[CPEO-MEF] Defense Department's groundwater remediation technologies

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION

DOD Uses and Develops a Range of Remediation Technologies to Clean Up
Military Sites

Government Accountability Office (GAO-05-666)
June, 2005

DOD has implemented or field-tested all of the 15 types of generally
accepted technologies currently available to remediate contaminated
groundwater, including several alternatives to pump-and-treat
technologies. Some of these technologies, such as bioremediation,
introduce nutrients or other materials into the subsurface to stimulate
microorganisms in the soil; these microorganisms consume the contaminant
or produce byproducts that help break down contaminants into nontoxic or
less-hazardous materials. DOD selects the most suitable technology for a
given site on the basis of several factors, such as the type of
contaminant and location in the subsurface, and the relative
cost-effectiveness of a technology for a given site. DOD has identified
a number of contaminants of concern at its facilities, each of which
varies in its susceptibility to treatment. The table below shows the
technologies DOD used to remediate contaminated groundwater.

GAO did not identify any alternative groundwater remediation
technologies being used or developed outside DOD that the department has
not considered or used. Most of the new approaches developed by
commercial vendors and available to DOD generally use novel materials
applied to contaminated sites with existing technologies. DOD actively
researches and tests new approaches to groundwater remediation largely
by developing and promoting the acceptance of innovative remediation
technologies. For example, DOD?s Strategic Environmental Research and
Development Program supports public and private research on contaminants
of concern to DOD and innovative methods for their treatment.

To download the entire report as a PDF file, go to 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-666

  

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military