&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (51 02G)
May 2011
Introduction to Green Remediation
Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Principles
for Greener Cleanups outline the Agency's policy for
evaluating and minimizing the environmental "footprint" of
activities undertaken when cleaning up a contaminated
site.1 Use of the best management practices (BMPs)
identified in EPA's series of green remediation fact sheets
can help project managers and other stakeholders apply
the principles on a routine basis, while maintaining the
cleanup objectives, ensuring protectiveness of a remedy,
and improving its environmental outcome.2
Overview
As part of its mission to protect human health and the
environment, EPA develops and promotes innovative
strategies that restore contaminated sites to productive use,
reduce associated costs, and promote environmental
stewardship. The process of cleaning up a hazardous waste
site uses energy, water, and other natural or materials
resources and consequently creates an environmental
footprint of its own. The Agency encourages adoption of
green remediation as the practice of considering all
environmental effects of cleanup actions and incorporating
options to minimize the environmental footprints of cleanup
actions.
Materials
& Waste
Energy
Core Elements of Green Remediation
Reducing total energy use and increasing the percentage
of energy from renewable resources
Reducing air pollutants and
greenhouse gas emissions
Reducing water use and
negative impacts on water
resources
Improving materials
management and waste
reduction efforts, and
Protecting ecosystem services during site cleanup
Land&
Ecosystems
Air&
Atmosphere
Water
EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
(OSWER) is identifying BMPs that can help stakeholders
implement green remediation strategies and consequently
improve environmental outcomes of site cleanup. The
practices reflect techniques already used by EPA regions,
other federal or state agencies, and private industry to
reduce the environmental footprint of cleanups, as well as
environmentally conscious approaches used in other
business sectors such as industrial construction.
Sample BMPs for
Building a Site-Specific Checklist
Energy
Use energy efficient equipment for treatment processes
Conduct periodic optimization evaluations of treatment
processes and adjust operations accordingly
Integrate sources of onsite renewable energy to power
treatment units or auxiliary equipment
Air & Atmosphere
Retrofit machinery with clean diesel technologies such as
diesel particulate filters
Consolidate onsite and offsite vehicular trips to reduce
fuel consumption
Implement an engine idle reduction plan for vehicles and
machinery
Water
Use closed-loop graywater washing systems for
equipment and vehicles
Reuse treated water for purposes such as irrigation
Apply low impact development techniques to treat
stormwater as a resource instead of a waste product
Land & Ecosystems
Install silt basins to capture sediment runoff along slopes
Establish efficient traffic patterns to minimize soil
compaction by vehicles and machinery in work areas
Rescue and relocate sensitive or threatened wildlife
Materials & Waste
Segregate demolition materials such as metals, concrete,
and lumber for reuse or recycling
Screen and stockpile clean, excavated soil for potential
onsite use as infill and minimize shipments to landfills
Salvage woody debris for onsite landscaping use or sale
BMPs relevant to commonly used treatment technologies,
phases of a cleanup project, or activities common to most
cleanup actions are compiled in OSWER's Green
Remediation Best Management Practices? Specific topics
include:
• Pump and treat technologies
• Bioremediation
• Soil vapor extraction and air sparging
• Site investigation
• Clean fuel and emission technologies for site cleanup,
and
• Integrating renewable energy into site cleanup.
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Highlights of Greener Cleanups
Frontier Fertilizer SuperfundSite, Davis, CA: Generating
sufficient electricity from onsite solar resources to offset
100% of the groundwater treatment plant's consumption
Portland Harbor Terminal 4, Oregon: Operated sediment
dredging machinery on ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel to reduce
emission of particulate matter and sulfur dioxide
Sanford Gasification Plant, Seminole County FL: Reused 3.7
million gallons of water from onsite dewatering operations
during the soil stabilization process
Re-Solve, Inc., Dartmouth, MA: Converted a four-acre,
gravel-capped area to a native upland meadow to enhance
local habitat and re-establish native species
Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, LA: Recycled 1,000
tons of concrete debris and beneficially reused 700 tons of
extracted woody material
When & Where to Apply the Strategies
BMPs of green remediation may be applied to cleanup
actions taken at almost any hazardous waste site, whether
conducted under federal, state, or local cleanup programs
or by private parties. Success in improving the
environmental outcome through use of the practices has
been demonstrated at sites involving:
• Superfund remedial or removal actions
• RCRA corrective actions
• Leaking underground storage tank cleanups
• Brownfield cleanups, and
• Voluntary actions under state programs.
