Comparative life-cycle sustainability assessment o...Description
Remediation of contaminated soil at industrial sites has become a challenge and an opportunity for sustainable urban land use, considering the substantial secondary impacts resulting from remediation activities. The design of soil remediation strategies for multi-site remediation from a regional perspective is of great significance for cities with a large number of brownfields. Centralized and decentralized facilities have been studied in different environmental fields, yet limited research has focused on centralized soil remediation, specifically the treatment of contaminated soil from different sites through the construction of shared soil treatment facilities. This study proposes a framework for comparing centralized and decentralized strategies for contaminated soil remediation based on the integration of life-cycle sustainability assessment and multi-objective optimization. With Zhuzhou, an industrial city in China, serving as an example, results show that after optimization,...
2024 Analysis of sustainable remediation techniques and...Description
It is generally accepted that risk assessment provides the most objective and robust basis for contaminated sites' decision-making, for example, to determine whether action is necessary and, if so, what action should be taken (Vegter et al., 2002 ). However, as long ago as the late 1980s, there has been concern that, while remediation may be needed, remediation processes themselves may have wider impacts that are problematic, for example, from secondary emissions or their level of use of fossil carbon (Bardos & van Veen, 1996 ). This led to the emergence of “environmental merit” as a decision-making criterion for remedial approach selection in the Netherlands in the early 1990s, with analogous approaches then developing elsewhere, for instance, in the United Kingdom (Environment Agency, 2000 ; Netherland Onderzoeksprogramma Biotechnologische In situ Sanering [NOBIS], 1995a , 1995b ). During the 1990s, wider economic and social considerations began to play a role in technology...
2024 Concawe: Case Studies and Analysis of Sustainable ...Description
Report no. 11/23: The concept of sustainable remediation has become well established in the remediation industry and its application has spread around the world. However, there is a recognised gap in the provision of detailed case studies documenting the practical implementation of sustainable remediation in the real world, particularly in a European context. A consequence of this gap is that the further refinement of guidance is impeded by a lack of knowledge of what aspects work well in practice, versus poorly. Concawe commissioned a study to a) gather, prepare and publish ten European case studies that demonstrate sustainable remediation techniques and technologies and b) provide an analysis of the case studies to identify key success factors that facilitated the adoption and success of these projects at different sites. A long-list of twenty case studies was identified. Each case study was scored by the project team on how closely it matched ISO Standard on Sustainable...
2023 Valorization of fibres from nettle grown on margin...Description
NETFIB’s overall aim is to develop the capacity for farmers and other land managers to recover nettle as a fibre crop from marginal land, which would otherwise remain under-used, in conjunction with the phytomanagment of that land to manage any risks from it ("The NETFIB Concept").
2023 How Can Hybrid Materials Enable a Circular Economy...Description
Climate change, critical material shortages and environmental degradation pose an existential threat tothe entire world. Immediate action is needed to transform the global economy towards a more circular economywith less intensive use of fossil energy and limited resources and more use of recyclable materials. Recyclablematerials and manufacturing techniques will play a critical role in this transformation. Substantial advancementswill be needed to achieve a more intelligent materials design to enhance both functionality and enhancedsustainability. The development of hybrid materials combining functionality at macro and nano scales based onorganic and inorganic compounds, that are entirely recyclable could be used for tremendous applications. In thismini-review, we provide the reader with recent innovations on hybrid materials for application in water, energyand raw materials sectors. The topic is very modern and after its deep study we propose a creation an internationalresearch...
2023 Baseline survey on socio-economic impact for Wetla...Description
Sustainable remediation is the practice of demonstrating, that the benefit of undertakingremediation is greater than its impact and that the optimum remediation solution is selectedthrough the use of a balanced decision-making process. Assessing sustainable remediation is siteand project specific, and is strongly multifactorial across a wide range of categories, which may ormay not be readily quantifiable. A series of 45 indicators across environment, society, andeconomy impacts were used to evaluate the relative sustainability of using an advanced form ofwetland treatment for contaminated waters. This Wetland+® remedial technology was comparedto one of the conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the no-action scenario TheWetland+® remedial technology was designed and constructed on a full scale at Hajek (CzechRepublic) to treat HCH contaminated water. In this initial qualitative assessment the general trendof sustainability was Wetland+® > WWTP > no intervention. The...
2022 Nettle, a Long-Known Fiber Plant with New Perspect...Description
The stinging nettle Urtica dioica L. is a perennial crop with low fertilizer and pesticide requirements, well adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. It has been successfully grown in most European climatic zones while also promoting local flora and fauna diversity. The cultivation of nettle could help meet the strong increase in demand for raw materials based on plant fibers as a substitute for artificial fibers in sectors as diverse as the textile and automotive industries. In the present review, we present a historical perspective of selection, harvest, and fiber processing features where the state of the art of nettle varietal selection is detailed. A synthesis of the general knowledge about its biology, adaptability, and genetics constituents, highlighting gaps in our current knowledge on interactions with other organisms, is provided. We further addressed cultivation and processing features, putting a special emphasis on harvesting systems and fiber extraction...
