Commercial activities in remediation of soil and sediments and trends in the asia pacific region

Abstract

Countries in the Asia Pacific region have not been widely recognised for leading in the development of technologies for soil, sediment, and groundwater remediation. Rather, countries in the region have relied on adopting remediation technologies and approaches developed in the Northern Hemisphere, and this approach has largely been successful. Trends in research and practise in the field of soil, sediment and groundwater remediation, indicate that there is relatively less reporting of international co-operation and development of remediation technologies in the Asia Pacific region compared with the Northern Hemisphere. The major barriers to adoption of such technologies have been the requirement for low implementation costs, and those regulatory agencies in the region have taken a non-prescriptive approach to enforcing contaminated site assessment and remediation. Unlike programs in the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. the Superfund Program in the US) where there has been special funding for the development of innovative technologies, there has been relatively little financing available for similar activities in Asia Pacific countries. Two case studies from Australia are presented on the commercial adaptation and application of (1) permeable barrier technology (for contaminated soil and groundwater) and (2) bioflushing of marine sediments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.