Markets around the world for remediation technology are expanding

Markets around the world for remediation technology are expanding. Even in the U.S. there are some new opportunities. One is perchlorate.

The DoD Environmental Technology conference was reported in detail in our December Site Remediation and Emergency Response Newsletter. McIlvaine asked Robert Hinchee of Battelle Memorial Institute, one of the leading experts on bioremediation in the U.S., about new developments in the bioremediation industry. Hinchee identifies several new contaminants of concern: perchlorate and 1,4-dioxane. The latter is a stabilizer in chlorinated solvents. “It will be like MTBE. We are aware of it, there is enough analysis to know plumes exist, but there is no regulatory pressure yet. Also, we are just beginning to recognize the significance of the energetics HDX, RDX, and TNT in military ranges. Separately, the in situ anaerobic dechlorination process will continue to be applied, and it will be used for more contaminants, beyond TCE and PCE to carbon tetrachloride and methylene chloride, for example. The process has the potential to save dollars. While hydrocarbons are treated typically by MNA, chlorinated solvents too can be treated in this manner, though on a smaller scale. We will see more and more institutional controls applied in the future, particularly with brownfields, where industrial and commercial land use does not require total cleanup”.

There is going to be a huge environmental bill from contractors for the cleanup of perchlorate. If the standard for perchlorate is 1ppb, it means that the Air Force will have less money to spend on other items, such as new aircraft. Some 87 percent of environmental investment in the Air Force budget is on compliance and cleanup.

You will find the headlines for our December newsletter below. The yearly cost is only $270. You are e-mailed the newsletter each month. You can access all back issues online. You can also take advantage of our special offer to have one year free access to our online Remediation Networking Directory with contacts around the world. See a free sample newsletter at www.mcilvainecompany.com . Then click on the red remediation button.

SITE REMEDIATION AND
EMERGENCY RESPONSE NEWSLETTER

December 2003
No. 64

DoD ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM JUST GETS BETTER EVERY YEAR