In-Situ Sediment Remediation Using Benthic Waterjet Amendment Placement

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research endeavor has the broad goal to develop placement methods for in-situ sediment remediation amendments. Amendments will not be developed, but research is focused upon developing the water jet design and parameters to deliver amendments that have been proven at a bench-scale. Waterjet design and parameters developed herein will specifically result in efficiency and precision in amendment placement that will allow for efficient use of newly developed amendments, which are expensive, and likely foster the research into other amendments that were though to be too expensive or undeliverable. Waterjets placement methods are already shown to have lower resuspension and harmful impact to the benthic community, and a specific objective is to further develop methods, designs and procedures to minimize these detriments even further. This project will provide direct input for scale-up and transition to field-scale testing and implementation, with design and planning stages starting within this project schedule. RATIONALE: Remediation of contaminated sediments is not currently efficient with limited options, and the basic science developing currently has a focus upon remedial amendments, yet no deliver and placement method exists for efficient engineering utilization of these amendments. Waterjet placement can be applied for a suite of amendments targeting nearly all common sediment contaminants, specifically PCBs, PAHs and redox sensitive metals. RESEARCH DESIGN: Research design is will focus on optimizing design and operational parameters at escalating scales to meet the goal listed above and will result in a field-ready technology within the project period. The assembled team has extensive experience in scale-up of basic science discovery to very large, field-scale projects and technology development and even utilization. This range of experiences and expertise is unique and will certainly help in making success in this research endeavor highly likely. RELEVANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH: Contaminated sediments are a substantial threat to human health, tainting the base layers of the food chain. Remediation expenditures are expected to reach well into the billions, yet only three options exist. None of which truly remediate the sediment. By increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of remediating these sites, even more sites can be truly remediated.