Prepared Bed Land Treatment of Soils Containing Diesel and Crude Oil Hydrocarbons |
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| Authors: | Felipe L Olivera Raymond C Loehr B Cason Coplin Henry Eby Matthew T Webster |
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| Institution: | 1. Chastain-Skillman, Inc., Lakeland, FL (The University of Texas at Austin at the time of the study);2. Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin;3. ENVIRON International Corporation, Princeton, NJ, (The University of Texas at Austin at the time of the study);4. Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin, TX |
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| Abstract: | An ex situ, field-scale, prepared bed land treatment unit (LTU) was used to bio-remediate soils containing petroleum hydrocarbons. Two soils were treated in side-by-side units to compare performance: (1) a clayey silt containing crude oil hydrocarbons from releases 30 to 40 years ago and (2) a silty sand containing diesel fuel hydrocarbons from a leak about three years prior to the bioremediation. The effectiveness of the bioremediation in the LTU was evaluated over a period of 18 months. The results indicated that: (1) prepared bed bioremediation reduced the hydrocarbon concentration, mobility, and relative toxicity in the soil with the diesel fuel, and (2) chemical bioavailability appeared to limit bioremediation of the soil containing the crude oil hydrocarbons. Although the soils containing the crude oil hydrocarbons contained an average of 10,000?mg TPH/kg dry soil, these soils had limited hydrocarbon availability, nontoxic conditions, and low potential for chemical migration. For the soils containing the diesel fuel, active prepared bed bioremediation of about 15 weeks was adequate to reach an environmentally acceptable endpoint. At that time, there was little further TPH loss, no MicrotoxTM toxicity, and limited hydrocarbon mobility. |
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| Keywords: | bioremediation diesel fuel crude oil prepared bed mobility toxicity bioavailability |
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