New Sustainable Remediation Resources

Several new sustainable remediation resources are available via the SURF website:

New LCA study (in "Links") - Life-Cycle Case Study Comparison of Permeable Reactive Barrier versus Pump-and-Treat Remediation, a November 2009 Environmental Science and Technology article by Monica R. Higgins and Terese M. Olson of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

New conference proceedings (in "Links") - GreenRemediation: Incorporating Sustainable Approaches in Site Remediation - International Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 9-10, 2009

New paper/presentation on the application of "sustainability" in site cleanup (in "Library") - Developments in Sustainability Assessment within Contaminated Land Management, Perspectives of SuRF-UK and NICOLE, a 2009 paper and presentation by R. Paul Bardos, r3 environmental technology ltd (copyright r3 environmental technology ltd)

Sustainable Remediation White Paper Now Available

How do we fix the environment without causing more damage in the process?
PRNewswire-USNewswire, New York, July 14, 2009

The Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) has issued the first comprehensive, independent assessment of sustainable remediation -- a movement to encourage environmental clean-ups that minimize carbon emissions, conserve fossil fuels and still remove potentially dangerous contaminants from soil and water.

The Sustainable Remediation Forum White Paper is available from SURF and has been published in a special summer 2009 issue of Remediation Journal. Northgate president, Deni Chambers, and Sustainability Coordinator, Maile Smith, are contributing authors on the document.

Former EPA Administrator and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman called the white paper's release "a watershed event in public policy deliberations about environmental remediation."

"For the first time, scientists, regulators and responsible parties are questioning whether a clean-up that releases tons of carbon emissions into the air in order to remove a few pounds of contaminants from the soil provides a net environmental benefit to the public," Whitman said. "It's crucial that 21st century environmental clean-ups burn less fuel, emit less greenhouse gas and still protect human health and the environment."

Read the complete press release here, and on CNBC.