Capping fiberbank sediments to reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) fluxes: A large-scale laboratory column experiment.

Deposits of contaminated wood fiber waste (fiberbanks), originating from sawmills and pulp and paper industries, have been found in the aquatic environment in boreal countries. In-situ isolation capping has been proposed as a remediation solution because it has the potential to prevent dispersal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from this type of sediment. However, knowledge about the performance of such caps when placed on very soft (unconsolidated), gaseous organic rich sediment is scarce. We investigated the effectiveness of conventional in-situ capping to limit POPs fluxes to the water column from contaminated fibrous sediments that produce gas. A controlled, large-scale laboratory column (40 cm diameter, 2 m height) experiment was performed over 8 months to study changes in sediment-to-water fluxes of POPs and particle resuspension before and after capping the sediment with crushed stones (≥4 mm grain size). Two different cap thicknesses were tested (20 and 45 cm) on two types of fiberbank sediment with different fiber type composition. Results showed that capping fiberbank sediment with a 45 cm gravel cap reduced the sediment-to-water flux by 91-95% for p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDD, by 39-82% for CB-101, CB-118, CB-138, CB-153, CB-180 and by 12-18% for HCB, whereas for less hydrophobic PCBs, capping was largely ineffective (i.e. CB-28 and CB-52). Although cap application caused particle resuspension, the long-term effect of the cap was reduced particle resuspension. On the other hand, substantial sediment consolidation released large volumes of contaminated pore water into the overlying water body. Importantly, both sediment types produced large amount of gas, observed as gas voids forming inside the sediment and gas ebullition events, which increased pore water advection and affected the structural integrity of the cap. This may limit the practical applicability of this method on fiberbank sediments.

Combined time-lapse magnetic resonance imaging and modeling to investigate colloid deposition and transport in porous media.

Colloidal particles can act as vectors of adsorbed pollutants in the subsurface, or be themselves pollutants. They can reach the aquifer and impair groundwater quality. The mechanisms of colloid transport and deposition are often studied in columns filled with saturated porous media. Time-lapse profiles of colloid concentration inside the columns have occasionally been derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data recorded in transport experiments. These profiles are valuable, in addition to particle breakthrough curves (BTCs), for testing and improving colloid transport models. We show that concentrations could not be simply computed from MRI data when both deposited and suspended colloids contributed to the signal. We propose a generic method whereby these data can still be used to quantitatively appraise colloid transport models. It uses the modeled suspended and deposited particle concentrations to compute modeled MRI data that are compared to the experimental data. We tested this method by performing transport experiments with sorbing colloids in sand, and assessed for the first time the capacity of the model calibrated from BTCs to reproduce the MRI data. Interestingly, the dispersion coefficient and deposition rate calibrated from the BTC were respectively overestimated and underestimated compared with those calibrated from the MRI data, suggesting that these quantities, when determined from BTCs, need to be interpreted with care. In a broader perspective, we consider that combining MRI and modeling offers great potential for the quantitative analysis of complex MRI data recorded during transport experiments in complex environmentally relevant porous media, and can help improve our understanding of the fate of colloids and solutes, first in these media, and later in soils.

Gypsum addition to soils contaminated by red mud: implications for aluminium, arsenic, molybdenum and vanadium solubility.

Red mud is highly alkaline (pH 13), saline and can contain elevated concentrations of several potentially toxic elements (e.g. Al, As, Mo and V). Release of up to 1 million m(3) of bauxite residue (red mud) suspension from the Ajka repository, western Hungary, caused large-scale contamination of downstream rivers and floodplains. There is now concern about the potential leaching of toxic metal(loid)s from the red mud as some have enhanced solubility at high pH. This study investigated the impact of red mud addition to three different Hungarian soils with respect to trace element solubility and soil geochemistry. The effectiveness of gypsum amendment for the rehabilitation of red mud-contaminated soils was also examined. Red mud addition to soils caused a pH increase, proportional to red mud addition, of up to 4 pH units (e.g. pH 7 â†’ 11). Increasing red mud addition also led to significant increases in salinity, dissolved organic carbon and aqueous trace element concentrations. However, the response was highly soil specific and one of the soils tested buffered pH to around pH 8.5 even with the highest red mud loading tested (33 % w/w); experiments using this soil also had much lower aqueous Al, As and V concentrations. Gypsum addition to soil/red mud mixtures, even at relatively low concentrations (1 % w/w), was sufficient to buffer experimental pH to 7.5-8.5. This effect was attributed to the reaction of Ca(2+) supplied by the gypsum with OH(-) and carbonate from the red mud to precipitate calcite. The lowered pH enhanced trace element sorption and largely inhibited the release of Al, As and V. Mo concentrations, however, were largely unaffected by gypsum induced pH buffering due to the greater solubility of Mo (as molybdate) at circumneutral pH. Gypsum addition also leads to significantly higher porewater salinities, and column experiments demonstrated that this increase in total dissolved solids persisted even after 25 pore volume replacements. Gypsum addition could therefore provide a cheaper alternative to recovery (dig and dump) for the treatment of red mud-affected soils. The observed inhibition of trace metal release within red mud-affected soils was relatively insensitive to either the percentage of red mud or gypsum present, making the treatment easy to apply. However, there is risk that over-application of gypsum could lead to detrimental long-term increases in soil salinity.