BIOGEOCHEMICAL GRADIENTS AS A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING WASTE SITE EVOLUTION
The migration of biogeochemical gradients is a useful framework for understanding the evolution of biogeochemical conditions in groundwater at waste sites contaminated with metals and radionuclides. This understanding is critical to selecting sustainable remedies and evaluating sites for monitored natural attenuation, because most attenuation mechanisms are sensitive to geochemical conditions such as pH and redox potential. Knowledge of how gradients in these parameters evolve provides insights into the behavior of contaminants with time and guides characterization, remedy selection, and monitoring efforts. An example is a seepage basin site at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina where low-level acidic waste has seeped into groundwater. The remediation of this site relies, in part, on restoring the natural pH of the aquifer by injecting alkaline solutions. The remediation will continue until the pH up-flow of the treatment zone increases to an acceptable value. The time required to achieve this objective depends on the time it takes the trailing pH gradient, the gradient separating the plume from influxing natural groundwater, to reach the treatment zone. Predictions of this length of time will strongly influence long-term remedial decisions.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 942130
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-MS-2008-00153; TRN: US200825%%776
- Journal Information:
- Remediation Journal, Journal Name: Remediation Journal
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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