Feds Unveil Solar-Powered Groundwater Cleanup

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) -- Federal environmental officials are using high-tech gear to clean up a Superfund site near Sacramento in a project they say could serve as a model for hundreds of other contaminated areas.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld was on hand to activate the system at the Frontier Fertilizer Superfund Site in Davis on Wednesday.

It is the first federal groundwater cleanup project powered by solar energy. That energy will be used to pump and filter tainted groundwater at one part of the site.

Another part of the site is being heated with electrical rods to convert water and contaminants into a noxious gas. The gas will then be pumped to the surface and run through carbon filters to remove chemicals.

Officials expect to reduce the cleanup time at the site from the projected 200 years to 30 years.

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