title: A proactive approach can make site remediation less expensive.
abstract: Without any incentive to clean up a contaminated site, remediation is often delayed until the site owner is compelled to act by regulatory agencies. In such a context, the selected technology is typically the one that will reach the remediation goals as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this criterion is often met by overly expensive technologies, resulting in high and sometimes unaffordable total remediation costs, leading to a remediation with a negative net benefit. This study examines the effects of time constraint and benefit value on the optimal remediation strategy for a diesel-contaminated site. This strategy is developed using the technico-economic model METEORS, which takes into account the technology's effectiveness, the uncertainty of the level of contamination, and the possibility of reducing this uncertainty through either an additional characterization (before selecting and applying a technology) or the monitoring of the remediation technology (during its use). Results of simulations with both economic and temporal constraints support a proactive approach to site remediation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Gontran F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Bage
authors.forename: Réjean
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sinclair-Desgagné
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003657:Decision Making; D005742:Gasoline; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000191:economics*; D018803:Models, Economic; D011792:Quebec; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005742:Gasoline; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D012989:Soil Pollutants