SOIL POLLUTION

WHAT SOIL POLLUTION IS??

Alteration in soil by additional and removal of materials leading to reduced
productivity is called soil pollution. It is typically caused by industrial activity,
agricultural chemicals, or improper disposal of waste.
The soil pollution is defined as the presence of materials in the soil which are
harmful to the living beings when they cross their threshold concentration levels
SOIL CONTAMINATION
How it is Caused. . .
It is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made)
chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.
The types of contamination typically arises
from:-
 The rupture /leakage of underground storage tanks
 Application of pesticides
 Oil and fuel dumping
Accidental spill of chemicals, oil or fuel
 Leaching of wastes from landfills
 Direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil
etc etc

The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead
and other heavy metals.
OIL SPILLAGE
 Types of Soil Pollution
1 Positive soil pollution:- Reduction in productivity of the
soil due to the additional of undesirable substances is
called positive soil pollution.
There occur because of overuse of chemical fertilizers,
etc..

Reasons. . .
 Poor drainage
 Capillary action
 Excessive use of chemicals and fertilizer
2 Negative Soil Pollution:- The loss of soil
productivity by reduction in its mineral contents or by
destruction of its top layer is termed negative soil
pollution.
Reasons. . .
Intensive agriculture
 Flowing water
 Faulty irrigation
 0ver grazing
 Soil erosion
 Sand Shifting
 Cleanup Options…
Information needed to clean up materials added to soil include:
1) Kind of material - organic or inorganic - is the material
biodegradable, is the material dangerous to animals and humans.

2) How much material was added to the soil, will it overload the
organisms in the soil;
3) Kind of Soil - will the soil be able to handle the material before
groundwater is contaminated,
4) Growing conditions for the soil organisms - is it too cold, too
wet , etc.
5) How long has the material been on the site - is there evidence
of environmental problems, is it undergoing decomposition.
6) Immediate danger to people and the environment - Urgency
of the situation etc etc.
 contaminated soil sites
Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the resulting cleanups are time consuming and
expensive tasks, requiring extensive amounts of geology, hydrology, chemistry, 
computer modeling skills, and GIS in Environmental Contamination, as well as an
appreciation of the history of industrial chemistry

Geology
is an earth science   concerned with the solid earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the
processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other 
earth sciences, including hydrology and the atmospheric sciences, and so is treated as one major
aspect of integrated earth system science and planetary science.
Computer simulation is the reproduction of the behavior of a system
using a  computer  to simulate the outcomes of a mathematical
model associated with said system. Since they allow to check the
reliability of chosen mathematical models, computer simulations
have become a useful tool for the mathematical modeling.

GIS in environmental contamination use of GIS software in mapping

out the contaminants in soil and water using the spatial interpolation
  tools from GIS. Soil and water contamination by metals and other
contaminants have become a major environmental problem after
the industrialization across many parts of the world. GIS is used to
monitor the sites for metal contaminants in the soil.
Assessment of contaminated
sites
Choosing the remediation
technologies.

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 Treating a Contaminated sites
• Steps to Treat a Contaminated Sites
– 1. Discovery and Source Determination
– 2. Removal of the Source
– 3. Site Characterization
– 4. Impact Evaluation
– 5. Modeling
– 6.Remediations Techniques
» 1.Conventional pumping and treat system
» 2. In-situ Oxidation
» 3.Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE)
» 4.Air spraging system
» 5.In situ bioremediation
» 6.Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs)

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 READ only

1. Discovery and Source Determination

• What do we know about the source and the contaminant?
• What contaminant(s) are leaking into the aquifer?
– Many different types of chemical compounds are released from landfills, industrial activity, end even and gasoline tanks. You may thing
gasoline is relatively simple, but in addition to many volatile organic (carbon-based) compounds, gasoline also has toxic anti-knock
compounds such as tetraethyl lead (up until 1986) and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE).
– How long has the source leaked contaminants?
• What is the spatial extent of the source?
– Is it contained to a relatively small area such as a leaking gasoline tank?
– Is it spread over many acres, such as a leaking landfill?
– Is it spread over many square kilometers such as a large mine?
• What are the physical properties of the contaminant?
– Density (is it heavier or lighter than water)?
– Viscosity?
• What are the chemical properties of the contaminant?
– Does it dissolve in water?
– How does it react with oxygen, rock, or sediments in the aquifer?
• What is their concentration at various locations of an extended source? Large industrial sites may have multiple leaking
underground tanks and disposal areas scattered over many square kilometers.
• Toxicology.
– What is the effect of the toxic contaminant on plants, animals, humans or an ecosystem?
– Is the toxiticity high enough to kill people or wildlife?

