Bioremediation

GEOL 383-2 - Special Topics in Geology

GEOL 799-2 - Special Topics in Geology
Instructor Information
Dr. William Blanford
Office D202 Science Bldg, email: william.blanford@qc.cuny.edu
Instructor availability: Wednesday 3:00 to 7:00 pm or by appointment

Class Sessions
Tuesday and Thursday 6:30PM - 7:45PM with all lectures and exams on Zoom synchronously with the class
meeting time. Meeting ID: 889 9255 8128 Passcode: TCE
All exams will be synchronous. Lectures may be recorded, but if attendance falls this will be discontinued.
Students are expected to have their video on during class.

Class Information
GEOL 383-2 (28669) Fall 2021
GEOL 799-2 (28685) Fall 2021

Queens College Bulletin Statements

GEOL 383. Special Topics in Geology. 2 lec.,
3 lab hr.; 3 cr. Prereq.: Permission of the department. The topic varies from semester to semester. May be
repeated for credit provided the topic is different.

GEOL 799. Special Topics in Geology. This course will cover topics of current interest in a particular field in the
geologic sciences. Topics may vary. The course may be repeated for credit if the topic is changed.
GEOL 799.1. 1 hr.; 1 cr.
GEOL 799.2. 2 hr.; 2 cr.
GEOL 799.3. 3 hr.; 3 cr (Note this class is technically 799.3)

Course General Description

This course will introduce various conventional and innovative technologies for remediation of contaminated
soils and groundwater. Topics will include environmental regulations and toxicology, soil-vapor extraction and
bioventing, air sparging, pump and treat, bioremediation, surfactant-enhanced extraction, permeable reactive
barriers, and other remediation technologies.

Course Goals and Learning Objectives

• Inculcate a general qualitative understanding and quantitative knowledge of contaminant types and
properties, the pollutant-relevant properties of the environmental systems where they are found.
• Students will attain the skills to select/design appropriate remediation systems based on the
physicochemical properties of the contaminants and the hydrogeologic characteristics of the subsurface
environment.
• Specifically, students will knowledge of processes by which remediation systems operation, learn design,
construction, operation, and permitting of remediation systems.
• Mastery of techniques for formal selection criteria for remedial action.
• Students will improve their ability to analyze numerical information, create graphs, and improve their
technical writing skills.
Prerequisites
One year of college-level chemistry and physical geology or equivalent or permission of instructor

Course Description
The course will meet synchronously via ZOOM on the specified dates below and utilize Blackboard to organize
course materials. The ZOOM link will be available on our Blackboard course page. Students are expected to
complete work within the specific week it is assigned.
• All interactions will be through Blackboard including assignments.

Book and Course Materials

Required Textbook:
Suthersan, S.S. et al., Remediation Engineering: Design Concepts, 2nd ed., 2016, CRC Press ISBN-13: 978-
1498773270. Note, the prices for the hardcover version of this book greatly vary ($75-$220). It is also available
in electronic version.

Other Useful Texts:

Environmental Consulting Fundamentals: Investigation, Remediation, and Brownfields Redevelopment, Second
Edition by Benjamin Alter ISBN-13: 978-1138613201
Suthersan, S.S., Natural and Enhanced Remediation Systems: A Guide to Installation, Operation, Maintenance
and Monitoring, 2001, CRC Press
Ward, C. H., Cherry, J. A., and Scalf M. R. (Eds.), Subsurface Restoration, 1997, CRC Press
Groundwater Remediation, A Practical Guide for Environmental Engineers and Scientists by Nicholas P.
Cheremisinoff. Book is open source and a copy is loaded for you on Blackboard and can be accessed here:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119407621

Handouts
Additional pdfs of technologies and other literature will be provided.

Technology Requirements
1. Some assignments will require access to a capable spreadsheet and a word processing program. Note, on-
line spreadsheets have become more capable, but they have not been thoroughly vetted for their utility for
this course.
2. For homework, many questions must be created and submitted through use of spreadsheets.
3. Drawings can be hand done and submitted by inbedding a digital picture of the work in a word document
with a caption.
4. Free Microsoft package (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
QC students have access to the full Microsoft package through:
https://www.qc.cuny.edu/Computing/Pages/Office365.aspx
This may be useful for you if you don't already have access to programs like Microsoft Word, which we will be using this
semester.

