In-situ vitrification: Large-scale results and planned applications for site remediation

Geosafe Corporation began commercial application of in-situ vitrification (ISV) during 1993. The first application is at the Parsons Chemical/ETM Enterprises Superfund Site (Parsons Site) in Grand Ledge, Michigan, which contained 4,800 tons of pesticide- and mercury-contaminated soil. The effectiveness of the cleanup and overall performance of the ISV system will be presented. Projects in the US that will follow the Parsons project include: (1) soils associated with a former transformer service facility, which are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls; (2) a chemical packaging plant contaminated with dioxin, pesticides, and other chemicals; (3) a contaminated landfill. The status and expected results of these projects is discussed. In Australia, ISV has been selected for in-place treatment of burial pits at the Maralinga Nuclear Weapons Test Site, which contains test debris and plutonium and uranium contamination. In Japan, a 3-yr engineering-scale testing program has been completed, in which the application of ISV for vitrifying a low-level-waste burial vault has been evaluated. This paper provides technical information showing that ISV can successfully remediate various contaminated sites if adequate site characterization and preparation are provided and small-scale ISV testing is utilized to understand the technical obstacles that must be dealt with in the field. The papermore » identifies the benefits of ISV for hazardous, radioactive and mixed-waste site remediation and criteria pertinent to such applications.« less