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-5- <br /> In summary, liquids pumping recovered 2. 8 gpd of oil, and the <br /> water-to-oil ratio was 150: 1 . Pretreatment with a baffled tank <br /> reduced the oil and grease content of the produced groundwater to <br /> less than 100 ppm. Liquids pumping would be much less effective <br /> at other locations in the park where the oil is more viscous. <br /> Bioventing Test <br /> Bioventing is a new technology for mitigating oil contamination. <br /> The process promotes the natural biodegradation of the oil and it <br /> does not require excavation. Figure 5 shows how the process <br /> works . A vacuum pump is attached to a well . Air flows from the <br /> surface, through the ground, and into the well . Then the air is <br /> treated to remove any odors before it is released. <br /> We tested this process in Alden Park to see if we could obtain <br /> enough air flow and a large enough area of influence, or "reach" <br /> to be practical . During the first part of our test we did not <br /> obtain enough air flow. In order to get enough air flow through <br /> the dense clay soils, it was necessary to use a much higher <br /> vacuum. <br /> During bioventing the vacuum draws the water level up in the <br /> well . In fact, if the vacuum is too great the well will fill up <br /> with water which blocks the flow of air . This effect is similar <br /> to drinking with a straw. The problem can be solved by combining <br /> the liquids pumping and bioventing processes in a single well . <br /> We conducted a series of one-day tests at high vacuum. The <br /> results were very encouraging. We were able to pull a substan- <br /> tial flow of air through the clay soil . The concentration of CO2 <br /> in this air was about the same as our experience at other sites . <br /> Although the tests were not long enough to measure the steady- <br /> state oil degradation rate, we expect that the flow of air and <br /> CO2 is large enough to remove much more oil than liquids pumping <br /> alone. <br /> The groundwater pumping rate was about 0 . 5 gpd. This is consis- <br /> tent with the data from the Dames & Moore test . <br /> We measured the reach of the bioventing system with soil probes . <br /> Figure 6 shows the soil vacuum that we measured with a probe <br /> located 40 ft north of the well and at a depth of 7 ft . At first <br /> we did not measure a vacuum. Then we developed the soil probe by <br /> physically breaking up the soil near the probe tip. After this <br />