BIODEGRADATION OF JET FUEL (JP-8) IN THE PRESENCE OF VEGETATION

The environmental impact of spills of JP-8, a kerosene-based jet fuel, has been studied very little. For the more volatile JP-4, earlier studies showed that biodegradation was less important than evaporation but for JP-8, evaporative loss from soil is very slow. Disappearance of JP-8 from watered mesocosms was monitored over several months. In two, 10-cm wide x 35-cm deep x 180-cm long channels planted with alfalfa, an initial 1700 ppm level of JP-8 was reduced by more than 90% at most depths of the channels, in less than five months. Growth of the plants was excellent despite the initially high level of contamination introduced near their roots. Both drip irrigation and subsurface watering gave comparable results. In planted (with horseradish) and unplanted cylinders, an initial level of 2500 ppm was reduced by at least two-thirds over the same time interval. By contrast, JP-8 in dry soil at a depth of 20 cm lost just half its weight over 18 months. Bioremediation of JP-8 in the presence of plants is an effective means of cleanup.