Monitored Natural Attenuation (in situ)

Monitored Natural Attenuation (in situ)

Type of treatment: Treatment

Description:
Comprises a range of physical and biological processes, which, unaided by deliberate human intervention, reduce the concentration, toxicity, or mobility of contaminants.
Natural attenuation can be classified as destructive and non-destructive.
Destructive processes include biodegradation, photo-oxydation and hydrolysis. Biodegradation or bioremediation is by far the most prevalent destructive mechanism.
Non-destructive attenuation mechanisms include sorption, dispersion, dilution (most important non-destructive mechanisms) and volatilization.

 


Waste:

Residual pollution (soil and groundwater on site)


Situation/Possibilities in the country:

Does not require any equipment (apart from monitoring capabilities).


Interest:

No investment (apart from monitoring capabilities).


Entry criteria:

Controversial technique from a public and environmental point of view.
May only be considered on residual and biodegradable pollution (or pollution that may be attenuated by the non-destructive mechanism).


Operational constraints:

Long-term monitoring is necessary to demonstrate that contaminant concentrations continue to decrease at a rate sufficient to ensure that they will not become a health threat or violate regulatory criteria.


Impacts:

Natural Attenuation is not appropriate where imminent risks are present.


Legal constraints:

Refer to those applying to polluted soil and groundwater.


Efficiency:

To be ascertained by the monitoring program. Research is ongoing.


Cost:

Related to the monitoring program (expertise, sampling and analysis).

published on 2019/12/10 15:55:06 GMT+0 last modified 2019-12-10T15:55:06+00:00