Grading Policy and Grade-Scale

Excluding scores from poorly executed assignments and exams, raw scores will be curved such that the final
grade has an average of 87 with scores at the lower end far more shifted than those at the upper end. The grading
scale will conform to the CUNY standard: A:100-93%, A-:90-92%, B+:87-89%, B:83-86%, B-:80-82%, C+:77-
79%, C:73-76%, C-:70-72%, D+:67-69%, D:60-66%, F: 59% or below.
Grade Determination
Project Report 20%
Presentation 10%
Midterm 15%
Homework (4 to 5 total) 25%
Inclass participation 5%
Final 25%
Note, homework assignments, paper assignments, and exams will be shorter and will graded with lower
expectations for GEOL 383 students.

General Scoring Rubric for Credit

Applies for all Questions and Components of Exams, Assignments, Papers and Presentations
95-100: Correct clearly stated answer with correct units, significant figures and following of guidelines for all
components of the question.
85-94: Correct final answer with some errors on in formatting.
70-84: Errors leading up the final answer and/or with significant unit and presentation issues.
50-70: Significant errors in the answer.
0-49: Little to no effort given for an answer.

Exams
Exams will be mix of quatitative and short answer questions.
Final will be 2/3 on material covered after mid-term and 1/3 before

Project Reports and Presentation

Guidelines for Project Reports
You need to choose one of the 84 National Priorities List (NPL) Sites in New York State or the 114 in New Jersey.
Brief site background information can be found at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/national-priorities-list-npl-sites-
state#NY. Please place the names of two sites on the signup spreadsheet for project report for this class by
September 7th. The sites are first come first serve. No two students can use the same sites. Note, while you list two
sites, you will only write about one and can choose which at a later date. The signup sheet is located on the folder
dedicated to this class which is on my Microsoft One Drive Account.

https://cuny907-
my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/william_blanford01_login_cuny_edu/EucZzNv1nSpBg16C4EMmpcQB_RH2LuL-
Md-AgFZP3sUyNw?e=YzsUZ7

You need to find relevant information on your NPL site (via Internet, local, state and federal environmental
protection agencies, and other sources), and compile a report about the site including at least the following:
1. Site Description and History
2. Inventory and Health Effects (a list of contaminants and their health effects)
3. Remediation for Soils and Groundwater
4. Literature Cited
5. Appendix
The report needs to be typed using 12 pt font and double space with 1-in margins. The main body of the report
(excluding Appendix) for 383 students should be between 7.5 and 10 pages and for 799 students between 10 and 13
pages. Note, the list of references cited is part of the main body of the report. All non-essential supporting materials
should be put into the Appendix. This includes maps and figures. Note, maps and figures can be copied from
published works, but the source of the document including page number should be given. On the report, you need to
write it using your own words. Copying and pasting text from on-line or other sources even if you paraphrase will be
considered as plagiarism, which will lead to the failure of your report. To assist in that effort, students will be given
access to the Turnitin report of their document. My person suggestion is after you read something you want to
mention, rewrite it in your own words and try to explain the point to a family member or another student.
Grading of the paper will have the following components with the amount of credit for each component following the
general rubric for the class.

Grading Components of Project Report

Did the paper meet prescribed limits 20%
Site Description and History 10%
Inventory and Health Effects (a list of contaminants and their health effects) 10%
Remediation for Soils and Groundwater 10%
Literature Cited (Quality, extent, use) 10%
Appendix (Quality, extent, use) 10%
Quality of facts and science 20%
Writing Errors (grammar, mechanics, Spelling, Capitalization, etc)* 10%
Dedections for Unoriginality: minus up to 1 % for each percent of unoriginal content as
determined by turnit in

Editing Assignment
You will provide an electronic copy of your report to two students whom the instructor will assign. The assigned
editors will provide the writer the report electronically with “track changes” and comments. These annotation are only
suggested changes and points where they as the reader were confused. The editors will also compose a ½ page
summary and ½ page critique of the work. That page plus the edits will serve as one of the homework assignments for
the class.

