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Nestle USA, Inc.—Ripon, CA January 28, 2011 <br /> 2011 Revised Feasibility Study <br /> 9.3.2 In-situ Chemical/Biological Treatment <br /> A wide variety of treatment processes are available for in-situ chemical/biological <br /> treatment. In-situ chemical/biological treatment involves injecting reagents that <br /> enhance degradation of COCs either through chemical or biological processes. <br /> The reagents are typically injected into high COC concentration areas to <br /> transform the COC mass into benign end products. The degradation processes <br /> can be either by oxidative or reductive mechanisms, and may or may not involve <br /> native or injected microbes. These processes may also occur naturally; <br /> however, reagent injection can be designed to enhance these natural processes. <br /> 9.3.2.1 Reductive Dehalogenation <br /> The addition of organic substrates and engineered microbial cultures to saturated <br /> soils for promoting the destruction of chlorinated compounds such as TCE and <br /> cis-1,2-DCE, has proven to be an effective in-situ remedial technology at many <br /> field sites, where the native or injected microbial populations have utilized the <br /> injected substrates to reduce TCE and cis-1,2-DCE to environmentally benign <br /> compounds (ethene and chloride) by a process called reductive dehalogenation. <br /> The treatment process for reductive dehalogenation is as follows: <br /> During microbiologically-mediated reductive dechlorination, chlorine atoms are <br /> removed sequentially to yield less chlorinated VOCs in a step-wise reduction <br /> requiring the addition of 2 electrons from the electron donor (carbohydrate) for <br /> each dechlorination step (2 electrons for each chlorine atom removed). <br /> PCE + 2e- + H+—> TCE + CI- <br /> TCE + 2e- + H+—> cis-1,2-DCE + CI- <br /> cis-1,2-DCE + 2e- +H+—> VC + CI- <br /> VC + 2e- + H+—> ethene +CI- <br /> Electrons are supplied by the in-situ fermentation of organic compounds such as <br /> carbohydrate by naturally occurring subsurface microorganisms. The PCE —> <br /> TCE —> cis-1,2-DCE dechlorination steps occur readily in many anaerobic <br /> environments, but further reduction to ethene often requires special site-specific <br /> geochemical and microbiological conditions (hence the need for a pilot test). The <br /> relative success of reductive dechlorination can be assessed by the abundance <br /> of non-chlorinated reduction products (ethene and ethane). Other microbiological <br /> reactions occur that consume carbohydrate by reducing naturally occurring <br /> groundwater constituents such as sulfate and ferric iron. <br /> This approach has several general advantages, including: <br /> • Cost effectiveness: inexpensive food grade substances can be added to <br /> create subsurface treatment zones <br /> • High water solubility and geochemical stability: organic substrates such as <br /> carbohydrates have high aqueous solubilities and can persist for longer <br /> 32 <br />