Hazardous Waste Site Soil Remediation: Theory and Application of Innovative Technologies

582 Pages·1994·19.103 MB·\582

by  David J. Wilson (Author)

HAZARDOUS
WASTE SITE
SOIL
REMEDIATION
Environmental Science and Pollution Control Series
1. Toxic Metal Chemistry in Marine Environments, Muhammad Sadiq
2. Handbook of Polymer Degradation, edited by S. Halim Hamid, Mo-
hamed B. Amin, and AH G. Maadhah
3. Unit Processes in Drinking Water Treatment, Willy J. Masschelein
4. Groundwater Contamination and Analysis at Hazardous Waste Sites,
edited by Suzanne Lesage and Richard E. Jackson
5. Plastics Waste Management: Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse, edited
by Nabil Mustafa
6. Hazardous Waste Site Soil Remediation: Theory and Application of
Innovative Technologies, edited by David J. Wilson and Ann N.
Clarke
7. Process Engineering for Pollution Control and Waste Minimization,
edited by Donald L. Wise and Debra J. Trantolo
8. Remediation of Hazardous Waste Contaminated Soils, edited by
Donald L. Wise and Debra J. Trantolo
9. Water Contamination and Health: Integration of Exposure Assess­
ment, Toxicology, and Risk Assessment, edited by Rhoda G. M.
Wang
10. Pollution Control in Fertilizer Production, edited by Charles A. Hodge
and Neculai N. Popovici
11. Groundwater Contamination and Control, edited by Uri Zoiier
12. Toxic Properties of Pesticides, Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff and John
A. King
13. Combustion and Incineration Processes: Applications in Environ­
mental Engineering, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, Walter
R. Niessen
14. Hazardous Chemicals in the Polymer Industry, Nicholas P. Chere­
misinoff
15. Handbook of Highly Toxic Materials Handling and Management,
edited by Stanley S. Grossel and Daniel A. Crow!
Additional Volumes in Preparation
HAZARDOUS
WASTE SITE
SOIL
REMEDIATION
Theory and
AppGcation
of
Innovative
Technologies
edited by
David J. Wilson Ann N. Clarke
Vanderbilt University ECKENFELDER INC.
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee
Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York*Basel*Hong Kong
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hazardous waste site soil remediation : theory and application of
innovative technologies / edited by David J. Wilson, Ann N. Clarke,
p. cm. — (Environmental science and pollution control series
; 6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8247-9107-X (alk. paper)
1. Hazardous wastes—Environmental aspects. 2. Soil remediation.
I. Wilson, David J. II. Clarke, Ann N. III. Series:
Environmental science and pollution control ; 6.
TD879.H38H39 1994
628.5’5—dc20 93-30052
CIP
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 1994 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy­
ing, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and re­
trieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Marcel Dekker, Inc.
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Current printing (last digit):
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
To friends and adversaries around the world
whose work in the lab and in the field made this book possible,
with hopes for better, cheaper cleanups in the future.