2022 Developing field-scale, gentle remediation options...Description
The remediation of contaminated land using plants, bacteria and fungi has been widely examined, especially in laboratory or greenhouse systems where conditions are precisely controlled. However, in real systems at the field scale conditions are much more variable and often produce different outcomes, which must be fully examined if ‘gentle remediation options’, or GROs, are to be more widely implemented, and their associated benefits (beyond risk-management) realized. These secondary benefits can be significant if GROs are applied correctly, and can include significant biodiversity enhancements. Here, we assess recent developments in the field-scale application of GROs for the remediation of two model contaminants for nuclear site remediation (90Sr and 137Cs), their risk management efficiency, directions for future application and research, and barriers to their further implementation at scale. We also discuss how wider benefits, such as biodiversity enhancements, water filtration...
2022 Sustainable remediation column: Sustainable remedi...Description
A number of sustainable remediation tools are available and provide support ranging from simple qualitative assessments to complex, cradle-to-grave quantitative evaluations. The primary objective of using these tools is to gain a better understanding of the remedy from a net environmental benefit perspective by looking at remediation approaches holistically. In this column, several members of the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) in the United States and in the UK answered the following question: What sustainable remediation tools do you use and what value do they provide? What sustainable remediation tool do you wish you had or would like to see in the future?
2022 A Questionnaire Survey on Contaminated Site Regula...Description
Government contaminated site regulators, as policy executors and makers, have a profound impact on the development of green and sustainable remediation (GSR), but their cognitive level of GSR has not been well-studied. China has some experience in the management of contaminated sites and has the foundation to promote GSR. This study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire to investigate the understanding of GSR among Chinese site regulators at different levels. The study found that there was still a lot of resistance to promoting GSR in China. Firstly, even though the regulators thought GSR was necessary in China, most of them did not know GSR very well or lacked practical experience. Secondly, existing national and provincial policy standards did not have a good balance between the environmental, social and economic aspects, but gave priority to the environmental factors. Thirdly, the lack of standard and regulatory requirements was the most significant barrier to the...
2021 The regulatory policy and guidance regime for the ...Description
Historic land contamination in England is managed primarily via a specific regulatory regime called “Part 2A” and via the planning system which governs land use across the country. The contaminated sites regime in England is mature stretching back to before the 1990s. The primary modus operandi is risk management to assess and determine appropriate actions for suspect contaminated sites. An environmental permitting regime regulates ongoing (and recent) industrial, waste management, and other processes with potential for environmental emissions. This may demand a more stringent basis for remediation given that current working processes should already be subject to effective environmental controls. A range of risk-based thresholds is used for making site determinations, in particular on whether a site is formally determined as “contaminated.” Although there is no formal national inventory, information on contaminated sites is generally available. Moreover, there is a wide range of...
2021 Integrated phytomanagement of a carbon tetrachlori...Description
The application of a large-scale (ca. 59,000 m2) integrated phytomanagement system at a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-impacted site at Murdock, Nebraska, USA, was assessed in terms of its effectiveness in mitigating site risk, and realizing wider social and environmental benefits. Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) concentrations (including CCl4) measured in surface water, groundwater, air and vegetation samples show that the Murdock system has achieved effective risk management over the 10+ year period since its implementation, with the phytomanagement component of the remediation system (consisting of a mixed stand of dominantly Niobe willow (Salix x ‘Niobe’) and Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)) removing 300g–600g of CCl4 annually. Eastern Cottonwood played an increasing role in CCl4 removal over time, from 55% of the total mass removal in 2008 to 69% in 2014. Using a site design focused on enhancement of the social and physical environment, in addition to risk mitigation, has...
2021 Sustainability benefits and the value added of rec...Description
Construction sites are essentially urban mines that often simply discard the product. The purpose of the excavation is for a building or infrastructure and the timeline for the project is typically urgent so the value of this excavated product has tended to be seen as small, comparatively speaking, and so it has been sent to disposal sites. However, the increasing cost of transport and disposal of these discarded excavated materials is becoming harder to ignore. Moreover, the potential liabilities of inappropriately discarded materials have now become extremely high following a 2018 decision of HMRC to make these liable for landfill tax at the active rate plus a 100% premium, i.e. around £200 per tonne. On the flip side many sites need to import soil and/or aggregate for a variety of purposes such as land raising, for geotechnical reasons or for landscaping. The cost of virgin materials is steadily increasing.