Why We Need Green Remediation Strategies
Cleanup at Superfund sites, for example, frequently relies on
pump-and-treat, thermal desorption, multi-phase extraction, in
situ thermal treatment, air sparging, and/or soil vapor
extraction technologies.
> EPA estimates that operation of these six technologies could
consume 631,000 MWh of electricity annually between
2008 and 20234 a quantity equivalent to the electricity
consumption in nearly 53,000 homes over one year.
^ Based on current average fuel mixes used by U.S. utilities,
this consumption could result in emission of 435,357metric
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.5
Green remediation strategies emphasize a "whole-site"
approach to be used throughout the life of a cleanup
project, including:
• Site investigation
• Remedial design
• Remedial construction
• Operation and maintenance, and
• Long-term monitoring.
Early incorporation of a green remediation strategy into
project documentation such as an investigative plan,
feasibility study, remedial design, site management plan,
and contractor procurement documents can help:
• Assure suitable BMPs are implemented in a manner
that maintains protectiveness of the selected remedy
• Attain cost efficiencies throughout the project life, and
• Integrate site reuse plans into the cleanup
infrastructure.
Online Tools & Information Resources
The Green Remediation Focus website maintained by EPA's
Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology
Innovation (OSRTI) offers a compendium of tools to help
stakeholders implement green remediation strategies. The
compendium contains:
• Profiles of green remediation strategies applied in the
field, and quantified results
• BMP fact sheets on selected topics
• The Contracting and Administrative Toolkit for Greener
Cleanups, which cites sample procurement language
• Online software and calculators for potential use in
evaluating portions of a cleanup footprint
• In-depth reports on using OSRTI's developing
methodology for assessing the footprint of a cleanup
• EPA program strategies and regional policies for
achieving greener cleanups on a national basis, and
Announcements about new tools, recent reports, and
upcoming events such as training webinars.
Visit Green Remediation Focus online:
http://cluin.org/greenremediation
References [Web ac
2009;
U.S. EPA; Principles for Greener Cleanups; August 27,
http://www.epa.gov/oswer/greencleanups/principles.html
U.S. EPA; Green Remediation: Incorporating Sustainable Environmental
Practices into Remediation of Contaminated Sites; EPA 542-R-08-002,
April 2008; http://www.cluin.org/greenremediation
U.S. EPA; Green Remediation Best Management Practices:
- Pump and Treat Technologies; EPA 542-F-09-005, December 2009
- Bioremediation; EPA 542-F-l 0-006, March 201 0
-Soil Vapor Extraction & Air Sparging; EPA 542-F-l 0-007, March 2010
-Site Investigation; EPA542-F-09-004, December 2009
- Clean Fuel & Emission Technologies for Site Cleanup; EPA 542-F-1 0-
008, August 2010
- Integrating Renewable Energy into Site Cleanup; EPA 542-F-l 1 -006,
April 2011
U.S. EPA; Energy and Carbon Footprint of NPL Sites: Tier 1 and Tier 2
Total NPL Sites 2008-2030; draft, September 3, 201 0
U.S. EPA; Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator;
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
This document updates and supersedes
Incorporating Sustainable Practices into Site Remediation (EPA 542-F-08-002, April 2008).
For more information, contact:
Carlos Pachon, OSWER/OSRTI (pachon.carlos@epa.gov)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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