We evaluated the performance of in-situ capping to prevent the release of phenol, one of hazardous chemicals of concern for their impact on sediment. Sediment near the estuary of Hyeongsan River, Korea, and commercially-available sand were collected to evaluate their physical properties and phenol sorption characteristics. Biodegradation kinetics of phenol spiked into the sediment was evaluated under freshwater and estuarine salinity conditions. These experimental measurements were parameterized and used as input parameters for executing CapSim, a software predicting the performance of in-situ capping. The CapSim simulation demonstrated that capping with 50-cm sand reduced the phenol release by several orders of magnitude over 0.25- and 1-year duration for almost all simulation scenarios. The variables tested, i.e., cap thickness, pore-water movement, and biodegradation rate, showed high correlation to each other to influence the extent of phenol release from sediment to the water column. The findings and the framework employed to evaluate the performance of in-situ capping in this study can be adopted to determine whether in-situ capping is appropriate remedial approach at sediment sites impacted by hazardous chemicals due to accidental spills.

Keywords: Capping, CapSim, Chemical accident, In-situ remediation, Sediment