2020 Sustainability assessment framework and indicators...Description
The scale of land-contamination problems, and of the responses to them, makes achieving sustainability in contaminated land remediation an important objective. The Sustainable Remediation Forum in the UK (SuRF-UK) was established in 2007 to support more sustainable remediation practices in the UK. The prevailing international consensus is that risk assessment is the most rational approach for determining remediation needs and urgency. Sustainability in this context is related to the effective delivery of whatever risk management is necessary to protect human health or the wider environment. SuRF-UK suggests that decisions made at the project planning stage, and also in the choice of remediation approach used to reach particular objectives decided upon, are both opportunities for sustainability gain. In 2011, SuRF-UK issued a set of wide-ranging indicators to support sustainability assessments made during project planning and remediation option appraisal. This advice was reviewed over...
2020 Supplementary Report 1 of the SuRF-UK Framework: A...Description
The United Kingdom’s Sustainable Remediation Forum (SuRF-UK) was established in 2007 to develop a sustainable remediation framework. The SuRF-UK Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Soil and Groundwater Remediation (CL:AIRE, 2010) helps assessors include sustainable development considerations into land remediation decisions. Further work has been published by CL:AIRE and is freely available through the SuRFUK Roadmap: https://www.claire.co.uk/surf-uk. This body of work includes the world’s first (and so far only) guidance on identifying indicators for the assessment of sustainable remediation: Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Soil and Groundwater Remediation, Annex 1: The SuRF-UK Indicator Set for Sustainable Remediation Assessment (CL:AIRE, 2011).
2020 Supplementary Report 2 of the SuRF-UK Framework: S...Description
The United Kingdom’s Sustainable Remediation Forum (SuRF-UK) was established in 2007 to develop a sustainable remediation framework. The SuRF-UK Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Soil and Groundwater Remediation (CL:AIRE, 2010) helps assessors include sustainable development considerations into land remediation decisions. Further work has been published by CL:AIRE and is freely available through the SuRFUK Roadmap: https://www.claire.co.uk/surf-uk. This body of work includes the world’s first (and so far only) guidance on identifying indicators for the assessment of sustainable remediation: Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Soil and Groundwater Remediation, Annex 1: The SuRF-UK Indicator Set for Sustainable Remediation Assessment (CL:AIRE, 2011).
2020 Integrated and sustainable management of post-indu...Description
The sustainable management of post-industrial coasts is a major emerging issue globally. Along such coasts, there may be a significant legacy of both contaminated land (including historic landfills and non-managed waste disposal) and contaminated sediments in and around urban and industrial areas, which require new strategies for cost-effective and integrated risk management under future sea-level rise and climate change scenarios. Here, we review current approaches to managing contamination in post-industrial coastlines, discuss emerging integrated management strategies (building on low input approaches to sustainable brownfields regeneration) and present an approach and framework for assessing and comparing different scenarios for coastal brownfield regeneration to soft re-use and other end-points. This framework can be applied to explore the opportunities for synergy and realization of wider environmental, economic and societal benefits between coastal protection, dredged material...
2020 Overview of soil and groundwater remediationDescription
This book offers various soil and water treatment technologies due to increasing global soil and water pollution. In many countries, the management of contaminated land has matured, and it is developing in many others. Topics covered include chemical and ecological risk assessment of contaminated sites; phytomanagement of contaminants; arsenic removal; selection and technology diffusion; technologies and socio-environmental management; post-remediation long-term management; soil and groundwater laws and regulations; and trace element regulation limits in soil. Future prospects of soil and groundwater remediation are critically discussed in this book. Hence, readers will learn to understand the future prospects of soil and groundwater contaminants and remediation measures. Key Features: Discusses conventional and novel aspects of soil and groundwater remediation technologies Includes new monitoring/sensing technologies for soil and groundwater pollution Features a case study of...
2020 The sustainability of nanoremediation two initial ...Description
Sustainable Remediation of Contaminated Soil and Groundwater: Materials, Processes, and Assessment provides the remediation tools and techniques necessary for simultaneously saving time and money and maximizing environmental, social and economic benefits. The book integrates green materials, cleaner processes, and sustainability assessment methods for planning, designing and implementing a more effective remediation process for both soil and groundwater projects. With this book in hand, engineers will find a valuable guide to greener remediation materials that render smaller environmental footprint, cleaner processes that minimize secondary environmental impact, and sustainability assessment methods that can be used to guide the development of materials and processes.
2019 Kosovo: Healing Land for the FutureDescription
This report provides a recommended program for contaminated site management over a relatively long (20-year) time horizon. This program will help Kosovo to prevent potentially significant unforeseen consequences in several economic areas, including real estate markets and public budgets, and to avoid the pressure to accept legislation that is not optimal for the country’s social and environmental needs. The program will also assist Kosovo’s compliance directly and indirectly with existing and emerging EU legislation and strategies as a part of its European Union (EU) accession candidacy. This report focuses on the legacy from point sources (contaminated sites). The recommended program is a well-defined and investable program, strongly oriented toward capacity building and a learning-by-doing approach for Kosovar stakeholders and practitioners. The program reflects good practice in management, policy, and regulation in other European countries (Nathanail et al. 2013). Moreover, it...
