[environmental pollution] soil remediation and rehabilitation volume 23 || introduction

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1 H. Meuser, Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation: Treatment of Contaminated and Disturbed Land, Environmental Pollution 23, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5751-6_1, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013 Many factors can cause soil contamination in urban and rural environments. Large-scale soil contamination can be the result of naturally accelerated bedrock concentrations or dust deposition. Linear contamination can be found alongside traffic routes and infrastructure pipes or in floodplains. In rural areas fertilizing, sewage sludge appli- cation and the use of pesticides are typical reasons for contaminated sites. Particularly in urban areas, however, the main factor responsible for contaminated sites might be the presence of many derelict sites which were formerly used for industrial purposes, in addition to deposits such as mining heaps, dumps and filled natural depressions or quarries (Meuser 2010). These contaminated sites are usually systematically recorded and integrated in a diagnostic assessment procedure which consists of three phases, a preliminary site assessment (I), a comprehensive site assessment (II) and the investigation and implementation of remedial measures (III). While the first phase will only provide a qualitative indication of the site based on a site inspection as well as the interpreta- tion of data, e.g. geological and hydrogeological maps, aerial photographs, litera- ture, reports of environmental agencies, interviews with contemporary witnesses, etc., phase II includes the sampling and physico-chemical analysis of different media such as soil, groundwater and soil vapour in order to identify exactly the contaminated locations. Normally, the third phase must be divided into two sections, whereby the first one expands the site investigation to define the contamination in more detail, e.g. by application of hydrological simulation models for the identification of the plume migration, by indoor-air investigations for the assess- ment of possible inhaled toxic air, by plant analyses for exact knowledge about the food chain pathway, etc. In the case of contamination affecting the different path- ways the second section of phase III includes the planning and subsequent imple- mentation of corrective actions (Asante-Duah 1995). Phase III must answer the question whether decontamination or pollutant containment are preferred to solve the contaminated site problem. Remediation covers decontamination (destruction or detoxification) and containment-based Chapter 1 Introduction

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Page 1: [Environmental Pollution] Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation Volume 23 || Introduction

1H. Meuser, Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation: Treatment of Contaminated and Disturbed Land, Environmental Pollution 23, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5751-6_1, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Many factors can cause soil contamination in urban and rural environments. Large-scale soil contamination can be the result of naturally accelerated bedrock concentrations or dust deposition. Linear contamination can be found alongside traf fi c routes and infrastructure pipes or in fl oodplains. In rural areas fertilizing, sewage sludge appli-cation and the use of pesticides are typical reasons for contaminated sites. Particularly in urban areas, however, the main factor responsible for contaminated sites might be the presence of many derelict sites which were formerly used for industrial purposes, in addition to deposits such as mining heaps, dumps and fi lled natural depressions or quarries (Meuser 2010 ) .

These contaminated sites are usually systematically recorded and integrated in a diagnostic assessment procedure which consists of three phases, a preliminary site assessment (I), a comprehensive site assessment (II) and the investigation and implementation of remedial measures (III). While the fi rst phase will only provide a qualitative indication of the site based on a site inspection as well as the interpreta-tion of data, e.g. geological and hydrogeological maps, aerial photographs, litera-ture, reports of environmental agencies, interviews with contemporary witnesses, etc., phase II includes the sampling and physico-chemical analysis of different media such as soil, groundwater and soil vapour in order to identify exactly the contaminated locations. Normally, the third phase must be divided into two sections, whereby the fi rst one expands the site investigation to de fi ne the contamination in more detail, e.g. by application of hydrological simulation models for the identi fi cation of the plume migration, by indoor-air investigations for the assess-ment of possible inhaled toxic air, by plant analyses for exact knowledge about the food chain pathway, etc. In the case of contamination affecting the different path-ways the second section of phase III includes the planning and subsequent imple-mentation of corrective actions (Asante-Duah 1995 ) .

Phase III must answer the question whether decontamination or pollutant containment are preferred to solve the contaminated site problem. Remediation covers decontamination (destruction or detoxi fi cation) and containment-based

Chapter 1 Introduction

Page 2: [Environmental Pollution] Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation Volume 23 || Introduction

2 1 Introduction

approaches, which leave the contaminants in place but prevent continuous migration. For both approaches a number of technical applications can be provided. In a long-term process which is still ongoing many techniques have been developed and advanced since the late 1970s (Swartjes 2011 ) .

The aim of this book is to characterise the approaches in relation to different media such as soil, soil vapour, groundwater and surface waters. Apart from the techniques introduced, advantages and disadvantages, particularly restrictions to the application, are discussed.

Soils can also be adversely affected by man without any input of pollutants. The negative features are frequently of a physical nature such as sealing and insuf fi cient water management in urban areas or removal of natural layers in quar-ries, open-cast coal mines or harvested peatland. Moreover, in mining areas chem-ical soil damage, e.g. acidi fi cation and metal contamination, contributes to environmental hazards. Sites affected in this way require rehabilitation measures (Genske 2003 ) , which will also be introduced in this book. Consequently, the book will give comprehensive information about the current remediation and rehabilitation opportunities regarding predominantly soils of urban, industrial and mining areas.

In Chap. 2 rehabilitation measures for the particular problems in urban envi-ronments (e.g. de-sealing, rainwater management, possibilities with respect to urban mining) are discussed. The speci fi c rehabilitation approaches of mining and raw material extraction areas are examined in Chap. 3 . The interpretation of the rehabilitation strategies refers to large-scale affected terrain (e.g. open-cast lignite coal mining areas, peatlands), quarries, open pit mines and mining heaps.

General aspects in relation to the treatment of contaminated sites including soil management, site clearance operations and working safety are discussed in Chap. 4 . On the basis of these aspects the opportunities for soil containment (Chap. 5 ) and soil decontamination (Chap. 6 ) are the content of the following chapters. All facets of soil containment extending to complete encapsulation are introduced and the common technical applications of decontamination operations, in particular the introduction of the most important technologies soil washing, bioremediation and phytoremediation, are presented. Approaches dealing with contaminated groundwater, soil vapour and surface water bodies are contained in Chap. 7 . In particular, the multiple applications regarding the groundwater are mentioned in detail. Additionally, in Chap. 8 some approaches for soil and groundwater without complex technical input are presented. Finally, the remediation planning process is taken into consideration in Chap. 9 . This section discusses, for instance, the require-ment of soil and environment protection but also the continuously decisive time and cost factors. In Chap. 10 , the last chapter, a brief attempt is made to present an out-look on the expected future development of soil rehabilitation and soil remediation approaches.

Page 3: [Environmental Pollution] Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation Volume 23 || Introduction

3References

References

Asante-Duah, D. K. (1995). Management of contaminated site problems . Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers.

Genske, D. D. (2003). Urban land – Degradation, investigation, remediation . Berlin: Springer. Meuser, H. (2010). Contaminated urban soils . Dordrecht: Springer. Swartjes, F. A. (2011). Dealing with contaminated sites . Dordrecht: Springer.