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With more than 600 sites contaminated with chlorinated solvents, the U.S. Air Force is searching for cost-effective cleanup methods. Part of the answer may lie at Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada, where a contaminated site has been separated into several experimental treatment lanes for in situ anaerobic biotreatment of chlorinated solvents.
Each lane uses a different method for breaking down tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene (PCE), and trichloroethane (TCE), two of the most common groundwater contaminants at hazardous waste sites. The methods are based on research conducted at Cornell University that isolated a bacteria strain that degrades the pollutants into ethene, a harmless, naturally occurring gas.
The treatment area is like a...