BIOREMEDIATION OF HAZARDOUS ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS AT TEXTUAL INTERFACES IN THE SUBSOIL

B. Liu¹, W. Han¹, M.K. Banks¹, L.N. Reddi¹, C. Rice² and G.J. Kluitenberg²

¹Department of Civil Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; and ²Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506


ABSTRACT

Due to chemical spills, leaking underground storage tanks, landfills and other pollution sources, soil and ground water are commonly polluted by hazardous organic chemicals. In many cases, the surface soil is underlain by a subsoil of different texture, and this textural interface may be a zone of accumulation for contaminants, water, soil nutrients and microorganisms. This study will investigate optimal bioremediation strategies for the remediation of contaminated textural interfaces. In the first step of the study, multi-layer soil columns will be constructed and contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Soil physical and chemical properties, zone of accumulation, microbial characteristics, flow of nutrients, and bioremediation of target compounds will be examined in these columns. In the second step of the study, a pilot scale microcosm will be constructed. It will include experiments to survey the multidimensional nature of the fate and transport of organic contaminants at textural interfaces, and biodegradation variables will be optimized. The technical and modeling results from this research project will be used to optimize bioremediation strategies in these settings.

KEY WORDS

bioremediation, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, subsoil

This paper is from the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research 1995, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.