Realizing Remediation

Some of the nation's estuaries, lakes and other water bodies contain contaminated sediments that can adversely affect fish and wildlife and may then find their way into people's diets. Dredging is one of the few options available for attempting to clean up contaminated sediments, but it can uncover and re-suspend buried contaminants, creating additional exposures for wildlife and people. At the request of Congress, EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate dredging as a cleanup technique. The book finds that, based on a review of available evidence, dredging's ability to decrease environmental and health risks is still an open question. Analysis of pre-dredging and post-dredging at about 20 sites found a wide range of outcomes in terms of surface sediment concentrations of contaminants: some sites showed increases, some no change, and some decreases in concentrations. Evaluating the potential long-term benefits of dredging will require that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency step up monitoring activities before, during and after individual cleanups to determine whether it is working there and what combinations of techniques are most effective.

This publication explores the linkages between obligations under international human rights law and budget policies and processes. It seeks to sensitize government officials to better understand their human rights obligations as they decide budget allocations, implement planned expenditures, and assess the budget’s impact on the realization of human rights. And, it aims to provide non-governmental actors with information about the relationship of human rights to budget processes and specific budget decisions, so that they are better able to hold their governments to account. This is especially important for the poorest and most marginalized groups, because they are more dependent on government programmes to realize their rights than those who are better off.

This book covers hydrocarbon pollution, measurement techniques for hydrocarbons, risk assessment, and environmental impact. This comprehensive book takes a broad view of the subject and integrates a wide variety of approaches. This book attempts to address the needs of graduate and postgraduate students and other professionals or readers interested in food, soil, water, and air pollution. The aim of this book is to explain and clarify important studies, and compare and develop the new and groundbreaking measurement techniques. Written by leading experts in their respective areas, the book is highly recommended to professionals interested in environmental and human health because it provides specific and comprehensive examples.

Economic literature is often too theoretical for engineers and policymakers to put into practical use, while scientific literature on the remediation of contaminated aquifers rarely considers costs and benefits. Written by a hydrogeologist and an economist, The Economics of Groundwater Remediation and Protection integrates economics and cost-benefit analysis tools with optimal protection and remediation strategies for groundwater resources. The book provides a thorough introduction of the concepts of groundwater flow and contaminant transport, and the basics of economic decision making techniques. It illustrates the types of risks and impacts caused by groundwater contamination, and the economic benefits of its remediation. The volume reviews a wide range of issues such as cost, implementation, and expectations of success for the latest remediation trends and techniques. The book shows how economic analysis can be used to determine how much we should pay for groundwater clean-up, and when spending too much - or too little - actually makes us all worse-off. The authors' step-by-step methodology for decision-making focuses on determining optimal remedial objectives, from containment to extensive cleanup, and the selection of least-cost alternatives. They use examples from their personal experience to illustrate the methodologies in action and put the issues into perspective. Combining the theoretical and practical aspects of science, policy, and economics, this book places the importance of groundwater remediation in the context of environmental economics, protection, and preservation. The Economics of Groundwater Remediation and Protection is also an excellent introduction to innovative solutions for funding remediation projects, education, and incentive programs, such as mitigation banking, land pollution credit schemes, and conservation credit alternatives.

This compilation on sustainability issues in civil engineering comprises contributions from international experts who have been working in the area of sustainability in civil engineering. Many of the contributions have been presented as keynote lectures at the International Conference on Sustainable Civil Infrastructure (ICSCI) held in Hyderabad, India. The book has been divided into core themes of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Sustainable Geosystems, Sustainable Environmental and Water Resources and Sustainable Structural Systems. Use of sustainability principles in engineering has become an important component of the process of design and in this context, design and analysis approaches in civil engineering are being reexamined to incorporate the principles of sustainable designs and construction in practice. Developing economies are on the threshold of rapid infrastructure growth and there is a need to compile the developments in various branches of civil engineering and highlight the issues. It is this need that prompted the composition of this book. The contents of this book will be useful to students, professionals, and researchers working on sustainability related problems in civil engineering. The book also provides a perspective on sustainability for practicing civil engineers who are not directly researching the problems but are affected by the concerns in the course of their profession. The book can also serve to highlight to policy makers and governing bodies the need to have a mandate for sustainable infrastructural development.