1 REMEDIATION ENGINEERING

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Remediation engineering as a discipline has evolved only in the last few years. Some of
the traditional engineering disciplines such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and
electrical engineering have been taught and practiced in an organized fashion during the last
few centuries. There is a wealth of knowledge available for the practicing engineers in these
disciplines. Some of the younger subdisciplines such as structural, geotechnical, transporta-
tion, and water resources engineering within the major area of civil engineering have also
taken firmer roots within the organized world of engineering. These subdisciplines have
benefitted from an enormous amount of research and developmental efforts in academic
institutions in the U.S. and around the world. Environmental engineering, probably one of
the youngest subdisciplines in engineering, is still evolving with respect to society’s expec-
tations and demands for a cleaner environment. Remediation engineering is an even younger
subdiscipline of environmental engineering.
Beginning in the late 1960s and gathering momentum ever since, the whole picture
concerning our environment has changed. Prior to the 1960s, society’s demands on environ-
mental engineers were limited to the provision of clean drinking water and disposal of
domestic wastes. Hence, this discipline was aptly called public health or sanitary
engineering. With time, environmental engineers started to focus on activities related to
solid waste, water quality, and air quality.
The application of highly sensitive analytical techniques to environmental analysis has
provided society with disturbing information. As a result, significant changes in
requirements for environmental protection occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The
late 1970s and early 1980s have seen an emerging scientific and public awareness of the
potential for detrimental health effects due to the accumulation of hazardous compounds in
the various environmental media such as soil, groundwater, surface water, and air. The
occurrence and fate of trace levels of organic and inorganic compounds in the environment
and the passing of new regulations to address these concerns spawned the need for a new
group of specialists known as “remediation engineers.”
What is remediation engineering? It could be simply defined as the next phase in the
evolution of environmental engineering. More precisely, it could be defined as the develop-
ment and implementation of strategies to clean up (remediate) the environment by removing
the hazardous contamination disposed in properties since the beginning of the industrial
revolution.
Scientists and engineers practicing remediation engineering have to learn the nuances of
investigative techniques, data collection, and treatment technologies. This education
includes a new understanding of the physical and chemical behavior of the contaminants, the
geologic

© 1999 by CRC Press LLC

© 1999 by CRC Press LLC
and hydrogeologic impacts on the fate and transport of these contaminants, the human and
environmental risks associated with contamination, and the selection of appropriate technol-
ogies to provide maximum mass transfer and destruction of the contaminants. Hence, reme-
diation engineering is a multidisciplinary field in the truest sense, requiring knowledge of
civil, chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering, geology, hydrogeology, chemistry,
physics, microbiology, biology, toxicology, geochemistry, statistics, data management, etc.

1.2 PRACTICE OF REMEDIATION ENGINEERING

In the traditional world of engineering practice, engineers are familiar with the design–
bid–build process. In this process, the responsibilities of the owner, the engineer providing
design services, and the contractor providing the construction services are well defined and
understood. The design and construction of a dam, a multi-storied building, or a highway
has to take into consideration that these structures have to be built to last a lifetime. The
structural strength and stability of these structures are very important in addition to meeting
the performance objectives.
When we design remediation systems, these systems are designed as “temporary” sys-
tems expected to last only until the cleanup standards are achieved. The primary design
objective is to meet the treatment process efficiencies that would meet the cleanup standards,
albeit at trace quantity levels, and thus ensure that the contaminated sites are restored to meet
the minimum requirements of the public. Another major objective is to provide adequate
health and safety for the workers who install, operate, and maintain these systems. Hence,
there are strong advocates among the practitioners of remediation engineering for the
design–build process. This process is also referred to as the turnkey process. Proponents of
this process value it as a method of delivering completed projects faster and cheaper than
the traditional design–bid–build process.
The practice of remediation engineering itself has evolved from the mid 1970s and
continues to evolve even today. There is an increased level of awareness regarding the
efficiencies and limitations of the applicable technologies. As a result, there is an increased
level of effort to experiment with and develop new and innovative technologies. As the
industry rapidly matures, a greater emphasis is placed on providing on-site remedies
involving in situ technologies. The use of technology, risk assessment, and statistical
concepts as a combination to get the “best answer” for site cleanup is becoming
widespread.
The last decade has seen a significant evolution of remediation technologies from the
early containment techniques to today’s very aggressive site closure techniques (Appendix
A). Pump and treat systems, the primary remediation technique during the early days, have
been found to be ineffective due to better understanding of contaminant fate and transport
mech- anisms. Many new and innovative in situ technologies have been introduced to
develop faster and more cost-effective solutions for the responsible parties. Incorporation of
natural, intrinsic transformations of the contaminants in the subsurface is taking firmer root
today.
Development and implementation of innovative technologies requires a significant level
of interaction between the design team and the construction team due to many truly
unanswered questions related to any new technology. The conventional design–bid–build
relationship does not promote value-added integration and experimentation, which is
required in remediation engineering today to fine-tune the innovative concepts into
conventional techniques.
Experience and empirical knowledge with various technologies is still the key in
design- ing remediation systems incorporating on-site and in situ technologies. Hence the
control exercised by a single entity providing both consulting and contracting services will
be mutually beneficial and crucial for the success of the remediation project.

© 1999 by CRC Press LLC

© 1999 by CRC Press LLC