The primary objective of the proposed project is to develop a practical, low cost and efficient process to degrade PCB-contaminated waters and sediments to the extent that the residual concentrations do not pose a threat to human health or the environment. The proposed research focuses on three specific aims; (1) conducting a series of laboratory experiments to assess the important photodegradation variables in water and/or sediment, i.e. light intensity, common ion effect, pH, temperature, humic acid effect, substrate concentration, residence time, catalyst, intermediate and final products, added oxidant (H2O2) and reactor depth; (2) designing a solar reactor for water treatment and an on-site shallow pond, photocatalytic reactor for sediment treatment; (3) conducting a series of on-site experiments at a General Electric (GE) and AlCoa PCB- contaminated site to assess the viability of the photocatalytic processing of waters and dredged, contaminated soils and sediments. Remediation of the three massena area inactive hazardous waste sites will be focused on removing, isolating and degrading the contaminants associated with the sediments found on each of the three industrial sites and surrounding alluvium deposits. Photocatalytic degradation of contaminated sediments offers a potentially effective remedial measure to degrade the contaminants on-site thereby reducing costs and environmental problems associated with the relocation of contaminated sediments. SUNY @ Oswego staff will work closely with Dr. Hong and industrial cooperators to modify the design and operation of an on-site photocatalytic treatment system. During the initial phases of the project, a pilot scale reactor capable of batch treating up to three ions of contaminated sediment will be used to determine whether it is technically and economically feasible to use photocatalytic processing. The next phase of the project will involve the actual design and operation of on-site treatment systems which will be compatible with the planned dredging and disposal of contaminated sediments.
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