Other Reports - Bioremediation
Orica and Bioremediation
Orica is a firm advocate of bioremediation; not just for groundwater applications, but also for soil and potentially other liquid and solid wastes. Bioremediation often has few adverse environmental impacts. When known to be effective, and when used in the right ways, Orica views it as being significantly more ecologically sustainable than many of the more aggressive or intrusive technologies.
Groundwater Remediation
Orica has been funding research into the use of bioremediation for groundwater contamination. Significant trials, conducted in conjunction with a Canadian biotechnology company called GeoSyntec Consultants Inc. (GeoSyntec), began with lab trials in 1999, through to field trials in 2004 and 2005. The results of these trials have been very positive, especially in areas with elevated concentration of contaminants. Orica is hopeful that bioremediation will be applied for remediation of the groundwater plumes at Botany once full hydraulic containment is running steadily. and the higher concentration contamination has been addressed using 'pump and treat' at the Groundwater Treatment Plant.
Soil Bioremediation
Orica is a long-term partner of Environmental and Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC) and have been funding their research into bioremediation of hard-to-treat contaminants in soil since 2004. There has been a number of exciting breakthroughs with the research over recent years, which we hope will assist other Orica remediation projects in the long-term. For details on the latest EBCRC's research update, view meeting Briefing Papers or EBCRC's latest meeting presentation for Community Participation & Review Committee.
Report on Groundwater Bioremediation Trials
GeoSyntec developed and oversaw the implementation of in situ pilot tests of bioremediation of ethylene dichloride (EDC) in groundwater in Orica's Southlands property, located on McPherson Street, Banksmeadow. Four pilot tests were conducted in two separate areas (Area A and Area B) to evaluate the ability of three electron donors (oleate, emulsified canola oil [oil emulsion] and ethanol) to stimulate biodegradation of EDC and other contaminants present in the groundwater.
The thematic difference between Area A and Area B is the use of passive versus active groundwater controls. In Area A, the groundwater flows through a bioactive zone (biobarrier) that is created by the addition of long-term electron donors (oleate and oil emulsion). In Area B, the groundwater is extracted from one or more locations across the deep plume and blended prior to reinjection into two different wells to provide controlled chemical conditions in order to evaluate bioactivity levels under various conditions of EDC and chloroform.
A set of geochemical and biological analytical parameters was selected to monitor anaerobic microbial activity and the biodegradation of targeted compounds. For further details, refer to the documents below.
Presentation Handout
| Presentation on Bioremediation Trials presented by GeoSyntec Consultatns |
27 January 2005 |
Size
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Download  |
1.3 MB |
Progress Report
Final Report
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