Soil and groundwater contamination stemming from the release of various chlorinated compounds into the environment is a significant and difficult site remediation challenge. The articles in this collection discuss the use of aerobic and anaerobic biological degradation to dehalogenate sites contaminated with pesticides and chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethene, tetrachloromethene, perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, pentachlorophenol, and chlorinated benzene. Bench- and field-scale studies of the biological processes associated with in situ dechlorination of soil and aquifers are described. Discussed are the uses of microcosm studies and numerical simulation of dechlorination to manage system operation. Site characteristics (e.g., hydraulic properties, temperature, nitrogen availability) and their effect on the stability of the methanotrophic community are examined. Methods discussed include the use of air venting, alternative electron donors, biofilm reactors, surfactants, municipal digester sludge, iron enhancement, and sulfate reduction to improve conditions for the microbial consortia that effect dechlorination.

This timely reference presents the state of the art of the emerging and rapidly changing field of bioremediation of chlorinated solvents, PCBs, and other chlorinated compounds, as well as PAHs, both in situ and on site. This landmark publication reports significant advances in bioremediation, with an emphasis on practical applications and state-of-the-art developments. Laboratory and field-oriented reviews are presented with the objective of tying treatability studies and recent laboratory developments to field applications. No other reference source gives you access to the most current techniques and methods for the bioremediation of chlorinated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds. This book represents the work of leading experts in the fields of in situ and on-site bioremediation from North America, Europe, and Asia. The chapters include current field applications and laboratory studies undertaken, in some cases, in countries with regulatory standards more stringent than those of the United States.

This book is intended to be a general reference for environmental decision makers who are interested in the fate of chlorinated aromatic compounds with respect to microbial activity. It includes reviews of microbial physiology, genetics, and methods of biodegradation assessment.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, our nation began to grapple with the legacy of past disposal practices for toxic chemicals. With the passage in 1980 of the Comprehensive Envir- mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Sup- fund, it became the law of the land to remediate these sites. The U. S. Department of Defense (DoD), the nation’s largest industrial organization, also recognized that it too had a legacy of contaminated sites. Historic operations at Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps facilities, ranges, manufacturing sites, shipyards, and depots had resulted in widespread contamination of soil, groundwater, and sediment. While Superfund began in 1980 to focus on remediation of heavily contaminated sites largely abandoned or neglected by the private sector, the DoD had already initiated its Installation Restoration Program in the mid-1970s. In 1984, the DoD began the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) for contaminated site assessment and remediation. Two years later, the U. S. Congress codified the DERP and directed the Secretary of Defense to carry out a concurrent program of research, development, and demonstration of innovative remediation technologies. As chronicled in the 1994 National Research Council report, “Ranking Hazardous-Waste Sites for Remedial Action,” our early estimates on the cost and suitability of existing techn- ogies for cleaning up contaminated sites were wildly optimistic. Original estimates, in 1980, projected an average Superfund cleanup cost of a mere $3.