TEMA 19.

Descontaminacin de suelos
contaminados

2 Tratamientos
La disyuntiva que se presenta frente a un suelo contaminado es recuperarlo o
destruirlo. En un principio ha prevalecido la ltima opcin, mientras que en los
ltimos aos se ha prestado una especial atencin a las tcnicas de recuperacin
que posibilitan su reutilizacin.
La problemtica de la descontaminacin de los suelos podemos tratarla bajo dos
perspectivas: tcnicas de aislamiento de la contaminacin y tcnicas de
descontaminacin.

Tcnicas de aislamiento
Para evitar que la contaminacin se propague desde los suelos contaminados estos
pueden ser almacenados en vertederos apropiados o sellados in situ o destruidos
totalmente.
La tcnica del sellado trata al suelo con un agente que lo encapsula y lo asla. El
suelo es excavado, la zona se sella con un impermeabilizante y se redeposita el
suelo. Para desarrollar las barreras de aislamiento se ha utilizado diversas
sustancias, como el cemento, cal, plsticos, arcilla, etc. El procedimiento tiene el
inconveniente que se pueden producir grietas por las que los contaminantes pueden
fugarse.
Sometiendo al suelo a altas temperaturas (1600-2300C) se consigue su
vitrificacin con lo que se llegan a fundir los materiales del suelo, produciendose
una masa vtrea similar a la obsidiana. Durante el proceso hay que controlar la
volatilizacin de numerosos compuestos.
La propia filosofa de estas tcnicas (persigue la eliminacin del suelo) las hace
slo recomendable en situaciones extremas.
En otras ocasiones se realiza el aislamiento directamente sobre los niveles de aguas
freticas. Mediante bombeos exhaustivos se consigue deprimir los niveles freticos
para alejarlos del suelo y subsuelo contaminados. El agua bombeada es tratada para
eliminar su contaminacin.

Tcnicas de descontaminacin
Bsicamente se utilizan cinco mtodos para la recuperacin de los suelos
contaminados:
Extraccin
Tratamiento qumico
Tratamiento electroqumico
Tratamiento trmico
Tratamiento microbiolgico
En funcin de como se apliquen las tcnicas depuradoras se habla de:
Tratamientos in situ
Tratamientos on site
Tratamientos ex situ (off site)
El procedimiento in situ es el que requiere menos manejo, pero su aplicacin
resulta frecuentemente difcil de llevar a la prctica, dada la dificultad que
representa el poner en ntimo contacto a los agentes limpiadores con la masa del
suelo. En el tratamiento on site el suelo se excava y se trata en el propio terreno. El
mtodo ex site requiere las etapas de excavacin, transporte, tratamiento en las
plantas depuradoras, devolucin y enterramiento. Este proceso exige mayor
inversiones pero es ms rpido y con l se consiguen recuperaciones ms
completas.


Extraccin por fluidos
Consiste en separar los contaminantes mediante la accin de un fluido, a veces aire
(arrastre) y en otras ocasiones se usa agua (lavado). Una vez arrastrado el
contaminante, se depura el efluente con tcnicas apropiadas.
Se trata de procedimientos muy sencillos pero para que sean efectivos requieren
que los suelos sean permeables y que las sustancias contaminantes tengan
suficiente movilidad. Adems, no son mtodos vlidos cuando el suelo presenta
una alta capacidad de adsorcin.
Son mtodos tpicamente desarrollados in situ.
Aireacin
Se considera un mtodo de volatilizacin pasiva para contaminantes voltiles. El
suelo se excava y se vierte una fina capa, de unos 20 cm, sobre una superficie
impermeable.
Para favorecer la volatizacin se procede a la remocin peridica, por ejemplo,
mediante el arado. El riego tambin favorece el proceso ya que el agua disuelve los
contaminantes y produce su desorcin y al evaporarse los arrastra hacia la
superficie. Adems la humedad acelera la actividad de los microorganismos.
Tambin al extender el suelo se aumenta su temperatura y se expone a la accin de
los vientos, con lo que aumenta la volatizacin.
En general se trata de un proceso muy lento y tiene el inconveniente de que los
contaminantes son devueltos directamente a la atmsfera, sin sufrir ninguna
depuracin. No obstante, en general estos compuestos devueltos a la atmsfera
tienden a degradarse rpidamente. Los hidrocarburos reaccionan fcilmemte con
los radicales hidroxilo atmosfricos, degradandose en un plazo que va desde un
solo da para el dodecano hasta 9 das que necesita el benceno. Por otro lado, los
disolventes clorados industriales se descomponen fotolticamente con gran rapidez
por accin de las radiaciones ultravioletas. Por otra parte, la posible contaminacin
atmosfrica se puede evitar si el suelo es colocado en unas naves en las se pueden
recoger los gases para su posterior tratamiento (y en las que adems de controlar las
condiciones ambientales).
Su principal ventaja es su bajo presupuesto econmico.
Arrastre
Consiste en inyectar un gas para arrastrar a los contaminantes. Generalmente se
utiliza aire y vapor de agua. El aire penetra desde la superficie del terreno y se
fuerza su circulacin al succionarlo a travs de unos pozos que se excavan.

