Dr. John Pardue

Professor
Director, Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Louisiana State University
3215A CEBA
Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA
Phone: (225) 578-8661
FAX: (225) 388-8652
e-mail: jpardue@.lsu.edu

Research Interests
We have developed an approach for passively treating groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents in treatment wetlands. High activities of halorespiring bacteria have been observed in Phragmites marshes fringing the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The activity of these organisms results in rapid attenuation of the chlorinated solvents in the marshes. Based on this natural scenario, we have developed design criteria for treatment wetlands for treating these persistent groundwater contaminants. Our greenhouse systems have dechlorinated chlorinated ethenes and ethanes from mg/L concentrations to below detection over very short (10’s of cm) travel distances within the peat soil. Our research has focused on the composition of the organic matter in the commercially available peats and compost materials and their ability to provide H2 to the halorespiring populations. Our existing microbial culture, developed from upflow greenhouse experiments using groundwater from a Connecticut Superfund site, is being studied to better understand why such high reductive dechlorination rates can be maintained. Based on the design criteria developed in our laboratory, a number of pilot and full-scale applications of the technology are being planned at sites around the country. We have also investigated the uptake of desorption-resistant organic contaminants by wetland plants. Desorption of organic contaminants from sediments has long been observed to be biphasic; one portion desorbs rapidly but another fraction exhibits considerable hysteresis and is desorption-resistant. In our uptake studies wetland plants were able to access the desorption-resistant fraction but uptake was lower than contaminants in the readily desorbed phase. Uptake was well-predicted by a simple model that incorporate both the readily-desorbed and desorption-resistant terms. The analysis approach may lead to a better prediction of phytoremediation success at hazardous waste sites.

Education
Ph.D. (Civil Engineering) Louisiana State University, 1992
M.S. (Marine Sciences) Louisiana State University, 1987
B.S. (Biology) cum laude, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, 1983

Employment History
2002-present Director, Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute, College of Engineering, Louisiana State University
1998-present Elizabeth Howell Stewart Emerging Leader Professorship, College of Engineering, Louisiana State University
1998-present Associate Professor (with tenure) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University
1995-1998 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University
1992-1995 Assistant Professor-Research, Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Louisiana State University

Courses Taught
CE 7700 Aquatic Chemistry
EVEG 4159 Design of Natural Systems for Wastewater Treatment
EVEG 4135 Water Quality Analysis for Natural Systems

Recent Publications
Kassenga, G., J.H. Pardue, S. Blair and T. Ferraro. 2002, Treatment of chlorinated VOCs using treatment wetlands. Ecological Engineering. In Press.

Lee, Sangjin, John H. Pardue, William Moe and K.T. Valsaraj. Mineralization of desorption-resistant 1,4-DCB in wetland soils. 2002. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry. In Press.

Lee, S., R.R. Kommalapati, K.T. Valsaraj, J.H. Pardue and W.D. Constant. 2002. Rate limited desorption of volatile organic compounds from soils and implications for the remediation of a Louisiana Superfund site. Environmental Monitoring & Assessment 75:87-105.

Lee. S., W. Moe, K.T. Valsaraj and J.H. Pardue. 2002. Effect of sorption and desorption-resistance on aerobic trichloroethylene biodegradation in soils. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry 21(8):1609-1617.

Cothren, G., J.H. Pardue and S. Chen. 2002. Investigation of subsurface flow constructed wetland designs. Public Works Management and Policy 7(1); 32-45

Shin, W.S., J.H. Pardue and W.A. Jackson. 2000. Oxygen demand and sulfate reduction in petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated salt marsh soils. Water Research 34:1345-1353.

Shin, W.S. and J.H. Pardue. 2001. Oxygen dynamics in crude oil contaminated salt marshes. 1. Aerobic respiration model. Environmental Technology 22:845-854.

Shin, W.S. and J.H. Pardue. 2001. Oxygen dynamics in crude oil contaminated salt marshes. II. Carbonaceous sediment oxygen demand model. Environmental Technology 22:855-867. Shin, W.S., Pardue, J.H., W.A. Jackson and S.J. Choi. 2001. Nutrient enhanced biodegradation of crude oil in tropical salt marshes. Water Air & Soil Pollution 131:135-152

Jackson, A., J.H. Pardue and R. Araujo. 1996. Monitoring crude oil mineralization in salt marshes: use of stable carbon isotope ratios. Environmental Science and Technology 30:1139-1134. Pardue, J.H., S. Kongara and W.J. Jones. 1996. Effect of Cd on reductive dechlorination of 2,3,4-trichloroaniline. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 15:1083-1088.

Jackson, A. and Pardue, J.H. 1997. Seasonal variability of crude oil respiration potential in salt and fresh marshes. Journal of Environmental Quality 26:1140-1146.

Other Links
Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute (www.lwrri.lsu.edu)