Phenolic contamination in the sand-and-gravel aquifer from a surface impoundment of wood treatment wastes, Pensacola, Florida

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5656558

Troutman, D E; Godsy, E M; Goerlitz, D F; Ehrlich, G G

The discharge of creosote and pentachlorophenol wastewaters to unlined surface impoundments has resulted in ground-water contamination in the vicinity of a wood-treatment plant near Pensacola, Florida. Total phenol concentrations of 36,000 micrograms per liter have been detected at a depth 40 feet below land surface in a test hole 100 feet south of the overflow impoundment. Phenol concentrations in this same test hole were less than 10 micrograms per liter at a depth of 90 feet below land surface. Samples collected in test holes 1350 feet downgradient from the surface impoundments and 100 feet north of Pensacola Bay, above and immediately below a clay lens, indicate that phenol contaminated ground water may not be discharging directly into Pensacola Bay. Phenol concentrations exceeding 20 micrograms per liter were detected in samples from a drainage ditch discharging directly into Bayou Chico. Microbiological data collected near the wood-treatment site suggest that an anaerobic methanogenic ecosystem contributes to a reduction in phenol concentrations in ground water. A laboratory study using bacteria isolated from the study site indicates that phenol, 2-methylphenol, and 3-methylphenol are significantly degraded and that methanogenesis reduces total phenol concentrations in laboratory digestors by 45%. Pentachlorophenol may inhibit methanogenesis at concentrations exceeding 0.45 milligrams per liter. Data on wastewater migration in ground water from American Creosote Works indicate that the sand-and-gravel aquifer is highly susceptible to contamination from unlined surface impoundments and other surface sources. Ground-water contamination occurs readily in pervious sands and gravel within the aquifer where the water table is near land surface. Coastal areas and valleys tend to be areas of ground-water discharge, and contamination of ground water in these areas may result in surface-water contamination. 22 refs., 8 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Tallahassee, FL (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5656558
• Report Number(s): USGS/WRI-84-4230; ON: TI85901581
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUIFERS
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CREOSOTE
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION IV
FLORIDA
GROUND DISPOSAL
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRY
INFORMATION
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
METHANOGENIC BACTERIA
MICROORGANISMS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOL
PHENOLS
POLLUTION
PRESERVATIVES
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION
WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY