Comprehensive study on green and sustainable remediation in the USA: policy system and case experiences

Abstract

The implementation of green remediation or sustainable remediation (collectively referred as green and sustainable remediation, GSR) has been promoted by multi-stakeholder collaboration. However, comprehensive analysis of GSR is understudied in previous literatures. Policy system and case experience of GSR in the USA are here been analyzed comprehensively. Results indicate that USEPA, SURF-US, and ITRC advocated GR, SR, and GSR, respectively. For the program types of GSR cases, the government-driving forces (especially USEPA) had significant positive effects than those voluntary cleanups. In situ techniques of soil remediation are more widely used than ex situ ones. All techniques of groundwater remediation are in situ, in addition to pump and treat due to its effectiveness to remedy seriously contaminated sites. The best management practices (BMPs) are preferably implemented in remedial construction stagerather than other stages. The percentages of BMPs related to "optimization," "renewable energy," and "recycling or reusing materials" are relatively high, while the other BMPs are relatively low. GSR benefits achieved by BMPs of environment-orientated may not only reduce the environmental footprint, but also gain in economic and social aspects. Moreover, practitioners should more fully understand the full benefits of a BMP implementation and strengthen the consensus among them. In brief, it is necessary for remediation practitioners to supplement the existing defects in policies and their implementations and to select optimum BMPs in specific contaminated sites. This work offers comprehensive and valuable insight into policies and practices of GSR.