The long-term management of dissolved plumes originating from a coal tar creosote source is a technical challenge.  For some sites stabilization of the source may be the best practical solution to decrease the contaminant mass loading to the plume and associated off-site migration.  The reduction of permanganate generates manganese oxides at the point of reaction between the dissolved organic and the permanganate anion. 

At the bench-scale the deposition of these oxides has been shown to cause pore plugging and the formation of a manganese oxide layer adjacent to the non-aqueous phase liquid creosote which reduces post-treatment mass transfer and hence the mass loading from the source. 

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of partial permanganate treatment to reduce the ability of a coal tar creosote source zone to generate a multi-component plume at the pilot-scale over both the short-term (weeks to months) and the long-term (years).  To support the pilot-scale experimentation, a series of preliminary bench-scale experiments were conducted to evaluate the potential for permanganate to oxidize a coal tar creosote residual NAPL source and to provide specific information on mass removal, changes in post-treatment effluent concentrations, hydraulic conductivity and manganese oxide deposition.