The impact of petroleum contamination on the ecological conditions of the Dendrological park “Oleksandriya”

Within the territory of the Dendrological park Oleksandriya subsurface contamination with petroleum prod- ucts, the source of which is a former aircraft repair plant, has existed for a long time. The circumstances of the formation of ecological and hydrogeological situation on the territory of the dendrological park under the influence of petroleum con- tamination from the technogenic loaded area are considered in order to create the system of control of potentially negative impact on the environment and planning of remediation actions. The creation of the eco-industrial park Bila Tserkva will minimize the man-made impact on the state of the underground hydrosphere of the dendrological park.

Research of subsurface contamination with gasoline within Boryspil airport using mathematical modelling

Subsurface contamination with gasoline has occurred within Boryspil airport (Kyiv region) for long period. Previous remedial actions including pumping of gasoline and contaminated groundwater have not provided to remove contamination completely. The monitoring data confirmed the presence of a gasoline layer in most monitoring wells. Using mathematical modelling, we imitated the operation of pumping wells to determine their optimal location. API LNAPL program was applied for calculations. In order to obtain more reliable results, soil hydraulic characteristics were specified by laboratory experiments. A pressure-saturation relation, p(Ѳ) was determined for soil samples taken from Boryspil region, and then the values of α and β parameters describing pore size and distribution were calculated using RETC program. Optimal distances were calculated between pumping wells at two contaminated sites with a gasoline layer of 0,7 and 0,5 m, respectively.

Towards large-scale characterization of subsurface vulnerability due to agrochemical pollutants across Europe

<p>Subsurface contamination due to diffuse agrochemical pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides, excess nutrients (N, P, K) is a widespread problem in a cultivated areas across Europe. Large-scale spatio-temporal patterns emerge from interplay of heterogeneous and dynamic hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in the near-surface critical zone (top one-meter of root-zone soil layer) which contribute to landscape filtering of stochastic hydro-climatic forcing. Such outcomes are of interest in characterizing the transient behavior of transport-reaction dynamics operating in the root-zone soil compartment which drive recharge and solute loads to sub-surface compartments (shallow groundwater and eventually to river networks).  Here, using novel state-of-the art daily-scale hydrologic simulations (mHM; around 5x5 km grid) driven by observed hydro-climatic forcing, we demonstrate the strong spatio-temporal heterogeneity of hydrologic transport at the continental scale – reflected in time-varying travel time distributions (TTDs) – primarily controlled by the prevailing hydro-climatic gradient of aridity index across Europe. We link the space-time dynamics of TTDs – representing the intrinsic vulnerability of hydrologic system - to spatial heterogeneity and temporal fluctuations of biogeochemical turnover time-scales to provide a parsimonious  biogeochemical model for identifying the extent of subsurface contamination due to diffuse (agrochemical) pollutants. Our assessment results show a large increase in the extent of vulnerable areas that are prone to subsurface nitrate leaching across Europe, compared to current (static) indices based approaches. We highlight the implications of improved vulnerability maps to better support agricultural subsidies and nitrate management across Europe. </p>

In situ remediation of subsurface contamination: opportunities and challenges for nanotechnology and advanced materials

Engineered nanomaterials alone or in combination with other technologies may improve in situ subsurface remediation of legacy and emerging contaminants.