The invention consists of a method for treating polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
contaminated media by: a) combining the media with a fluid containing one or more
liquid hydrocarbons to form a media/fluid mixture; b) sonicating the mixture at
audio frequency to extract PCB from the media into the fluid; and c) treating the
fluid with sodium-containing alkali metal. The method may include additional steps
to reduce the size of the media. Alternatively, the fluid can be decanted from
the media after sonication and treated separately with sodium-containing alkali metal.