En otras ocasiones el aire o un gas se inyecta sobre la superficie del suelo o a travs
de pozos (en este ltimo caso, se recomienda sellar la superficie del terreno con
arcilla, plstico, cemento, asfalto, etc). En ocasiones se mejoran los rendimientos
utilizando aire caliente.

El aire se inyecta mediante unas barrenas helicoidales que perforan y mezclan el
suelo. El aire se propaga a travs del migrando hacia la superficie. A veces se
perforan unos pozos para extraer el aire mediante succin.
El aire con los contaminantes se puede depurar utilizando filtros de carbono activo.
Es un procedimiento slo vlido para extraer contaminantes voltiles (cmo
mnimo con una presin de vapor de mercurio de 0,5mm) y de bajo peso molecular,
como son: xileno, benceno, tolueno, tetracloruro de carbono, tricloroetano, cloruro
de metilo, etc.
La rapidez y eficacia depende de la permeabilidad del suelo. Al disminuir esta se
alargan los tiempos del tratamiento, con lo que aumentan los costes. Tambin
influye el estado de humedad del suelo. As cuanto ms seco se encuentre ms
fcilmente ser atravesado por el flujo extractante.
Segn E, de Miguel Garca (1995) es un mtodo muy sencillo, que usa una
tecnologa estandar y fcil de adquirir. Posibilita tratar grandes volmenes de suelo
a un coste razonable, produciendo una alteracin mnima en el terreno.
En algunas ocasiones se ha utilizado una tcnica muy empleada para mejorar la
produccin de los pozos de petrleo. Consiste en inyectar a presin una disolucin
acuosa espesada, o gelificada, junto a un material granulado (arenas). Al inyectar a
gran presin el fluido se producen fracturas que el material rellena y de esta manera
se evita que se puedan volver a cerrar. El fluido se extrae por bombeo y el material
granulado constituye una va para su fcil circulacin (E. de Miguel Garca. 1995).
Lavado
Consiste en inyectar agua en el suelo. El agua moviliza a los contaminantes y luego
se extrae y se depura.
El mtodo slo es vlido para contaminantes solubles en agua (en la prctica la
solubilidad ha de ser mayor de 1000 mg/l).
El agua se introduce mediante zanjas y pozos y se recoge en unos drenes (tuberas
horizontales) y se extrae de los pozos mediante unas bombas de succin.
En ocasiones se utiliza agua con disolventes para facilitar la extraccin. Tambin se
emplean detergentes para extraer contaminantes con comportamientos
hidrofbicos. Otra variante consiste en utilizar soluciones acidificantes. La
extraccin cida ofrece buenos resultados para el caso de los metales pesados.
Normalmente se trata de una tcnica in situ.

Este tratamiento tambin puede llevarse a cabo como tcnica ex situ. El suelo
excavado es tratado con una solucin acuosa en un tanque. Se tamiza para separar
las fracciones ms gruesas (generalmente, superiores a los 20 mm de dimetro).
Los materiales finos se mezclan con un fluido lavador y posteriormente son
aclarados. Despus se separan las arenas, que tienen una capacidad muy baja para
retener contaminantes. Las arcillas y los limos continan en el proceso de
depuracin y finalmente los materiales que conserven todava un alto porcentaje de
contaminantes son separados para su aislamiento en vertederos controlados
(figura). Esta tcnica es til para una amplia gama de compuestos contaminantes
como los metales pesados, cianuros metlicos, disolventes nitrogenados,
hidrocarburos aromticos, gasolinas, aceites minerales, PBC (productos
organoclorados, como los policlorobifenilos), etc. Los fluidos utilizados son muy
diversos dependiendo del tipo de contaminante: agua, disoluciones acuosas,
disolventes orgnicos, compuestos quelantes, productos tensoactivos, cidos y
bases (E. de Miguel Garca. 1995).

Tratamiento qumico
Se trata de depurar el suelo mediante la degradacin de los contaminantes por
reacciones qumicas. Frecuentemente se trata de reacciones de oxidacin de los
compuestos orgnicos.
Como agente oxidante se emplea el oxgeno y el agua oxigenada.
Es un mtodo til para: aldehidos, cidos orgnicos, fenoles, cianuros y plaguicidas
organoclorados.
Este tratamiento se utiliza preferentemente in situ, inyectando el agente depurador a
zonas profundas mediante barrenas huecas, o a veces, simplemente mediante un
laboreo apropiado del terreno.
Otro procedimiento qumico es la descloracin. Esta tcnica se utiliz, en un
principio, para la estabilizacin de productos del petrleo. En suelos se ha
empleado para la descloracin de PBC. Consiste en la inyeccin de CaO, Ca(OH)2
o NaOH. El suelo al reaccionar se calienta y al aumentar el pH hasta valores de 9 a
11 se produce la descloracin de los PBC (E. de Miguel Garcia. 1995).

Tratamiento electroqumico
El desplazamiento de los contaminantes se logra mediante la creacin de campos
elctricos.
Es un procedimiento a realizar in situ.
Consiste en introducir, a suficiente profundidad, unos electrodos en el suelo. Los
contaminantes fluyen desde un electrodo a otro siguiendo las lneas del campo
elctrico.
Para favorecer el movimiento se puede aadir una fase acuosa.