2019 Using a conceptual site model for assessing the su...Description
Brownfield regeneration to soft reuse such as recreation and amenity has become increasingly common due to the demand for the potential environmental, social and economic benefits that it can deliver. This has led in turn to an increased demand for improved tools to support decision-making for this style of regeneration: tools which are simple to use, based on robust scientific principles and preferably which can ultimately link to quantitative or semi-quantitative cost-benefit analyses. This work presents an approach to assessing and comparing different scenarios for brownfield regeneration to soft reuse and other end-points. A “sustainability linkages” approach, based on sustainability assessment criteria produced by the UK Sustainable Remediation Forum (SuRF-UK), is developed and used in a refined qualitative sustainability assessment, and applied to develop a conceptual site model of sustainability, for a specific case study site (Port Sunlight River Park, U.K., a public leisure...
2019 Resilient remediation: Addressing extreme weather ...Description
Recent devastating hurricanes demonstrated that extreme weather and climate change can jeopardize contaminated land remediation and harm public health and the environment. Since early 2016, the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) has led research and organized knowledge exchanges to examine (1) the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on hazardous waste sites, and (2) how we can mitigate these impacts and create value for communities. The SURF team found that climate change and extreme weather events can undermine the effectiveness of the approved site remediation, and can also affect contaminant toxicity, exposure, organism sensitivity, fate and transport, long-term operations, management, and stewardship of remediation sites. Further, failure to consider social vulnerability to climate change could compromise remediation and adaptation strategies. SURF's recommendations for resilient remediation build on resources and drivers from state, national, and international...
2018 Status of nanoremediation and its potential for fu...Description
NanoRem (Taking Nanotechnological Remediation Processes from Lab Scale to End User Applications for the Restoration of a Clean Environment) was a research project, funded through the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, which focuses on facilitating practical, safe, economic, and exploitable nanotechnology for in situ remediation of polluted soil and groundwater, which closed in January 2017. This article describes the status of the nanoremediation implementation and future opportunities for deployment based on risk-benefit appraisal and benchmarking undertaken in the NanoRem Project. As of November 2016, NanoRem identified 100 deployments of nanoremediation in the field. While the majority of these are pilot-scale deployments, there are a number of large scale deployments over the last five to 10 years. Most applications have been for plume control (i.e., pathway management in groundwater), but a number of source control measures appear to have taken place....
2018 Practice Makes PerfectDescription
A significant amount of soil and other excavated materials from development sites are still disposed of as waste at landfill sites every year, estimated at more than 30m tonnes. Very often these materials could be reused, often fairly readily, on other developments sites, such as for engineering fill or landscaping, for example. However, the structure of waste regulations, resulting from the Waste Framework Directive, do not always make this reuse straight-forward. It is the express aim of the Environment Agency to “encourage the appropriate remediation of brownfield land” and “reduce the amount of material that is sent for disposal”1. In 2009, a Code of Practice initiative for the development industry, known as the “DoW-CoP”, was published and instigated by CL:AIRE in cooperation with the Environment Agency and many other stakeholders.
2018 Sustainability of Brownfield Regeneration for Soft...Description
The aim of this study has been to assess the overall sustainability gain (economic, environmental and social benefits) of transforming a former landfill site in the Wirral to a riverside park, the Port Sunlight River Park (PSRP). The Land Trust are particularly interested to have a financial evaluation of these sustainability benefits to help demonstrate the value that the park has generated and will continue to generate to stakeholders. The study was a co-operation between the Land Trust, the University of Brighton and Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (China) who supplied a PhD student on a one year secondment to carry out the research over 2016. The report was further refined until May 2017.
2018 The Development and Use of Sustainability Criteria...Description
Sustainability considerations have become widely recognised in contaminated land management and are now accepted as an important component of remediation planning and implementation around the world. The Sustainable Remediation Forum for the UK (SuRF-UK) published guidance on sustainability criteria for consideration in drawing up (or framing) assessments, organised across 15 “headline” categories, five for the environment element of sustainability, five for the social, and five for the economic. This paper describes how the SuRF-UK indicator guidance was developed, and the rationale behind its structure and approach. It describes its use in remediation option appraisal in the UK, and reviews the international papers that have applied or reviewed it. It then reviews the lessons learned from its initial use and the opinions and findings of international commentators, and concludes with recommendations on how the indicator categories might be further refined in the future. The key...
