NASA News National Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 ____________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________ For Release: Nov. 4, 2002 Bruce Buckingham Kennedy Space Center, Fla. KSC Release No. 107 - 02 ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP SITE TOUR AND TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION About 200 government and business representatives, scientists and engineers interested in NASA Kennedy Space Center's new environmental clean-up technologies will tour the Launch Complex-34 remediation site at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Nov. 7. Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will also be attending. The two technologies are being demonstrated as part of the EPA's Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program. Areas of LC-34 were polluted during the early history of the space program with solvents used to clean Apollo rocket parts. The solvents are classified as dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Left untreated in the ground, DNAPLs can contaminate fresh water sources. The touring group of national and international participants will view remediation demonstration zones at the L-34 site. They will hear presentations on two of the remediation technologies being used. One of the technologies is now available for licensing. "What makes these new technologies so attractive is that they are relatively affordable and easy to implement," said Dr. Jackie Quinn, the NASA environmental engineer who heads the project. "These spin-offs could help clean up polluted areas across the nation and the world." The technologies are Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI) and bioaugmentation using KB1, a naturally occurring microbial species. Quinn is a co-inventor of EZVI with three University of Central Florida professors and a graduate student. KB1 was developed by GeoSyntec and the University of Toronto. Simply put, the EZVI technology uses iron particles in an environmentally friendly oil and water base to neutralize DNAPLs. Through KB1 bioaugmentation, microorganisms are added to a DNAPL-contaminated site to create the right mix of microorganisms that will render contaminating chemicals harmless. Thousands of sites across the world face problems with DNAPL contamination. The EPA has reported that DNAPLs are present at 60 to 70 percent of all sites on the Superfund National Priorities List. DNAPL contamination sites may include those created by dye and paint manufacturers, dry cleaners, chemical manufacturers, metal cleaning and degreasing facilities, leather-tanning facilities, pharmaceutical manufacturers, adhesive and aerosol manufacturers and government facilities. -- end -- KSC press releases can be found at <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/release.htm> For the latest Shuttle status on the web visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/current.htm> Visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm > on the KSC Home Page for the latest schedule of future Shuttle missions. The KSC home page can be found at <http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/> ------------------------------------------------------------- For automatic email subscriptions to this KSC originated press releases, send an Internet electronic mail message to mailto:ksc-news_release-subscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov. With no subject or message. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. To remove your name from the list at any time, send an email addressed to mailto:ksc-news_release-unsubscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov . With no subject or message. or you can (un)subscribe on the World Wide Web at: http://kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov/ Status reports and other NASA publications are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/kscpao.htm .
