Going green: Fairchild uses bioreactor for environmental restoration project Published Aug. 25, 2011 By Scott King 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- As part of Fairchild's Installation Restoration Program, the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron, in conjunction with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, had a local environmental contractor install a bioreactor next to the base Recycling Center to clean up a small area of contaminated groundwater. The treatment area, roughly 100-feet wide by 100 feet-long, was identified as having contaminated ground water. In 2010, the bioreactor was up and running. "It's not uncommon at all for an Air Force Base to have small areas of contaminated ground water," said Mr. Marc Connally, 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron base environmental restoration manager. "The bioreactor is a very 'green' and inexpensive way to combat this problem." The cleanup is accomplished naturally by extracting the contaminated water and repeatedly pumping it back into the bioreactor. The bioreactor chamber is an excavation that is filled up with the gravel and compost, which has been sprayed with soybean oil. The solar panels provide power to operate the pump that cycles groundwater through the system. As the compost decomposes the local bacteria population blossoms dramatically [introducing carbon], which then aids in breaking down of the contamination in the groundwater. The system operates autonomously during daylight hours. Except for the solar panels, the whole system remains below the ground surface. "The bioreactor is greatly speeding up degradation of the contamination at the site," Connally said. "We have seen the groundwater contamination reduced by up to 90 percent in the first year alone of operation." Historically, pump and treat systems have been built and operated (at great expense) as the remedy of choice for groundwater contamination. The bioreactor concept is a bio-remediation technique that is showing great promise in cleaning up the groundwater. "The impact of this program is demonstrating 'green' and sustainable ways to treat contaminated groundwater," Connally said. "Since the whole operation is solar powered and operates in a stand-alone manner, this process holds great promise as a new sustainable 'arrow in our quiver' of treatment tools." The Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Ecology both enthusiastically support this project and are encouraged by Fairchild's efforts to implement this green and sustainable remediation system. Over the past 15 years, Fairchild has been a host for many of these projects. "This is an excellent project whose benefit can be shared with other DOD installations as well as transferred to private cleanup programs," Connally said. "These bioreactors have the potential to become a low-cost, energy efficient and environmentally friendly cleanup technology that can be used all across the country - we are proud to be taking part in this at Fairchild." DID YOU KNOW: The shallow aquifer in which contamination has been identified is "not used" for drinking water or any other purposes. Groundwater from a deep aquifer well, located approximately 10 miles off base, is utilized for Fairchild drinking water system. Fairchild's Environmental Restoration Program operates on-going groundwater remedies and is continuing to develop additional remedies to address contamination on the base.