Assessing of Natural Attenuation and Intrinsic Bioremediation Rates at a Petroleum-Hydrocarbon Spill Site: Laboratory and Field Studies
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
Natural attenuation is a passive remedial approach that depends upon natural processes to degrade and dissipate contaminants in soil and groundwater. Intrinsic bioremediation is believed to be the major process among the natural attenuation mechanisms that account for the reduction of contaminant concentrations. In this study, a mass flux approach was used to calculate the contaminant mass reduction at a petroleum-hydrocarbon spill site. The mass flux technique is a simplified mass balance procedure, which is accomplished using the differences in total contaminant mass flux across two cross sections of the contaminant plume. The mass flux calculation results show that up to 86% of the dissolved total benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) isomers removal was observed via natural attenuation at this site. Evidence for the occurrence of natural attenuation was the decreased contaminant mass flux through the plume cross sections along the transport path and limited spreading of the BTEX plume. Evidences for the BTEX biodegradation include: (1) decreased BTEX concentrations along the transport path; (2) depletion of dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and sulfate; (3) production of dissolved ferrous iron, sulfide, methane, and ; (4) deceased pH in the spill source area and increased pH in iron-reducing area; (5) increased alkalinity and microbial populations; and (6) preferential removal of certain BTEX components along the transport path. The effectiveness of intrinsic bioremediation on BTEX removal was evaluated by the in situ tracer method. Results reveal that approximately 74% of the BTEX removal was due to the intrinsic biodegradation process. The first-order decay model was applied for the natural attenuation and intrinsic bioremediation rates calculation. Results show that the biodegradation capacity (34.5 mg/L) for BTEX was much higher than the detected contaminants within the plume. The calculated total BTEX first-order natural attenuation and intrinsic bioremediation rates were 0.025 and 0.017% 1/day, respectively. Results of polymerase chain reaction, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and nucleotide sequence analysis reveal that some petroleum-hydrocarbon degraders (Flavobacterium capsulatum, Xanthobacter sp., Xanthobacter flavus, Xanthomonas codiaei, Pseudomonas boreopolis, Methylobacterium sp., Reichenowia pictae) might exist at this site, which might contribute to the BTEX biodegradation. Results suggest that the natural attenuation mechanisms can effectively contain the plume, and the mass flux method is useful in assessing the occurrence and efficiency of the natural attenuation and intrinsic bioremediation processes.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by UNSPECIFIEDNational Science Council in Taiwan and Chinese Petroleum Corp., Taiwan. Additional thanks to Dr. K. L. Huang of Chinese Petroleum Corp., Taiwan, and Dr. W. Y. Huang and Ms. Y. L. Kuo of National Sun Yat-Sen University for their assistance throughout this project. The views or opinions expressed in this article are those of the writers and should not be construed as opinions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 54 - 67
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 16, 2008
Accepted: Jun 30, 2009
Published online: Jul 2, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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