Santo
Ragusa
A Bit About Santo
ADE Consulting Group
Principal Environmental Scientist
Presentation Details
Dr Santo Ragusa is a Principal Environmental Consultant at ADE Consulting Group (NSW) with over 30 years experience as an Environmental Scientist and a broad science background in academia and industry. Santo is experienced in bioremediation of contaminated land and groundwater using innovative microbial and chemical methods to enhance attenuation of a range of contaminants. He has developed to methods to measure microbial biomass and activity at solid surfaces as a quick way to assess inhibition or enhancement of microbial activity under prevailing conditions. Santo has led and provided technical input to environmental site assessments and remediation for petrochemical, waste processor and developer clients both in Australia and in the Middle East.
The paper describes the creation subsurface barriers to fluid flow by manipulating in situ bacterial activity to produce extra-cellular polysaccharides (slimes), thereby reducing the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer through a process of bioclogging. The influence of microbial growth and polysaccharide production on hydraulic conductivity was studied at both laboratory and field scale with a three dimensional model used to assess amendment delivery and effects on hydraulic conductivity.