2018 Sustainable RemediationDescription
Contaminated land is a major global challenge. Large areas of contaminated or brownfield land exist in higher income countries, eg, ~2.5m sites are suspected across Europe1 (300,000 of these in the UK2, although not all of these will need remediation). 126,000 sites in the USA are thought to be sufficiently polluted as to require remediation3. Lower and middle-income countries also suffer substantial land contamination problems. Significant problems include persistent organic pollutants (eg, see www.ihpa.info); mercury contamination particularly from small scale gold mining; contamination of agricultural land (eg, nearly 20 percent of farmland in China is thought to be contaminated4) and discharges from large scale industrial complexes and processing facilities.
2018 Market potential of nanoremediation in Europe - Ma...Description
A deliberate expert-based scenario approach is applied to better understand the likely determinants of the evolution of the market for nanoparticles use in remediation in Europe until 2025. An initial set of factors had been obtained from a literature review and was complemented by a workshop and key-informant interviews. In further expert engaging formats - focus groups, workshops, conferences, surveys - this initial set of factors was condensed and engaged experts scored the factors regarding their importance for being likely to influence the market development. An interaction matrix was obtained identifying the factors being most active in shaping the market development in Europe by 2025, namely “Science-Policy-Interface” and “Validated information on nanoparticle application potential”. Based on these, potential scenarios were determined and development of factors discussed. Conclusions are offered on achievable interventions to enhance nanoremediation deployment.
2018 Contaminated land in Colombia: A critical review o...Description
Environmental contaminants can have negative effects on human health and land, air and water resources. Consequently, there have been significant advances in regulation for protecting the environment in developed countries including the development of remediation frameworks and guidelines. On the other hand, fewer studies have been reported on the risks and health effects of contaminants in developing regions and there is scarce information regarding contaminated land assessment and environmental remediation. Colombia is an important emerging economy and has started to take the first steps towards the development of a framework for the management of contaminated sites and there are opportunities for the country to learn from countries with well-established frameworks such as the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) and for international collaboration with organisations such as CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CARE). We review main...
2018 Strategies for rehabilitating mercury- contaminate...Description
The UK Prosperity Fund project in Colombia on Strategies for rehabilitating mercurycontaminated mining lands for renewable energy and other self-sustaining re-use strategies ran from mid-2016 until early 2017. It intended to deliver change by providing a range of science based strategies to rehabilitate mining sites affected by soil mercury pollution in disadvantaged areas and bring them back into productive use focusing on renewable energy opportunities and/or other services as most appropriate. It also supported the Foreign and Commonwealth Office goals of increasing regional stability, facilitating sustainable economic growth, harnessing innovation in particular for low carbon development, supporting OECD accession, and identifying possibilities for new community enterprise. The aim of this document is to showcase the kind of analysis that can be conducted to determine the preliminary feasibility of siting renewable energy production on both contaminated mining sites as well as an...
2017 Policy Briefing: Strategies for rehabilitating mer...Description
The aim of this short briefing is to explain how low input (gentle) remediation combined with soft (non-built) re-use of land can provide a sustainable and cost-effective means of restoring land for longer term economic and community benefit, for example on mercury impacted sites resulting from artisanal gold mining. Colombia has an enormous opportunity for the generation of renewable resources, such as energy from its land, from photovoltaic energy as an example. Linking the safe re-use of mining brownfields (following application of low input 'gentle' remediation techniques) with the generation of renewables presents a 'virtuous' opportunity for land (re)use for several reasons: A variety of local energy market arrangements are possible: The approach is scalable-workable as community based projects as well as large projects with major mining companies. The income from renewables can help offset the cost of making the land safe, for example, from mobile mercury contamination. ...
2017 There Are More Than Three Reasons to Consider Sust...Description
This article provides an overview of the developments concerning sustainable remediation (SR) from the authors’ perspective. A short history of policy development is outlined, in which the focus mainly lies on the Netherlands since this is the homeland of the majority of the authors. The Netherlands is a densely populated country with high pressure on land and was in the forefront of developments in soil policy. The authors plead for simplicity in approaches, as history has proven that the simpler theory more often is true, and above all will better be understood by stakeholders and, thus, will more easily lead to consensus. Implicitly the authors make clear that SR not only has benefits from a societal, economic, and environmental point of view, but if the methodologies are implemented correctly, it leads to more robust and supported decision making. Moreover, it opens the road to flexible and integral remedial objectives that enable innovative and creative solutions for soil and...
2017 Dealing with Contaminated SitesFrom Theory towards...Description
Sustainable remediation has come to exist as a popular term used to describe contaminated site management that is demonstrably sustainable, i.e. where some form of sustainability appraisal has been used in decision making to identify the “most sustainable” approach for any particular management intervention required. The “most sustainable” approach is one that, in the view of the stakeholders involved in making or considering management decisions, has the optimal balance of effects and benefits across the three elements of sustainability: environment, economy and society. This chapter describes how the Brundtland Report concept of sustainable development can be linked with contaminated site remediation practice, both how sustainability can be assessed and used as a tool in decision making; and also how sustainability thinking is creating new contaminated site remediation approaches, for example, marrying concepts of Risk Management and renewable energy production. The chapter...
