Adventus Clean-up Technology Tests Well in Italy

The Adventus Group, an international remediation biotechnology enterprise for treatment of contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater environments, announced June 3 that laboratory and field tests conducted in Italy resulted in its patented EHC® In Situ Chemical Reduction (ISCR) biotechnology being selected as an effective, cost-efficient remedial strategy.

The environmental engineering firm of findings at the BOSICON 2009 International Conference on Remediation of Polluted Sites, held May 13-15 in Rome.

The presentation described rigorous laboratory and field tests conducted to select and optimize an in situ remedial design for a large, complex site located inside an operating petrochemical plant in Northern Italy. The subsurface environment at the site is impacted by 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) and vinyl chloride (VC) in groundwater. Knowing the general persistence of 1,2-DCA in the environment, initial laboratory tests evaluated various remedial technologies. Of the two oxidants tested, only the activated persulfate was effective. Although the ISCR reactions required a longer treatment time, both 1,2-DCA and VC were completely removed in less than 60 days, without the accumulation of dead-end catabolites, according to the company's press release. Field tests showed reductions in the contaminants.