Team approaches to the development of innovative technologies and processes to facilitate remediation

The enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) created a complex liability scheme for owners, operators and prospective purchasers of contaminated properties, particularly brownfields. As the program developed, liability issues related to contiguous property, prospective purchasers, and no further action determinations became barriers to brownfield property redevelopment. The national effort on the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites took on new emphasis with the passing of the federal “Small Business Liability Protection and Brownfields Revitalization Act” in January 2002. This new law provides liability clarifications as well as funding to facilitate the cleanup of brownfield sites. President Bush stated in his 2003 State of the Union address, “In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about not through endless lawsuits or command‐and‐control regulations, but through technology and innovation.” The subject of this article is the Interstate Technology Regulatory Commission's Brownfield team, its current initiative, goals, and areas of special focus. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Application of In-Situ Vitrification at the Parsons Chemical Site

This article presents the results of demonstration of Geosafe Corporation's in-situ vitrification (ISV) technology at the Parsons Chemical/ETM Enterprises Superfund site in Grand Ledge, Michigan. The primary focus of this article is on the EPA's Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program assessment of the sixth melt. A total of eight melts were performed during this project. This demonstration was part of the SITE Program Demonstration (USEPA, 1994), which helped develop innovative hazardous waste treatment technologies, especially those offering permanent remedies for contaminated Superfund and other hazardous waste sites. The demonstration results are not only applicable to this particular project, but are also indicative of other Geosafe project experiences and demonstrate the current state of the ISV technology. The demonstration included two phases. In the first phase, the ISV technology was used to treat the Parsons contaminated soil. In the second phase, post-testing and analysis were conducted about one year after the ISV technology was applied to confirm that the vitrification was completed and that no contamination migration had occurred.     

Brownfields Update: The Reform of the Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative

This journal first reported on the U.S. EPA's Brownfields Initiative in the summer 1995 edition of Remediation. At that time, the initiative was only about 15 months old, most of the state programs were in proposal stages, and little federal legislation addressing brownfields had been proposed. Today, brownfields has become such a common term that almost every environmental professional is familiar with it. The EPA has placed extremely high priority on the Brownfields Initiative and it has become a politically hot issue. This article provides an update on the current status of EPA's Brownfields program and also discusses recent legislation proposed by Congress to promote brownfields redevelopment. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Local waste management constraints and waste administrators in China

Local level waste authorities and their officials directly interact and serve the people on behalf of higher governments. Given the influential positions they have on the quality of life of the citizens, these local waste authorities deserve more attention from researchers. This study throws light on the factors related to local waste management and administrators that have caused waste management failures in three mainland Chinese cities. Based on a survey conducted in 2002-2003, it was found that waste administrators in these cities are not professionally competent in their jobs and they are also not confident in using economic instruments to address waste management issues in their cities. These local waste authorities are generally under-funded, and funding politics has to some extent eroded the incentives to carry out the instructions of higher waste authorities. The community at large also does not respect local waste management work. The residents frequently litter, are unobservant of waste collection times and are unwilling to pay for waste collection service. All of these are handicapping environmentally sound waste management.     

Building capacity for community‐based brownfields remediation and redevelopment: An innovative technical assistance model

Thousands of unaddressed brownfields sites remain in our nation's poorest urban neighborhoods, despite almost two decades of federal and state attention to cleaning up and redeveloping these sites. Many of these neighborhoods have active community‐based organizations (CBOs) whose mission it is to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged residents whose lives are negatively impacted by these decaying, contaminated properties. Under the assumption that greater involvement of community organizations, specifically community development corporations (CDCs), would help to spur increased attention to and progress toward remediating these sites, we developed a pilot technical assistance program to build CDC capacity to facilitate or actually undertake brownfields redevelopment projects. This article describes the process of development and the program's content and structure and evaluates the program based on a pilot test conducted with two CDCs in a major US city. Future prospects for expansion of this type of program are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Assessment of the Water Balance of European Forests: A Model Study

