Success Stories: Regenesis

In February of 2001, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued its first Innovative Environmental Technology Certification to Regenesis for its Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC) process that treats contaminated groundwater. The DEP based its certification on the NJCAT verification of the performance claims and net beneficial effect of the compound.

The NJCAT verification and certification of HRC paved the way for the use of the innovative process to treat contaminated groundwater at sites in New Jersey and other states. Following NJCAT verification, Regenesis undertook projects utilizing the process at least 20 cleanups in New Jersey and in has now been used in all but four states (Arizona, Arkansas Hawaii and New Mexico).

Regenesis officials noted that the verification and certification helped to speed up the approval process at each site and the technology was more quickly and widely accepted by consultants and developers.

Under the HRC process, a probe injects the compound into the ground, creating the ideal conditions for the growth of naturally occurring organisms to degrade chlorinated compounds through the process of reductive dechlorination. The organisms break down the contaminants, such as chlorinated solvents associated with dry cleaners. The HRC speeds up the naturally occurring process tenfold, reducing the cleanup time from 50 to 100 years to 5 to 10 years.

As part of the Net Benefit Analysis as required in the verification process, analysis of energy consumption and the subsequent impacts on sustainable growth are compared and compared to the impacts of currently used technologies such as pump and treat. These parameters included the power consumption; emissions of greenhouse gases; water consumption and wastewater generation. The HRC technology uses substantially less energy than existing technology over the life of a cleanup, greatly reducing the pollution emissions associated with the generation of electricity. Additionally, the process does not require a large structure of pipes and machinery, enabling development to take place while remediation is on-going. In the case of HRC the analysis indicated that reductions in energy consumption exceeded 90% as compared to pump and treat and air sparge/ soil vapor extraction.

The DEP certification was the first under the New Jersey Environmental Energy Technology Verification Act, which provides that the department will link NJCAT verifications to a DEP certification.