Development of a Persistent Reactive Treatment Zone for Containment of Sources Located in Lower-Permeability Strata

Source zones located in relatively deep, low-permeability formations provide special challenges for remediation. Application of permeable reactive barriers, in-situ thermal, or electrokinetic methods would be expensive and generally impractical. In addition, the use of enhanced mass-removal approaches based on reagent injection (e.g., ISCO, enhanced-solubility reagents) is likely to be ineffective. One possible approach for such conditions is to create a persistent treatment zone for purposes of containment. This study examines the efficacy of this approach for containment and treatment of contaminants in a lower permeability zone using potassium permanganate (KMnO4) as the reactant. A localized 1,1-dichloroethene (DCE) source zone is present in a section of the Tucson International Airport Area (TIAA) Superfund Site. Characterization studies identified the source of DCE to be located in lower-permeability strata adjacent to the water table. Bench-scale studies were conducted using core material collected from boreholes drilled at the site to measure DCE concentrations and determine natural oxidant demand. The reactive zone was created by injecting ~1.7% KMnO4 solution into multiple wells screened within the lower-permeability unit. The site has been monitored for ~8 years to characterize the spatial distribution of DCE and permanganate. KMnO4 continues to persist at the site, demonstrating successful creation of a long-term reactive zone. Additionally, the footprint of the DCE contaminant plume in groundwater has decreased continuously with time. This project illustrates the application of ISCO as a reactive-treatment system for lower-permeability source zones, which appears to effectively mitigate persistent mass flux into groundwater.