Identifying sources of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons in a residential area in Italy using the integral pumping test method

Abstract

The results of integral pumping tests (IPTs) performed in the city of Fabriano, Italy, are presented. The IPT methodology was developed by the European Union project INCORE, as a tool for groundwater investigation and source localization in contaminated areas. This methodology consists of a multiple-well pumping test in which the wells are positioned along a control plane downstream of suspected contaminant source zones and perpendicular to the mean groundwater flow direction. During the pumping, concentration time series of target contaminants are measured. In Fabriano, two control planes were realized to identify a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon plume, to estimate the mass fluxes and draw up a ranked list of the main contamination sources. A numerical flow model was implemented to support the IPT design and to interpret the results. This study revealed low-level trichloroethylene contamination (concentration below 8 μg/l), tetrachloroethylene contamination (mean concentration up to 500 μg/l) and a mass flow rate of about 300 g/day. Through the application of the IPT method, the mean contaminant concentrations, the spatial distribution of concentration values along the control planes, and the total contaminant mass flow rates were evaluated, and the investigation area was reduced for further and deeper investigation activities

Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) Application for Source Apportionment and Natural Attenuation Assessment of Chlorinated Benzenes

“…The redox species, SO 4 2− , S 2− , NO 3 − , and NO 2 − were measured by ion chromatography, whereas Mn (II), total iron (Fe tot ) and Fe (II) were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.…”

“…The characterization and remediation of contaminated sites involves high costs, estimated from 500 to 5 million euros on average per site (European Union (EU) data [1]); hence the application of the polluter pays principle (PPP) may become essential. The application of new approaches for the correct identification of the polluter is necessary particularly in the presence of potential multiple sources/polluters, and especially at mega-sites such as industrial areas or petrochemical plants [4]. Also known as "source identification", "fingerprinting", or "source apportionment" (SA hereafter), this approach is also important for site-restoration applications [5][6][7][8][9].…”

Null-Space Monte Carlo Particle Backtracking to Identify Groundwater Tetrachloroethylene Sources

“…In order to reconstruct such difficult historical backgrounds in highly urbanized areas (i.e., in the Lombardy Region), new scientific and robust methodologies are required in order to identify the suspected sources of contaminant. Among others, compound-specific isotope analysis (Hunkeler et al, 2008;Shouakar-Stash et al, 2009;Alberti et al, 2017), integral pumping tests (Bauer et al, 2004;Alberti et al, 2011), inverse groundwater modeling (Carrera et al, 2005;Tonkin and Doherty, 2009;Alberti et al, 2018;Moeck et al, 2020), and their combination are the most promising techniques. The modeling methodologies have to take into account uncertainties within an "acceptable level, " which depends on the effects and costs of possible contamination and on the complexity of the hydrogeological systems (Frind and Molson, 2018).…”

Potential Enhancement of the In-Situ Bioremediation of Contaminated Sites through the Isolation and Screening of Bacterial Strains in Natural Hydrocarbon Springs

“…Accordingly, over the decades, the awareness to protect the environment has increased, especially now that pollution is recognized as one of the most severe and urgent issues society has to face. The sources of environmental contamination caused by hydrocarbons are different, such as accidents in the transport of fuel by ships and tankers, leaks from underground tanks and service stations, oil extraction and processing operations, release of oily waste generated by industries that use oil in the production of plastics, solvents, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics [8,9]. The cleaning up of these contaminants from the environment is mandatory and can be reached by using physical-chemical or biological strategies [1,10].…”