Fate of Organic Chemicals in Subsurface Environments

Release of various synthetic organic compounds to the environment has caused soil and ground-water pollution in many places. The processes which control the persistence and movement of these materials are not well understood. A better understanding is necessary to aid in construction of models to predict movement and fate of pollutants in the subsurface and for design of control and abatement techniques. Project objectives are to determine the transformation pathways of selected organic compounds using a combination of field observations and laboratory simulations of environmental conditions; assess the relative importance of physical, chemical, and biochemical processes in the transformation of these compounds under ambient conditions; and study relevant biotransformation processes occurring in the subsurface.

REPORTS PUBLISHED 1999-2003

Warren, Ean, Prudic, D.E., and Godsy, E.M., 2006, Changes in Microbial Activity, in Green, J.M., (ed.), The effectiveness of Cattlemans detention basin, South Lake Tahoe, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5259, p. 37-48. (on-line abstract or on-line report in pdf format, 8 MB)

Godsy, E.M., Warren, E., and Paganelli, V.V., 2003, The role of microbial reductive decholrination of TCE at a phytoremediation site: International Journal of Phytoremediation, v. 5, no. 1.

Godsy, E.M., Hostettler, F.D., Warren, E., Paganelli, V.V., and Kharaka, Y.K., 2003, The fate of petroleum and other organics associated with produced water from the Osage-Skiatook petroleum environmental research sites, Osage County, Oklahoma in Kharaka, Y.K., and Otton, J.K., eds., Environmental impacts of petroleum production: Initial results from the Osage-Skiatook petroleum environmental research (OSPER) Sites, Osage County, Oklahoma: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4260, p. 84-102. (to access on-line report in pdf format - 7MB)

Warren, E., Bekins, B.A., Godsy, E.M., and Smith, V.K., 2003, Inhibition of acetoclastic methanogenesis in crude oil- and creosote-contaminated groundwater: Bioremediation Journal, v. 7, p. 139-149.

Bekins, B.A., Cozzarelli, I.M., Warren, E., Godsy, E.M., 2002, Microbial ecology of a crude-oil contaminated aquifer, in Thornton, S.F., and Oswald, S.E., eds., Natural and Enhanced Restoration of Groundwater Pollution: International Association of Hydrological Sciences, IAHS Red Book Series no 275, p. 57-63. (on-line abstract)

Godsy, E.M., Hostettler, F.D., Warren, E., Paganelli, V.V., and Kharaka, Y.K., 2002, Environmental impacts of petroleum production: The fate of petroleum and other organics associated with produced water from the Osage-Sakiatook Petroleum Environm Environmental Research sites, Osage County, Oklahoma, in Sublette, K.L., ed., Proceedings of the 9th International Petroleum Environmental Conference: Issues and Solutions in Exploration, Production and Refining, Albuquerque, NM: Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC) and the University of Tulsa, 18 p., CD-ROM format. (on-line report in pdf format)

Bekins, B.A., Cozzarelli, I.M., Godsy, E.M., Warren, Ean, Essaid, H.I., Tuccillo, M.E., 2001, Progression of natural attenuation processes at a crude oil site II. Controls on spatial distribution of microbial populations: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, v. 53, p. 387-406. (on-line abstract)

Godsy, E.M., Warren, E., and Westjohn, D.B., 2001, Methanogenic biodegradation of charcoal production wastes in groundwater at Kinsford, Michigan, USA: International Association of Hydrologic Sciences Publication No. 269, p. 303-309. (on-line abstract)

Michel, R.L., Silva, S.R., Bemis, B., Godsy, and Westjohn, D.B., 2001, Compound-specific carbon isotope analysis of a contaminant plume in Kinsford, Michigan, USA, in Gehrels, H., Peters, N.E., Hoehn, E., Jensen, K., Leibundgut, C., Griffioen, J., Webb, B., and Zaadnoordijk, W.J., eds., Impact of human activity on groundwater dynamics: International Association of Hydrologic Sciences Publication No. 269, p. 311-316. (on-line abstract)

Bekins, B.A., Cozzarelli, I.M., Godsy, E.M., Warren, Ean, Tuccillo, M.E., Essaid, H.I., and Paganelli, V.V., 1999, Chemical and physical controls on microbial populations in the Bemidji Toxics Site crude-oil plume, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3--Subsurface Contamination Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 133-142. (on-line abstact)

Bekins, B.A., Godsy, E.M., and Warren, E., 1999, Distribution of microbial physiologic types in an aquifer contaminated by crude oil: Microbial Ecology, v. 36, p. 263-275. (on-line abstract)

Godsy, E.M., Warren, E., Cozzarelli, I.M., Bekins, B.A., and Eganhouse, R.P., 1999, Determining BTEX biodegradation rates using in situ microcosms at the Bemidji Site, Minnesota: Trials and tribulations, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 129-168. (on-line abstract)

Warren, Ean, Bekins, B.A., and Godsy, E.M., 1999, Inhibition of acetoclastic methanogenesis by crude oil from Bemidji, Minnesota, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C. (on-line abstract)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PROJECT , CONTACT
Edward M. Godsy
U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd, MS480, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Email: emgodsy@usgs.gov
Telephone: 650-329-4504

For information on additional projects in the National Research Program, see Indexes to NRP projects and bibliographies.