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Density effects how contaminants
move through an aquifer. Light Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids
Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids LNAPL DNAPL such as dry-cleaning
such as gasoline float on water solvents sink in

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 2. Removal of the Source
• Once a source has been found, the most important first step toward remediation is to
remove the source if feasible. Removal often involves excavation of leaky tanks and
contaminated soil.
• Once the source is removed, the next step is to clean up contaminated water still in
the ground.

Employees of Cortland Pump and Equipment Company and

Sherman Vincent Associates General Contractors remove the
concrete above the gasoline storage tanks at a gas station in
Jacksonville, FL. 16
 3. Site Characterization
• What do we know about the geologic and hydraulic properties of the aquifer into which
the contaminants leaked?

• What is the extent of the aquifer? How deep? How wide? Location of confined and non
aquifers? Level of GW
• What are the physical properties of the aquifer?
– Pore size?
– Sediment or rock type?
– Hydraulic conductivity?
– How fast does the water flow through the aquifer?
• What are the chemical properties of the rock and sediment within the aquifer?
– How pure is the aquifer upstream of the source of contamination? This helps separate what is
introduced by the source from what is otherwise occurring in the aquifer.
– What gases are dissolved in the aquifer. For example, how much oxygen is in the water? (DO level )

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 4. Impact Evaluation

• What has happened to the contaminant within the aquifer?

– How far has the contaminant spread?

– Has the chemical composition changed due to natural remediation?
– Answers to these questions comes mostly from a multiple well drilled
into the aquifer.
• The monitoring wells give the extent of the plume of
contaminants and the rate at which they move through the
aquifer.
• Wells are expensive to drill and operate, so much care must go
into selecting sites for wells.

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 5. Modeling

• It is not possible to completely monitor conditions within the plume

and to predict future changes.

• Models are used to help interpolate conditions between

monitoring wells, and to predict possible changes in the future.

• Additional wells and monitoring will be needed to test the

predictions.

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 6. Remediation

• This involves removing or containing the

plume of contaminants within an aquifer.
• Many methods have been devised and used
to treat the many types of contaminants in the
many types of aquifers.
• Four of the more common remediation
methods are discussed below

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Ground pollution treatment technologies

• 1. Pump and treat

• In-situ Oxidation
• 2.Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE)
• 3.In situ bioremediation
• 4.Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs)

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 Conventional Pump and treat system
cont….

The most common method of cleaning ground water

contamination is : Pump-and-treat system.

This involves removing contaminated groundwater 3D fly-by through groundwater

aquifer with stationary
from strategically placed wells, treating the extracted groundwater table
water after it is on the surface to remove the
contaminates using mechanical, chemical, or biological
methods, and discharging the treated water to the
subsurface, surface, or municipal sewer system.

3000 pump and treat sites in USA

Effect of pumping 23
• This method has several limitations.
– The effectiveness depends on the geology of the aquifer and the
type of contaminant.
– It is slow, taking decades to centuries to remove contaminated
water yet it often fails to remove all contaminated water.
– It is very costly.
– It doesn't always work. Some contaminants stick to soil and rock
(they are adsorbed) and they cannot easily be removed
(desorbed).
– Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids NAPLs cannot be removed.

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 2.In-situ Oxidation
•

This method injects an oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide (H 2O2) into the
contaminated aquifer. The contaminant is oxidized, primarily producing Co 2 &H2o.

oxidation

An example of injection of chemicals that remove

contaminants from an aquifer. Here a permeable
treatment zone is created by reducing the ferric iron
in the aquifer sediments to ferrous iron by injecting a
reducing reagent and appropriate buffers such as
sodium dithionite and potassium carbonate. Visit the
related web site listed at the end of the lecture for
more in depth knowledge.

