Remediation and Ecological Restoration post-remediation in contaminated sites (Workshop Conclusion)

FUCHS, JULIO S.; GRACIELA POZZO ARDIZZI

CABA

Conferencia; IV Iberoamerican and the Caribbean Conference of Ecological Restoration. Buenos Aires; 2015

Universidad Maimónides Buenos Aires-Sociedad Iberoamericana y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica-Red de Restauración Ecológica Argentina

Remediation of contaminated land should be taken as a suite of practical approaches that consider all the environmental effects when implementing a restoration program. All the available technology options should be included in order to reduce environmental footprints.Risk assessments to human health or the environment caused by the presence of contaminants is the way to determinate target specific cleanup levels for the site and focus the use of resources on carrying out the remedial actions.The most important factors in making decisions about the selection of remediation technologies are: cost, future land use, processing time, reliability, and jurisdictional regulations. The use of indigenous microorganisms and composting technique are recommended for bioremediation of soils contaminated with explosives. This is an environmentally friendly and low-cost technology.The use of phosphate solubilizing bacteria is applicable for the bioremediation of agricultural soils contaminated with pesticides.Phytoremediation technologies are emerging as viable alternatives to remediate sites contaminated with organic compounds or metals, but there are few phytoremediation projects applied to ecological restoration in the region.In SIACRE countries, numerous projects of scientific and technological research on remediation are being carried out; however, there is little implementation of such research on a field scale.SIACRE, as a technical-scientific organization, should play an important role in establishing regional priorities, if it is aimed at strengthening relations between the scientific community and the different actors involved in the remediation of contaminated sites.It is recommended to promote and disseminate the latest advances in research on restoration-including appropriate remediation goals- to regulators in each country, as well as to public and private organizations in charge of developing policies and procedures.