Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation

For further volumes:http://www.springer.com/series/5929

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

VOLUME 23

EditorsBrian J. Alloway, Soil Research Centre, Department of Geography and Environmental

Science, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, UK

Jack T. Trevors, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Editorial BoardI. Colbeck, Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society,

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, U.K.R.L. Crawford, Food Research Center (FRC) 204, University of Idaho, Moscow,

Idaho, U.S.A.W. Salomons, GKSS Research Center, Geesthacht, Germany

Helmut Meuser

Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation

Treatment of Contaminated and Disturbed Land

Helmut Meuser Faculty A&L University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück , Germany

ISSN 1566-0745 ISBN 978-94-007-5750-9 ISBN 978-94-007-5751-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5751-6 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012954787

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, speci fi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro fi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied speci fi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci fi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

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To my brother Wolfgang

vii

Over thousands of years, potentially harmful chemical compounds have been added to the upper soil layers, leading to soil and groundwater pollution. One phenomenon that sped up soil pollution was the Industrial Revolution which began in England and subsequently spread to several developed countries in Europe, the USA and Japan, from the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Additionally, large-scale mining and, hence, large-scale soil pollution came into existence in many parts of the world in the nineteenth century. Even bigger was the impact of the technological developments that took place mainly during the second half of the twentieth century. These developments were characterised by a more than propor-tional increase in emissions of contaminants into the environment. As a consequence, emissions of contaminants to soil increased, for example, through the large-scale use of fertilisers, expansion of industrial production, the use of fossil fuels and, as an overall impact factor, a huge increase in population growth. It was not only the bulk rate of production of contaminants that signi fi cantly expanded. It was also the enormous increase in variety of types of chemical compounds that were produced for public or industrial use, or produced as a by-product, and eventually entered the environment and the soil. Soil can often be considered as the ultimate sink for contaminants that enter the environment.

At the end of the twentieth century, the number of identi fi ed contaminated sites grew in most developed countries to six or seven digits. The Commission of the European Communities estimated the number of contaminated sites in the European Union at 3.5 million sites, affecting 231 million people and representing a market value of 57 billion Euros, in 2006. According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA), potentially contaminating activities are estimated to have occurred at nearly 3 million sites in 2007. Today, it is expected that this number has grown signi fi cantly. This European perspective is similar in other developed countries including the United States, Canada and Australia and many countries is Asia.

Soil pollution is one of the eight threats mentioned in the EU Thematic Soil Strategy. A contaminated soil map would roughly coincide with an anthropogenic map, since humans are generally recognised as the main polluters. Most of the

Foreword

viii Foreword

contaminated sites are found in or close to cities. In the present day, most countries have become aware of the huge practical, social and fi nancial impact of contami-nated sites.

Since the earliest discovery of soil and groundwater pollution, there has been a race between bringing contaminated sites back into bene fi cial use without compro-mising human health and the environment and the design of cost-ef fi cient remedia-tion solutions. In parallel with the increase of the number of identi fi ed contaminated sites, the awareness of the need for cost-ef fi cient solutions grew signi fi cantly. As a consequence, remediation technologies evolved in time from simple excavations for contaminated soil or abstractions for groundwater to sophisticated combinations of ex situ or in situ approaches with in situ technologies, within a time span of three decades.

In the late 1970s, remediation was often the same thing as complete removal of the contaminants and, hence, of the risks involved. Harsh remediation measures, such as dig-and-dump (remediation of the upper soil) and pump-and-treat (remedia-tion of the groundwater), were the most popular mechanisms to achieve this goal. Alternatively, insulation of the contaminants, and hence of the risks involved, was used as a less strict but cheaper solution. Since the early 1990s, the general focus of remediation has evolved into the elimination of unacceptable risks, which does not necessarily mean complete removal of the contaminants. Today, the remediation objective is often set at a concentration where the risks for human health and the environment are acceptable.

