The focus of this project was to culture dioxin dechlorinating microorganisms from sediment, evaluate their biodegradative potential, and to screen technologies for dechlorination enhancement.  The resulting dechlorination fingerprints were then mapped using multivariate statistical tools, and validated in the Passaic River System.

Between 1990 and 1999, this work was supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Army Corps of Engineers, the Chlorine Chemistry Council, and the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE)Program.  This work involved collaborations with geostatisticians and consulting engineers (LimnoTech).

Please see the following publications for more detail:

1. 1.Gruden, C., R. McCulloch, T. Towey, J. Wolfe, and P. Adriaens.  2007.  Hydrogen-based Activity Enhancement in Sediment Cultures and Intact Sediments. Env. Eng. Sci.  24: 696-706.
   

2. 2.Adriaens, P., A. Michalak and M-Y. Li.  2006.  Scaling of Sediment Bioremediation Processes and Applications.  Eng. Life Sci. 6 (3), 217-227.
   

3. 3.Fu, Q. S., A. L. Barkovskii, P. Adriaens. 2005.  Microbial dechlorination of dioxins in estuarine enrichment cultures:effects of respiratory conditions and priming compound on community structure and dechlorination patterns.  Marine Environ. Res., 59: 177-195.
   

4. 4.Barabas, N., P. Goovaerts, and P. Adriaens.  2004.  Modified polytopic vector analysis to identify and quantify dioxin dechlorination signatures in sediments.  1.  Theory.  Environ. Sci. Technol., 38: 1813-1820.
   

5. 5.Barabas, N., P. Goovaerts, and P. Adriaens.  2004.  Modified polytopic vector analysis to identify and quantify dioxin dechlorination signatures in sediments. 2.  Application to the Passaic River Superfund site.  Environ. Sci. Technol., 38: 1821-1827.
   

6. 6.Gruden C.., Q. S. Fu, Barkovskii A. L., Albrecht I. D., Lynam M. M., and P. Adriaens.  2003  Dechlorination of Dioxins in Sediments: Catalysts, Mechanisms, and Implications for Remedial Strategies and Dioxin Cycling. In: Dehalogenation: Microbial Processes and Environmental Applications, pp. 347-373 (M. M. Häggblom, I. D. Bossert, Eds.), Wiley & Sons.
   

7. 7.Adriaens P, Barkovskii A. L. 2002  Fate and Microbial Degradation of Organohalides.  In: Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology (G. Britton, Editor-in Chief), pp. 1238-1252, Wiley & Sons, NY.
   

8. 8.Barabas, N., P. Goovaerts, and P. Adriaens.  2001.  Geostatistical Assessment and Validation of Uncertainty for Three-Dimensional Dioxin Data from Sediments in an Estuarine River.  Environ. Sci. Technol. Environ. Sci. Technol. 35: 3294-3301.
   

9. 9.Fu, Q.S., A.L. Barkovskii, and P. Adriaens.  2001.  Dioxin Cycling in Aquatic Sediments: The Passaic River Estuary.  Chemosphere 43 (4-7) : 643-648.
   

10. 10.Fu, Q., A.L Barkovskii, and P. Adriaens.  1999.  Reductive Transformation of Dioxins: An Assessment of the Contribution of Dissolved Organic Matter to Dechlorination Reactions.  Environ. Sci. Technol.33, 3837-3842.
    

11. 11.Albrecht, I.D., A.L. Barkovskii, and P. Adriaens.  1999.  Production and Dechlorination of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachloro-Dibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) in Historically-Contaminated Estuarine Sediments.  Environ. Sci. Technol.33: 737-744.