Natural Attenuation

A unifying theme of USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program investigations is the characterization of the natural response of hydrologic systems to contamination. This makes the sites where the investigations are conducted ideally suited to assessing potential long-term impacts, evaluating the potential and the limitations of remediation by monitored natural attenuation, and designing systems to monitor the performance of remediation where monitored natural attenuation is being relied upon. The information presented on this page cuts across lines drawn by individual investigations and projects so that information on the natural attenuation of contaminants can be presented in one place.

Investigations and Research Activities

• Investigations
• Petroleum-Related Contamination
• Chlorinated Solvents Contamination
• Contamination from Sources with Mixed Wastes
• Natural Attenuation Remediation-Related Activities
• Listing of Toxics Program Activities
• Training Courses on Estimating Times of Remediation Associated with Monitored Natural Attenuation and Contaminant Source Removal, U.S. Geological Survey and Virginia Tech

USGS scientists installing diffusion samplers and microcosms to study subsurface bacteria that degrade trichloroethylene at the Naval Air Warfare Center Research Site, West Trenton, NJ (circa 2005). The samplers will help USGS and U.S. Navy scientists evaluate the performance of a biostimulation and bioaugmentation experiment.

Fact Sheets

• The Norman Landfill Environmental Research Site--What Happens to the Waste in Landfills?, USGS Fact Sheet 040-03
• Ground Water Contamination by Crude Oil near Bemidji, Minnesota, USGS Fact Sheet FS-084-98
• Contaminant Sorption by Soil and Bed Sediment Is There a Difference?, USGS Fact Sheet FS-087-00
• Simulating Contaminant Attenuation, Double-Porosity Exchange, and Water Age in Aquifers Using MOC3D, USGS Fact Sheet FS-086-99
• Modeling Solute-Transport and Biodegradation with BIOMOC
• Bioremediation--Nature's Way to a Cleaner Environment, USGS Fact Sheet FS-O54-95

USGS scientists assisted the U.S. Navy with the design and assessment of an innovative remediation system that involved the injection of an oxygen-release compound in the source area of a chlorobenzene and benzene plume at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. The two transects are along ground-water flow paths.

Collecting ground-water samples anaerobically in a glove bag as part of a study of the biogeochemistry of a landfill leachate plume at the Norman Landfill Research Site, OK. The glove bag helps preserve sensitive redox species so an accurate determination of the processes that control the natural attenuation of the leachate can be made.

Collecting pore water from cores to identify natural attenuation processes in ground water at the Bemidji Crude Oil Spill Site, MN. The scientists are withdrawing water with a syringe from a core encased in polycarbonate tubing. The bottom of the core was frozen to prevent fluid from escaping the core. This technique allows for closely spaced samples that enable scientists to study the biogeochemical heterogeneity of contaminant plumes.

Science Feature Articles

• Contaminant Transport Models Aid in Understanding Trends of Chlorinated Ethenes in Public Supply Wells
• Ethanol-Containing Fuel Spills Enhanced Natural Trace Element Release from Sediments in an Experimental Setting
• Natural Breakdown of Petroleum Results in Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater
• Mineral Particles are a Source of Dietary Metal in Streams
• Rethinking the Limits of Oxygen-Based Biodegradation - More Oxygen Than We Think
• Natural Attenuation Accelerates Pump-and-Treat Cleanup of TCE in Fractured Rock
• Organic Contaminants Stored on Sediments Can Slow Down Groundwater Restoration
• Hormones in Land-Applied Biosolids Could Affect Aquatic Organisms
• Do Natural Processes Mitigate Contamination from Landfill Leachate?
• Hormones Degrade in the Environment!
• Detergents in Streams May Just Disappear
• Monitoring Volatile Organic Compounds in Ground Water with Diffusion Samplers
• Hydrogen Measured in a New Test for Determining Subsurface Microbiological Activity at Contamination Sites
• Wastewater Indicators Shown to Degrade in Streams
• New Report Presents a Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Monitored Natural Attenuation
• Challenging a Paradigm: MTBE Shown to Degrade to TBA Without Microorganisms
• New Version of NAS (Natural Attenuation Software) Available
• RDX Biodegradation Under Metal-Reducing Conditions
• Decades Required for Natural Processes to Clean Wastewater-Contaminated Ground Water
• Microorganisms Degrade MTBE Even at Winter Ground-Water Temperatures
• Does NDMA Biodegrade at Ground-Water Recharge Facilities?
• Ground-Water Recharge Affects Fate of Petroleum Contaminant Plumes
• Predicting Plume Growth Rates - A Simple Method for Calculating Growth Rates of Petroleum Plumes
• Special Edition of "Environmental Geosciences" Explores Impacts of Oil and Gas Production on the Environment
• History and Ecology of Chloroethene Biodegradation
• The Changing Face of Microbial Communities in Contaminant Plumes
• Software Provides Estimates of How Long it Will Take for Remediation Efforts to Achieve Their Goals
• A Unique Approach to Evaluating Natural Attenuation is Applied Worldwide
• Landmark Book Published on the Fate of Contaminants in the Environment: Partition and Adsorption of Organic Contaminants in Environmental Systems MTBE Can Degrade Naturally Without Oxygen
• How do you Clean Up Gasoline Spills Naturally?
• Relying on Nature to Clean Up Contaminated Ground Water
• MTBE Biodegrades Naturally in Stream Sediments
• The Atmosphere - A Potential Source of MTBE to Ground Water
• Nature's Way of Cleaning Up Mining-Contaminated Streams
• Can a Sewage-Contaminated Aquifer Naturally Clean Itself?

Bibliography

• Publications on Natural Attenuation ( XXX Publications)

New Publications

• Degradation of crude 4-mchm (4-methylcyclohexanemethanol) in sediments from Elk River, West Virginia: Cozzarelli, I.M., Akob, D.M., Baedecker, M.J., Spencer, T., Jaeschke, J., Dunlap, D.S., Mumford, A.C., Poret-Peterson, A.T., and Chambers, D.B., 2017, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b03142.
• Field-scale observations of a transient geobattery resulting from natural attenuation of a crude oil spill: Heenan, J.W., Ntarlagiannis, D., Slater, L.D., Beaver, C.L., Rossbach, S., Revil, A., Atekwana, E.A., and Bekins, B., 2017, Journal of Geophysical Research--Biogeosciences, v. 122, no. 4, p. 918-929, doi:10.1002/2016JG003596.
• Acetylene fuels TCE reductive dechlorination by defined Dehalococcoides/Pelobacter consortia: Mao, X., Oremland, R.S., Liu, T., Gushgari, S., Landers, A.A., Baesman, S.M., and Alvarez-Cohen, L., 2017, Environmental Science and Technology, v. 51, no. 4, p. 2366-2372, doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b05770.
• The role of alluvial aquifer sediments in attenuating a dissolved arsenic plume: Ziegler, B.A., Schreiber, M.E., and Cozzarelli, I.M., 2017, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2017.04.009 (In Press, Corrected Proof).
• Widespread occurrence and potential for biodegradation of bioactive contaminants in Congaree National Park, USA: Bradley, P.M., Battaglin, W.A., Clark, J.M., Henning, F., Hladik, M.L., Iwanowicz, L.R., Journey, C.A., Riley, J.W., and Romanok, K.M., 2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, doi:10.1002/etc.3873 (Advanced Web release).

USGS scientist collecting an unsaturated-zone gas sample with a syringe from a vapor sampling well at the Bemidji Crude Oil Spill Research Site, Bemidji, MN. The sample was used to study the natural attenuation of hydrocarbon vapors in the unsaturated zone.