Field-Scale Testing of a Two-Stage Bioreactor for Removal of Creosote and Pentachlorophenol from Ground Water: Chemical and Biological Assessment

摘要

A two-stage, field-scale bioreactor system was used to determine the efficacy of bioremediation of creosote- and pentachlorophenol (PCP)- contaminated ground water at the abandoned American Creosote Works (ACW) site in Pensacola, Florida. In separate 15-day runs of the field-scale (454L) system, bioreactor performance in the presence of specially-selected microbial inoculants was compared to that observed using non-specific biomass. Results obtained with specialty organisms in the first run of the field-scale bioreactor showed that, on average, 70.6% of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocycles were degraded. Only 36.9% of the pentachlorophenol (PCP) present was biodegraded. In the second run, microorganisms from an industrial waste water treatment facility averaged 51.0% biodegradation of PAHs and heterocycles. Degradaton of PCP was 81.0%, a value substantially higher than in the first run. Reductions in toxicity/teratogenicity were also observed for effluent from the second run of the field-scale bioreactor but the magnitude of toxicity reduction was less than in the first run.