Natural biological attenuation of Benzene in groundwater

Benzene has been found in subsurface unsaturated soil and groundwater beneath a petro-chemical plant. Although the groundwater contained several mg/L of benzene in the area immediately beneath the source, benzene was not detected in monitoring wells approximately 800 m down stream. All kinds of physical processes such as adsorption and advection/dispersion are considered to account for the observed attenuation. The results indicated that the attenuation was primarily due to natural biological processes occurring within the aquifer. The evidence for the natural bioremediation of benzene from the groundwater included: (1) analysis of groundwater chemistry, (2) laboratory studies demonstrating benzene biodegradation in aquifer samples, and (3) computer simulations examining benzene transport. Laboratory experiments indicated that for conditions similar to those in the plume, the aerobic degradation of benzene by the naturally occurring microorganisms in the polluted groundwater samples was quite rapid with a half-life time of from 5 to 15 days. In situ analyses indicated the level of dissolved oxygen in the groundwater was over 2 mg/L. Thus, oxygen should not limit the biodegradation. In fact, the benzene was also shown to degrade under anaerobic conditions. The results from the modeling simulations indicate that biodegradation is the dominant process influencing attenuation of the benzene.