Laboratory studies investigating contaminant removal from surface and groundwater soils at a CERCLA site

Abstract

The study of soil flushing and pump and treat methodologies as remediation tools at a CERCLA site in New Jersey were investigated in laboratory studies at Rutgers University. Results indicate that, at this site, pump and treat methods may be viable for contaminant reduction in groundwater soils. Removal of the targeted compounds was swift and residual contamination of the groundwater solids was not evident. Heterogeneity between the soil cores which were extruded from roughly the same site suggest a conservative estimate when predicting time to cleanup. Further tests showed, however, that the use of soil flushing for contaminated surface soils is much less effective. The magnitude of contamination, most likely in the form of NAPLs, precludes the remediation process. Furthermore, pump and treat technology to remediate surface soil contamination could adversely affect the groundwater remediation efforts.

Key words:

• Soil flushing
• BTX compounds
• Sorption
• NAPLs