Multi tracer test for the implementation of enhanced in-situ bioremediation at a BTEX-contaminated megasite

At the Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle (UFZ) research site in Zeitz, Germany, benzene contaminates the lower of two aquifers with concentrations of up to 20 mg/l. Since the benzene plume has a minimum length of approximately 1 km, enhanced natural attenuation measures are being considered as a remediation strategy. This study describes the performance and evaluation of a multi-species reactive tracer test using the tracers fluorescein and bromide as conservative tracers and toluene as reactive tracer. Sampling was performed over a period of six months using a detailed network of multilevel sampling wells. Toluene was only slightly retarded in comparison to bromide, whereas fluorescein was retarded considerably stronger. Therefore, it was not possible to use fluorescein as an in situ tracer for the determination of groundwater velocities. The ionic nature of fluorescein is assumed to be the major reason for its retardation. The results show that the infiltration conditions were suitable to produce a wide spreading of the tracer front along the full thickness of the aquifer. Thus, a large aquifer volume can be treated in future enhanced bioremediation measures. The total quantity of infiltrated toluene (24 l) was degraded under sulfate-reducing conditions over a flow path of 50 m. Benzylsuccinate was identified as a metabolite of toluene degradation under sulfate-reducing conditions at this site. The modelling results show that toluene degradation was described more accurately using Monod kinetics than first-order kinetics. Since toluene was only slightly retarded in comparison to bromide, sorption and desorption processes were considered to be negligible.