In this study, results of 6.5 years of a controlled release experiment with Brazilian gasoline in groundwater were evaluated. Ethanol exhaustion after 32 months and the significant dissolved BTEX mass reduction of more than 90% after 79 months, associated with the electron acceptors use and their metabolic byproducts accumulation, demonstrated the efficiency of monitored natural attenuation for groundwater contamination without immediate risk to receptors. Moreover, ethanol degradation provided a natural biobarrier formation that increased BTEX biodegradation rate and prevented the BTEX plume expansion.
Monitored natural attenuation; anaerobic biodegradation; gasohol; ethanol; groundwater; interpolation
