Bioventing Feasibility Study at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska

• Main Authors: Leeson, Andrea, Hinchee, Robert E, Kittel, Jeffrey A, Foote, Eric A, Headington, Gregory, Pollack, Albert
• Other Authors: BATTELLE MEMORIAL INST COLUMBUS OH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1995
• Subjects: Logistics; Military Facilities and Supplies; Solid Wastes Pollution and Control; *SOIL REMEDIATION; AIR FORCE FACILITIES; ALASKA; BENZENE; BIODEGRADATION; CONTAMINANTS; CONTAMINATION; GROUND WATER; JET ENGINE FUELS; MICROORGANISMS; PETROLEUM PRODUCTS; TOLUENES; VADOSE ZONE; XYLENES; AIR INJECTION; BIOREMEDIATION; BIOVENTING; COLD CLIMATE; ETHYLBENZENE; FUEL SPILLS; HEATED WATER; JP-4; PASSIVE SOIL WARMING; SOIL TEMPERATURE; TPH(TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS); Eielson; Subarctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA585054; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA585054

This program consisted of two separate, but integrated, projects. The first project consisted of U.S. Air Force-initiated bioventing activities on a JP-4 jet fuel spill at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska in July 1991. The objective of the Air Force project was to install and operate an In Situ soil bioremediation system to investigate the feasibility of using bioventing technology to remediate JP-4 jet fuel contamination in a subarctic environment. The Air Force component of the project comprised of three test plots: (1) a passive warming test plot in which plastic sheeting was placed over the ground surface of the test plot during the spring and summer months to capture solar heat and passively warm the soil; (2) a surface warming test plot in which heat tape was installed in the test plot to heat the soil directly; and (3) a control test plot, which received air injection, but no soil warming. The second project was an outgrowth of the U.S. EPA Bioremediation Field Initiative coupled with previous discussions with the Air Force. The objective of the EPA project was to actively increase soil temperature at a JP-4 jet fuel-contaminated bioventing site to determine to what degree increased soil temperature can enhance the biodegradation rates of JP-4 jet fuel contaminants in soil. The study involved actively increasing the soil temperature by circulating groundwater through an electric heater and reapplying the heated water below the ground surface in an area of known JP-4 jet fuel contamination.