U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings
of the Technical Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993,
Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015
  
In Situ Biotransformation of Trichloroethylene and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene
at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey
by
Theodore A. Ehlke (U.S. Geological Survey, West Trenton, N.J.),
Barbara H. Wilson (Dynamac Corporation, Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research
Laboratory, Ada, Okla.), John T. Wilson (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, Ada, Okla.), and Thomas
E. Imbrigiotta (U.S. Geological Survey, West Trenton, N.J.)
Abstract
Biotransformation of trichloroethylene (TCE) and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene
(cis-DCE) was estimated within a part of the unconfined aquifer at Picatinny
Arsenal, New Jersey, that is contaminated with chlorinated solvents. The
first-order in situ biotransformation rate for TCE was estimated to
range from about 0.001 to 0.05 per week. The in situ removal rates generally
are more rapid than the biotransformation rates that were previously measured
in the laboratory in soil cores collected at the arsenal.In situ biotransformation
was estimated to occur more slowly for cis-DCE than TCE. The first-order
biotransformation rate for cis-DCE ranged from about 0.01 to 0.03 per week.
Long-term concentrations of TCE and cis-DCE in ground water at one location
indicate that TCE concentration probably was not the major determining factor
limiting the transformation of TCE to cis-DCE in ground water.
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