Case Studies on Remediation of Sites Contaminated with Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons

Abstract

Contamination can be defined as the abnormal presence of pollutants that adversely or negatively impacts an object. “Environmental remediation” is a very broad term used to define any effort employed to solve the problems caused by contaminants that affect either soils or waters in or on the ground surface. Protection of human health and the environment is the important objective of any remediation approach concerning soil, water, or sediment. The chief objective of the remediation, however, is to remove or reduce concentrations of the contaminants to the “safe” levels for the environment and human health. Though it seems simple with the correct advice and guidance, selection of the best method(s) to remediate polluted site is challenging. Thus, remediation of the areas contaminated with pollutants represents a growing challenge, and cleaning of such areas is of international concern. In this direction, the present chapter has been designed to present the details of several case studies from different countries which dealt with full-scale applications of different technologies to remediate the sites contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). This information could be very useful in providing more insights into various issues such as practical difficulties in the application of the remedial technologies at larger scale as to how clean-up goals are designed, what are the characteristics of contaminated sites (e.g., soil, water, etc.), what are the treatment options, how the levels of contaminants will be changed before and after the treatment in a stipulated time frame, what about the cost factors and economic feasibilities, etc.