Reductie dechlorination of DNAPLS Using Stable, Natural Microbial Consortia

Dense non-aqueous phase liquids, like chlorinated solvents (e.g., trichloroethene [TCE]), act as long-term sources of pollution to groundwater because of their low solubilities and slow dissolution kinetics. Pump and treat approaches are long-term, will not achieve site closure, and may need to be operated for 100's of years. Our innovation is to bioaugment (add) a stable dechlorinating consortia of microorganisms to enhance the dissolution rate and in situ dechlorination of a TCE DNAPL to ethene, thus significantly reduce the time to achieve site remediation and closure. This innovation matches the objective of Topic 09.01 Environmental and Ecological Technologies, specifically, Remediation technologies for chemical and petroleum soil and ground water contamination including in-situ methods.