• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.38-45
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• 2005

The feasibility of stimulating in situ aerobic cometabolic activity of indigenous microorganisms was investigated in a trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated aquifer. A series of single-well natural drift tests (SWNDTs) was conducted by injecting site groundwater amended with a bromide tracer and combinations of toluene, oxygen, nitrate, ethylene and TCE into an existing monitoring well and by sampling the same well over time. Three field tests, Push-pull Transport Test, Drift Biostimulation Test, and Drift Surrogate Activity Test, were performed in sequence. Initial rate of toluene degradation was much faster than the rate of bromide dilution resulting from natural groundwater drift, indicating stimulation of indigenous toluene-oxidizing microorganisms. Transformation of ethylene, a surrogate probing overall activity of TCE transformation, was also observed, and its transformation results in the production of ethylene oxide, suggesting that some tolueneoxidizing microorganisms stimulated may express a orthomonooxygenase enzyme. Also in situ transformation of TCE was confirmed by greater retardation of TCE than bromide after the stimulation of toluene-oxidizing microorganisms. These results indicate that, in this environment, toluene and oxygen additions stimulated the growth and aerobic cometabolic activity of indigenous microorganisms expressing orthomonooxygenase enzymes. The simple, low-cost field test method presented in this study provides an effective method for conducting rapid field assessments and pilot testing of aerobic cometabolism, which has previously hindered application of this technology to groundwater remediation.