Effect of Soil Micro-environments on the Remediation Efficiency of Contaminated Soil and Groundwater: Review and Case Study

Abstract

A variety of physical, chemical, and microbiological techniques have been developed to deal with soil and groundwater contamination. However, in the presence of the large portion of soil micro-environments, contaminant rebound and/or tailing have been frequently reported. Case study of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) removal by full-scale land farming showed that contaminant rebound and/or tailing occurred in 9 out of total 21 cases and subsequently resulted in problems of a long term operation to satisfy TPH guidelines of contaminated soil and groundwater. The main cause of contaminant rebound and tailing is considered to be the strong interactions between contaminants and micro-environments including micro-particles, micro-pores, and organic matter. Thus, this study reviewed the effects of soil micro-environments of soil and groundwater on the removal efficiency for both heavy metals and petroleum contaminants. In addition, the various methods of sampling, analysis, and assessment of soil micro-environments were evaluated. Thorough understanding of the effects of soil micro-environments on contaminant removal will be essential to achieve a cost-effective and efficient solution to contaminated sites.