Field water sampling at Hunters Point, CA

FIELD TESTING OF ACTIVATED CARBON MIXING AND IN SITU STABILIZATION OF PCBs IN SEDIMENTS
Investigators: R. G. Luthy, D. Smithenry, U. Ghosh, T.S. Bridges, R.N. Millward.
Duration: May 2005 - December 2007.
Funding agency: Environmental Security Technology Demonstration Program (DoD)

Background. Contaminated sediments pose challenging cleanup and management problems at many DoD and private industry sites. In the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, four major Naval Facilities undergoing base closure have contaminated sediments: Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Alameda Naval Air Station, Moffett Field Naval Air Station, and Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Currently the standard approach to addressing contaminated marine “mud flat” sediments is the expensive ex situ process of dredging and disposal. Finding cost-effective in situ technologies for contaminated sediment management will significantly reduce expenditures on environmental restoration.

Research Objectives. The proposed project will demonstrate and validate an innovative treatment for in situ stabilization of PCBs in sediment under field conditions at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. We propose to demonstrate that granular activated carbon (GAC) sorbent mixed with sediment is a cost-effective, in situ, non-removal, management strategy for reducing the bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The demonstration project will generate supporting cost and performance data for implementation of the novel sediment remediation technology at DoD sites.