La movilizacin de los contaminantes es debida a fenmenos de: migracin,
electrosmosis y electroforesis.
Migracin
Se trata de una movilizacin en forma inica de los contaminantes a travs del
campo electrico. Representa el movimiento de las partculas en disolucin con
comportamiento inico.
Electrosmosis
Movimiento del lquido en relacin a las superficies slidas del campo elctrico. Se
produce la movilizacin del lquido en masa como consecuencia de la interaccin
con las paredes de los poros. En las superficies desequilibradas de las partculas del
suelo predominan las cargas negativas y atraen al lquido hacia el ctodo que se
comporta como si fuese un gran catin. Es este el efecto ms importante.

Electroforesis
Representa el desplazamiento de una partcula coloidal cargada en suspensin en
un lquido. Es el que tiene menor efecto en el desplazamiento de los contaminantes.
El conjunto de estos mecanismos provoca que los contaminantes se desplacen en el
campo elctrico. Los cationes van hacia el ctodo mientras que los aniones lo hacen
hacia el nodo, ambos son extrados posteriormente.
Este procedimiento tiene la ventaja de que apenas si influye en la depuracin la
textura ni la permeabilidad (parmetros limitantes de muchos de los otros
tratamientos).
Se trata de un transporte masivo a travs de los poros grandes y pequeos, a
diferencia de lo que ocurre con los mtodos de lavado y arrastre que apenas actan
sobre los microporos.
Este mtodo proporciona buenos resultados para la recuperacin de suelos
contaminados por metales pesados, como el Cu, Zn, Pb y As. Igualmente vlido
para compuestos orgnicos.

Tratamiento trmico
Busca la destruccin de los contaminantes mediante el suministro de calor.
Se trata de un tratamiento ex situ.
En la incineracin la combustin de los contaminantes se consigue sometiendo al
suelo a altas temperaturas (alrededor de 1000C). El tratamiento se desarrolla en
dos fases. En una primera se oxidan la mayor parte de los contaminantes. El
proceso se completa en la segunda fase en la que se mantiene al suelo a altas
temperaturas durante el tiempo necesario para conseguir la destruccin completa de
los contaminantes y se eliminen todos los gases (figura).
Para depurar los gases residuales se incorpora un sistema de limpieza.
Es un mtodo muy til para eliminar la contaminacin producida por hidrocarburos
poliaromticos, PBC (policlorobifenilos) y clorofenoles.
La desorcin trmica es otro proceso trmico en el que se somete al suelo a unas
temperaturas ms bajas (250-550C) para conseguir la desorcin en vez de la
destruccin de los contaminantes. Con esta tcnica se puede tratar la contaminacin
producida por compuestos orgnicos voltiles (con un peso molecular no muy
elevado, como los lubricantes, aceites minerales, gasolinas, etc) y determinados
metales pesados voltiles como es el caso del mercurio. Con esta tcnica hay que
controlar el paso de los contaminantes a la fase gaseosa, por ejemplo se pueden
eliminar en una cmara de combustin o fijarlos sobre carbono activado.
Estos mtodos presentan el inconveniente de que el suelo queda completamente
transformado, sin materia orgnica, sin microorganismos, sin disoluciones...

Tratamiento microbiolgico
Consiste en potenciar el desarrollo de microorganismos con capacidad de
degradacin de contaminantes (bioremediacin). Se puede o favorecer la actividad
de los microorganismos presentes o introducir nuevas especies. Para favorecer las
acciones biticas se pueden mejorar determinadas condiciones edficas, aadiendo
nutrientes, agua, oxgeno y modificando el pH.
En lneas generales la mayora de los contaminantes orgnicos se degradan bajo
condiciones aerobias. Sin embargo hay determinados compuestos, como los
alifticos clorados que resisten bien en condiciones aerobias pero son fcilmente
degradados en las anaerobias. Otros incluso, como es el caso de los PBC, se
degradan primero en condiciones anaerobias, produciendose la descloracin de
manera rpida, y luego la degradacin prosigue bajo condiciones aerobias.
La velocidad de descomposicin por los organismos va a depender de su
concentracin, de determinadas caractersticas del suelo (disponibilidades de
oxgeno y de nutrientes, pH, humedad y temperatura) y de la estabilidad del
contaminante.
Este tratamiento se puede desarrollar in situ, on site o ex situ.
El tratamiento in situ se usa en suelos permeables cuando la contaminacin afecta a
los horizontes subsuperficiales. Se perforan unos pozos por los que se inyectan
agua con microrganismos (a la que se le han aadido nutrientes). Se bombea el
agua contaminada hacia la suerficie, se depura y se vuelve a inicial el ciclo.

Para el tratamiento on site el suelo es excavado y depositado sobre unas piscinas
con fondo arenoso y revestidas de un material impermeable, como por ejemplo, una
capa plstica, y con un sistema de drenaje del agua. La superficie se riega con una
soluciones enriquecidas en nutrientes, a las que se le habrn aadido los
microorganismos.

Los mejores resultados se obtienen en los tratamientos ex situ. Segn esta tcnica el
suelo contaminado es llevado a unos fermentadores, grandes cilindros que giran
sobre su eje para agitar el suelo. Durante el tratamiento se aade oxgeno y
nutrientes, en condiciones de temperatura controlada.