P r efa c e
The cost of remediating the tens of thousands of Superfund and Re­
source Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste sites in
the U.S. alone has been estimated at $750 billion. These estimates are
likely to increase in the future. The financial burden this presents to cor­
porations, consumers, and taxpayers is formidable. Obviously, the de­
velopment of more effective, less costly remediation technologies would
be of great benefit to all concerned.
In the past, reliance has been placed on a relatively limited number
of technologies that may no longer be acceptable to regulatory agencies
(capping, excavation, and reburial) or are extremely expensive (inciner­
ation). Recently, a number of innovative technologies have surfaced that
provide the environmental engineer with additional options. In this
book we have attempted to provide introductions to these alternatives.
We have not included the older technologies noted above because ex­
tensive literature on them already exists.
Our book is directed to environmental managers and regulators
and to engineers who are not necessarily experts in remediation tech­
nologies. These people must read proposals, reports, and recommen­
dations involving the various technologies with understanding and
insight. They must be able to communicate with the experts on the tech­
nologies, and they must be able to justify their recommendations to
v
vi Preface
their management. It is our hope that this book will be of help in all
these tasks.
We note that the treatment of the various technologies in this book
shows considerable latitude. This is due to variations in the nature and
complexity of the technologies and to their respective degrees of devel­
opment at the time the book was written. We have included a rather
substantial amount of theory because most of these technologies are
sufficiently new that there is no large body of practical experience on
which one can rely. Under such circumstances, theory may provide a
helpful guide in evaluating and selecting techniques to deal with a
given menu of contaminants at a specific site.
The first chapter, by James H. Clarke, Danny D. Reible, and Rob­
ert D. Mutch, Jr., addresses fundamental aspects of groundwater hydrol­
ogy and mass transport that provide the stage on which any remediation
scheme is played. Much of this chapter is oriented toward the behavior
of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs), which present the envi­
ronmental engineer with some challenging problems in remediation.
The second chapter, by Robert D. Mutch, Jr., and Joanna I. Scott,
addresses some difficulties that arise in connection with pump-and-
treat operations in such diffusion-limited systems as fractured porous
bedrock. In these systems, diffusion limitations often lead to frustrat­
ingly long remediation times and groundwater contaminant concentra­
tions that exhibit rebound once the pump-and-treat operation ceases.
The third chapter, on the chemical stabilization of contaminated
soils, is by Jesse R. Conner and provides a discussion of one of the better
established of the innovative technologies by a leader in the field. The
chapter addresses such questions as what compounds can be immobi­
lized, what additives are most effective under various conditions, which
mixing and materials handling techniques are useful in particular situ­
ations, and what costs can be expected.
The fourth chapter, by David J. Wilson and Ann N. Clarke, deals
with soil vapor extraction, which in recent years has become widely ac­
cepted for the removal of volatile organics from the vadose zone. Math­
ematical modeling techniques are of some interest in connection with
this technology, for assessment and design work; these are discussed in
some detail. Wilson and Clarke are joined by Paul R. dePercin in the
following chapter. This chapter addresses thermally enhanced soil va­
por stripping. Thermal enhancement permits vapor extraction of com­
pounds having vapor pressures that are too low to permit efficient
conventional vapor extraction at ambient temperatures.
The ex situ technique of thermal desorption of soil contaminants
is discussed in Chapter 6, by Richard J. Ayen, Carl P. Swanstrom, and
Preface vii
Carl R. Palmer. This method provides a lower-cost alternative to incin­
eration for the removal of organics, including those which are virtually
nonvolatile at ambient temperatures.
The very broad, rapidly developing subject of enhanced biodegra­
dation for on-site remediation of soils and groundwater is discussed
by Ronald E. Hoeppel and Robert E. Hinchee in Chapter 7. Their pre­
sentation includes the necessary microbiological background to give
the nonspecialist access to current concepts and developments in bio­
remediation. This is then followed by discussions of the biodegrada­
tion of several environmentally important classes of organic compounds
as well as of the biotransformations of several environmentally signifi­
cant metals. The chapter also addresses some of the regulatory hurdles
that have tended to hold back the development of bioremediation
techniques.
In Chapter 8, Ann N. Clarke, Robert D. Norris, and David J. Wilson
discuss the technique of air sparging in the zone of saturation, a rather
new method that has been demonstrated to be effective in Europe and
may provide a means for increased rates of DNAPL removal from the
zone of saturation.
Kenton H. Oma describes in situ vitrification in Chapter 9. This
technology has the advantage of remediating soil contaminated with
both non-volatile metals and organic compounds, but it is limited to use
above the water table.
The book closes with Chapter 10, by David J. Wilson and Ann N.
Clarke, on soil surfactant washing and (in situ) flushing. This technique
has been under study for some time but has not yet been used in field-
scale work. The reasons for this, as well as the promise that these sur­
factant methods hold, are discussed.
In a field that is developing as fast as the remediation of hazardous
waste sites, it is difficult to predict future trends with any confidence. In
looking into the future, one can certainly expect methods that are
energy-intensive to labor under a progressively increasing handicap in
the years to come as energy costs continue to rise. One expects that
techniques for site characterization (permeabilities, distribution and
concentrations of contaminants, etc.) will become more accurate and
less costly as new instruments and methods are developed. This will be
augmented by the use of improved methods of data processing and in­
terpretation, such as kriging. One can hope that applied microbiologists
will be successful in their attempts to find organisms that are able to
break down refractory organics (particularly chlorinated compounds)
under a range of common environmental conditions. One might expect
mathematical modeling to improve and to become more widely used in