Abstract
A field study was initiated in 1997 to assess the ability of tall fescue grass to remediate an aged creosote-contaminated surface soil. Field monitoring was combined with aerobic microcosm experiments, microbial enumerations, and plant tissue analysis to determine the impact of tall fescue on the degradation of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and chrysene, and to elucidate the mechanisms of remediation. Fescue grass had a beneficial impact on the degradation of all PAHs except phenanthrene. Mean concentrations of the three-ring PAHs, acenaphthene and fluorene, were lower in fescue cells compared to unvegetated cells after 36 months. In microcosms with soil from fescue cells, acenaphthene had a significantly higher degradation rate and lower final concentration after 180 days than in microcosms prepared with soil from unvegetated cells. Mean concentrations of the four-ring PAHs, fluoranthene, pyrene, and chrysene, were statistically s...
Published Version
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