BTEX Contaminated Groundwater Remediation by Bio-Electrochemical Systems

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Leaking petroleum from underground storage tanks (USTs) is one of the biggest threats to groundwater quality in the US. Currently, there are approximately 597,000 federally-regulated active USTs at about 215,000 sites in the US. It was estimated that 680,000 USTs are expected to require remediation under federal regulations over the next few decades, with average cleanup costs reaching almost 125,000 per site. Leaking USTs account for over 40% of US soil and groundwaterremediation market, the latter posted revenues of about 8.1 billion in 2004 and an estimated market of 13 billion by 2010. BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) are the major aromatic components frequently found in groundwater as a result ofleak in USTs. BTEX are classified as priority pollutants regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and were among the target compounds toward EPA's 33-50 program. Benzene is also ranked #6 in the ATSDR 2011 Substance Priority List. Be