Biotechnology cleans contaminated soil

摘要

The Tooele Army Depot (TEAD) is in Tooele, Tooele County, Utah, 35 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It consists of two separate areas, the North Area and the South Area. The North Area covers about 25,000 acres in Tooele Valley south and west of Tooele. Since 1943, TEAD has had a fourfold mission: store ammunition, demilitarize ammunition, rebuild military equipment and store military equipment. In fulfilling its mission, TEAD decommissions munitions by cutting the casings and removing and recycling the explosive material. The casings are then rinsed with water to remove residual explosives. Between 1948 and 1965, rinse water was discharged into the "TNT Washout Area," which covers less than one acre in the North Area. The Army detected trinitrotoluene (TNT) and cyclomethylenetriamine (RDX) in soil near the TNT Washout Area (designated as SWMU-10), threatening ground water. About 2,500 people depend on wells within three miles of the site as a source of drinking water.