TEMA 19. Descontaminacin de suelos
contaminados

4 Casos prcticos

Practice case 2:
Soil vapour extraction and lowering of
groundwater level, Denekamp

General
Laboratory tests or pilot plant investigations were not necessary for this project, as
the design was based on expert judgement and knowledge. A straightforward in situ
remediation approach was chosen.
This project demonstrates that not all remediation projects need to be preceded by
extensive studies and investigations. The need for them depends on the
contamination situation and the soil structure/stratification.

Contamination situation
The petrol station in Denekamp that caused the contamination had been situated
there for a long time. After the company ceased operations, a soil investigation was
carried out in order to find out whether the site was contaminated with mineral oil.
The investigation proved that the soil at the former service station and beneath the
existing showroom was contaminated with mineral oil and aromatic compounds in
concentrations exceeding the Dutch Intervention Value. The contamination
extended to a depth of ca. 2.5 m -g1.
The groundwater also contained mineral oil and aromatic compounds in
concentrations exceeding the intervention values. This contamination extended to a
depth of 5 m -g1. The groundwater table is situated at 0.9 to 1.4 m -g1. The soil
consists of moderately fine sand.

Weighing of the remediation options
It was decided to apply a combination of in situ remediation techniques and
excavation. A part of the contamination outside the buildings was excavated, as it
was easily accessible and a fuel tank present there had to be removed anyway. The
remainder of the contamination, which could not be excavated because of the
presence of buildings, was remediated by means of soil vapour extraction. For this
purpose, the groundwater table was lowered to 2.5 m -g1.
In this project the groundwater table was lowered to below the soil contamination,
in order to remove the entire contamination by soil vapour extraction. This was
done because in this project the desired lowering of the groundwater table could be
achieved by a low extraction rate (2 to 3 m3/h), and because installing air injection
filters beneath the showroom would have been quite inconvenient for the owner.

Detailed design and installation
Given the extensive knowledge available on the biological degradation of mineral
oil and aromatic compounds, it was decided that additional investigations were not
necessary. Another reason for this was the availability of well-documented practice
cases where soil vapour extraction had been applied in comparable types of soil.
The installation of horizontal drains by means of horizontally directed drillings is a
proven technique. Therefore, both the soil vapour extraction drains and the
groundwater withdrawal drains were installed beneath the showroom by means of
this technique.
A cross section of the system is presented in Figure 5.4.

Figure 5.4 In situ remediation system
Four horizontal drains were installed to extract the soil vapour. The calculated air
flow rate was ca. 50 m3/h at an underpressure of 50 mb. The initial total
hydrocarbon concentrations in the soil vapour were estimated at 2 to 4 gr/m3. The
remediation was expected to take two years.
Six horizontal drains were installed to extract groundwater for the in situ soil and
groundwater remediation. The extraction rate was 2 to 3 m3/h, and maximum
initial concentrations of mineral oil were 250 g/l, and of aromatic compounds
3,000 g/l.
Both groundwater and soil vapour were treated by means of a combined biological
treatment installation.

Execution
The excavation works and installation of the in situ system took place in March and
April 1994. In May 1994, a start was made with lowering the groundwater table,
and in June 1994 the soil vapour extraction began.
In August 1995 the target values for soil and groundwater were reached and the
system was stopped. The remediation took less time than the estimated two years.
Due to (among other things) the higher soil vapour extraction rate (100 m3/h
instead of 50 m3/h), the contaminants volatilized more quickly, which made the in
situ remediation proceed faster than predicted.

Soil vapour
Figure 5.5 shows the concentration the extracted soil vapour.

Figure 5.5 Contaminant levels in the soil vapour
Chemical analyses results show that the initial concentrations of aromatic
compounds and volatile hydrocarbons in the extracted air were 1.2 and 1.9 g/m3,
respectively. This is in line with the estimated initial total hydrocarbon
concentration, which was 2 to 4 g/m3.
The final total hydrocarbon concentration of the soil vapour was 20 mg/l

Ground water remediation
Figure 5.6 shows the BTEX concentration in the extracted groundwater

Figure 5.6 BTEX in extracted groundwater
The initial concentration in the pumped-up water was 480 g/l, which turned out to
be much lower than the 3,000 g/l expected.
The end concentrations were below the detection limit of 0.1 g/l, both in the
extracted water and in the observation wells.

Soil quality
During the in situ remediation, the contaminant concentrations of the soil decreased
from 2,300 mg/kg mineral oil to below the detection limit ( < 10 mg/kg), and from
480 mg/kg aromatics to below the detection limit ( < 0.1 mg/kg).

In total, the cost of the remedial operation amounted to USD 300,000.

Concluding remarks
This project has demonstrated that - owing to the experiences gained with this type
of soil contamination and soil structure - the in situ soil remediation could be
dimensioned and performed without carrying out extensive soil investigations in
advance.
It also demonstrated that under certain circumstances the Dutch target values can be
attained by means of in situ remediation techniques.
This project was carried out by Middelbrink en van Breukelen B.V.; Tauw Milieu
was responsible for the project design and management.


TEMA 19. Descontaminacin de suelos
contaminados

4 Casos prcticos

Practice case 4:
In-situ biorestoration of a phthalates
contamination using only sparging

General
This practice case comprises the in situ cleanup of a site contaminated with
phthalates. The remediation is currently in its final stages. As phthalates are
nonvolatile contaminants, this is an example of in situ biorestoration during which
the contaminants are removed purely by biological degradation. Furthermore,
sparging is used without it being necessary to employ soil vapour extraction to
capture any stripped contaminants.

