Abstract
Intrinsic BiodeGradation of MTBE and BTEX in a Gasoline-Contaminated Aquifer
Civil Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
North Carolina Division of Environmental Management, Raleigh.
S&ME, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Wooten Co., Raleigh, North Carolina.
Three-dimensional field monitoring of a gasoline plume showed rapid decay of toluene and ethylbenzene during downgradient transport with slower decay of xylenes, benzene, and MTBE under mixed aerobic-denitrifying conditions. Decay was most rapid near the source but slower farther downgradient. Effective first-order decay coefficients varied from 0 to 0.0010 d−1 for MTBE, from 0.0006 to 0.0014 d−1 for benzene, from 0.0005 to 0.0063 d−1 for toluene, from 0.0008 to 0.0058 d−1for ethylbenzene, from 0.0012 to 0.0035 d−1 for m-, p-xylene, and from 0.0007 to 0.0017 d−1 for o-xylene. Laboratory microcosm studies confirmed MTBE biodegradation under aerobic conditions; however, the extent of biodegradation was limited.
Received 23 September 1996; accepted 31 December 1996; .
Citation: (1997), Intrinsic BiodeGradation of MTBE and BTEX in a Gasoline-Contaminated Aquifer, Water Resour. Res., 33(5), 1105–1115.
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