Mobilzation of Arsenic from Contaminated Sediment: My research focuses on arsenic cycling in the environment and specifically on the mobilization of arsenic from sediments at the highly contaminated Vineland Chemical Company Superfund site in southern New Jersey. Arsenic is the second most common contaminant of concern at U.S. Superfund sites, and contaminated groundwater is often remediated using pump and treat technology. However, arsenic can sorb to iron and aluminum oxyhydroxides in the sediments making pump and treat remediation less effective and thus slower to reach the desired level of clean up, as has been the case at Vineland. Therefore, my current research aims to improve the efficiency of pump and treat by increasing the mobilization of arsenic from the sediment into the groundwater. This project involves laboratory experiments in which I make chemical amendments to soil columns and monitor their effect on arsenic mobility as well as hydrological modeling. These experiments will lead toward in situ field testing of the most promising chemical amendments. The information gained from these laboratory and field studies should be applicable to numerous arsenic contaminated sites where pump and treat remediation is currently being used or where it may be used in the future. Additionally, what we learn in this work about factors that influence arsenic mobility may also help us understand arsenic cycling and mobilization in areas of the world where naturally occurring arsenic is contaminating groundwaters that are being used for drinking water supplies.

• Health Effects and Geochemistry of Arsenic and Manganese (Project 6-Mobilization of Anthropogenic As in Groundwater) ( details )