Contamination situation
During an exploratory investigation of the company site, the soil and groundwater
proved to be contaminated with phthalates. The contamination - mostly consisting
of di-isobutyl-phthalates (DIBF) - migrated with the groundwater to beyond the site
borders. The groundwater contamination extended to a depth of ca. 5 m-gl, and had
a surface area of ca. 600 m2. Maximum concentrations in the soil were 10,000
mg/kg, and 7,300 g/l in the groundwater.
Almost half of the contamination was situated beneath a warehouse that is still in
use.

Weighing of the remediation alternatives
If the contamination had been removed by excavation, the warehouse - which had
steel foundations - would have had to be demolished, or moved to another location.
In situ bioremediation seemed like a good option, as according to literature
phthalates are easily biodegradable [Kurane et al., 1978; Engelhardt & Wallnofer, 1
978].
As phthalates are non -volatile and can not be stripped from ground water, in this
situation the addition of oxygen by means of sparging was chosen. There was no
need for soil vapour extraction, since the contaminants were non-volatile. During
the in situ remediation, groundwater was contained by a deepwell placed just
outside the contaminated area. The pumped-up water was only slightly
contaminated, and could therefore be discharged directly onto the sewage system.
In order to stimulate biological degradation, warm water ( + 30 C) was infiltrated
upstream. This also allowed the possibility to add nutrients, or correct the pH, if
necessary. The latter may be required as the pH of the soil may change
considerably as a consequence of the degradation of the phthalates.

The remediation duration was estimated at 1.5 years.

Design and dimensioning
Compressed air was injected by three sparging wells (6 m-gl) at a flow rate of 120
Nm3/hour.
Groundwater was extracted at a flow rate of 120 m3/d, and 60 m3 of warm water
per day was infiltrated. The groundwater could be discharged directly onto the
sewage system. In addition to the sparging wells, the water infiltration filters (7)
and the deepwell, six monitoring wells were installed to monitor the remediation
progress. Furthermore, several air monitoring filters were installed to monitor
whether there was uncontrolled spreading of the contamination via the soil vapour.

Figure 5.8 Cross section of the installation.

Execution
During the remediation, samples were taken from the pumped-up groundwater, the
monitoring wells, and - periodically - of the soil vapour.
In addition, oxygen concentrations in the groundwater, as well as the temperature
course were monitored. The remediation was begun in March 1995.

Pumped-up groundwater
Only during the first week were phthalates detected in the groundwater, albeit in
low concentrations. After that, the concentration dropped to below detection level
(2 g/l).

Concentrations in groundwater
Before the remediation started, the monitoring wells were sampled in order to
determine the baseline situation. A maximum of 1,000 g of phthalates per litre
was measured. After two months of remedial activities, no phthalates could be
detected in the groundwater of the monitoring well. Nor were they detected during
a re-sampling round. In order to ascertain whether subsequent supply would occur,
the in situ remediation was interrupted, and after 2 and then 3 months of stand-still
the concentration levels were again determined. Again, no phthalates were
encountered. Remediation had been achieved well within the estimated time.

Concentrations in soil
The soil was sampled before and after the remediation. After the groundwater
samples proved to be clean, the soil was resampled. The concentrations in the soil
and the vadose zone were now below detection limit, with a maximum
concentration in the saturated zone of 590 mg/kg.

Other parameters
The pH of the groundwater remained constant during the remediation. The
temperature was 14 C to begin with, then rose to 23 C.

After completion
The phthalates contamination of the groundwater had been removed. Phtalate
concentrations in the soil had decreased to below the intervention value. Test
proved that there were no risks of spreading, as the phthalates did not leach from
the soil into the groundwater.
The competent authorities have agreed that the aboveground installation can be
removed. After 1 year, groundwater will again be sampled, and if it is clean, the
remediation will be regarded as finished. If the water is not clean, however, it will
be assessed whether a short period of sparging is required to clean up the remaining
contamination.

The costs of the project were ca. USD 200,000. It was executed by Heymans
Milieutechniek B.V. The design, dimensioning and supervision were conducted by
Tauw Milieu B.V.




TEMA 19. Descontaminacin de suelos
contaminados

4 Casos prcticos

Practice case 5:
Flushing with acidified water Soestduinen

General
This is a practice case of the in-situ remediation of heavy metals. In spite of the fact
that this technique has not been widely followed in other remediation cases, the
applied techniques are interesting enough to be included in this overview.

Determination of the contamination situation
A photographic industry in the province of Utrecht discharged wastewater
containing cadmium (Cd) into two infiltration ponds (balsas) during the years 1935
-1955. As these ponds overflowed from time to time, the adjoining dune area was
contaminated. An enamelling (esmaltadora) and a galvanization company, situated
next to the photographic industry, also produced wastewater containing Cd.
A soil investigation was required, as there was the risk of recreating humans having
direct contact with the contaminated top soil layer in the woody area. Another risk
was that the contaminants would spread via the groundwater towards a drinking-
water pumping station.
A surface area of about 6,000 m2 proved to be contaminated, to an average depth to
4 to 5 metres. Figure 5.9 shows a cross section of the soil stratification and the
contamination situation. The total cadmium load was estimated at 725 kg. The soil
consists of moderately fine to moderately coarse sand (90% of the particle size
fraction is 63 - 500m). Because the organic carbon and lute (arcilla) fractions of
the soil are rather small, so too is the adsorption capacity of the soil (Urlings 1990
and Vijgen l992).

