From Ground Water Currents, January 1996, Issue No. 14

Bioattenuation on Video

Data from the St. Joseph, Michigan, Superfund site were used in a peer-reviewed video entitled "Natural Bioattenuation of Trichloroethene at the St. Joseph, Michigan Superfund Site". Computer visualizations of the data set show how trichlorethene, or TCE, can degrade under natural conditions. The purpose of the tape is to present sampling results from the site to a technical audience. Although the visualizations show the general distribution of chemicals at the site, it is not possible to determine the precise concentrations from the tape. Thus the data set itself is available in a companion document.

Analysis of the data from the St. Joseph site indicates that natural bioattenuation of TCE is occuring as the contaminants flow toward Lake Michigan. Depletion of oxygen, the presence of methane and the appearance of degradation products indicate that the reduction in TCE concentrations is not solely due to volatilization or dilution. Rather, they are indicative of microbial processes helping to reduce the contaminant concentrations below EPA drinking water standards before the water is discharged into Lake Michigan.

The authors of the video, James W. Weaver, John T. Wilson and Don H. Kampbell, are with EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory Subsurface Protection and Remediation Division in Ada, Oklahoma 74820. The video (Document No. EPA/600/V-95/001) will be available upon request from: Subsurface Remediation Information Center, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, P.O. Box 1198, Ada, Oklahoma 74820. The telephone number is 405-436-8651; the FAX number is 405-436-8503. The Project Officer is James Weaver.

There is also an amplified text version of the narration on the video available as a Project Summary (Document No. EPA/600/SV-95/001). The Project Summary can be ordered by calling CERI at 513-569-7562.