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• The injection of gases into the groundwater may also
cause contamination to spread faster than normal
depending on the site's hydrogeology.
• In these cases, injections downgradient of
groundwater flow may provide adequate microbial
destruction of contaminants prior to exposure to
surface waters or drinking water supply wells.
• Migration of metal contaminants must also be
considered whenever modifying subsurface oxidation-
reduction potential. Certain metals are more soluble in
oxidizing environments while others are more mobile
in reducing environments.
3.Soil Vapor Extraction SVE

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 Soil vapor extraction (SVE),
• Soil vapor extraction (SVE), also known as "soil venting" or "vacuum
extraction", is an in situ remedial technology that reduces concentrations of
volatile constituents in petroleum products adsorbed to soils in the
unsaturated (vadose) zone.
• In this technology, a vacuum is applied through wells near the source of
contamination in the soil. Volatile constituents of the contaminant mass
"evaporate" and the vapors are drawn toward the extraction wells.
• Extracted vapor is then treated as necessary (commonly with carbon
adsorption) before being released to the atmosphere.
• The increased air flow through the subsurface can also stimulate
biodegradation of some of the contaminants, especially those that are less
volatile. Wells may be either vertical or horizontal. In areas of high
groundwater levels, water table depression pumps may be required to offset
the effect of upwelling induced by the vacuum.

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 Soil vapor extraction (SVE),

Generally, carbon is used for low (below 500 ppmV) VOC concentration vapor streams,
oxidation is used for moderate (up to 4,000 ppmV) VOC concentration streams, and
vapor condensation is used for high (over 4,000 ppmV) VOC concentration vapor
streams. Below is a brief summary of each technology.
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• Advantages:
• Proven performance; readily available equipment;
easy installation.
• Minimal disturbance to site operations.
• Short treatment times (usually 6 months to 2 years
under optimal conditions).
• Cost competitive: $20-50/ton of contaminated soil.
• Can be applied at sites with free product, and can
be combined with other technologies(e.g ASS Air
sparging system).
• Disadvantages:
• Concentration reductions greater than about 90%
are difficult to achieve.
• Effectiveness less certain when applied to sites
with low-permeability soil or stratified soils.
• May require costly treatment for atmospheric
discharge of extracted vapors.
• Air emission permits generally required.
• Only treats unsaturated-zone soils; other methods
may also be needed to treat saturated-zone soils
and groundwater. 33
 In-situ bioremediation
• In-situ groundwater bioremediation is a technology that encourages growth and
reproduction of indigenous microorganisms to enhance biodegradation of organic
constituents in the saturated zone.
• In-situ groundwater bioremediation can effectively degrade organic constituents which
are dissolved in groundwater and adsorbed onto the aquifer.
• Application
• In-situ groundwater bioremediation can be effective for the full range of petroleum
hydrocarbons.
• While there are some notable exceptions (e.g., MTBE) the short-chain, low-molecular-
weight, more water soluble constituents are degraded more rapidly and to lower
residual levels than are long-chain, high-molecular-weight, less soluble constituents.
• Recoverable free product should be removed from the subsurface prior to operation of
the in-situ groundwater bioremediation system. This will mitigate the major source of
contaminants as well as reduce the potential for smearing or spreading high
concentrations of contaminants.
• In-situ bioremediation of groundwater can be combined with other saturated zone
remedial technologies (e.g., air sparging) and vadose zone remedial operations (e.g., soil
vapor extraction, bioventing).
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Bioremediation