2016 HOMBRE D 6.2 integrated framework for systematic e...Description
Markham Vale is a former colliery site in the East Midlands of England, between the city of Chesterfield and the town of Bolsover. Since the early 2000s a redevelopment scheme has been in progress on the site which seeks to replace the skilled engineering industry lost when the colliery and other surrounding engineering industry closed. The Brownfield REMIT/RESPONSE tool is a systems-based application which allows a site to be analysed within the context of the urban system within which it resides: examining how the project might affect the system and how the system might affect the project. Thus it allows comparisons between competing plans for a site, or analysis of a plan for bottlenecks or weaknesses. The application of the tool requires a conceptual model of the site and system to be constructed including information concerning the environmental, economic and social aspects. The system is broken down into a series of ‘component’ parts, and the relationships between pairs of...
2014 Progress in Sustainable Remediation, IN Battelle C...Description
In the past decade or so management of historically contaminated land has largely been based on prevention of unacceptable risks to human health and the environment, to ensure a site is ‘fit for use’, i.e. achieves suitability for beneficial uses. More recently, interest as been shown in including sustainability as a decision-making criterion. Sustainability concerns include the environmental, social, and economic consequences of risk management activities themselves, and also the opportunities for wider benefit beyond achievement of risk-reduction goals alone. This paper provides a global round up of progress by these initiatives and provides signposting to their documentation. It reviews common themes and points of divergence. Information is based on literature review and surveying the various networks involved, with a particular focus on recent developments in the UK. The global round-up updates a previous global roundup presented in Europe in 2013 at Aquaconsoil 2013 (Bardos et...
2014 International Processes for Identification and Rem...Description
Contaminated land is recognised to be a complex challenge usually requiring considerable time, significant expertise and substantial funds to define and tackle. International convergence in policy reflects two decades of sharing experiences at various national, European and international fora, collaborative projects through the EU and the revolution in information dissemination brought about by national bodies embracing the internet as a means of communication. However, this means neither uniformity nor stasis. Patterns of behaviour do emerge. Countries go through an exploration stage where funding is in plentiful supply, pioneering projects establish local reputations, inventories reveal the extent of impacted land and the process of dealing with the legacy of contamination gets under way. Risk based approaches are widely adopted, though the foundational role of the conceptual model (ASTM, 2008; Environment Agency, 2004) and the legal context are not so widely appreciated. Many...
2013 Sustainable and green remediation - global updateDescription
A number of networks worldwide are debating how to achieve sustainable development when remediating or regenerating damaged sites or land area. These include established national initiatives such as SURF in the USA, SuRF-UK, SuRF-NL, SuRF-ANZ and SURF-Canada as well as newer initiatives in other countries, e.g. Italy, Brazil and China. The two major European stakeholder networks, NICOLE and COMMON FORUM, are also active in this field. There is a remarkable degree of consensus across these initiatives about what a vision “sustainable remediation” might be. In broad terms concepts of sustainable remediation are based on the achievement of a net benefit overall across a range of environmental, economic and social concerns that are judged to be representative of sustainability.
2013 Crop Based Systems for Sustainable Risk Based Land...Description
The Rejuvenate project was initiated by a desk study carried out by four organisations from the United Kingdom (UK), Sweden the Netherlands and Germany. Its goal was to assess the potential opportunity for using marginal land, in particular brownfields and other previously developed or contaminated land, for producing biomass. This biomass could be used for energy, fuel production or as a feedstock. The aims of the first phase were (i) to explore the feasibility of a range of possible approaches to combine risk based land management (RBLM) with non-food crop land-uses and organic matter re-use as appropriate, (ii) to identify a range of potential opportunities worthy of further development in the UK, Germany and Sweden and in a wider European context, (iii) to assess how verification of their performance might be carried out and (iv) to identify what requirements remain for future research, development and demonstration.
2013 Conceptual Site or Project Models for Sustainabili...Description
This paper explores adaptation of basic contaminated land risk management methodologies to sustainable regeneration and remediation: • For a sustainability effect to be manifest there needs to be a “pressure” of some kind, a “receptor” that can be affected by that pressure; and, crucially, a mechanism through which the pressure influences the receptor. All three: pressure, mechanism and receptor need to be present and linked for a sustainability effect to exist – i.e. a sustainability linkage; • A relatively straight forward conceptual model of sustainability can be described on a site specific basis (site conceptual model) using sustainability linkages • These can be evaluated for their importance (significance) in a consistent way • Not all effects will be large enough to cause a noticeable benefit or harm and thresholds can often be described A conceptual site model for sustainability can assist design, option appraisal, verification and valuation for regeneration projects. A site...