As part of the UN-ECE Intensive Monitoring Program, data on precipitation, throughfall and soil solution concentrations are measured on a regular basis in approximately 300 forest stands. These data were used to construct element budgets for European forests. To construct such budgets drainage fluxes have to be modeled. In this paper, the research chain from model selection to data derivation and application of the selected model to 245 of the 300 sites is described. To select a suitable hydrological model the Cl^- balance method, two capacity models (a multi and a single layer version) and a Darcy model have been applied to two forest sites. The results indicate that drainage fluxes calculated with the Darcy model are more accurate than fluxes derived with the capacity model, in particular in situations where water availability is limited. The Darcy model was applied to the sites using a mixture of generic data and site data. Despite the use of generic data, the calculated drainage fluxes appear feasible. Median transpiration fluxes were 350 mm and the lowest values are found in northern Europe and highest values are found in central Europe. Median drainage fluxes were 150 mm yr^-1 with the highest values in areas with high rainfall. Uncertainty analyses indicate that the use of local instead of interpolated meteorological data leads to lower drainage fluxes at 70% of the sites. The median deviation in calculated drainage fluxes is 20 mm yr^-1. The use of local soil data had little impact on the calculated fluxes.     

Triad case study: Rattlesnake Creek

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE) is responsible for conducting the cleanup of radiological contaminated properties as part of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. One property is the Rattlesnake Creek (RSC) portion of the Ashland sites. The RSC stream sediments are contaminated with thorium‐230, radium‐226, and uranium. The US ACE is closing RSC using protocols contained within the Multi‐Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM). At RSC, the US ACE developed site‐specific derived concentration guideline level (DCGL) cleanup requirements consistent with the MARSSIM guidance. Because of uncertainty about the distribution of contamination within the creek, the US ACE used the Triad approach to collect data and design remedial actions. Systematic planning helped target the areas of concern, develop a conceptual site model, and identify data gaps to be addressed before remediation plans were finalized. Preremediation sampling and analysis plans were designed to be explicitly consistent with final status survey requirements, allowing data sets to support both excavation planning needs and closure requirements in areas where contamination was not encountered above DCGL standards. Judicious use of real‐ time technologies such as X‐ray fluorescence and gamma walkover surveys minimized expensive off‐ site alpha spectrometry analyses, and at the same time provided the ability to respond to unexpected field conditions. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Municipal solid waste management in India: From waste disposal to recovery of resources?

Unlike that of western countries, the solid waste of Asian cities is often comprised of 70-80% organic matter, dirt and dust. Composting is considered to be the best option to deal with the waste generated. Composting helps reduce the waste transported to and disposed of in landfills. During the course of the research, the author learned that several developing countries established large-scale composting plants that eventually failed for various reasons. The main flaw that led to the unsuccessful establishment of the plants was the lack of application of simple scientific methods to select the material to be composted. Landfills have also been widely unsuccessful in countries like India because the landfill sites have a very limited time frame of usage. The population of the developing countries is another factor that detrimentally impacts the function of landfill sites. As the population keeps increasing, the garbage quantity also increases, which, in turn, exhausts the landfill sites. Landfills are also becoming increasingly expensive because of the rising costs of construction and operation. Incineration, which can greatly reduce the amount of incoming municipal solid waste, is the second most common method for disposal in developed countries. However, incinerator ash may contain hazardous materials including heavy metals and organic compounds such as dioxins, etc. Recycling plays a large role in solid waste management, especially in cities in developing countries. None of the three methods mentioned here are free from problems. The aim of this study is thus to compare the three methods, keeping in mind the costs that would be incurred by the respective governments, and identify the most economical and best option possible to combat the waste disposal problem.     

Phytoremediation of arsenic in mining‐contaminated areas: The future of transgenic technology

A considerable number of contaminated mining sites in Europe and other parts of the world pose environmental hazards. Given the multifaceted benefits of phytoremediation, screening of plant communities grown in contaminated areas is being conducted to identify hyperaccumulating plant species. A few arsenic (As) hyperaccumulating plants are found in tropical countries; however, generally, they are not grown in contaminated mining sites of cold and temperate countries (Europe and other parts of the world). The transgenic plants identified to date are not believed to be suitable for commercial use of phytoremediation. A few tolerant plant species in mining sites that are found to have elevated As levels primarily concentrate As in their roots. The remediation potential of many of these tolerant plants is limited because of their slow growth and low biomass. Therefore, phytostabilization of contaminated mining sites using tolerant plant species with high biomass and a more extensive root system is the only solution to date in Europe and some other parts of the world. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Iowa's land recycling program: A case study

Voluntary cleanup programs for contaminated sites have been developed in several states over the last few years. Some of the advantages of these programs include developing a collaboration between site owners and regulators, implementing cleanup standards based upon site‐specific current and future risks, and enhancing the market conditions that can lead to development of properties to their highest productive use. This article offers a case study of the first site in Iowa to proceed through the state's voluntary cleanup program, the Land Recycling Program. It offers the step‐by‐step progress toward the client's goal of a site classification requiring no further action. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A GIS-based system for allocating municipal solid waste incinerator compensatory fund

