Sustainability of remediated sediments

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of the long term condition of remediated sediments from a geoenvironmental perspective. It examines the problem of long term maintenance of the remediated condition of treated sediments and establishes a set of goals and requirements for their sustainability. First, a number of basic interacting factors are considered in relation to treatment requirements for minimizing the potential for resuspension and remobilization. Next, a geoenvironmental engineering perspective is used to argue that the most viable means for sustainable remediated sediments preservation is to replace removed contaminated sediments with sediment material that has high attenuation capabilities and augment the natural recovery processes in the sediments. It is recognized that ultimate sustainability requires not only preservation of the remediated condition of sediments, but also habitat restoration and regeneration of biodiversity two important issues beyond the purview of this paper.