Creosote contaminated clay

Isosaari P, Piskonen R, Ojala P, Voipio S, Eilola K, Lehmus E, Itavaara M. (2007). Integration of electrokinetics and chemical oxidation for the remediation of creosote-contaminated clay. Journal of Hazardous Materials 144 538-548. 

PAHs have been detected in groundwater either as a result of migration directly from contaminated surface waters or through the soil (Ehrlich et al. 1982 WIson et al. 1986). Fluorene from an abandoned creosote pit was found to migrate through sand and clay into groundwater (WIson et al. 1986). PAHs have also been shown to be transported laterally within contaminated aquifers (Ehrlich et al. 1982). 

Two PAH-contaminated soils of different origins have been studied. Soil A (sandy soil) comes from an ancient coking plant, and soil B (clay soil), from a rather recent creosote production site. Spectra have been acquired after mechanical agitation with deionised water for 1 and 24 h (Fig. 9). Direct examination of aqueous sample spectra leads to the following observations... 

Results from 2 years of groundwater sampling at an abandoned wood treatment facility in Conroe, Texas, where coal tar creosote had been used for about 20 years, showed that monitoring wells were contaminated with levels of up to 3,490 pg/L naphthalene, 1,263 pg/L methylnaphthalene, 425 pg/L dibenzofuran, and 302 pg/L fluorene. The contaminants had apparently migrated through the clay and... 

---