Multicomponent PCB transport in groundwater systems

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Accurate assessment and cost-effective remediation of contaminated groundwater is essential to ensure the sustainable development of water supplies in Canada where approximately 8 million people rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. This proposal targets an area of national priority - environment and sustainable development - with an emphasis on renewable resources management. The specific class of groundwater contaminants addressed is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of 209 separate organic congeners. Despite the fact that PCBs are no longer manufactured, they are persistent and present throughout Canada's environment because of their high resistance to degradation. The majority of PCB mass in the environment resides in the subsurface in the form of dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). The proposed research will investigate PCB transport in both unconsolidated overburden deposits and fractured bedrock using both numerical simulation and laboratory experimentation. The work will be carried out in unprecedented detail in that the problem will be addressed by examining both emulsion transport and migration of individual congeners in groundwater, as opposed to the traditional approach of addressing total PCBs in the aqueous phase. The resulting knowledge and the 3D numerical models that will be developed can be used by the Canadian environmental industry to further assess, select, and design remedial techniques for PCB-impacted sites. The knowledge can also be used to perform risk assessments and to assess the contribution of PCBs in groundwater to the broader hydrologic cycle. It is expected that the results of this work will have a positive affect on Canada's environmental industry within 3 years. Long term, the results of this research will allow practitioners to diagnose sites impacted by a variety of multicomponent compounds, not just PCBs. Research will be carried out by graduate students in a group that has 16 years experience conducting numerical simulation and laboratory experimentation with organic compounds in groundwater systems.