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PNNL-13501 - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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Interrelationships Between Processes Controlling Loading Level, Release Rate, and Biological<br />

Activity of Contaminated Porous Media<br />

Study Control Number: PN00061/1468<br />

Robert G. Riley, Christopher J. Thompson<br />

Hydrophobic organic contaminants are common sources of subsurface contamination at DOE and other federal sites. A<br />

better understanding of the magnitude and behavior of hydrophobic organic contaminants resistant fractions could<br />

1) enhance the rationale for using more cost-effective, passive cleanup options (e.g., natural attenuation) at DOE sites,<br />

and 2) lead to improved approaches for evaluating soil/sediment organic contaminant analysis methods. In this project,<br />

circulating supercritical carbon dioxide is evaluated as a laboratory method for rapidly aging soils/sediments and<br />

investigating the behavior of hydrophobic organic contaminants resistant fractions.<br />

Project Description<br />

The objective of this project was to evaluate the potential<br />

for supercritical fluid technology to simulate on a<br />

laboratory time scale (hours to days) the natural aging<br />

process (the interaction of contaminants with soils and<br />

sediments over several years). Phenanthrene (a<br />

hydrophobic organic contaminant) was loaded onto<br />

Hanford formation soil using supercritical carbon dioxide.<br />

Aqueous desorption of phenanthrene from the loaded soil<br />

in laboratory columns showed release behavior consistent<br />

with what would be expected for hydrophobic organic<br />

contaminants releasing from a naturally aged soil or<br />

sediment. Of particular interest was the demonstration of<br />

the presence of a phenanthrene resistant fraction<br />

controlled by adsorption and diffusion processes in the<br />

organic carbon fraction of the soil. The results of this<br />

project suggest that application of the supercritical fluid<br />

technology to a broader range of soils and sediment types<br />

(such as those found across the DOE complex) would be<br />

possible with improved system robustness and parameter<br />

modification.<br />

Introduction<br />

A hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fraction is<br />

defined as that fraction of hydrophobic organic<br />

contaminants that is slowly released to an aqueous phase<br />

(groundwater). Hydrophobic organic contaminant<br />

resistant fractions are generated over years (decades) of<br />

interaction of contaminants with soils and sediments<br />

under unsaturated and saturated conditions. Hydrophobic<br />

organic contaminants that have been in contact with soils,<br />

sediments, and aquifer solids for many years typically<br />

exhibit very slow releases to the environment (such as<br />

vadose zone unsaturated moisture or groundwater) as a<br />

result of the presence of resistant fractions within these<br />

230 FY 2000 <strong>Laboratory</strong> Directed Research and Development Annual Report<br />

materials. Current scientific thinking suggests that<br />

organic matter diffusion is a major mechanism<br />

responsible for the presence of resistant fractions resulting<br />

in slow release of contaminants from geosorbents that<br />

contain organic carbon. This raises questions about the<br />

influence of resistant fractions on the availability of<br />

hydrophobic organic contaminants to the environment and<br />

how this relates to soil and sediment quality criteria for<br />

hydrophobic organic contaminants and remediation<br />

cleanup goals. As a consequence of sorption to soils or<br />

sediments and subsequent slow release, the resistant<br />

fractions of hydrophobic organic contaminants may be<br />

significantly less leachable by water and less toxic as<br />

measured by simple tests. Fate, transport, and risk<br />

assessment models all contain terms for desorption;<br />

therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of<br />

hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fractions is<br />

crucial to their success. Ignoring the magnitude of a<br />

hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fraction and its<br />

influence on slow kinetics can lead to an underestimation<br />

of the true extent of adsorption, false predictions about the<br />

mobility and bioavailability of contaminants, and perhaps<br />

the wrong choice of cleanup technology (Pignatello and<br />

Xing 1996; Luthy et al. 1997).<br />

Classes of hydrophobic organic contaminants most<br />

commonly found in DOE site soils and sediments subject<br />

to cleanup include fuel hydrocarbons, chlorinated<br />

hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (Riley and<br />

Zachara 1992). Understanding the magnitude and<br />

behavior of resistant fractions could lead to the<br />

development of more realistic release criteria that reduce<br />

the costs of remediation of sites contaminated with these<br />

chemicals. Higher concentrations of contamination may<br />

be allowed to remain in soils and sediments in meeting<br />

site closure requirements. Of particular interest is the<br />

application of natural attenuation as a remediation

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