Dipping vats were used routinely in the southeastern U.S. in the early 1900s to eradicate the cattle fever tick. The legacy is many dip vat sites with arsenic (As)-contaminated soil and ground water. Assessing the extent of these As plumes can be time consuming and expensive. We describe a quicker and less expensive, onsite test for soil As. It is a modification of a commercially available test designed for As in water, taking about 10 min to complete, allowing large plume areas to be delineated in a single day. An As contaminant plume in Alachua County, FL, was delineated using the quick test. Soil samples taken from a large grid encompassing the plume were analyzed in the laboratory for As to confirm the results obtained with the quick test. The comparison showed that the quick test very accurately delineated the outer boundary of the plume as well as zones of higher As concentration within the plume.

Despite technological developments and improved liner-material applications, heavy metals in landfill leachate still penetrate the soil profile, polluting the soil and ground-water. An alternative approach therefore must be explored to reduce heavy-metal migration in soil-bentonite landfill liners. By considering the interaction of different heavy metals and their synergetic and antagonistics behaviors, such an approach could be developed. Low mobility metals such as Cu2+, and Pb2+ inhibit the adsorption of Cd2+ which is a moderate-mobility metal and Cu2+ sorption is decreased by the presence of Zn2+ and Cd2+. Therefore, Zn2+, a low-mobility metal, cannot be grouped with Cu2+. This way, four compatible metal groups have been identified: (1) low mobility: Pb2+, Cu2+, and Ag, (2) low mobility: Zn2+ and Cr3+; (3) moderate mobility: As2+, Fe2+, and Ni2+; (4) high mobility: Cd2+ and Hg2+. Cd2+ with a moderate mobility pattern is synergetic to Fe2+ and is more mobile with Ni2+. Therefore, Cd2+ is separated from the moderate-mobility group and is consigned with Hg, a high-mobility metal. The liner materials suitable for Hg2+ are assumed to be suitable for Cd2+ as well. Based on this concept, and to reduce heavy metal mobility, wastes should be segregated on compatibility basis according to their heavy metal contents before being disposed in different individual compartments. For wastes containing several incompatible heavy metals, sorting should be based on the heavy-metal with the highest concentration. Another solution is the manufacturing of products using compatible heavy metal combinations and then labeling them accordingly. Such waste segregation and landfill compartmentalization lowers risks of groundwater contamination and liner cost.

Contamination due to chemicals and oil spills can influence the engineering behavior of soils. The results of an investigation conducted to study the effects of oil contamination on compaction characteristics, shear strength, one-dimensional compression, and hydraulic conductivity of a sand are presented in this article. The test results indicate that the compaction characteristics are influenced by oil contamination. The angle of internal friction of sand based on total stress condition was found to decrease with the presence of oil in the pore spaces. One-dimensional compression characteristics of sand are significantly influenced by oil contamination, resulting in a decrease in the value of the constrained modulus with increase in the degree of oil saturation. Hydraulic conductivity was observed to be a function of the initial viscosity and the degree of oil saturation.

Many evaluations estimating safe levels of hydrophobic organic chemicals in sediments do not account for confounding factors such as physical habitat quality or covariance among chemicals. Controlled experiments demonstrating cause and effect can be conducted with spiked sediment toxicity tests, but application of this methodology has been limited in part by concerns about chemical bioavailability and challenges in achieving target concentrations. Relevant literature was reviewed to assess the utility of standardizing sediment equilibration times; hydrophobicity, complex sediment characteristics, and temperature were identified as potentially equally important factors. Disequilibrium appears likely following limited equilibration time but should yield conservative toxicity test results relative to aged field sediments. Nominal and measured concentrations in over 20 published studies were compared to assess spiked chemical recovery (i.e., measured concentration/nominal concentration). Recovery varied substantially among studies and was not readily predictable based on spiking or extraction method, chemical properties, or measured sediment characteristics, although unmeasured differences between sediments appeared to be important. Factors affecting specific studies included chemical adsorption to glassware, biodegradation, and volatilization. Pre- and post-toxicity test analyses are recommended to confirm exposure concentrations.Studies with 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) exemplify the utility of verifying results of field studies using spiked sediment tests. Sediments spiked with these chemicals at concentrations greatly exceeding those in associated field studies caused no adverse effects in test organisms, demonstrating that other chemicals co-occurring in test sediment samples caused toxicity initially attributed to 2,3,7,8-TCDD and HCB in the field studies. Another key application of spiked sediment tests has been the investigation of TOC as the primary factor affecting bioavailability of hydrophobic organic chemicals. A review of LC50s for nine chemicals reported in 12 studies shows that comparable LC50s derived in different sediments generally agree within a factor of five when concentrations are normalized to a constant TOC. Additionally, use of spiked sediment toxicity testing to investigate toxicological interactions among chemicals provides a promising approach to improving the ability to predict sediment toxicity in the field.