To ease the NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome of constructing municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators in Taiwan, compensatory funding is widely allocated to the impacted communities to gain the acceptance and support of residents living the impacted areas. This paper presents a spatial methodology for distributing a compensatory fund more logically based on the environmental impact on each neighborhood in Taipei City. This method integrates ten impact factors, which have been proposed by a local committee, to evaluate all neighborhoods using mathematical models combined with spatial analyses in an analytic hierarchy process. The compensatory fund is distributed according to the resulting final scores. A GIS (geographic information systems)-based system has been developed to assist in assigning the final scores to the neighborhoods impacted. Results on impact factors and fund distributions are combined; they are included in an information system and displayed in spatial scales. For Taipei City, the impact of air quality during the incinerator operating period is the item of greatest concern to the surrounding residents and thus, it receives a relatively higher weight of 0.2894. As a result, high impact scores were assigned to not only those neighborhoods hosting the incinerators, but also the neighborhoods where the maximum particulate air pollutants occurred. This approach could be applicable to other MSW incinerators with similar environmental impact problems and interest in compensation schemes.     

Thermal treatment and non-thermal technologies for remediation of manufactured gas plant sites

More than 1500 manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites exist throughout the U.S. Many are contaminated with coal tar from coal-fueled gas works which produced ‘town gas’ from the mid-1800s through the 1950s.^1,2 Virtually all old U.S. cities have such sites. Most are in downtown areas as they were installed for central distribution of manufactured gas. While a few sites are CERCLA/Superfund, most are not. However, the contaminants and methods used for remediation are similar to those used for Superfund clean-ups of coal tar contamination from wood-treating and coke oven facilities. Clean-up of sites is triggered by regulatory pressure, property transfers and re-development as well as releases to the environment — in particular, via groundwater migration. Due to utility de-regulation, site clean-ups may also be triggered by sale of a utility or of a specific utility site to other utilities. Utilities have used two approaches in dealing with their MGP sites. The first is ‘do nothing and hope for the best’. History suggests that, sooner or later, these sites become a bigger problem via a release, citizen lawsuit or regulatory/public service commission intervention. The second, far better approach is to define the problem now and make plans for waste treatment or immobilization. This paper describes recent experience with a high capacity/low cost thermal desorption process for this waste and reviews non-thermal technology, such as bio-treatment, capping, recycling, and dig and haul. Cost data is provided for all technologies, and a case study for thermal treatment is also presented.     

Concepts for sediment restoration on the palos verdes shelf,California

This article summarizes a study conducted by the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station to develop technical information and to evaluate the engineering feasibility of restoration alternatives for DDT-and PCB-contaminated sediments on the Palos Verdes shelf and slope near Los Angeles, California. The study evaluated the nonremoval alternative of in-place capping of contaminated sediments on the shelf and slope; removal of contaminated sediments using conventional and specialized dredging equipment and deep ocean mining equipment; treatment of contaminated sediments; and disposal of contaminated sediments in confined (diked) disposal facilities (CDFs), contained aquatic disposal (CAD) sites, upland landfills, and deep ocean basin sites. Cost estimates of the various alternatives were also prepared. This article concludes that restoration of the contaminated sediments is technically feasible. Sediments on the shelf and slope can be removed using available dredging technologies for deep water environments. In-place capping, CAD, and CDF alternatives are technically feasible. The deep ocean basin disposal alternative is not feasible from the technical or regulatory standpoint. The treatment alternative is not feasible from the implementability and economic standpoint.     

Brownfield Sites Remediation Technology Overview,Trends, and Opportunities in China

