Grantee Research Project Results

A Continuation of Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay

EPA Grant Number: R827015C025
Subproject: this is subproject number 025 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R827015
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: HSRC (1989) - Western HSRC
Center Director: McCarty, Perry L.
Title: A Continuation of Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay
Investigators: Ford, Laura P. , Sublette, Kerry L.
Institution: University of Tulsa
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period:     (Extended to August 31, 2004)
RFA: Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC) (1999) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Targeted Research

Objective:

This project is a continuation of the IPEC project Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay. In the first year of this project, we set up a field demonstration to treat two produced fluids spill sites and a control site with four different soil amendments to determine the effectiveness of hay as a soil amendment for brine spills. Our four soil treatments are tilling, tilling with hay, tilling with fertilizer, and tilling with hay and fertilizer. Eight microcosms were built to treat contaminated soil with the same soil amendments and provide controlled watering and aeration. The field sites and microcosms have been sampled regularly to track changes in concentrations of brine components, soil properties, and microbial populations to determine the mechanism(s) by which remediation occurs.

Approach:

We have proposed three mechanisms by which organic matter (hay) may aid the removal of salt. (1) The hay may provide pores for water to enter the soil and leach salt components away. (2) Compounds formed during the decay of the hay can exchange cations with the clay, releasing sodium from the clay. (3) Products formed during the decay of hay can bind the clay particles into water-stable aggregates. All mechanisms improve the permeability of the soil, allowing water to flush salt from the soil. The first mechanism should dominate early in a remediation project. The second and third mechanisms should become more important as the hay decays. Microbial action is important to all three mechanisms: biodegradation of the hay will decrease the rate of the first and increase the rates of the other two proposed mechanisms.

First year results indicate that the first mechanism is probably active: permeability appeared to increase in the sites and microcosms with hay. The second and third mechanisms did not appear to be active. Microorganisms in sites and microcosms with hay were different from those without hay. Salt components decreased more in microcosms with hay than those without. Over the first year, salt components decreased most in the sites with tilling and fertilizer, interestingly.

This project continues the field demonstration component of the first year, since the sites received little rain to wash the salt away in the first year. We will sample the field sites monthly during wet, warm months and quarterly otherwise. We will continue to analyze the samples for cation and anion concentrations, nutrient concentrations, cation exchange capacity, hydraulic conductivity, wet aggregate stability, and microbial population and diversity. A dual ring infiltrometer will be used to measure hydraulic conductivity/permeability in situ instead of the unreliable, ex situ technique used in the first year. We will also perform denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis at the end of the second year to identify important species in the field sites, for comparison with results from the microcosms. To better see where the microorganisims are (soil versus hay), we will do plate counting of microorganisms cultured from the soil and from the hay. If rainfall is low in the hot summer months, we will water the sites to ensure that changes are seen over the second year of the project.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this subproject: View all 3 publications for this subproject | View all 120 publications for this center

Supplemental Keywords:

Scientific Discipline, Waste, Water, Geographic Area, Hydrology, Contaminated Sediments, Remediation, Chemistry, State, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, biodegradation, contaminated sediment, brine impacted soil, soils, contaminated soil, subsurface drainage system, hay, desalination, Oklahoma (OK)

Progress and Final Reports:

2000

2001

2002

2003

Final Report

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R827015    HSRC (1989) - Western HSRC

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R827015C001 Evaluation of Road Base Material Derived from Tank Bottom Sludges
R827015C002 Passive Sampling Devices (PSDs) for Bioavailability Screening of Soils Containing Petrochemicals
R827015C003 Demonstration of a Subsurface Drainage System for the Remediation of Brine-Impacted Soil
R827015C004 Anaerobic Intrinsic Bioremediation of Whole Gasoline
R827015C005 Microflora Involved in Phytoremediation of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons
R827015C006 Microbial Treatment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)
R827015C007 Using Plants to Remediate Petroleum-Contaminated Soil
R827015C008 The Use of Nitrate for the Control of Sulfide Formation in Oklahoma Oil Fields
R827015C009 Surfactant-Enhanced Treatment of Oil-Contaminated Soils and Oil-Based Drill Cuttings
R827015C010 Novel Materials for Facile Separation of Petroleum Products from Aqueous Mixtures Via Magnetic Filtration
R827015C011 Development of Relevant Ecological Screening Criteria (RESC) for Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Exploration and Production Sites
R827015C012 Humate-Induced Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Surface Soils
R827015C013 New Process for Plugging Abandoned Wells
R827015C014 Enhancement of Microbial Sulfate Reduction for the Remediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Aquifers - A Laboratory and Field Scale Demonstration
R827015C015 Locating Oil-Water Interfaces in Process Vessels
R827015C016 Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay
R827015C017 Continuation of an Investigation into the Anaerobic Intrinsic Bioremediation of Whole Gasoline
R827015C018 Using Plants to Remediate Petroleum-Contaminated Soil
R827015C019 Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Salt-Impacted Soil by Native Halophiles or Halotolerants and Strategies for Enhanced Degradation
R827015C020 Anaerobic Intrinsic Bioremediation of MTBE
R827015C021 Evaluation of Commercial, Microbial-Based Products to Treat Paraffin Deposition in Tank Bottoms and Oil Production Equipment
R827015C022 A Continuation: Humate-Induced Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Surface Soils
R827015C023 Data for Design of Vapor Recovery Units for Crude Oil Stock Tank Emissions
R827015C024 Development of an Environmentally Friendly and Economical Process for Plugging Abandoned Wells
R827015C025 A Continuation of Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay
R827015C026 Identifying the Signature of the Natural Attenuation of MTBE in Goundwater Using Molecular Methods and "Bug Traps"
R827015C027 Identifying the Signature of Natural Attenuation in the Microbial Ecology of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Groundwater Using Molecular Methods and "Bug Traps"
R827015C028 Using Plants to Remediate Petroleum-Contaminated Soil: Project Continuation
R827015C030 Effective Stormwater and Sediment Control During Pipeline Construction Using a New Filter Fence Concept
R827015C031 Evaluation of Sub-micellar Synthetic Surfactants versus Biosurfactants for Enhanced LNAPL Recovery
R827015C032 Utilization of the Carbon and Hydrogen Isotopic Composition of Individual Compounds in Refined Hydrocarbon Products To Monitor Their Fate in the Environment
R830633 Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC)
R830633C001 Development of an Environmentally Friendly and Economical Process for Plugging Abandoned Wells (Phase II)
R830633C002 A Continuation of Remediation of Brine Spills with Hay
R830633C003 Effective Stormwater and Sediment Control During Pipeline Construction Using a New Filter Fence Concept
R830633C004 Evaluation of Sub-micellar Synthetic Surfactants versus Biosurfactants for Enhanced LNAPL Recovery
R830633C005 Utilization of the Carbon and Hydrogen Isotopic Composition of Individual Compounds in Refined Hydrocarbon Products To Monitor Their Fate in the Environment
R830633C006 Evaluation of Commercial, Microbial-Based Products to Treat Paraffin Deposition in Tank Bottoms and Oil Production Equipment
R830633C007 Identifying the Signature of the Natural Attenuation in the Microbial Ecology of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Groundwater Using Molecular Methods and “Bug Traps”
R830633C008 Using Plants to Remediate Petroleum-Contaminated Soil: Project Continuation
R830633C009 Use of Earthworms to Accelerate the Restoration of Oil and Brine Impacted Sites