Analytical results for Aroclor may contain a great deal of uncertainty if the relative ratios of certain PCB congeners are substantially altered following differential environmental degradation. Selective degradation of PCB congeners has been shown to occur in biological tissues, and recent studies have shown that Aroclor analyses may significantly underestimate PCB concentrations in fish. The purpose of this study is to assess whether a similar phenomenon can occur with PCB-impacted sediments. Five hundred and thirty-seven sediment samples from the Passaic River were analyzed for Aroclors and selected non-ortho (PCB #77, 126, and 169) and mono-ortho (PCB #105, 114, 118, 123, 156, 157, 167, and 189) coplanar PCB congeners. Aroclors 1248 and 1254 were detected in 67 and 53% of the samples, respectively; 54 samples (approximately 10%) did not contain detectable levels of any Aroclors. In these 54 samples, the sum of the detected PCB congener concentrations was significantly greater, on average, than the Aroclor limit of detection by approximately threefold. In individual samples the sum of the PCB congeners exceeded the Aroclor limit of detection by up to 36-fold. In those samples in which Aroclors were detected, the summed PCB congener concentrations exceeded the Aroclor 1248 and 1254 concentrations, on average, by 41 and 33%, respectively. Given the fact that only a fraction of the 209 PCB congeners were quan-titated, these findings indicate that Arocolor data may significantly underestimate total PCB concentrations in Passaic River sediments. Total PCB data obtained from total homologue analysis indicated that Aroclor results underestimated total PCB mass by up to 43-fold. These findings suggest that caution is required when comparing Aroclor sediment data from the Passaic River to total PCB sediment criteria.

This study examined the organic contaminants in soils from an older cemetery in Ohio. Thirty soil samples at various depths and distances from graves were obtained and analyzed using organic solvent extraction, concentration, and gas chromatography with mass selective detector. The signatures of methylene chloride-extracted organic compounds show interesting trends vertically within the cemetery, with less apparent horizontal trends. Alkanes in the 18 to 34 carbon number range dominated most core samples. However, the abundance of the lighter C18 to C26 alkanes is unique to the deep samples onsite. Statistically, depth is relatively unimportant in predicting the abundances of the heavier compounds, whereas distance from the nearest grave is significant to predicting the area of light and heavy alkanes. These signatures are very similar to those obtained through maturation and release of organic matter in the subsurface. Evidence indicates release of organic compounds into the surrounding vicinity of the cemetery, but not necessarily off-site.

Recently, several soil gas flow and vapor transport numerical models have been developed for use in designing soil vapor extraction (SVE) systems. This article examines how uncertainties in soil properties, specifically permeability, corresponds to uncertainties in the prediction of mass removal rates by numerical models. Scaling equations were first derived for both relevant geometric and nongeometric modeling parameters to enable the examination of the impact of uncertainties associated with spatial variations in soil properties on the prediction of mass removal rates in a somewhat general manner. Monte Carlo analyses of volatile organic compound removal from a hypothetical contaminated soil by SVE were then used to investigate the effect of system operation time and permeability variance on the uncertainty in mass removal rates as predicted by a numerical model. Results showed that uncertainty in the predicted mass removal rate increases as both mass removal increases and as the assumed permeability variance increases. These results indicate that the design of SVE system using deterministic modeling methods may not always correlate to an effective SVE system.

