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| Resource Library > Technology Transfer > Programs and Initiatives > sustainableremediation > overview |
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The Driver
Many responsible parties, ranging from the chemical industry to the military, are beginning to analyze sustainability factors as part of their selection criteria for new remediation systems as well as for evaluation and optimization of existing systems. Of particular interest to the military is a new paradigm for remediation propelled by Executive Order 13423, issued in January 2007. It states that:
- Federal agencies [shall] conduct their environmental...and energy-related activities...in an environmentally, economically, and fiscally sound, integrated, continuously improving, efficient, and sustainable manner.
- sustainable means to create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.
This executive call to operate in a sustainable manner leaves government environmental restoration professionals with the need for tools to help develop sustainable remediation practices.
The overarching concepts for sustainability as applied to remediation include a wide range of environmental and human health impacts considered over the short and long-term. By applying broader and more complete thinking to better inform stakeholders and the public, decisions can be made that minimize the overall environmental burdens and costs of a remediation project. This approach requires a broad system view to integrate all the different and competing environmental factors involved while also requiring a detailed, life-cycle assessment (LCA)-style approach to measure or quantify externalities.
Incorporating Sustainability Into Environmental Restoration
At present, remediation designs, technology selections, and environmental remedial process optimization (E-RPO) focus on cost, risk reduction, compliance with existing laws, and other metrics. By including sustainability in an environmental restoration program, several new metrics may become part of the remediation process, such as evaluating carbon emissions, energy consumption, worker safety, and resource service for land and/or groundwater. Estimation of these modified metrics in an easy-to-use sustainability tool provide remediation professionals with a way to consider the sustainability of various remediation technologies while circumventing time-consuming hand calculations of these parameters.
The AFCEE Sustainable Remediation Tool (SRT) is designed to serve two general purposes: 1) planning for the future implementation of remediation technologies at a particular site, as well as 2) a means to evaluate optimization of remediation technology systems already in place, as well as a means to compare remediation approaches based on sustainability metric. The tool allows users to estimate sustainability metrics for specific technologies. The technologies, selected by AFCEE, are: 1) Excavation, 2) Soil Vapor Extraction, 3) Pump and Treat, and 4) Enhanced In Situ Biodegradation. AFCEE intends to add additional technology modules to the tool in the future. Visit the SRT web page for more information.
Executive Order 13423: Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management," Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 17, pp. 3, 6-7.
Sustainability is Not a New Concept
Introducing sustainability metrics into environmental restoration projects is not necessarily a new endeavor for AFCEE. AFCEE/TD has for several years investigated and promoted monitored natural attenuation (MNA) and enhanced in situ bioremediation (EISB). These treatment technologies, although not originally targeted for their sustainability, are inherently sustainable and are considered green remediation technologies. Their incorporation into an environmental restoration program can often reduce the environmental impact of the remediation activity itself. More information on MNA and EISB can be found on the AFCEE Technology Transfer web site. Additional technology examples include phytoremediation, bioslurping, and bioventing. More information on these technologies can be found on the AFCEE Technology Transfer web page.
AFCEE has also pursued sustainability albeit not directly through such approaches as environmental remedial process optimization (E-RPO) , long-term monitoring optimization (LTMO), and groundwater modeling. These programs work to optimize existing remediation and monitoring systems, and through a PBM approach, provide a holistic and systematic results-based assessment of restoration programs to expedite site closure. More information on these technologies can be found on the AFCEE Technology Transfer web page.
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