Remediation research targeted for the cleanup of groundwater, sediments, soil and other environmental media has been a very strong and successful component of SBRP. SBRP-funded researchers have developed innovative biological, chemical, and physical methods that effectively remove and/or reduce the amount of hazardous wastes.
Many of these remediation projects are very pragmatic, frequently with direct applications to Superfund sites. These innovative technologies provide practical benefits such as lower cleanup costs at hazardous waste sites, improvements in human and ecological health and reduced risk. Examples include:
Bioremediation of Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE): Dr. Kate Scow, Project Investigator at the University of California – Davis was instrumental in a collaboration with a team of experts led by Haley & Aldrich in achieving an innovative solution that led to the successful bioremediation of a methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) -contaminated drinking water aquifer in North Hollywood, CA.
Chemical Intervention Strategies: Dr. Timothy Philips at the Texas A&M SBRP has designed and tested Claypac materials with the sorptive properties of the clay and the water permeability of sand or carbon. These versatile materials can be specifically tailored to remove many toxic contaminants from groundwater, or to bind aflatoxins in the gastrointestinal tract of animals to prevent aflatoxicosis.
Hurt Laboratory, Brown University:The Brown University (BU) Superfund Basic Research Program's (SBRP) team of researchers, led by Dr. Robert Hurt, discovered that a variant of a substance called nanoselenium can absorb most of the mercury emitted from broken and spent compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
In situ Bioremediation of TCE: Dr. Jennifer Field is developing and evaluating cost-effective and efficient technologies for monitoring and enhancing in situ biodegradation in anaerobic groundwater of trichloroethene (trichloroethylene, TCE), one of our nation's most prevalent groundwater pollutants.
Phytoremediation of Organic Solvents: Building on more than a decade of basic, mechanistic research, Drs. Milton Gordon and Lee Newman at the University of Washington SBRP have developed and implemented phytoremediation techniques to remove organic contaminants from soil and groundwater. The techniques they developed are faster and significantly less expensive than conventional in situ and ex situ remediation processes. Currently, Drs. Strand and Doty are furthering Gordon and Newman�s research by focusing on the metabolism of TCE in transgenic poplar cuttings.
Regeneration of Saturated Carbon Adsorbents: Dr. Chang Yul Cha, President of the Cha Corporation, has been invited to participate in the National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP). The objective of Dr. Cha's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) work is to build a commercial-scale portable microwave system that is capable of regenerating 50-kg/hr of saturated carbon. The results obtained from this project will be used to show that microwave technology is an economic means of recovering perchloroethylene (PERC) for reuse and for preventing the emission of carcinogenic air contaminants.
Soil Remediation by Steam Enhanced Extraction: Dr. Kent Udell developed a process called Steam Enhanced Extraction (SEE) for remediation of subsurface areas contaminated with organic compounds. This SBRP-funded research has demonstrated that many sites previously considered as untreatable can be remediated with reasonable cost and acceptable certainty using thermal remediation techniques generated.
Texas A&M System Inventors Recognized: In February 2007 Dr. Timothy D. Phillips, SBRP project investigator, received an Innovation Award from the Office of Technology Commercialization at Texas A&M University. Phillips was recognized for his toxicology research related to hazardous chemical and microbial contaminants of food, particularly the aflatoxins.
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