Excerpt:

There are various methods to clean up groundwater contaminated with solvents and petroleum products. Beneficial chemicals can be injected to neutralize the toxic chemicals. Sometimes bacteria, either those naturally present or some that have been added, can do the job. In some cases at Alameda Point the Navy inserts steel beams called electrodes into the ground that are hooked up to their own power line. They dial up the power to 1,100 amps (a household electric stove is around 40 amps), and let the heat turn the chemicals into vapor. This is the method the Navy is using in a limited application just east of the Seaplane Lagoon.