Figura 5.9. Cross section of the soil stratification and the contamination situation.

Weighing of the remediation alternatives
The possibilities of cleaning up the contamination by in situ remediation and
excavation were weighed during the remediation investigation. The in situ
remediation concept was based on flushing the soil with acidified water.
In situ remediation was expected to be much cheaper than conventional excavation.
An additional investigation was required to determine the feasibility and
dimensioning of the in situ remediation.

Feasibility investigation
The following aspects were further investigated during the additional investigation:
Cd desorption from the contaminated soil
hydrological system of water infiltration and extraction
treatment of Cd-containing water

Cd desorption from the contaminated soil
A desorption liquid was selected by shake experiments with contaminated soil.
Column tests were then performed to determine the leaching characteristics while
using the selected desorption liquid. Water acidified (pH=3) with hydrochloric acid
(HCl) proved to be one of the best and most easily applicable desorption liquids.

The hydrological system of infiltration and extraction of water
The surface area to be remediated was 6,000 m2. For practical reasons, the capacity
of the water treatment installation was restricted to a maximum of 250 m3/hour.
Based on the hydrological properties of the soil, the site was partitioned into four
compartments that were treated one after another.
A two-dimensional computer model was used to dimension the infiltration and
extraction system. In order to avoid part of the infiltrated water seeping to the
groundwater, a small volume of groundwater was extracted from the aquifer and
discharged into the sewage system after treatment, with a preferred discharge flow
rate of ca. 10% of the total extraction rate.
The acidified water was infiltrated via a pond. After percolation through the soil.
the flushing water was pumped up via a drainage system and recirculated after
treatment to the pond. The drains were installed using deep drainage. Figure 5.10
gives an overview of the remediated location.

Figure 5.10. Overview of the remediation system on the location

Treatment of Cd-containing water
Suitable water treatment options are: precipitation, biosorption and ion exchange.
As in this case the treated percolate water is recirculated and the flow rate was
rather high (250 m3/h), sorption on resins was the best of these options.
A resin with a high specific Cd-adsorption capacity was selected on the basis of
laboratory shaking tests. This resin also performed well in the presence of high
iron, aluminium and calcium concentrations, and at a pH of 3.5. The IMAC GT-73
resin proved to be the most suited.
The extend to which the resin could be regenerated was investigated by means of
column tests. Practically complete regeneration proved to be possible with a 5%
solution of HCI.

Detailed design
After performing these experiments, an in situ remediation system was designed.
As there were still some doubts about the functioning of the system in the field, a
test compartment was remediated before the full-scale in situ remediation started.

Execution
Test compartment
The in situ remediation of the least contaminated compartment (1) started in
Augustus 1987. The results of this test were used to fine-tune the remediation of the
remaining contaminated soil.
The results proved that:
desorption of cadmium in practice corresponded to the 1aboratory test results
the permeability of the soil was lower than initially measured (presence of a thin
soil layer with a high resistance)
the water treatment functioned well
According to these results, the sizes of the other compartments were adapted, and
extra infiltration drains were installed at 2.25 m-gl, with a view to the lower
permeability. The mutual distance between the extraction drains (at 5.5 m-gl) was
reduced from 4.5 m to 3 m.

Full-scale remediation
In December 1977, remediation of the other compartments (2, 3 and 4) was begun.
Cd concentrations in the pumped-up percolate and in the soil were determined after
the remediation had been concluded. The natural pH of the soil was then restored
by the infiltration al water with lye.
Figure 5 11 shows the Cd concentrations in the percoIate ot compartment 3. After
high initial concentrations of 3,500 g/l, they had decreased to 10-20 g/l by
October 1988.

Figure 5.11 Cadmium concentrations in percolate of compartment 3

Completion
In autumn l988, the remediation objective of 2.5 mg/kg was widely achieved. Most
of the analyzed soil samples (90%) contained concentrations below l mg/kg. Only
in a small area in companment 4 were cadmium concentrations too high, but this
could be attributed to specific local conditions. This area was therefore excavated
(about l00 m3). All in all, about 440 kg cadmium was removed from the location.

Total costs including costs of preliminary investigations amounted to ca. USD 2.0
million.

The province of Utrecht commissioned the project, and retained the contractor
Mourik Groot Ammers for the installation and maintenance of the system, and the
environmental consultancy Tauw Milieu bv for the preliminary investigations, the
design, and supervision of the remediation.

After completion
The concept of extractive in situ remediation described above has not until now
(l996) been widely followed up. In a way, the conditions of this project were
unique, with only one metal contaminant and a subsoil consisting of moderately
fine to moderately coarse sand.
The following comments can be made regarding the adaptability of the remediation
concept used here to other contaminated locations:
the results of laboratory tests to determine the sorption behaviour of the
contaminants reflected the practice conditions very closely
this full-scale remediation has proved that the in situ remediation of soil
contaminated with heavy metals to an acceptable level of 1 mg/kg is achievable
a watertight infiltration and extraction system can function without losing
infiltration water so the soil
the chosen infiltration method was feasible.

