Rapid industrialization in the 1960s caused heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) to severely pollute soil in Japan. The Agricultural Land Soil Pollution Prevention Law was enacted in 1970 to cope with the heavy metal pollution. Cd, in particular, has been recognized as one of the most detrimental elements in Japan because of the so-called “itai-itai” disease caused through Cd uptake. Recently, the...

Remediation of slope failures requires stabilization alternatives that address causes of slope instability. Slope reinforcement and pile stabilization systems, if properly designed, are effective in preventing slope movements in weak soils. Soil load transfer to pile elements from the lateral soil movement as occurs in slope failures is a complex soil-structure interaction problem, and the sign...

Widespread pollution of terrestrial ecosystems with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) has generated a need for remediation and, given that many PHCs are biodegradable, bio- and phyto-remediation are often viable approaches for active and passive remediation. This review focuses on phytoremediation with particular interest on the interactions between and use of plant-associated bacteria to restore P...

The remediation of oil contaminated soils has been a major problem in oil producing countries and recently use of plants to clean such soils has been on investigation. In order to identify plants that can enhance the remediation of crude oil contaminated soil, the effect of the growth of G. max on the physico-chemistry and crude oil content of soil contaminated with different concentrations of ...

Biopolymers have been employed in many soil applications, such as oil-contaminated soil remediation, due to their environmentally friendly characteristics. This study focused on changes in the wettability and viscosity of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and sodium alginate (SA), according to the variation in concentration and their impact on oil-contaminated soil remediation using biopolymer-decane di...

Innovative technologies for subsurface remediation, including in situ techniques based on heating the subsurface to enhance the recovery of organic contaminants, are increasingly being evaluated for use at specific sites as the limitations to the conventionally-used techniques are recognized. The purpose of this Issue Paper is to provide to those involved in assessing remediation technologies f...

v Dedication To my sister and best friend who passed on during the course of these studies; Mrs Jessica Jaafa. Baaba Jessica you were a real big sister who showed me love and care. You inspired me to strive hard and achieve the best in life. The memory of your relationship remains fresh in my mind all the time. I beseech the Almighty to rest thy soul in eternal peace. vii Summary The trace meta...

Innovative technologies for subsurface remediation, including in situ techniques based on heating the subsurface to enhance the recovery of organic contaminants, are increasingly being evaluated for use at specific sites as the limitations to the conventionally-used techniques are recognized. The purpose of this Issue Paper is to provide to those involved in assessing remediation technologies f...

Metals are very common contaminants at ‘Superfund’ sites in US, and similarly contaminated sites worldwide. Long-term deposition of metals in soils can lead to accumulation, transport and biotoxicity/zootoxicity caused by mobility and bioavailability of significant fraction of the metals. Because of their immutable nature strict natural remediation processes alone may not be successful in mitig...

use of electrokinetic technique for remediation of contaminated soils has recently been highly attended to, but there are still concerns regarding the effect of this process on soil microbial activity. in this study, changes in concentration of heavy metals extractable through 4n nitric acid, microbial biomass-c, and microbial coefficient, following electrokinetic remediation of a native soil c...