PowerPoint Presentations
Students will present your research findings using PowerPoint presentations. The presentations will be 8-10 min with
2 min Q&A for 383 students and 11-13 min with 2 min Q&A for 799 students. Grading of the presentation will have
the following components with the amount of credit for each component following the general rubric for the class.

Grading Rubric for Presentation

Did the paper meet prescribed limits 10%
Site Description and History 10%
Inventory and Health Effects (a list of contaminants and their health effects) 10%
Remediation for Soils and Groundwater 10%
Delivery 10%
Command of facts 10%
Use of figure and tables 20%
Responses to Q&A 20%

Lecture Notes
I will post a draft of lecture presentation (pdf) before (or soon after) each class and will post finalized versions
later.

Lecture Recordings
Recordings of the lectures will not be posted if either inclass attendance falls below 75% or if a signifcant
fraction of the participants do not have their video on. Otherwise, recordings will be posted to a folder in my
Microsoft One Drive account :https://cuny907-
my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/william_blanford01_login_cuny_edu/EucZzNv1nSpBg16C4EMmpcQB_RH2LuL-
Md-AgFZP3sUyNw?e=YzsUZ7
Schedule
HW or Exam
Class Week Date Subject Reading
Due
1 1 26-Aug Introduction; Environmental regulations and toxicology, Ch. 1,
preliminary assessments (PA) and site inspections (SI)
2 2 31-Aug under CERCLA handout

3 2 2-Sep Contaminant characteristics: molecular structure of Ch. 2, HW1

compounds; types of contaminants; physical and chemical
4 3 7-Sep properties of contaminants; abiotic and biotic processes handout

5 3 9-Sep Hydrogeology, contaminant distribution, plumes, flow and Ch. 3,

6 4 14-Sep transport processes; conceptual site models handout
4 16-Sep no class
7 5 21-Sep
Mass-Balance Concept/ Reactor Design Handout
8 5 23-Sep HW2
9 6 28-Sep Pump and treat: capture zones; optimizing withdraw-
Ch. 5
10 6 30-Sep injection systems; methods of treatment; limitations
In situ reactive zones; In situ bioremediation: microbial
11 7 5-Oct
reactions and pathways; biodegradation kinetics and rates;
Ch. 6.1-6.2
environmental factors; bioremediation systems; natural
12 7 7-Oct HW3
attenuation
13 8 12-Oct biodegradation kinetics and rates; environmental factors;
Handouts
14 8 14-Oct bioremediation systems; natural attenuation
15 9 19-Oct Midterm Exam Midterm Exam
16 9 21-Oct In situ chemical remediation; in-situ chemical oxidation; In
situ treatment of metals: geochemical properties of Ch. 6.3, 7
17 10 26-Oct metals; technology types
18 10 28-Oct Permeable reactive walls: system geometry and
Ch. 10
19 11 2-Nov installation; applicability; case study
Soil-vapor extraction and bioventing: airflow
20 11 4-Nov HW4
characteristics; contaminant partitioning; soil properties;
Ch. 8
applicability; system design; monitoring; air sparging; vapor
21 12 9-Nov
treatment technologies
22 12 11-Nov
Soil treatment: soil excavation; in situ thermal
Ch. 9 Paper Due to
23 13 16-Nov remediation; phytoremediation
Editors
Constructed wetlands: types of reactions; system design;
24 13 18-Nov
case study; Other remedial technologies: hydraulic and
Handout
pneumatic fracturing; stabilization and solidification; waste HW5: Editor
25 14 23-Nov
disposal Report
14 25-Nov no class Thanksgiving
26 15 30-Nov Remediation of structures (tanks, building, asbestos) Handout
27 15 2-Dec Case Study: Landfills Handout Final Project paper
28 16 7-Dec Student Presentations
29 16 9-Dec Student Presentations

Final: 50% from classes 1-18 and 50% from 20-29 Final
Expected Time Commitment
Besides lectures, it is expected that students will be spending on average 5 to 7 hours per week on assignments
and studying for exams, but results may vary.

Technical Support
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