Project Summary (2000-2005)

While there have been many successes in the past, it has become clear that conventional treatment technologies, especially those for contaminated groundwater, are often inadequate. This shortage of alternative groundwater treatment technologies is having the undesirable effect of limiting remediation efforts to only those sites that pose an immediate health risk. The Technology Demonstration Core is facilitating transfer of innovative environmental remediation technologies from the laboratory to the field. Specifically, a) an instrumented 4-meter soil lysimeter will be used to test new technologies at the pilot scale prior to being transferred to selected field sites, and b) Core support will be provided for those technologies that are ready for immediate field-scale testing. The new technologies have been developed in the laboratory over the past several years and include bimetallic catalysts, electrochemical and photochemical reactors, and gene-enhanced biological treatments. The Technology Demonstration Core seeks to increase the number and diversity of new treatment technologies and to test them at field sites so as to make cost and performance data available to industry and government.