Generally speaking, remediation focuses on the development of the strategies for controlling the risks from soil and groundwater pollution. It includes avoiding, mitigating or eliminating risks. From a cost-ef fi cient perspective, the keyword in remediation is risk reduction. There are many ways to achieve risk reduction. Basically, remediation relates to removal or controlling of the source or to blocking the pathway from source to receptor. The challenge is to fi nd the optimum balance between the most effective and most cost-ef fi cient way of doing this by weighing the short-term advantages against the costs of aftercare. For example, source control by the application of barriers (blocking the source) could be cheaper but suf fi cient to reduce risk for human health or the environment. In some cases, compliance with policies requires more stringent measures than are necessary from a risk perspective.

The most simple and generally least expensive solution for contaminated site problems relates to changing the land use, or adapting the layout of the site within the same land use, in terms of blocking the major exposure pathways. The disadvan-tage of changing land use or the layout of the site with the same land use, however, is that concessions often have to be made concerning the ideal way the site is used. Therefore, remediation is often necessary.

Since remediation technologies underwent a dramatic development during the last decades, and certainly the last few years, it is of the utmost importance to have an overview of the state of art of existing remediation technologies. The present book presents such an overview from a technical and a practical perspective, including

ix

the most recent developments. I sincerely hope and expect that this book will have a substantial contribution to the design of sustainable remediation solutions, in which the protection of human health and the environment go hand in hand with cost-ef fi cient solutions.

July 2012 Frank A. Swartjes

Foreword

xi

I would like to thank the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, Germany, for the fi nancial support, Mr. Alan Hogg, MA, University of Applied Sciences, for proofreading the manuscript and my wife Christiane for drawing diagrams and fi gures as well as editing the complete text.

Acknowledgement

xiii

Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 References ................................................................................................. 3

2 Rehabilitation of Soils in Urban Environments ................................... 5 2.1 Brown fi eld Redevelopment .............................................................. 5 2.1.1 Instrument of the Town Planning ......................................... 5 2.1.2 Dealing with Contaminated Areas ....................................... 8 2.1.3 Quality Criteria .................................................................... 11 2.2 Environmentally Friendly Approaches ............................................ 13 2.2.1 De-sealing ............................................................................ 13 2.2.2 Rainwater Management ....................................................... 17 2.2.3 Roof Planting ....................................................................... 23 2.3 Urban Mining ................................................................................... 25 2.3.1 Shortage of Resources .......................................................... 25 2.3.2 Potentials of Land fi lls .......................................................... 29 2.3.3 Technique of Land fi ll Excavation ........................................ 33 References ................................................................................................. 35

3 Rehabilitation of Soils in Mining and Raw Material Extraction Areas...................................................................... 37

3.1 Open-Cast Coal Mines ..................................................................... 38 3.1.1 Examples of Open-Cast Mining Areas ................................ 38 3.1.2 Effects of Large-Scale Mining Operations .......................... 39 3.1.3 Agricultural Rehabilitation .................................................. 43 3.1.4 Silvicultural Rehabilitation .................................................. 51 3.1.5 Creation of Nature Reserves ................................................ 54 3.1.6 Creation of Mining Lakes .................................................... 55 3.2 Mining Heaps ................................................................................... 59 3.2.1 Coal Mining Heaps .............................................................. 59 3.2.2 Salt Mining Heaps ................................................................ 69 3.2.3 Metallic Ore Mining Heaps ................................................. 77

xiv

3.3 Quarries and Open Pit Mines ........................................................... 78 3.3.1 Uncontaminated Quarries and Mining Pits .......................... 81 3.3.2 Contaminated Metallic Ore Mining Pits .............................. 93 3.3.3 Tailings ................................................................................. 96 3.4 Subsided Mining Terrain .................................................................. 98 3.5 Peatlands .......................................................................................... 105 3.5.1 Peat Harvesting .................................................................... 108 3.5.2 Sphagnum Bog Restoration .................................................. 110 3.5.3 Wooded Peatland Restoration .............................................. 118 3.5.4 Fen Restoration .................................................................... 121 References ................................................................................................. 123