Over decades of economic development, China's industrialization has led to significant environmental issues due to unregulated discharges into air, water, and soil. As cities continue to expand (i.e., urbanization trend) and awareness/concerns about environmental pollution rises, many industrial facilities along the edge of or within the city boundaries have been relocated or closed. This urbanization trend leaves behind idled and abandoned land that is contaminated from the former industrial activities and unregulated discharges. China released its first nationwide soil quality survey in April 2014, and the survey suggests that soil conditions in China represent a significant challenge. China has encouraged local engineering firms to demonstrate soil treatment technologies through pilot‐scale studies, but the outcomes of many demonstrations have not been promising due to the lack of remediation experience and underdeveloped technical guidelines that are needed to guide the remediation processes. During the past decade, some local soil remediation experience has been established, but it is limited for certain technologies that address their primary contaminants of concern: heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. In 2014, national technical guidelines were published regarding environmental investigation, risk assessment, monitoring, and remediation; however, regulations and funding systems are still underdeveloped. Thus, the remediation processes that should maximize economic and environmental benefits are not streamlined. This article provides an overview of the latest regulatory developments, remediation technologies applied, technology trends, and market opportunities in China. The provided information aims to allow international remediation practitioners to better understand and appreciate this unique and emerging remediation market, which is growing fast, and to highlight the importance of developing a sustainable model that not only provides for cleanup of the environment but also supports economic development. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Remediation of Trapped Free‐Phase LNAPL

Free‐phase light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) may be trapped in certain stratigraphic and structural features near or at contaminated sites due to seasonal or other variations in the water table elevation. The purpose of this article is to point out particular subsurface conditions that are conducive to trapping of free‐phase LNAPLs and to suggest approaches to remediating LNAPL‐contaminated sites exhibiting similar subsurface geometry and stratigraphy. To trap free‐phase LNAPL, a structure must have, in addition to closed contours, an upper boundary with pores small enough so that the LNAPL will not enter them. This boundary usually consists of clay‐rich sediments. The Lower Mississippi River Valley contains thousands of these potential traps associated with the geomorphic surfaces mapped as outwash or braided stream terraces, which are covered with thin layers of backswamp clays. These traps may have closure heights ranging from about 1 to 7.5 meters or more and have variable lateral extents. Based on surface geomorphic analysis, the potential LNAPL traps in the Lower Mississippi River Valley range in size from about 0.06 by 0.02 km to 4.19 by 0.69 km. The apparent best remediation strategy for LNAPL sites located on these geomorphic surfaces, which contain these trapping structures, is to first determine if free‐phase is present. If it is present, and is contained in one of the stratigraphic traps, the free‐phase can be removed through an extraction well or wells located at the trap apex. Geomorphic analysis and geophysical surveys may be necessary to accurately locate the trap apex. The remaining residual hydrocarbons might best be remediated using an air sparging system, although it may be necessary to install air vents through the clay cap by backfilling augured holes with washed sand. If it is determined that, due to geometry, the dissolved LNAPL plume cannot be adequately remediated using an air sparging system, then groundwater circulation wells or monitored natural attenuation may be alternative technologies. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A dynamic methodology for estimating cleanup efforts for mercury in soil at gas utility gate stations

This article provides an overview of a dynamic methodology leading to the estimation of the level of mercury concentration in soil and soil cleanup volumes associated with a large number of gate stations suspected of having mercury in their soil. The methodology uses a unique screening approach that has been developed for relating measurements of volatile mercury near the surface to mercury concentration in the upper soil subsurface (about twelve inches deep). The screening approach was used in an effort to reduce the number of sites that are subject to extensive multimedia environmental sampling and analysis. The approach helps to focus on a small number of sites that are suspected of having the highest mercury concentration in soil, perform multimedia environmental sampling at these sites, use the field data to perform risk assessment, and determine the cleanup action levels and the volume of hot spots soil to be cleaned at these sites. The information obtained for the most contaminated sites is used to determine, if required, the level of cleanup for less contaminated sites.     

Coupling Flow Analysis With Geochemical and Microbiological Analyses to Assess the Bioremediation Feasibility of a Contaminated Aquifer

An integrated approach combining classic and molecular microbiological methods, “in vitro” bioremediation assays and groundwater numerical modeling, has been established to identify optimized solutions for remediating aquifers contaminated with organic pollutants. Bacteria have been isolated from an aquifer contaminated with toluene and methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE), selected for their growth with contaminants as a sole carbon source and identified through 16S rDNA partial sequencing. Successive biodegradation laboratory tests have been performed to determine which chemical conditions were more appropriate for the isolated bacteria to more efficiently oxidize toluene and MTBE. A groundwater model was created using FEFLOW code first to determine the movement of the plume front and second to simulate the impact of the biodegradation processes along the groundwater flow directions based on the bioremediation rates obtained in the laboratory. The results show that this innovative and interdisciplinary model can be used to assist in developing monitoring and remediation plans for cleaning up complex contaminated groundwater sites. This approach successfully combines the identification of the optimum biogeochemical conditions for bacterial biodegradation to occur with the predictability of the development of the process over time, ensuring decisive support in the management of contaminated sites. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Application of spatial and non-spatial data analysis in determination of the factors that impact municipal solid waste generation rates in Turkey

