SS 6204 Remediation of contaminated soil and water

Group Assignment
Answer the following questions based on the selected research paper.

1. What is the nature of the pollution in the study area?

Sources of pollution/ what are the contaminants

The soil used in the trial was collected from an agricultural grassland located 200 m from the
Devon Great Consols (DGC) Mine, Devon, UK. At DGC, five mines were constructed in the
mid-18th century over an area of 68 ha in order to extract copper ore and the region soon became
the largest producer of the metal in Europe. As competition for Cu began to intensify, attention
was shifted to arsenic and by the 1870s the area that included DGC was responsible for one half
of the world’s production of the metalloid (Hamilton, 2000).

The source of contamination is likely to be both geogenic and anthropogenic due to the smelting
of the ores at the mining site.

Extent of pollution

Studies indicated high concentrations of total (1280 to 205,000 g g-1) and orally bioaccessible
(12 to 13,300 g g-1) As in soils and tailings around the complex (Klinck et al., 2005; Palumbo-
Roe and Klinck, 2007) and at least one incidence of As poisoning associated with motorcycling
around the site (Hamilton, 2000).

What is the land use

Much of the complex is privately owned and occupied by coniferous plantations that are partly
used for timber production but over the past three decades the site has been the focus of various
conservation projects (year 2020).
Other than that, used by individuals, families and organised groups for walking, dog-walking,
running, cycling, horse riding and picnicking. Other areas, including the western spoil heaps, are
available for more specialist activities, such as mountain-biking, with permission from the
landowners (Carey et al., 2015). The region is also popular for field visits of environmental
science, geology and conservation and management students (Stokes 93 et al., 2012) and is the
workplace for forestry staff.
2. Explain the remediation method(s) that they have tested in the study.
 Water treatment sludges from water treatment plants in Germany
- WTS-A
- WTS-B
 Red muds
- from Hungary (RM-H)
- from the United Kingdom (RM-UK)
 Red gypsum (RG) from a Titanium oxide (Ti2O) factory in the UK

4. What are the treatments they have used to test the remediation method?

In order to determine the effectiveness of remediation methods, authors chose to focus on three
main environmentally relevant endpoints and on three pathways of exposure. The
environmentally relevant endpoints which risks were assessed were plants, microorganisms, and
humans.

After treatments (two water treatment sludges, red mud, red gypsum) were added to As and Cu
contaminated soil, they were rested for 10 weeks to equilibrate. Then two crops were selected by
the group of scientists, as one crop (lettuce) relevant for human exposure and other one
(ryegrass) for livestock. After desirable number of crop life cycles, crops were harvested and As
and heavy metal concentrations of the plant shoots were determined. For the purpose of
determining the degree of efficacy of treatments, N mineralization and total soil microbial
biomass were measured in soil collected at the end of pot trial as microbial endpoints. Using the
same soil, potential bioaccessibility of As to humans was measured to determine the effect of
treatments on human end point.

Degree of contamination after treatments in ground and pore water and direct ingestion were
assessed as the pathways of exposure.
5. How have they measured the effectiveness of the remediation?

 To assess the potential risk due to re-acidification of remediated soils and mechanisms of
immobilization, Coupling a conventional isotopic dilution technique with a stepwise
acidification procedure and a resin-purification step were used

 Potential contamination of surface or ground water was assessed by measuring soil pore
water concentrations of As and Cu and by chemical extractions.

6. What are the major findings?

 Some Fe-rich industrial by-products could be used for remediation of soils co-
contaminated with heavy metals and anionic metalloids.
 Water Treatment Sludge (WTS) was the most effective amendment which enhancing
plant and microbial growth, decreasing metal and As mobility, and diminishing bio
accessible As.
 In isotopic dilution techniques in combination with a step-wise acidification procedure
showed that the decrease in metal lability observed with this treatment is not stable if re-
acidification was to occur.
 The isotopic dilution technique coupled with a resin-purification step confirmed that the
potential to enhance off-site contaminant transport, especially in this case As, to ground
water.