REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
BIOREMEDIATION CONSORTIUM

Progress Report
First and Second Quarters 2002

Introduction

The Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents Consortium is one of the six active Action Teams under the Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF). The Bioremediation Consortium was established in 1993 as the result of a shared interest in developing in situ bioremediation technologies to degrade chlorinated solvents in soils and ground water between various companies, universities, the EPA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Energy (DOE).

This report documents progress of the Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents Consortium during the first and second quarters of 2002.

Accomplishments

1. The Consortium held their semi-annual meeting on May 1-2, 2002 in Washington, DC. Consortium members discussed the status of ongoing research, demonstration, and reporting efforts and plans for future activities. More information on the meeting is available on the RTDF web site.
2. The Consortium is completing three studies on bioaugmentation, cometabolic bioventing, and intrinsic biodegradation under Phase 2 activities. Field demonstrations were conducted at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas from the fall of 1999 through December 2000 to evaluate the applicability of accelerated anaerobic bioremediation via bioaugmentation to treat chlorinated ethenes in groundwater. Results were published in a paper, "Successful Field Demonstration of Bioaugmentation to Degrade PCE and TCE to Ethene," available on the RTDF web site and published in Bioaugmentation, Biobarriers, and Biogeochemistry: Proceedings of the Sixth International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium, Vol. 8, 2001.
3. The Consortium has been conducting a field demonstration of co-metabolic bioventing of TCE (with DNAPL ganglia present) at Operable Unit 2, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Injections of propane co-substrate began in August 2000, and field work is scheduled to be completed by Summer 2002. The Consortium is also developing a laboratory treatability protocol for bioventing and a model and users guide to help predict performance of bioventing based on site-specific conditions.
4. At the Bell Aerospace/Textron Site in Niagara Falls, New York, the Consortium is studying intrinsic biodegradation of a DNAPL source area in fractured bedrock. Field work has been completed, and the project is in the data analysis and modeling phase. The Consortium is developing a detailed groundwater flow and contaminant fate and transport model for the site.
5. In addition to the published article on the Kelly demonstration, two other published articles were added to the Consortium's list of technical documents on the RTDF web site: "Using a Molecular Approach to Monitor a Bioaugmentation Pilot," also published in Bioaugmentation, Biobarriers, and Biogeochemistry: Proceedings of the Sixth International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium, Vol. 8, 2001 and "Molecular Analysis of Dehalococcoides 16S rDNA from Chloroethene Contaminated Sites throughout North America and Europe," published in Applied Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 68, No. 2, 2002.
6. EPA and the Consortium's industrial partners are in the process of revising the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for third-phase activities. As part of this phase, the Consortium is considering implementing two studies: bioremediation of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) and degradation at the groundwater/surface water interface. Anyone who may be interested in participating in this work may contact one of the co-chairs through the RTDF web site.