The environmental field service company Vironex has conducted a national survey of best practices in accelerated anaerobic bioremediation. The survey was sent to 5,000 remediation consultants, contractors, regulators, responsible parties and others. The overwhelming majority of the 156 respondents were remediation consultants. Results of the survey include the following: (1) When selecting a carbon substrate, the majority of respondents considered distribution requirements followed by persistence and product cost as the most important factors to consider. (2) Respondents said that between 25 and 50 percent of their applications were fairly evenly divided among source, plume and barrier treatments. (3) The great majority used bioaugmentation to expedite remediation. A slightly lower number used it to address cis-DCE stall. (4) Asked at what point in the bioremediation process they bioaugment, most responded “very soon (days to weeks) after the injection of the carbon substrate.” (5) The overwhelming majority agreed that bioaugmentation should occur when the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is less than -50 mV and the pH is greater than 6. (6) When asked at how many sites they had implemented accelerated anaerobic bioremediation after chemical oxidation, 62 percent said, “None,” and 23 percent answered, “2 to 5 sites.” (7) Approximately 50 percent of respondents had never closed a site or met maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) using accelerated anaerobic bioremediation. (8) Approximately 85 percent had never closed or met MCLs at their DNAPL sites. (9) As for quarterly monitoring required to demonstrate closure or meeting MCLs, 53 percent said that 12 months was necessary, and 40 percent said that more than 3 years was needed. (10) Asked to rate the overall performance of the site remediation industry in achieving site closure or meeting MCLs in a cost-effective manner, 32 to 40 percent of respondents answered, “Fair.” Slightly more than 20 percent said, “Good” Twenty-two percent said that performance in meeting MCLs was “poor.” (11) Sixty-three percent found state regulators to be “mostly supportive” of accelerated anaerobic bioremediation, and 20 percent found them to be “very supportive.” Forty-eight percent rated EPA as “mostly supportive” of accelerated anaerobic bioremediation, and 16 percent found the agency to be “very supportive.” The full survey is available at: www.vironex.com