• Team will study use of geophysical imaging in bioremediation of complex sites
SAN CLEMENTE, CA, March 3, 2008 -- An $869,000 grant from the Defense Department's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) was awarded to Regenesis, URS Corporation, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to evaluate the utility of geophysical imaging tools for investigating the performance of bioremedial soil amendments. Regenesis will administer the grant and will manage transfer of the technology, if successful.
The study will be conducted at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (FEW), Cheyenne, Wyoming, the oldest continuously active USAF military installation, home to the 90th Space Wing and Headquarters, 20th Air Force, of Air Force Space Command. URS Corporation is currently completing a groundwater cleanup on the base using Regenesis' patented and widely used Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC®), an enhanced bioremediation technology that accelerates the natural breakdown of a range of chlorinated contaminants, including perchlorate and nitroaromatic explosives, into harmless byproducts such as ethene and ethane.
"URS's cleanup at FEW is one of the largest applications of HRC since the technology was introduced in 1999," explained Dr. Robert Kelley, Vice President of Technology Development at Regenesis and principal investigator on the ESTCP grant. "The site is a challenging one, with a heterogeneous subsurface geology that includes extensive fine-grained, low-permeability materials. The study will evaluate how multiple geophysical imaging methods -- seismic, radar, and electrical can be used to verify the placement and subsurface distribution of soil amendments. If successful, the study will help develop a potentially useful, non-invasive tool to monitor the subsurface transport of HRC-type amendments as well as provide further understanding of groundwater remediation at this site."
San Francisco-based URS Corporation is a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector clients around the world, with annual revenues of $7.6 billion. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) in Berkeley, California has been a leader in science and engineering research for more than 70 years. LBL is the oldest of the country's national labs and is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.
San Clemente, CA-based Regenesis has been advancing the state of the art in the environmental industry since 1994 with proven technologies that significantly reduce the cost, time and difficulty of restoring contaminated soil and groundwater.
The Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) promote the development, validation, and application of innovative environmental technologies that reduce the costs, environmental risks, and/or time required to resolve the DoD's most urgent environmental needs while simultaneously enhancing safety and health.
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