from wastewater by a proprietary technique. Battelle will analyze the water and product oil for any hazardous materials. Using this process, sewage plants could provide their own energy and reduce waste by 80%, according to Battelle. Contaminated aquifer zones, discrete fracture zones, and waterbearing characteristics of these zones can be evaluated with straddle packers, Paul Sutton of Hydro Group, Inc. (Cranford, N.J.) explained to the National Water Well Association. Packer testing included constant-rate pumping tests of each fracture zone in the first well and constant-head pumping of each zone in the second well. This method identified the specific capacity of each fracture zone and found "significantly greater" contaminant concentrations—mainly volatile organics—in the most permeable zones. This sampling should provide data for designing aquifer restoration schemes. Groundwater contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) might be restored by a proprietary ultraviolet (UV) process developed by Photox International, Inc. (Texas City, Tex.). The process may also work with dibromochloropropane and other such materials, says Robert Legan, president of Photox. He described tests on TCE-contaminated groundwater in Houston which showed that the compound's halflife under the Photox UV was less than 1 min. Legan estimated that a 6.5-min reaction time would remove 99% of the TCE and noted that there were no organic intermediates. He believes that the UV approach would be cost-competitive with alternatives such as carbon or aeration.
BUSINESS Metcalf & Eddy (Boston, Mass.) will operate a water-wastewater treatment facility under a contract agreement with a municipality—in this case, Winnsboro, S.C. This is one of the first such agreements for contract operations between a municipality and an engineering firm. The facility includes a 2-mgd water treatment plant, a 2-mgd advanced wastewater treatment plant, and pumping stations. The firm will assume full operating responsibilities and guarantee performance under a five-year, $2.45-million contract.
The use of phosphatic clays—a waste problem in Florida phosphate mining—as a material to mix with sand to produce a crop-growing medium will be studied. David Carrier of Bromwell & Carrier Inc. (Lakeland, Fla.) will examine grain size distribution, pH, plant-extractable nutrients, fertilizer requirements, and other factors in this man-made material. After 45 days of growth, selected vegetable species will be analyzed for dry weight and nutrient uptake. Eventually, field studies are planned for the project, which is sponsored by the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research.
Transformer replacement Fourteen network transformers containing silicone transformer liquid (ES&T, October 1983, pp. 486-94A) will be supplied by Dow Corning (Midland, Mich.) to the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA, Fia.) as a substitute for transformers containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). JEA could have continued to use the PCB transformers legally but elected to replace them, at a cost of $284,000, to reduce the possibility of polluting the St. John's River. Eventually all of JEA's 120 network transformers will be replaced. The cost of disposing of the old transformer "carcasses" ranges from $5000 to $10,000/unit. FMC Corporation (Schaumburg, III.) will market a flue-gas-to-gypsum production process, which would result in gypsum of wallboard grade. This is in conjunction with the company's patented flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process, which removes SO2 from flue gases at utilities and industrial power plants. The plan calls for a plant which is independent of the FGD system. That plant would upgrade
the FGD system's calcium sulfite filter cake to gypsum. Separate plants would allow quality control to ensure the suitability of the gypsum for wallboard or cement making. Additional funding ($300,000) for a coal liquefaction facility at Wilsonville, Ala., will be provided by Standard Oil Company of Indiana over the next three years. Presently, the U.S. Department of Energy furnishes about 67% of the $11 million budget, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPR1) provides the balance. The 6-tpd plant went into operation in 1974 to advance solvent-refined coal and other processes. The emphasis has now shifted to producing higher quality fuel by means of an "integrated two-stage liquefaction configuration." EPRI says that higher distillable liquid yields and lower hydrogen consumption are encouraging developments. The Institute of Chemical Waste Management supports continuation of the feedstock tax for any reauthorization of Superfund. Waste end taxes have been considered, but Institute director Suellen Pirages believes that these could cause "undesirable distortions in current waste treatment and disposal practices. They could encourage political solutions by having industries legislatively exempting their wastes or regulatorily delisting them." By comparison, the feedstock tax "has proven simple, a steady source of revenue, and has imposed a minimal, yet broadly shared burden." Pirages also called for continuation of the Post-Closure Liability Fund. Could environmental equipment makers expect to sell to countries unable to pay directly in currency? Possibly, if the principles in a book, "Trade Without Money: Barter and Countertrade," by Leo Welt, can be applied. With countertrade, for instance, receipts from Jamaican bauxite are escrowed and drawn on by General Motors for cars it ships to Kingston. Although the book does not address environmental equipment per se, Welt says that its principles are applicable to that field. Welt is president of Welt Barter and Countertrade (Washington, D.C.). The book is available at $50/copy from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 855 Valley Rd., Clifton, N.J. 07013. Environ. Scl. Technol., Vol. 18, No. 9, 1984
267A
