Environmental Remediation

Environmental remediation is a branch of environmental engineering focused on the removal, treatment, or containment of contaminants from environmental media like soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. This process is critical for managing polluted sites and mitigating risks posed by hazardous substances to human health and the ecosystem. By applying scientific and engineering principles, remediation specialists design and implement strategies to clean up contamination, aiming to restore the affected area to a condition that is safe and acceptable for its intended future use.

1. Introduction to Environmental Remediation
   1. Core Concepts and Definitions
      1. Environmental Remediation Overview
      2. Contamination vs. Pollution
         1. Definitions and Distinctions
         2. Sources and Pathways
      3. Point Source vs. Non-point Source Pollution
         1. Characteristics of Point Sources
         2. Characteristics of Non-point Sources
         3. Examples and Case Studies
      4. Contaminant Fate and Transport
         1. Physical Processes
            1. Advection
            2. Dispersion
            3. Diffusion
         2. Chemical Processes
            1. Sorption
            2. Degradation
            3. Volatilization
         3. Biological Processes
            1. Biodegradation
            2. Bioaccumulation
         4. Modeling Contaminant Transport
   2. Goals and Objectives of Remediation
      1. Risk Reduction
         1. Human Health Risk Reduction
         2. Ecological Risk Reduction
      2. Restoration of Environmental Media
         1. Soil Restoration
         2. Groundwater Restoration
         3. Surface Water Restoration
         4. Air Quality Restoration
      3. Compliance with Regulatory Standards
         1. Meeting Cleanup Criteria
         2. Achieving Site Closure
   3. Key Environmental Media
      1. Soil and Sediment
         1. Soil Properties Affecting Remediation
         2. Sediment Dynamics
      2. Groundwater
         1. Aquifer Types
         2. Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Migration
      3. Surface Water
         1. Rivers and Lakes
         2. Wetlands
         3. Surface Water-Sediment Interactions
      4. Air
         1. Vapor Intrusion Pathways
         2. Airborne Contaminant Dispersion
   4. Major Classes of Contaminants
      1. Organic Contaminants
         1. Petroleum Hydrocarbons
            1. Gasoline Range Organics (GRO)
            2. Diesel Range Organics (DRO)
            3. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
         2. Chlorinated Solvents
            1. Trichloroethylene (TCE)
            2. Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)
            3. Dichloroethene (DCE)
         3. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
            1. Sources and Uses
            2. Environmental Behavior
         4. Pesticides and Herbicides
            1. Organochlorine Pesticides
            2. Organophosphate Pesticides
            3. Herbicide Classes
         5. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
            1. PFOS and PFOA
            2. Environmental Persistence
      2. Inorganic Contaminants
         1. Heavy Metals
            1. Lead
            2. Mercury
            3. Arsenic
            4. Cadmium
            5. Chromium
            6. Zinc
         2. Radionuclides
            1. Uranium
            2. Radium
            3. Cesium
         3. Nutrients
            1. Nitrates
            2. Phosphates
            3. Eutrophication Concerns