2012 Biofuels from Contaminated Land - A Sustainable Co...Description
Desktop studies of two Swedish contaminated sites has indicated that growing biofuel crops on these sites may be more environmentally beneficial than alternative risk management approaches such as excavation / removal or containment The demand for biofuel increases pressure on the cultivatable soil of the world. While contaminated land is not very suitable for food production, cultivation of low and medium contaminated soil may remove some pressure from agricultural soils. For larger sites, biofuel cultivation may be economically viable without a remediation bonus. Suitable sites have topographic conditions that allow agricultural machinery, are not in urgent need of remediation, and contamination levels are not plant toxic. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was done for two cases. The (desk top) case studies were - Case K, a 5000 m2 site where salix (willow) was cultivated with hand-held machinery and the biofuel harvest was left on site, and - Case F, a 12 ha site were on site ensuring...
2011 Rejuvenate: Brownfields, Renewables, Carbon and Re...Description
The Rejuvenate project is a desk study carried out by four organisations from the United Kingdom, Sweden the Netherlands and Germany. Its goal is to highlight the potential opportunity for using marginal or degraded land, in particular brownfields and other previously developed or contaminated land, for producing biomass. This biomass could be used for energy, fuel production or as a feedstock. The use of marginal/degraded land may ofer sustainability advantages in regions where it is present in significant amounts and cannot be readily used for built development. In addition, composts and other recycled organic matter may play an important role in the soil improvement and management necessary for the cultivation of these non-food crops.
2009 Developments in Sustainability Assessment within C...Description
Since the end of the last century there has been a general international consensus that the basis of decision making for the management of the problems of historically contaminated land should be on the basis of asessment of risks to human health and environmental receptors. More recently there has been an increasing interest in including sustainability as a decision-making criterion, in particular to consider the impacts of a risk management process themselves, but also to explore wider opportunities for benefit by integrating remediation with other desirable activities. Sustainable remediation has come to exist as a popular term used to describe contaminated site management that is demonstrably sustainable, i.e. where some form of sustainability appraisal has been used in decision making to identify the 'most suitable' approach for any particular management intervention required. The 'most sustainable' approach is one that, in the view of the stakeholders involved in making or...
2009 Integrated Modelling of the river-sediment-soil-gr...Description
The objectives of Aquaterra are: To provide better understanding of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system at various temporal and spatial scales.To provide the scientific basis for improved river basin management. To develop specific tools for water and soil quality monitoring. To develop integrated modelling for impact evaluation of pollutionaswell as climate and land-use changes for definition of long-termmanagement schemes. These objectives will be achieved through 10 sub-projects with BASIN investigating selected sites in five contrasting European river basins (Brévilles, Ebro, Meuse, Elbe and Danube). This sub-project concentrates on soil–groundwater–river as well as floodplain–sediment–river interactions. Building on this, BIOGEOCHEM investigates soil-filter and transport functions, the fate of pollutants in soils and sediments in order to determine impacts on water quality. This work combines with FLUX that investigates transport and turnover of inorganic and organic...
2009 Biofuel and other biomass based products from cont...Description
The work performed in this report is part of the Rejuvenate Project. The aims of the full Rejuvenate project are to explore the feasibility of a range of possible approaches to combine risk based land management (RBLM) with non-food crop land-uses and organic matter re-use as appropriate; identify potential opportunities worthy of further development in a wider European context; assess how verification of their performance might be carried out and identify what requirements remain for future research, development and demonstration. In this report, results are presented based on interviews and literature surveys on the triggers and stoppers for non food crop on contaminated land in Sweden. The report also includes a first estimate of potential marginal land for biofuel production in Sweden.
2009 Contaminated Land Management Ready ReferenceDescription
600 pages of easy-to-use tables, checklists and flowcharts provide a wealth of practical detail on techniques, equipment, procedures, health and safety, timescale and costs. The tables are supported by reference to key documents, including official guidance. An on-site companion for practitioners in the field and a valuable reference resource for libraries, the Ready Reference will also be of benefit to surveyors, legal advisers and all those who need an accessible overview of the essential elements of robust strategies for the management of contaminated sites. The Ready Reference is in looseleaf format, and updates will be issued as appropriate. Price variable, billed separately - with no obligation to purchase. The book was last updated in 2007.
2007 Risk Management Model Annexed report Description
The aim of this report is to suggest a risk management approach for the Markham Willows site and identify how its performance should be evaluated over a ten-year time frame (the risk management model). The approach involves a combination of detailed quantitative risk assessment with localised remedial action to demonstrably break pollutant linkages giving rise to unacceptable risks to human health, controlled waters or the environment. This report is based on an initial desk top site investigation carried out by Derbyshire County Council, and applies the risk assessment and options appraisal mechanisms suggested in the draft Model Procedures (Environment Agency 2003). It uses the following criteria to evaluate risk management options (based on Bardos et al. 2002) within the Model Procedure approach.