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 Bioremediation
A treatment process that uses microorganisms (yeast,
fungi, or bacteria) to break down, or degrade,
hazardous substances into less toxic or nontoxic
substances (carbon dioxide and water)
Biostimulation (stimulates biological activity)
Bioventing (Inject air/nutrients into unsaturated zone –
good for midweight petroleum, jet fuel)
Biosparging (Inject air/nutrients into unsaturated and
saturated zones)
Bioaugmentation (inoculates soil with
microbes)
• Advantages:
• Remediates contaminants that are adsorbed onto or trapped within the geologic
materials of which the aquifer is composed along with contaminants dissolved in
groundwater.
• Application involves equipment that is widely available and easy to install.
• Creates minimal disruption and/or disturbance to on-going site activities.
• Time required for subsurface remediation may be shorter than other approaches (e.g.,
pump-and-treat).
• Generally recognized as being less costly than other remedial options.
• Can be combined with other technologies (e.g., bioventing, SVE) to enhance site
remediation.
• In many cases this technique does not produce waste products that must be disposed.
• Disadvantages:
• Injection wells and/or infiltration galleries may become plugged by microbial growth or
mineral precipitation.
• Difficult to implement in low-permeability aquifers.
• Re-injection wells or infiltration galleries may require permits or may be prohibited.
some states require permit for air injection.
• May require continuous monitoring and maintenance.
• Remediation may only occur in more permeable layer or channels within the aquifer.
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Permeable reactive barrier cont…

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 Permeable reactive barrier
• The first field-scale application of PRBs in groundwater remediation was done
in Base Borden, Ontario by Robert Gillham and Stephanie O'Hannesin of the
University of Waterloo.
• Generated more attention and under gone more study than any other
remediation technique.
• PRB is a permeable wall of special chosen material through which the
contaminated groundwater passes. As the water passes , the pollutants are
removed by one or more process including :
– Precipitation
– Adsorption
– Biotransformation
– Abiotic redox degradation etc
• Most commonly used PRB is Granular ZERO VALENT IRON(ZVI)
which is typically 2-6 ft thick wall.
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• Advantages

• low cost
• Allow possible clean up of
contaminants that are hard
to address otherwise.
• Virtually no upkeeps after • Disadvantage
they are in place • PRB is effective only if plume moves
through it.
• Hyd. conductivity of PRB must be
greater than that of the aquifer around
it .
• Clog due to filtration of particle and
precipitation of solids or build up of
solid reaction products, the water will
divert along the wall .
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43
 The other several principal
strategies for remediation
 Thermal remediation by introduction of heat to raise
subsurface temperatures sufficiently high to volatize
chemical contaminants out of the soil for vapour extraction
 Aeration of soils at the contaminated site (with
attendant risk of creating air pollution)
 Phytoremediation, or using plants (such as willow) to
extract heavy metals
 Recycling is another method for the prevention of soil
pollution. Recycling paper, plastics and other materials
reduces the volume of refuse in landfills, another common
cause of soil pollution.
 Other remediation Technologies
– Nanoremediation
– Bioventing
– Biopiles
– Landfarming
– Low-Temperature Thermal Desorption
– Biosparging
– Monitored Natural Attenuation (PDF))
– Dual-Phase Extraction
– Enhanced Aerobic Bioremediation
– Chemical Oxidation

• Online Information
Remediating groundwater contamination is not easy or cheap. Several organizations have published useful
web pages on remediation:
• The Canadian government Contaminated Sites Management Working Group publishes a
Site Remediation Technologies Reference Manual with much more detailed information.
• The US Environmental Protection Agency also provides information on remediation technologies.
• The US Geological Survey, through their Toxic Substances Hydrology Program provides useful information.
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 Related Web sites
• http://www.google.com.pk/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4ADSA_enPK347PK380&q=oil+spi
ll+pictures&meta=
• http://www.epa.gov/oust/cat/SVE1.HTMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrodynam
ics
• http://www.epa.gov/oust/cat/INSITBIO.HTM
• http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/groundwaterremediati
on.htm
• http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=iaes_circulars

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 O U
K Y
A N
TH
 Redox
• Another example of a redox reaction is the
formation of hydrogen fluoride. We can break
thereaction down to analyze
the oxidation and reduction of reactants. The
hydrogen is oxidized and loses two electrons,
so each hydrogen becomes positive. The two
electrons are gained by fluorine, which is
reduced.