The effect of temperature on evaporation and biodegradation rates during soil bioventing (SBV) was studied for a mixture of toluene and decane in bench-scale soil columns at a continuous air flow and consecutively at two different flow rates. The effect of temperature on SBV was monitored by GC headspace analysis of contaminant, CO2 and O2 concentrations in the soil gas over time. Separation of evaporation and biodegradation processes into three different phases based on their rates was used together with Q10 and E10 (values that give the factor by which biodegradation and evaporation rates increase when the temperature is raised by 10 degrees) to compare quantitatively the removal kinetics at 10 and 20°C. Adsorption of toluene and decane onto soil (a phase partitioning process) at 20 and 10°C was described with linear Freundlich isotherms. A temperature decrease from 20 to 10°C resulted in an increase of soil-air partitioning coefficients by a factor of 1.8 and of 2.1 for toluene and decane, respectively. The mean Q10 value for the biodegradation of toluene was found to be 2.2 for a temperature rise from 10 to 20°C. A toluene content in the soil gas above 75% of the saturation concentration inhibited biodegradation at both temperatures. The SBV efficiency was dependent on temperature with respect to remediation time. SBV at 20°C resulted in a 99.8% and a 98.7% reduction of toluene and decane initial concentrations, respectively. To reach similar results at 10°C, about 1.6 times as much time and 1.4 times as much air were required; however, at both temperatures the total amounts of biodegraded hydrocarbons were approximately the same. The evaporation-to-biodegradation ratios at 20°C were 82.5:17.5 for toluene and 16:84 for decane, whereas at 10 °C they were 71:29 and 2:98, respectively. A comparison of Q10 values showed that, except during the initial phase of SBV, only a modest decrease in biodegradation rates should be expected after a decrease in temperature from 20 to 10°C. Flow rate reduction had a significant impact on the toluene evaporation rate at a higher temperature, whereas for decane this rate was only slightly affected by temperature. In contrast to decane, the ratio between toluene vapor pressures at 20 and 10°C may be used to predict the removal of toluene by evaporation during the above-mentioned phases of SBV, when evaporation is important.

Quantification of the factors affecting phosphorus (P) loading to surface waters is important in assessing the contribution from agricultural activities to water quality. This study investigated the long-term impact of applications of P in poultry litter on the loadings of P and sediment to streams in two subbasins of the Illinois River Watershed. The influences of application rate and environmental characteristics were examined utilizing a transport model, a geographical information system (GIS), and 30 years of daily weather data. Simulated runoff and sediment concentrations of P increased linearly with poultry litter application rate. Most P loadings to streams were in the dissolved form, as overall sediment transport was low, particularly in areas with excellent stands of forage. Because only pasturelands received poultry litter and the initial concentrations of P in the soils in the forested areas were low, the forested areas contributed little runoff and sediment P to streams. Areas of high P loadings coincided with soils having high Curve Numbers (CN) and poor internal drainage. Therefore, subbasins of the watershed containing a greater proportion of pasture and soils with poor drainage characteristics have higher loading rates to streams. Predicted runoff, sediment, and P loadings in both subbasins were highly variable.

The gravel commonly used to cover parking lots and roadways at retail agrichemical facilities may contain relatively large concentrations of pesticides that resulted from past management problems. These pesticides may threaten groundwater quality. Previous studies, however, suggested that the pesticides had not moved from the gravel in several sample profiles. Excavations at a closed facility revealed tremendous variability in pesticide distribution within the site. Pesticides were present below the gravel in two profiles, but the mechanism(s) for their movement were not clear. The objectives of this study were to investigate how the physical and chemical properties of the gravel influence the environmental fate of atrazine. All of the gravel samples collected and characterized contained atrazine and sufficient organic C to adsorb significant amounts of atrazine, thus retarding its movement through the gravel. Laboratory column leaching experiments, however, suggested that much of the atrazine should leach from the gravel within a year or two. A field-scale test plot was constructed to study how atrazine moves through the gravel under controlled conditions. Atrazine was “spilled” in the test plot. Atrazine moved from the gravel both vertically and horizontally. It appears that formulated product spilled on gravel will leach. A single discrete spill can give rise to phantom spills whose occurrence and distribution is not related to any specific pesticide-management practice. The apparent lack of atrazine leaching from gravel appeared to be a transient phenomenon and/or the result of sampling limitations in previous studies. The contaminated gravel clearly poses a risk to groundwater quality.