Crude Oil Contamination in the Shallow Subsurface: Bemidji, Minnesota

Crude oil from a pipeline rupture in 1979 contaminated a shallow aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota. After initial cleanup, about 110,000 gallons of crude oil remains in the subsurface. This site thus provides a unique opportunity to study a contaminant plume where the location, amount, and timing of the spill are precisely known. The study focuses on how crude oil spreads in soil vapor and ground water. Models have been developed to describe the controlling physical, chemical, and biological processes. These models can be used to evaluate remedial strategies for oil spills, including intrinsic bioremediation.

Project Headlines

• Ground-Water Recharge Affects Fate of Petroleum Contaminant Plumes
• Predicting Plume Growth Rates - A Simple Method for Calculating Growth Rates of Petroleum Plumes
• Special Edition of "Environmental Geosciences" Explores Impacts of Oil and Gas Production on the Environment
• USGS Scientists Contribute to the Landmark "Treatise on Geochemistry"
• How do you Clean Up Gasoline Spills Naturally?
• Relying on Nature to Clean Up Contaminated Ground Water
• Natural Attenuation for Groundwater Remediation

More Information

• Bemidji Toxics Site Home Page -- The Bemidji research team maintains it's own home page that contains additional information.
• Project Bibliography
• Project Photo Gallery
• Abstracts from Selected Meetings/Conferences
• Organic Compounds in Near-Surface Environments: Understanding Fate in a Changing Biogeochemical Landscape
• Microbiology and Molecular Ecology of Biogeochemical Cycles in Aquatic Environments
• Multiphase Flow, Transport, Reaction and Biodegradation
• Toxics Geophysics Project
• For additional information about the Bemidji Toxics Site please send e-mail to Geoff Delin at

Upcoming Publications

• Volatile fuel hydrocarbons and oxygenates in the environment (Section 9.12): Cozzarelli, I.M., and Baehr, A.L., in Heinrich, D.H., and Karl, K.T., eds., Environmental Geochemistry, Lollar, B.S., ed., in Treatise on Geochemistry, New York, Elsevier Science, v. 9 (IN PRESS).

Project Remediation Related Activities

• Oil Recovery Performance Monitoring
• Natural Attenuation of a Crude-Oil Spill, Cass Lake, Minnesota

Related Research Projects

• Processes Affecting the Natural Attenuation of Fuel Oxygenates in Ground Water -- Laurel Bay, South Carolina
• Processes Affecting the Natural Attenuation of Gasoline in Ground Water -- Galloway Township, New Jersey
  
• Environmental Impacts Associated with Disposal of Saline Water Produced During Petroleum Production - Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project, Oklahoma

Other Hydrocarbon Remediation Related Activates

• Oxygen-Release Compound Remediation Tests
• Vapor Extraction Optimization
• Quanitfying Natural Attenuation at the Plume Scale
• Biodegradation of Charcoal Production Wastes

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