In studies focusing on the factors that impact solid waste generation habits and rates, the potential spatial dependency in solid waste generation data is not considered in relating the waste generation rates to its determinants. In this study, spatial dependency is taken into account in determination of the significant socio-economic and climatic factors that may be of importance for the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rates in different provinces of Turkey. Simultaneous spatial autoregression (SAR) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models are used for the spatial data analyses. Similar to ordinary least squares regression (OLSR), regression coefficients are global in SAR model. In other words, the effect of a given independent variable on a dependent variable is valid for the whole country. Unlike OLSR or SAR, GWR reveals the local impact of a given factor (or independent variable) on the waste generation rates of different provinces. Results show that provinces within closer neighborhoods have similar MSW generation rates. On the other hand, this spatial autocorrelation is not very high for the exploratory variables considered in the study. OLSR and SAR models have similar regression coefficients. GWR is useful to indicate the local determinants of MSW generation rates. GWR model can be utilized to plan waste management activities at local scale including waste minimization, collection, treatment, and disposal. At global scale, the MSW generation rates in Turkey are significantly related to unemployment rate and asphalt-paved roads ratio. Yet, significances of these variables may diminish at local scale for some provinces. At local scale, different factors may be important in affecting MSW generation rates.     

Industrial hazardous waste treatment facilities in Thailand

In Thailand, hazardous waste is becoming a major problem, especially toxic chemicals and heavy metal pollutants discharged from factories. The Industrial Works Department (IWD), which has full responsibility for the control of all factory pollution problems, has initiated a joint hazardous waste treatment programme for handling industrial liquid, sludge and solid hazardous wastes from all factories situated in and around Bangkok and the eastern seaboard region. Four industrial hazardous wastes treatment centres are planned. Secure landfills together with research and development centres will also be provided nearby for the ultimate disposal of the inert-salt sludges. The investment, operation and management of the centres is to be handled by private companies which can generate revenue by charging service fees directly to their customers. Since both governmental and private sectors have no experience in this field, a grant system for a pilot centre has been launched by the Government which has reduced the operating costs by providing land, treatment facilities, infrastructure and secured landfills. The first treatment centre which was officially planned in 1985 was put into operation in July 1988 at Samea Dam, Bangkhuntien District, a western suburb of Bangkok. The construction of all necessary facilities was paid for by the Government. The operation and management of the centre is handled by a private contractor, Siam Control Company (SCC) under a 5-year lease. The users will pay service fees directly to the contractor and the Government will receive a rental and royalty fee from the contractor.     

Solvent extraction and soil washing treatment of contaminated soils from wood preserving sites: Bench‐scale studies

Bench‐scale solvent extraction and soil washing studies were performed on soil samples obtained from three abandoned wood preserving sites included in the National Priority List. The soil samples from these sites were contaminated with high levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pentachlorophenol (PCP), dioxins, and heavy metals. The effectiveness of the solvent extraction process was assessed using liquefied propane or dimethyl ether as solvents over a range of operating conditions. These studies have demonstrated that a two‐stage solvent extraction process using dimethyl ether as a solvent at a ratio of 1.61 per kg of soil could decrease dioxin levels in the soil by 93.0 to 98.9 percent, and PCP levels by 95.1 percent. Reduction percentages for benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) potency estimate and total detected PAHs were 82.4 and 98.6 percent, respectively. Metals concentrations were not reduced by the solvent extraction treatment. These removal levels could be significantly improved using a multistage extraction system. Commercial scale solvent extraction using liquefied gases costs about $220 per ton of contaminated soil. However, field application of this technology at the United Creosote site, Conroe, Texas, failed to perform to the level observed at bench scale due to the excessive foaming and air emission problem. Soil washing using surfactant solution and wet screening treatability studies were also performed on the soil samples in order to assess remediation strategies for sites. Although aqueous phase solubility of contaminants seemed to be the most important factor affecting removal of contaminants from soil, surfactant solutions (3 percent by weight) having nonionic surfactants with hydrophile‐lipophile balance (HLB) of about 14 (Makon‐12 and Igepal CA 720) reduced the PAH levels by an average of 71 percent, compared to no measurable change when pure deionized water was used. Large fractioza of clay and silt (<0.06mm), high le!ezielsof orgaizic contami‐ nants and hzimic acid can makesoil washing less applicable.