Treatability Study/Focused Feasibility Study

Naturally occurring contaminant attenuation processes such as advection, dispersion, aerobic biodegradation, and anaerobic biodegradation can significantly enhance the rate of organic mass removal from contaminated groundwater aquifers. The Air Force and EPA are currently collaborating to research natural attenuation processes and develop natural attenuation as an effective remedial alternative for appropriate sites. At the Building 735 site at Grissom AFB, data from site investigations (Section 2) was used to conduct a natural attenuation Treatability Study (Section 3) that included special field sampling and analysis and groundwater modeling components. The results from this study were used to perform a baseline exposure assessment and Risk Assessment for the site (Section 4). Finally, all of these data were used to prepare a Focused Feasibility Study (Section 5) that evaluated three remediation alternatives for the site: 1) natural attenuation with institutional controls, 2) natural attenuation combined with continued operation of an existing bioventing/air sparging system; and 3) installation of an aquifer dewatering/soil vapor extraction system.