22 December 2007

Call for papers: Soil Remediation Processes and Management

Call for papers: Soil Remediation Processes and Management

A special issue of International Journal of Environment and Waste Management

Soil contamination is a common problem in the developed and developing countries alike. A great number of industrial activities produce waste that reaches soils through spills, leaks, tank and pipeline ruptures, and other disposal pathways. In addition, an increasing number of abandoned industrial sites have emerged as a result of weak environmental regulations throughout the decades. It is recognised that this trend can impose negative societal effects, and therefore redevelopment of these industrial and urban sites is essential. However, reuse of such sites requires remediation. Through remediation, prime land in established locations can be reused, thereby lowering the pressure on greenfields. Since remediation followed by redevelopment prevents degradation of the environment, human health, and natural resources, it is a topic of enormous public interest.

It has been widely recognised for some time that the established conventional remediation technologies like “containment,” “dig and dump,” or “pump and treat”, cannot in all cases be regarded as sustainable in the sense of cost-efficiency, contamination reduction, or environmental balance. For these reasons, comprehensive research efforts have been undertaken in the past decade to develop and refine innovative remediation technologies, which are sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-efficient. However, despite all these efforts, very few technologies have received recognition, while in practice, conventional technologies still prevail. One reason for this limited acceptance of innovative technologies seems to be the fact that the conventional technologies still prove to be relatively cheap, quick, and capable of removing residual liabilities. In addition, the innovative technologies have been slow to evolve as viable alternatives primarily due to scattered information regarding their application, implementation and performance.

The purpose of this special issue is to make the practices, applications and management of the emerging technologies of soil decontamination from different geographical regions readily available to engineers, regulating agencies and contractors for implementation.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • In situ soil remediation
  • Biological remediation
  • Chemical soil remediation
  • Electrokinetic remediation
  • Electroacoustic remediation
  • Innovative soil remediation technologies
  • Sustainable soil remediation
  • Petroleum (PAH) contaminated soils
  • Volatile organic contamination
  • Heavy metal contamination
  • Bench scale evaluation
  • Pilot scale studies
  • Filed application
  • Waste disposal management
  • Contaminated site management
Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 30 June, 2008
First turn of papers review: 30 August, 2008
Second turn of papers review: 15 September, 2008
Final papers submission: 30 September, 2008

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