HA1 Contaminated Harbour and River Sediment
256 Portland Ballroom
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Thursday
() The Active Capping Demonstration Project in the Anacostia River, DC.
Reible, Danny1, Constant, David 2, 1 University of Texas2 Louisiana State University
ABSTRACT- Innovative active capping techniques offering both containment and treatment are effective, low-cost means of managing the sediments that endanger the health of our nations waterways. The Active Capping Demonstration Project on the Anacostia River, Washington DC seeks to advance the implementation and acceptance of these under-utilized technologies by validating their efficacy at the Anacostia River where historic industrial, municipal, and military activities have resulted in toxic levels of PAHs, PCBs, metals, and other contaminants. Objectives are to demonstrate, on a field scale, the ability to design, construct and place caps that will provide long-term treatment of sediment contaminants while simultaneously providing containment. Cap materials placed include Aquablok, a commercial product designed to reduce the permeability at the sediment-water interface, apatite, designed to sorb or bind metals, and coke, placed in a laminated mat to absorb organic contaminants. The laminated mat can also be employed to assist in the placemen of materials such as activated carbon or zero valent iron, in environments where these media can be effective. The effectiveness of placement and preliminary results on the monitoring of the cap effectiveness will be discussed. The cost and effectiveness of active capping will be summarized.
Key words: Active Capping, Anacostia