The long-term objective of the Technology Demonstration Core is to facilitate the transfer of innovative technologies for the treatment of contaminated groundwater and soils from the laboratory to the field. Specifically, it is proposed a) than an instrumented 4-meter soil lysimeter be used to test new technologies at the pilot scale prior to being transferred to selected field sites, and b) that Core's support be provided fore those technologies that are ready for immediate field-scale testing. The new technologies have been developed in the laboratory over the past several years and include bimetallic catalysts, electrochemical and photochemical reactions, and gene-enhanced biological treatments. A National Academy report recently estimated that 300,000 to 400,000 contaminated sites are scheduled for cleanup over the next few decades in the United States. The estimated total cleanup costs are a staggering $500 billion to $1 trillion. While there have been successes in the past, it has become clear that conventional treatment technologies, especially those for contaminated groundwater, are often inadequate. It is noteworthy that although conventional pump-and-treat methods are used at more than 90% of sites, only 8 out of 77 sites surveyed are expected to attain the desired cleanup standard The report lists approximately 50 remediation technologies, the majority of which are physical containment or biological in nature. Only 5 """"""""chemical reaction technologies"""""""" are listed, including incineration and oxidation with powerful oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide. This shortage of alternative groundwater treatment technologies is having the undesirable effect of limiting remediation effects to only those sites that pose an immediate health risk. We seek to increase the number and diversity of new treatment technologies and to test them at field sites so as to make cost and performance data available to industry and government. In this way we propose to use the results of good science and engineering to influence regulations and public policy toward improving public health.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 497 publications
