NoVOCs is an in-well vapor-stripping technology that offers numerous advantages over the pump-and-treat method of volatile organic compound removal. At U.S. Department of Energy sites across the country, VOCs contaminate ground water. These contaminants include both petroleum hydrocarbons and the common halogenated compounds perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and carbon tetrachloride, which were used as solvents and degreasers in chemical and weapons manufacturing processes. When these contaminants enter ground water, the cleanup procedure can be time consuming and costly and can pose a risk to workers who are cleaning up a site. NoVOCs works inside extraction wells to capture VOCs as a vapor from contaminated ground water. Ground water enters the bottom of the well through a screen. Air is injected at the base of the borehole, causing contaminated water to rise within the well as VOCs are stripped from the water. The contaminants are carried to the surface in a vapor stream, where they are fed to an off-gas treatment system. The VOC-free water continues to be air-lifted until it reaches a second screen where it flows out into the sediments above the aquifer before returning to the water table. The processes of extraction from the lower screen and return flow from the upper screen create a circulation cell within the aquifer. NoVOCs is, therefore, a continuous, in situ treatment. In-well vapor-stripping is less of a risk to cleanup crews than the pump-and-treat method because VOCs are continually removed from ground water without pumping water to the surface or removing the water from the ground. Vapor extraction of VOCs eliminates workers' handling contaminated water at the surface and disposing of or storing partially treated water. It is more efficient than pump-and-treat because it enables circulation of chemical aids, such as surfactants and catalysts, during ground water remediations. In-well vapor-stripping is more economical because it eliminates the need for aboveground air-stripping towers or storage units to hold water that may be VOC-free but may still contain other contaminants such as tritium. In-well vapor-stripping also avoids the expense of drilling injection wells, as in the baseline technology. A single well can be used for extraction of soil vapors and for ground water remediation. NoVOCs Inc. is a new commercial venture that was developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and Technology, Stanford University, EG&G Environmental, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Stanford University owns the patent and has licensed the technology to EG&G, which has subleased it, in turn, to other companies. According to Gaynor Dawson, president of EG&G, "When we obtained NoVOCs, it had been developed on a computer and tested in a glass column in the laboratory. We built and tested a unit in a swimming pool, we assisted our licensee in building and operating a full-scale unit in France, and we provided consultation and equipment to make the DOE demonstration successful." Dawson defines EG&G's role as having reduced the designs to practice. He says, "Subsequently, we have tackled operating problems, such as calcite precipitation and iron fouling, at full-scale facilities." In 1996, EG&G carried out a full-scale demonstration at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where the company built a treatment system and a monitoring network. According to Dawson, this was the first in-well vapor-stripping demonstration in the United States. During this demonstration, trichloroethylene was successfully removed from ground water. DOE's Savannah River Site has selected NoVOCs for ground water cleanup. The technology has also been used outside DOE. Private, industrial, and municipal organizations account for approximately 12 contracts where NoVOCs is being used or has been selected for use.