Stabilization treatment of contaminated soil: a field-scale application in Shanghai, China

Stabilization is one of the best demonstrated available technologies for treating toxic pollutants in soils and has been used worldwide but is rarely used for treatment of contaminated sites in China despite many bench-scale studies. Here, a field-scale application of stabilization treatment in Shanghai, China was summarized to demonstrate the whole engineering process and the key technical issues regarding stabilization of contaminated soil. A site contaminated with arsenic (As) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), formerly used as a lighting plant in Shanghai, was chosen as the demonstration site. Stabilizing measures were taken to treat the contaminated soil to reuse the site for residential purposes. The whole engineering remediation process consisted of phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) and phase II ESA, quantitative human health risk assessment, remediation alternatives evaluation, bench-scale testing, remedial design, engineering implementation, and post-remediation assessment. A third party conducted evaluation monitoring indicated desirable results were achieved via the stabilization treatment. In addition, some technical obstacles related to soil stabilization treatment were discussed, including soil quality evaluation, stabilization effectiveness validation, and soil reuse assessment.