4 Treatment of Contaminated Land ......................................................... 127 4.1 Overview of Soil Remediation Measures ........................................ 127 4.1.1 Containment and Decontamination Approaches ................. 127 4.1.2 Immediate Response Action ................................................ 129 4.2 Site and Soil Management ............................................................... 130 4.2.1 Site Management ................................................................. 130 4.2.2 Excavation and Stockpiling.................................................. 130 4.2.3 Transportation ...................................................................... 140 4.2.4 Reuse of the Excavated Material and Back fi lling ................ 142 4.3 Site Clearance Operation ................................................................. 148 4.3.1 Selective Deconstruction ...................................................... 148 4.3.2 Separation and Treatment of Hazardous Material ............... 152 4.4 Working safety ................................................................................. 157 4.4.1 Sources of Danger to Human Health ................................... 157 4.4.2 Safety Measures ................................................................... 158 References ................................................................................................. 161

5 Soil Containment ..................................................................................... 163 5.1 Surface Cover ................................................................................... 163 5.1.1 Geotextile-Based and Bentonite-Based Cover Systems ...... 163 5.1.2 Sealing .................................................................................. 175 5.2 Side Barriers Installation and Encapsulation ................................... 175 5.2.1 Side Barriers ......................................................................... 175 5.2.2 Encapsulation ....................................................................... 184 5.3 Solidi fi cation .................................................................................... 187 5.3.1 Cement-Based Solidi fi cation ............................................... 187 5.3.2 Asphalt Batching .................................................................. 190 5.3.3 Vitri fi cation .......................................................................... 191 5.4 Stabilisation...................................................................................... 192 References ................................................................................................. 198

6 Soil Decontamination .............................................................................. 201 6.1 Soil Preparation ................................................................................ 202 6.2 Soil Washing .................................................................................... 206

Contents

xvContents

6.2.1 Technical Devices Used ....................................................... 206 6.2.2 Required Soil Properties and Treatable Contaminants ........ 213 6.2.3 Solubilising Agents .............................................................. 217 6.3 Bioremediation ................................................................................. 219 6.3.1 Principles of Bioremediation ............................................... 219 6.3.2 Kinetic of the Pollutant Degradation ................................... 226 6.3.3 Technical Devices Used ....................................................... 231 6.3.4 Soil Properties Required ...................................................... 240 6.4 Phytoremediation ............................................................................. 243 6.4.1 Principles of Phytoremediation ............................................ 243 6.4.2 Phytoextraction .................................................................... 244 6.4.3 Phytodegradation ................................................................. 253 6.4.4 Phytovolatilisation ............................................................... 255 6.4.5 Phytostabilisation ................................................................. 256 6.5 Thermal Treatment ........................................................................... 257 6.5.1 Technical Devices Used ....................................................... 257 6.5.2 Required Soil Properties and Treatable Contaminants ........ 260 6.5.3 Re-use of the Treated Material ............................................. 262 6.6 Electrokinetic Remediation .............................................................. 268 6.6.1 Technical Devices Used ....................................................... 268 6.6.2 Treatable Contaminants ....................................................... 272 6.7 Treatment Centres ............................................................................ 273 References ................................................................................................. 274

7 Groundwater, Soil Vapour and Surface Water Treatment ................. 279 7.1 Groundwater Treatment ................................................................... 280 7.1.1 Relevant Contaminants in Groundwater .............................. 280 7.1.2 Passive Groundwater Remediation ...................................... 282 7.1.3 Pump-and-Treat System (P&T) ........................................... 283 7.1.4 Aboveground Groundwater Puri fi cation .............................. 291 7.1.5 Air Stripping ........................................................................ 294 7.1.6 Enhanced Groundwater Remediation

(Agent In fi ltration) ............................................................... 294 7.1.7 Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB)

and Funnel-and-Gate Systems (F&G) ................................. 304 7.1.8 Air Sparging and Biosparging .............................................. 312 7.1.9 Fracturing Technology ......................................................... 313 7.2 Soil Vapour Treatment ..................................................................... 314 7.2.1 Relevant Contaminants ........................................................ 314 7.2.2 Soil Vapour Extraction (SVE) .............................................. 314 7.2.3 Aboveground Soil Vapour Puri fi cation ................................ 318 7.2.4 Bioventing ............................................................................ 319 7.2.5 Steam Enhanced Extraction (SEE) ...................................... 320 7.2.6 Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE) ............................................ 323

xvi

7.3 Surface Water Restoration ............................................................... 324 7.3.1 Lakes and Ponds .................................................................. 324 7.3.2 Rivers ................................................................................... 332 References ................................................................................................. 344

