The objective of this project was to develop and transition cost-efficient technologies for in-situ bioremediation and on-line performance monitoring to the end user, through a series of field demonstration programs. The use of conventional chemical and biological assays in combination with the proposed on-line stable isotope analyses developed here, will provide the capability to follow assimilation, respiration, immobilization, transport and biotransformation of pollutants in-situ.

By monitoring the stable carbon isotope ratio analysis of liberated CO₂, the fate of individual contaminants in a Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated site and a Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX) spill site were successfully tracked to allow modeling, mass balance determinations, and optimization of Groundwater Circulation Well bioreactors through enhancement with nutrients and electron acceptors.

The technology will be transitioned to the industrial contractor, SBP Technologies, Inc., who collaborated with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on this project.

Stable isotope analysis allows differentiation between degradation products of natural origin and those resulting from degradation of target contaminants. Process performance could be monitored on-line.