Best management practices to prevent cross‐media transfers during soil cleanup

Abstract

AbstractCleanup activities often focus on the initial and final concentration levels of contaminants. What happens in‐between, during implementation of treatment technologies, has raised major concerns by several environmental groups. To address this issue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undertaken the task of developing a guidance that would identify the potential for cross‐media transfer during implementation of various soil treatment technologies and recommend best management practices (BMPs) to prevent or control these cross‐media transfers. The soil treatment technologies have been grouped into seven major categories in this effort. This article provides some details of the seven soil treatment technology groups and the general BMPs recommended in the draft BMP guidance document. One case history of existing control practices is also presented in this article and compared with the recommended BMPs.