Northern Wisconsin Municipal Landfill Leachate Phytoremediation

Sand County Environmental developed a rapid screening method for selecting appropriate hybrid poplar clones for full-scale deployment.

In this treatability study completed in Wisconsin, Sand County Environmental developed and later refined a method for rapid screening of 20 or more candidate genotype hybrid poplar and willow clones in a bench-scale randomized treatability study. The study was designed to determine which of 20 genotypes of poplar and willow were best suited to local conditions for the treatment of groundwater mixed with landfill leachate near an unlined, municipal landfill. Groundwater in the feasibility study was obtained from the landfill and contained a mixture of VOCs, metals, PAHs, salts, and other substances.

Sand County Environmental successfully completed the treatability clonal screening test allowing for:

• Site-wide deployment of optimum genotypes as determined from the study
• Demonstration of the efficacy of the technology for clients and regulators at this landfill and others
• Reduced total remediation costs by at least 50 percent relative to other options evaluated for this site