Tomado de In Situ Soil Remediation, Archivos case3 y case 4
5.7 Costs

The costs of soil remediation are an important factor when weighing remediation
options. In most cases, the least expensive oPtion by which the objective can be
attained will be chosen. The Dutch Soil Protection Act allows for deviations from
the objective of restoration of the multifunctional properties of the soil, if certain
location-specific circumstances apply. These circumstances involve the difference
between costs of multifunctional remediation and the costs of an isolation,
containment and control (ICC) variant. When calculating remediation costs, the
entire remediation period should be considered
It may for instance be advantageous to incur the relatively high costs of cleaning up
the contamination source tight away in order to minimize the costs of long term
containment. When soil is remediated by means of excavation, the costs of
treatment of the excavated soil often constitute a large share of the total
remediation costs.

There are two types of costs of in situ soil remediations:

l Non-recurring installation costs: - installation of the in situ system: - installation
of pipelines, filters, valves, etc.: - connecting the pumps, etc. - installation of the
water and air treatment installations.

2. Operating Costs:
- depreciation of the installation:
- maintenance of the installation (replacement of filter material, periodical
check-ups, costs of activated carbon, discharge of residues, etc);
- Costs of energy;
- environmental supervision and monitoring;
- costs of discharge.

The investment costs of in situ remediation are usually lower than those of
conventional remediations, as the installation of air and water extraction and
injection means is less expensive than the excavation and treatment of soil.

The (capitalized) annual operating costs of in situ remediations are often quite high.
As the remediation may take several years, the costs of depreciation, energy and
monitoring are high, compared to conventional techniques. Given the wide variety
of circumstances related to infrastructure, buildings, depth of the contamination.
etc., it is not possible to quote standard prices.

Figure 5.l2 is a graphical representation of the operational costs of the in situ
remediation of mineral oil contaminations. These COSts were derived from real
practice cases, and have been compared with the costs of conventional excavation
and off-site treatment costs.
The practice cases were averaged by means of a regression analysis.

Particularly where smaller soil volumes are concerned. in situ remediation is often
more expensive than excavation. This is due to the relatively high operating costs
of in situ remediation. In these cases, in situ remediation is only chosen when it is
technically impossible to remove the contaminants by means of excavation.

If larger quantities of soil are concerned (from 2,000 to 3,000 m3) in situ
remediation becomes relatively less expensive, and such a remediation will be
chosen wherever technically feasible.

Figure 5.12 Costs of In situ remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons
Another contaminant for which in situ remediation costs are high is chlorinated
solvents. The treatment of extracted groundwater - and to a lesser degree, of soil
vapour - largely determine the costs of the in situ remediation of these
contaminants .


1 Introduccin
El grave problema que representa la contaminacin de los suelos es un aspecto que
slo recientemente est siendo reconocido. Antes de la dcada de los 70 se hablaba
de la contaminacin del aire y del agua, pero al suelo se le consideraba con una
capacidad de autodepuracin casi infinita. La sensibilidad mundial comienza a
cambiar a partir de la declaracin de la "Carta Europea de Suelos" desarrollada por
la Comunidad Europea en 1972.
En el 4 Programa de Accin Ambiental de la Comunidad Europea (1987-1992) se
reconoce de manera oficial la necesidad de una reglamentacin referente a la
proteccin del suelo y se insta a los gobiernos de los pases miembros a elaborar
una normativa de proteccin bajo las directrices recogidas en las "Bases Cientficas
para la Proteccin del Suelo en la Comunidad Europea". En esta normativa se
propone "salvaguardar las propiedades y condiciones que aseguren el cumplimiento
de las funciones del suelo". Considerndose como principales funciones: el
crecimiento vegetal, la produccin de alimentos, la filtracin del agua, y la
participacin del suelo de forma activa en los ciclos geoqumicos de los elementos.
Un pas que ha dedicado un gran esfuerzo a la descontaminacin del suelo es
Holanda. En este pas las autoridades reconocen que aunque la contaminacin del
suelo no llega a representar ms del 1% de la superficie, esta polucin constituye
un gigantesco problema con gravsimas implicaciones en el hombre, las cosechas,
las planta y los animales. Es por ello que los holandeses han creado un ministerio
para estudiar la contaminacin ambiental, el TNO (The Netherland Organization
for Applied Scientific Research) con un presupuesto anual de 4.200 millones de
pesetas. La poltica de este ministerio se centra en prevenir la contaminacin ms
que la descontaminacin en s misma, dado los altos costes de la descontaminacin
del suelo (slo la descontaminacin de la localidad holandesa de Lekkerkerde ha
costado al pas ms de 10.200 millones de pesetas), su principal objetivo es
conseguir industrias no contaminantes.
Sin embargo no todos los pases parecen haberse dado cuenta de la seria amenaza
que representa la contaminacin del suelo. Para despertar las conciencias los
holandeses organizaron la 1 Conferencia Internacional Sobre Suelos
Contaminados, celebrada en 1985 bajo el lema "Suelos contaminados. No juegue a
avestruz, se juega demasiado".
Pasados tan slo algo ms de 10 aos han bastado para que cambie la politica
ambiental y son ya muchos los paises que han desarrollado proyectos para
descontaminar algunos de sus suelos. A ello ha contribuido sin duda los
espectaculares desastres ecolgico por contaminacin de los suelos que han
ocurrido en los ltimos aos
Love Canal en USA
Thamesnela en Gran Bretaa
Georgswerder en Alemania
Lekkerkerk en Holanda
Y esperemos que el actual desastre ecolgico de Aznalcollar, en las proximidades
de Doana, despierte el inters por la conservacin del suelo a nuestro flamante
(por lo que tiene de nuevo, es decir reciente) Ministerio Espaol de Medio
Ambiente.


