During the 1950's and 1960's a railroad yard located in Oneida, Tennessee, was used as a creosote treatment facility for railroad ties. After the cross-ties were treated with creosote, the excess creosote was stored in an holding pond located about 100 feet north of Pine Creek (Fetterolf 1998). In 1990, during a creek modification project, creosote was discovered seeping through the banks of Pine Creek. The creosote had leached through the bottom of the pond and migrated towards the creek. In 1997, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation authorized a remedial strategy prepared by Geraghty & Miller, Inc (Fetterolf 1998). The strategy involved the use of phytoremediation and a previously installed interception trench system. The primary goals of the phytoremediation plan are to stimulate biodegradation and to decrease groundwater flow, thus minimizing the migration of the contaminant into Pine Creek. Poplar trees were selected for the phytoremediation plan and were planted in two sections. The objectives of this report involved analyzing the hydrogeology of the Oneida, Tennessee site and organizing the collected data for the purpose of evaluating the impact of the phytoremediation and interception trench systems on the aquifer. The water level data was used to evaluate water level and hydraulic gradient changes due to evapotranspiration, rainfall, and groundwater extraction. It was obvious from the water level and rainfall comparison plots that the rainfall has a measurable effect on the water table elevation (i.e. groundwater flow). Some areas may be less affected because the coal layer has a tendency to decrease recharge. Meanwhile, the interception trench lowers the water level around the trench. The decrease in head occurs before and after the trench, thus the water level forms a "v-shape" at the trench. This "v-shape" lends to the notion that the hydraulic gradient also slopes towards the trench in both directions. As for the phytoremediation, there was not sufficient evidence to suggest that the water levels were being lowered by evapotranspiration. This was expected since the poplar trees were had only completed their second growing season. GMS MODFLOW was used to predict the effects on the water table due to the phytoremediation and the interception trench systems. The calibrated model did an adequate job in simulating the site when the interception trench was not in operation and the trees were not in their growing season. By using variable recharge in some areas, the results are expected to improve. For example, it is important to know the location of the coal layer so this area can be given a lower recharge value than the other areas in the model. As for the trench model, the simulated heads were much lower than the observed heads, which emphasizes that using wells is not the best method to simulate the interception trench. In the future, a transient model should be used to simulate the site with the trench operation, and the drain package could be used to model the trench itself. Meanwhile, the ET model was a valuable simulation, because it illustrates how effective the poplar trees can be even under conservative conditions. With an assumed root zone of just 3 feet and a maximum potential evapotranspiration rate of 4.6 gallons per day per tree, the majority of the site will experience the dry conditions expected. / Master of Science

Ten strategically placed push-pull wells were installed to determine in-situ degradation rates at a creosote contaminated site and to assess the contribution of hybrid poplar trees to polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) remediation. Well positioning enabled comparison between contaminated and non-contaminated locations, as well as comparisons between locations with and without trees. Comparison of areas with and without trees enabled an improved understanding of the role that the phytoremediation system has on the overall degradation of PAHs at the site. Bromide, a conservative, non-reactive tracer, was injected in solution along with dissolved oxygen. Twelve push-pull tests (PPTs) were performed, of which three did not include naphthalene in the injection solution, so that the developed method could be evaluated, tested, and yield an initial set of rates to make seasonal and spatial varying in-situ comparisons. Method comparison used for rate analysis found the highest confidence in the method of Snodgrass and Kitanidis (1998) for zero order rates and the method of Haggerty et al. (1998) for first order rates. The largest zero and first order rates, 2.43 mgnaphthalene/L-hr and 1.25 1/hr, respectively, occurred at treed regions in June. Zero and first order winter rates at treed regions were greater by a factor of at least 2.5 when compared to non-treed regions. Degradation rates at treed regions were found to steadily increase by over four times from winter to summer. Results validate that decay variations attributed to phytoremediation can be detected with the push-pull method. PPTs performed at the Oneida site verified observed trends determined from six years of monitoring data, microbial characterization, and microcosm studies. / Master of Science

The aim of the thesis is to survey the economic conditions of the establishment, management and other operations of plantations of fast growing trees (FGT). Based on the assessment factors significantly affecting FGT projects and their economic profitability, business success is evaluate. In the theoretical part is processed use of wood biomass and the practical part is compiled on research ,calculation of firewood from FGT and production process of FGT. As a practical example of efficient use of biomass activities of Slovakian company Biomas is described.