Ebullition‐Facilitated Transport of Manufactured Gas Plant Tar from Contaminated Sediment

Abstract

Manufactured gas plant (MGP) tar and wastewater solids historically were discharged into the Penobscot River, Maine,USA, via a sewer at the Bangor Landing site. The tar and wastewater solids accumulated in riverbed sediment over a 5-hectare area downstream from the sewer outfall. Much of the tarry sediment is a hardened mass at the bottom of the river, but in part of the tar deposit (the active zone), the tar remains unhardened. In the active zone, anaerobic biodegradation of organic matter generates methane and carbon dioxide; as gas accumulates and migrates upward, it entrains tar, eventually dragging the tar from the sediment to surface water. Understanding the migration mechanisms in different portions of the tar deposit is critical for modeling the risk posed by the tar at the Bangor Landing site, because during gas-facilitated tar migration, the tar is brought to the water surface, instead of remaining in the sediment. Tar migration from sediment poses a potential human health risk because of the high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the tar. Migration from sediment to the water surface greatly increases the potential exposure of human and ecological receptors to tar that reaches the water surface. In order for tar to migrate from sediment to surface water, three conditions are necessary: the sediment must contain liquid tar, the sediment must produce gas bubbles, and the gas must come into contact with the tarry sediment. Failure to consider facilitated transport of MGP tar from sediment can cause underestimation of site risk and can lead to failure of remedial measures.