Integrated bioremediation of soil and groundwater at a superfund site

Abstract

AbstractThe soil and two aquifers under an active lumber mill in Libby, Montana, had been contaminated from 1946 to 1969 by uncontrolled releases of creosote and pentachlorophenol (PCP). In 1983, because the contaminated surface soil and the shallower aquifer posed immediate risks to human health and the natural environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed the site on its National Priorities List. Feasibility studies in 1987 and 1988 determined that in situ bioremediation would help clean up this aquifer and that biological treatment would help clean up the contaminated soils. This article outlines the studies that led to a 1988 EPA record of decision and details the EPA‐approved remedial plan implemented starting in 1989; EPA estimates a total cost of about $15 million (in 1988 dollars). The plan involves extensive excavation and biological treatment of shallow contaminated soils in two lined and bermed land treatment units, extraction of heavily contaminated groundwater, an aboveground bioreactor treatment system, and injection of oxygenated water to the contaminant source area, as well as to other on‐site areas affected by the shallower aquifer's contaminant plume.