Using adaptive management to guide multiple partners in TCE remediation using a permeable reactive barrier

Abstract

The US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) worked together with the University of Maryland, College Park and BMT Designers and Planners (Consultant) to design a biowall to remediate the groundwater of a Superfund site located in Beltsville, MD. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) oversaw the remediation plan as per the regulations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) program. A hybrid adaptive management strategy was employed to to guarantee the use of a science-based approach to the remediation efforts, to ensure that new information could be incorporated into the remediation plan, and to avoid the shortcomings of other remediation efforts elsewhere. Laboratory experiments and a historic-data assessment were conducted in conjunction with the monitoring plan to provide the Consultant and USDA with comprehensive feedback, to strengthen and to modify the monitoring and biowall construction plans as the requirements of the site changed. This feedback mechanism was repeated multiple times to make certain that the highest quality and most effective methods were used. The scope of the project also grew to include investigations of the soil microbial community for future structural biostimulation and bioaugmentation activities. While the biowall has reduced the concentration of trichloroethylene (TCE) to levels at or below its Maximum Contaminant Level, work is on-going to improve the functionality of the biowall and to address emerging challenges.