The decline in the exiting concentrations over time showed that the aerobic bioactivity decreased as the microbes consumed the available nutrients. The objectives of the treatability studies were to determine, for each technology, whether it could reduce the toxicity of the waste material, convert the viscous waste into a soil like material, eliminate odors, and be implementable at reasonable cost. Representative samples of the waste material were collected at the site and analyzed. Bench scale application of the treatment technologies showed that:

• ISV/Bioventing accomplished all the objectives

• Stabilization/Solidification reduced toxicity and produced a soil like product but did not eliminate odor

• Bioremediation in a slurry phase reduced toxicity and eliminated odor but did not produce a soil like product and would be difficult to implement at the site.

Fortune 100 Co./Major Environmental Consulting Firm

Groundwater beneath an industrial facility in Boston, MA was contaminated with TCE concentrations up to 200 mg/L in a fractured bedrock setting. A major environmental consulting firm selected Terra Systems, Inc. to conduct an anaerobic bioremediation treatability study for the site.

Soil and groundwater samples from the till and fractured bedrock zones were collected from the site. Microcosms were prepared with these materials and spiked with various soluble substances including lactate and molasses, insoluble substrates such as soybean oil and hydrogenated soybean oil as long-lasting substrates, and in some treatments, bioaugmented with the dechlorinating enrichment culture from the Pinellas, Florida site. Terra Systems, Inc. has licensed the Pinellas culture from General Electric, the original developer of the culture.

The native microbial population was only capable of degrading TCE to cDCE. Bioaugmentation with the Pinellas dechlorinating enrichment resulted in the transformation of up to 200 mg/L of TCE to ethene in treatments fed with lactate and soybean oil. A pilot demonstration including bioaugmentation is being conducted at this site.

Fortune 100 Company

Groundwater beneath an abandoned industrial facility in Indianapolis, IN was contaminated with TCE at concentrations up to 10 mg/L in an aquifer comprised of silty sands and gravel overlying a glacial till clay. A Fortune 100 Company selected Terra Systems, Inc. to conduct an anaerobic bioremediation treatability study for the site

Soil and groundwater samples were collected from the presumed source area. Microcosms were prepared with these materials and spiked with lactate and the edible oil emulsion. One treatment was bioaugmented with the dechlorinating enrichment culture from the Pinellas, Florida site. A second bioaugmented treatment used groundwater from a downgradient well that contained elevated concentrations of VC and ethene.

The native microbial population was capable of degrading TCE all the way to ethene using either lactate or the edible oil emulsion. Bioaugmentation with the Pinellas dechlorinating enrichment or the downgradient groundwater was not necessary. A pilot test with the edible oil emulsion was recommended to the client.

TSI designed and conducted a laboratory treatability study to determine if and to what extent the native microbial population could degrade the chlorinated solvents with and without additional substrate; evaluate potential substrates to determine which substrate would work best at this site; and evaluate the potential application of an slowly degradable substrates.

The native microbial population was capable of degrading PCE and daughter products to ethene. The site owner decided to move forward with a pilot test for a passive bioremediation system. A slow release substrate (soybean oil) has been injected into the subsurface at the site. Initial results showed an increase in the total organic carbon (TOC) and a rapid removal of chlorinated solvents from the groundwater in several of the wells. Additional data will be acquired to confirm the mechanism for removal, i.e. biodegradation vs. absorption into the oil.

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