8 Approaches Without Complex Technical Applications ....................... 347 8.1 Protective and Restrictive Measures ................................................ 347 8.2 Natural Attenuation .......................................................................... 349 8.2.1 De fi nitions ............................................................................ 349 8.2.2 Contaminants to Be Treated ................................................. 350 8.2.3 Field of Application ............................................................. 355 References ................................................................................................. 356

9 Remediation Planning ............................................................................ 357 9.1 General Aspects of the Planning Processes ..................................... 357 9.2 Evaluation of the Feasibility for Soil

Remediation Techniques .................................................................. 359 9.2.1 In fl uence of Soil Properties .................................................. 359 9.2.2 In fl uence of the Pollutant Composition ............................... 362 9.2.3 Consideration of the Soil Protection Factor ......................... 366 9.3 Evaluation of the Feasibility for Groundwater

Remediation Techniques .................................................................. 370 9.4 Time and Cost Factor ....................................................................... 370 References ................................................................................................. 381

10 Outlook..................................................................................................... 383 References ................................................................................................. 386

Index ................................................................................................................. 387

Contents

xvii

Abbreviations

Ag silver Al aluminium AMD acid mine drainage As arsenic Asl above sea level Au gold Ba barium BCF bioconcentration factor BTEX benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene C carbon Ca calcium Cd cadmium Ce cer CEC cation exchange capacity cfu colony forming unit CHC chlorinated hydrocarbons CN cyanide Co cobalt Cr chromium Cs caesium Cu copper D&G drain-and-gate DNAPL dense non-aqueous phase liquid DOC dissolved organic carbon DPE dual-phase extraction DTPA diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid DW dry weight Dy dysprosium EC electrical conductivity EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ENA enhanced natural attenuation

xviii

EOX extractable organic halogens Er erbium Eu europium F&G funnel-and-gate Fe iron Gd gadolinium GDR German Democratic Republic H hydrogen HCB hexachlorobenzene Hg mercury Ho holmium hPa hectopascal HRC ® Hydrogen Release Compound ISCO in situ chemical oxidation K potassium Kj kilojoule K

OC distribution coef fi cient

Kwh kilowatt La lanthanum LNAPL light non-aqueous phase liquid Mg magnesium Mg megagram Mn manganese MNA monitored natural attenuation MPE multi-phase extraction Mt megatons N nitrogen Na sodium NAPL non-aqueous phase liquid Nd neodymium Ni nickel O oxygen ORC ® Oxygen Release Compound P phosphorus P&T pump-and-treat PAH polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Pb lead PCB polychlorinated biphenyls PCDD/F polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans PCE pentachloroethylene PCP pentachlorophenol Pd palladium PEHD high-density polyethylene PEP phosphorus elimination plant Pj petajoule

Abbreviations

xix

PP polypropylene PPP polluter pay principle Pr praseodymium PRB permeable reactive barrier Pt platinum Pu plutonium PVC polyvinyl chloride REE rare earth elements S sulphur S/S stabilisation/solidi fi cation Sb antimony Sc scandium SEE steam enhanced extraction Sm samarium Sn tin Sr strontium SVE soil vapour extraction Tb terbium Tc technetium TCDD tetrachlorodibenzodioxin TCE tetrachloroethylene Ti titanium Tl thallium Tm thulium TNT trinitrotoluene TOC total organic carbon TPH total petroleum hydrocarbons U uranium V vanadium V voltage VCHC volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons WQ storage volume Y yttrium Yb ytterbium z0…z2 reuse of excavated material (German Waste Management Regulations) Zn zinc

Abbreviations