A method for removing volatile and semi-volatile contaminants from
groundwater in which the contaminants are stripped from the groundwater
by sparging with an inert carrier gas and the stripped contaminants are
transported into a bioactive zone into which at least one gaseous oxidant
and at least one nutrient are independently injected, thereby stimulating
at least one microbial culture associated with the bioactive zone to
remove the stripped contaminants from the bioactive zone. By decoupling
the sparging of the groundwater from the introduction of oxidants and
nutrient feed gases into the bioventing bioactive zone of the subsurface,
the oxygen and nutrient inputs to the bioactive zone can be adjusted (or
carbureted) and controlled independently from the hydrocarbon input to
the bioactive zone to achieve good kinetic performance in the bioactive
zone while avoiding the problems of plugging of groundwater sparging due
to biofilm and precipitate formation.