3 Planificacin
Las tcnicas de descontaminacin son extraordinariamente caras, superando
ampliamente el valor del suelo en el mercado. Pero muchos pases han
comprendido que el suelo es un bien inapreciable, con un valor incalculable, no
traducible a valor dinero, ya que como sabemos necesita de decenas a cientos de
miles de aos para formarse y es por tanto un recurso no renovable, por tanto
irreparable, que se ha de conservar para las futuras generaciones, y su valor real es
independiente de su precio, el cual estar fijado por la ley de la oferta y la demanda,
que variara con las tendencias de la economa, mientras que el valor del suelo en s
mismo es intemporal.
Es por ello que la planificacin de la descontaminacin del suelo es de mbito
nacional, que requiere fuertes subvenciones, y no puede ser acometidos por loa
particulares.
Generalmente, hasta ahora, se descontamina el suelo para reutilizaciones concretas
como recalificaciones de terrenos en los planes de urbanismo para construccin,
parques, urbanizaciones, ... y por tanto de alto valor por metro cuadrado.
Como los recursos a emplear son forzosamente limitados no podemos pretender
descontaminar todas las zonas sino que hay que desarrollar una poltica
centralizada que planifica, tras detenidos estudios, las regiones preferentes por
presentar ms altos riesgos, zonas de alta prioridad tanto para realizar
investigaciones evaluadoras como para planificar su descontaminacin y
regeneracin.
El problema de la descontaminacin del suelo hay que enfocarlo como un problema
multidisciplinar, que engloba a una serie muy numerosa de aspectos y factores,
algunos de ellos de muy difcil evaluacin. Es por ello que para elaborar un
esquema de trabajo hay que considerar una serie muy amplia de factores y darle a
cada condicin un coeficiente de importancia, para que mediante una matriz de
aproximacin se pueda resolver correctamente el problema, sin que determinados
aspectos por su espectacularidad puedan quedar sobrevalorados.

Esquema de planificacin para la descontaminacin de un
suelo
Los numerosos factores a tener en cuenta se pueden agrupar en dos grandes
apartados: caractersticas del sitio y referentes a la contaminacin.
De la zona
Situacin con respecto a los objetos amenazados. Las peculiaridades de cada
caso concreto pueden ser muy diferentes, por ejemplo: caso de ncleos urbanos
prximos, o el caso de la localidad holandesa de Lekkerkerk con casas construidas
sobre un vertedero de residuos qumicos, o escapes de residuos de una planta de
tratamiento de petrleo que amenaza a una cuenca hidrogrfica con suministro para
el consumo humano.
Clase y propiedades de los suelos. Factor fundamental ya que va a influir
decisivamente en la evolucin de la contaminacin y va a condicionar la aplicacin
de las tcnicas de descontaminacin.
La peligrosidad de la contaminacin depender de determinados parmetros del
suelo, como son: poder tampn, poder de amortiguacin, vulnerabilidad y cargas
crticas. Caractersticas que dependern a su vez de un gran nmero de propiedades
de los suelos: textura, permeabilidad, dinmica del agua, pH, capacidad de cambio
inico, potencial redox, carbonatos, sales, mineraloga de arcillas, materia orgnica,
microorganismos, nutrientes, etc.
Subsuelo. el grado de permeabilidad, existencia de capas, inclinacin, existencia
de niveles impermeables y restos de construcciones (galeras, conducciones,
cimentaciones, etc) condicionaran en gran medida la dispersin de la
contaminacin y las posibilidades de descontaminacin.
Niveles freticos. La proximidad de aguas freticas es un factor de riesgo
decisivo para la propagacin de la contaminacin y de sus efectos. Las oscilaciones
del nivel fretico es causa que frecuentemente difunde la contaminacin.
De la contaminacin
Extensin de la contaminacin. La magnitud del rea afectada es uno de los
primeros factores a evaluar.
Espesor de la contaminacin. La penetracin de la contaminacin dentro del
suelo va a ser otra medida imprescindible para evaluar la magnitud de la
contaminacin.
De los contaminantes
Naturaleza y concentracin de los contaminantes. La clase de contaminantes
y su intensidad es otro parmetro imprescindible de considerar. En las tcnicas
depuradoras va a influir decisivamente determinadas caractersticas de los
contaminantes, como son:
i) Solubilidad, volatibilidad, densidad, coeficiente de reparto y adsorcin
ii) Forma de presentarse en el suelo (disuelta, adsobida, complejada, precipitada,
ocluda) y especiacin (elemental, inica, compuesta, oxidada, reducida)
iii) Persistencia y transformaciones en el suelo (degradativas o a compuestos
txicos)
iv) Toxicidad y bioacumulacin
v) La presencia de una mezcla de sustancias contaminantes dificultar en gran
medida su eliminacin total.

Conocidas todas estos condicionantes se puede desarrollar una planificacin
integral de descontaminacin.