NA - Risk reduction of contaminated soils and sediments through Activated Carbon amendment

It is proposed to establish a new scientific cooperation between the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and Stanford University, California, USA (prof. Richard Luthy). Prof. Luthy is the first to have shown that amendment of activated carbon (AC) to s ediments is a very promising in situ remediation technology for contaminated sediments. The advantages of this new environmental technology over many other remediation methods include i) it can be used as an in situ risk reduction method, ii) the price is low, and iii) it overcomes significant controversies associated with disposal of dredged materials. Also, unlike dredging, AC amendment of sediment need only treat the upper sediment layer comprising the biologically active zone. Much money can be saved if the cost of cleaning up contaminated soils and sediments is reduced by a cost-efficient, innovative technique such as AC amendment. The topic of AC amendment is relatively novel to NGI and certainly novel to the rest of Norway and Europe. It is foresee n that this cooperation will lead to further collaboration between NGI and the USA/Stanford University. In the project establishment phase, researchers from NGI and Dr. Luthy's group will visit each other's groups to work on a joint proposal. Around the v isit of prof. Luthy to Norway, a workshop will be organized around the theme of in-situ remediation techniques for soils and sediments, with speakers from NGI, NIVA, Jordforsk, with the American partner as invited speaker. The result of the project establ ishment will thus be enhanced knowledge on the theme in Europe, as well as a proposal with the objective to fill the knowledge gaps with regard to AC amendment that are stated above.