Soil remediation is a significant part of the environmental services market
in the United States. Most remediation projects in the United States have
been conducted by environmental services companies, including engineering
and environmental consulting firms. The technologies employed for soil remediation
include traditional technologies such as incineration and solidification/stabilization;
and emerging/innovative technologies such as air sparging, soil-vapor extraction,
thermal desorption, and bioremediation. From a cost estimation perspective,
soil remediation technologies can be broadly classified into two groups: in
situ technologies and ex situ technologies. These two groups of treatment
methods entail major differences in the provision of remedial services and,
consequently, in the methods used to estimate costs.
In this PEP review, we discuss the process and economics of two soil remediation
technologies; air sparging (in situ) and thermal desorption (ex situ).
