Treatability of Contaminated Ground Water and Aquifer Solids at 'Town Gas" Sites, Using Photolytic Ozonation and Chemical In Situ Reclamation

The feasbility of cleaning up contaminated ground water and aquifer solids from so-called town gas sites using photolytic ozonation and chemical in situ aquifer reclamation (CISR) techniques was investigated in the laboratory. At the actual site, coal was thermally oxidized to produce methane for municipal distribution. The degradation left a coal tar which, if released into the ground, could contaminate ground water and aquifer solids with a number of organic substances, including aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX), and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at environmentally significant concentrations. A chemical in situ treatment method using persulfate as a source of free radicals destroyed organic contaminants that were adsorbed to the aquifer solids. PAHs were reduced by 34 percent after 12 days of treatment and by 52 percent after 40 days.