Use of Constructed Wetlands to Phytoremediate Explosives- Contaminated Groundwater at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant, Milan, Tennessee. Cost and Performance Report.

摘要

The groundwaters beneath many Army ammunition plants in the United States are contaminated with explosives. To help address this problem, the USAEC and TVA initiated a field demonstration program to evaluate the technical feasibility of using constructed wetlands for remediating explosives- contaminated groundwater. As part of this program, a field demonstration of constructed wetlands technology was conducted at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP) near Milan, Tennessee. The goal of the Milan demonstration was to reduce TNT concentrations in MAAP's groundwater to levels less than 2 ppb and total nitrobody concentrations to less than 50 ppb. During the project, two types of wetlands were demonstrated: a gravel-based system and a lagoon-based system. Both the gravel- and lagoon-based systems were designed to retain the groundwater for approximately 10 days at an influent flow rate of 5 gpm per system. The demonstration results indicated that while both the gravel- and lagoon-based systems could remove explosives, the gravel-based system was clearly superior. To develop the cost analysis, cost data were developed based on a conceptual design for a 10-acre, full-scale, gravel-based system designed to treat 200 gpm of contaminated groundwater from B-line at MAAP. The results indicate that the gravel-based system is an economical and efficient alternative to remediate explosives-contaminated groundwater. The lagoon-based system's economic performance was not evaluated due to poor technical performance.