Stable isotope evidence for biodegradation of chlorinated ethenes at a fractured bedrock site

Stable carbon isotope analysis of chlorinated ethenes and ethene was performed at a site contaminated with trichloroethene (TCE), a dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL). The site is located in fractured bedrock and had variable groundwater hydraulic gradients during the study due to a local excavation project. Previous attempts to biostimulate a pilot treatment area at the site resulted in the production of cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), the first product of reductive dechlorination of TCE. Cis-DCE concentrations accumulated however, and there was no appreciable production of the breakdown products from further reductive dechlorination, vinyl chloride (VC) and ethene (ETH). Consequently, the pilot treatment area was bioaugmented with a culture of KB-1, a natural microbial consortium known to completely reduce TCE to nontoxic ETH. Due to ongoing dissolution of TCE from DNAPL in the fractured bedrock, and to variable hydraulic gradients, concentration profiles of dissolved TCE and its degradation produ...