Environmental remediation
Environmental remediation removes, contains, or treats pollutants in soil, water, or air to reduce risks to ecosystems and human health.
Bioremediation: The use of organisms or their biological processes to remove, transform, or contain environmental contaminants. Microbes and plants can transform pollutants in place or support their removal.
Brownfield: A property whose redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by actual or suspected environmental contamination. Remediation can make contaminated or suspected-contaminated properties suitable for reuse.
Environmental contamination: The presence of harmful substances or organisms in air, water, soil, or living systems. Remediation responds to contamination by reducing its extent, mobility, or harmful effects.
Pollution prevention: Strategies that reduce or avoid pollutant generation before contaminants enter the environment. Prevention limits new releases; remediation addresses pollution already present.
Superfund: The United States federal program established under CERCLA to address releases of hazardous substances at contaminated sites. It is a major U.S. framework for investigating and cleaning up hazardous sites.
Soil vapor extraction: A method that removes volatile contaminants from unsaturated soil by drawing soil gas through extraction wells. It physically removes volatile compounds from contaminated soil without excavating it.
Groundwater remediation: The treatment or management of contaminated groundwater to reduce exposure and environmental risks. It applies remediation methods to dissolved pollutants moving beneath the ground.
Contaminant fate: The transport, transformation, and persistence of a contaminant in environmental systems. Fate determines where pollutants move and which treatment processes can affect them.
Environmental monitoring: The systematic measurement of environmental conditions or contaminants over time. Monitoring measures conditions and remedy performance but does not itself remove pollutants.
CERCLA: The U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, enacted in 1980 to address hazardous-substance releases. CERCLA establishes federal authority and liability rules for many cleanup actions.