A weapons and explosives (ammunition, TNT) burial ground was recently unearthed
ID: 210026 • Letter: A
Question
A weapons and explosives (ammunition, TNT) burial ground was recently unearthed and you have been called in as an expert in bioremediation. You have been asked to assess whether bioremediation is an option and if so, you have been subsequently asked to come up with a plan. If the site is not worthy of bioremediation then you must give a very detailed explanation as to why it is not feasible nor justified. If you do think bioremediation is an option, to reiterate, you must come up with a detailed plan including an assessment of its success.
Explanation / Answer
Bioremediation is a process used to treat contaminated media, including water, soil and subsurface material, by altering environmental conditions to stimulate growth of microorganisms and degrade the target pollutants.
Two bioremediation technologies for the treatment of explosives-contaminated soil. The technologies include soil slurry reactor, and in situ bioremediation. Both bioremediation technologies showed promising results and these treatment methods used co-metabolic process with molasses as a co-substrate for bacterial growth. The soil slurry reactor can remove the explosive contaminants present in the soil within three weeks of incubation period. The in situ treatment method also removes all the explosives present in the soil, but the treatment time was approximately 12 month.
The major advantage in the soil slurry reactor method is the short treatment time, but the disadvantage is that it is labor intensive and expensive due to the excavation of soil, operation of slurry reactors, and post-treatment costs. The in situ treatment method has the advantage of lower treatment costs, but the disadvantage is the treatment time, which is considerably longer.