2004 Waste Management Model Annexed report Description
The summary report considers the local realities of waste management in terms of waste procurement, treatment technologies, and use of composts and markets, with an overview of the regulatory status for the project. The position and the involvement of the district authorities, both from the aspect of procuring waste and also from the environmental regulation and governmental requirements that constrain the districts will also be considered .It will be essential that the districts who consider Markham Willows as a partner for the treatment of their waste can do so in complete confidence that they will meet best value guide lines criteria and that the use of Markham Willows stands up to auditable scrutiny. An important aspect of the Markham Willows project is its approach to the treatment of the colliery spoil surface. Sewage sludge has been traditionally used to provide nutrients for growth promotion in remediation projects. For the Markham Willows project a mixture of sewage sludge...
2003 Non biological methods for assessment and remediat...Description
Traditional techniques for the assessment and remediation of contamination have technical, financial and practical limitations. An increasing number of “innovative” techniques are available within the UK, many of which have an established track record overseas. This report provides a review of such techniques and includes a series of case studies that illustrate their application to both radionuclide and non-radionuclide contamination issues in the UK. Case studies included in the report show that non-biological remediation technologies can cost-effectively treat a range of contaminants under redevelopment, transaction or proactive risk management scenario. The case studies selected are representative of many of the technologies in commercial use in the UK, but also include a number of field trials illustrating the application of technologies that show potential for application on a commercial scale.
2003 The practical use of short rotation coppice in la...Description
A potential for synergy exists between organic waste recycling, biomass production and long-term risk management for contaminated land, particularly where the immediate economic case for reuse of the land is marginal. The possibility of income generation from waste management activities and biomass production offers scope for the regeneration of useful and sustainable economic activity on such marginal land. It also offers an alternative economic use to ‘hard’ redevelopment, as well as a means of facilitating such redevelopment, where the topography or extent of surrounding brownfield land inhibits the case for inward investment for a key site where conditions are otherwise favourable. The presence of plant roots, organic matter and associated biological activity may play a significant role in the degradation or stabilisation of contaminants, and the presence of the plant cover may also contribute to the stabilisation of the site and increase its amenity value.
2003 The Contaminated Land Rehabilitation Network For E...Description
CLARINET, the Contaminated Land Rehabilitation Network FOR Environmental Technologies in Europe was a Concerted Action of the European Comission's Environment and Climate Research and Development Programme. The project ran form 1998 to 2002. Its primary objectives were to develop technical recommendations for sound decision making on the rehabilitation of contaminated sites in Europe and to identify research and development needs, in particular in relation to the recent EC Fifth Framework Programme (FW5).
2003 A Study of the Benefits and Participation in a Sel...Description
NATO's Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) decided in 1999 to carry out an evaluation of its non-military related work as part of an internal assessment of its role as an international organisation. In this respect, in February 2000 they awarded Professor Paul Bardos of r 3 Environmental Technology Ltd a CCMS Fellow Fellowship (976833) to assess the benefit of a range of non-military Pilot and other studies to NATO and Partner countries. The study also reported on the range of topics and issues tackled by the Pilot Studies and their participation.
2001 A Summary of the UK's Participation in CLARINET an...Description
The Agency has actively supported UK involvement in two international initiatives considering various aspects of the remediation of contaminated land: The Pilot Study on the "Evaluation of Demonstrated and Emerging Technologies for the Treatment of Contaminated Land and Groundwater" CLARINET: The Contaminated Land Rehabilitation Network for Environmental Technologies In addition the Agency also attends meetings of a number of other international groups working on contaminated land, including the Ad Hoc Interntional Working Group for Contaminated Land and NICOLE, the Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe. The specific objective of this project was to manage and support the UK input into the third phase of the Pilot Study and CLARINET, on behalf of the Agency and DETR, in order to enable the UK to continue to benefit from: Influencing international developments in remedial technologies; Participating in high quality technology and information exchange activities; and...
1999 Biological Treatment Processes: Introduction and E...Description
Chapter 6 In: NATO Committee on Challenges to Modern Society: NATO/CCMS Pilot Study Evaluation of Demonstrated and Emerging Technologies for the Treatment and Clean Up of Contaminated Land and Groundwater. Phase II: Final Report Groundwater and soil contamination are among the most complex and challenging environmental problems faced by many countries. The problems involve a number of technical issues, including the means of identifying contamination, understanding contaminant behavior in the environment, and mitigating the potential adverse affects to human health and the environment. There are also a number of non-technical issues to be considered, such as the social, economic, and psychological impacts of contamination on individuals and communities, and the need to rejuvenate old urban and industrial areas. The NATO Committee on the Challenges to Modern Society (NATO/CCMS) has organized a number of pilot studies on the technical aspects of contaminated land. The first pilot study...
1998 
China guidance document on green and low-carbon remediation (English)