Land remediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Land remediation - Essay Example Spills and leakages occur in all these situations and cause contamination of soil and ground water. Authors Malawska and Wiokomirski confirmed high presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals (like Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Hg, Fe, Co, Cr, and Mo) in railway sidings in Poland (Malawska M & Wiokomirski B, 2001). Volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOC) are the other common contaminants resulting from the use of hydrocarbons. The specified site condition indicates sandy soil to a significant depth and water table at relatively shallow depth of 3.2m. Thus we can expect the highly permeable sandy soil and ground water to be contaminated with PAH, heavy metals and VOC. industrial sheds for production and storage, network of roads for movement of people and materials, utility services for power and water supply, common effluent treatment plant etc., among other things. A large number of people work in such areas for long hours and are exposed to pollution that is present in air, water and soil. While the industrial sheds may be constructed with impermeable floors per se, such is not the case with the open spaces of an industrial estate that may be used as storage areas, common areas, landscaping and gardening, for roads / utility lines etc. Hence land remediation is necessary. Options available for remediation in this situation are soil vapor extraction (SVE) technique and land refill. Land refill would involve extensive excavation and removal of the contaminated soil and refilling. This is a very expensive operation, especially in view of the presence of contaminated ground water at shallow depths, which in any case needs to be cleaned up before use. Finding a suitable place for the extracted soil will also be an issue. Soil vapor extraction involves vaporizing and extracting the volatile