Crop and Soil Sciences > Degree Programs and Courses > Soil Science Courses > Soils 420

Soils 420 - Remediation of Contaminated Soils

  • Instructor: Dr. Sridhar Komarneni
  • Credits: 3
  • Semesters Offered: Fall
  • Texts:
    1. Chemical Fixation and Solidification of Hazardous Wastes, 1990, Printed and produced by Penn State Copy Centers and sold at Penn State Bookstore.
  • Prerequisite: SOILS 101 & permission of the course instructor.
  • Syllabus: Link to PDF file.

Course Objective

The overall objective of this course is to educate students on the basic principles and technical aspects of remediation of contaminated soils.

Course Description

Soils 420 is an introduction to the basic principles and techniques of remediation of contaminated soils. The course assumes that you have a background in General Chemistry. Deficiency in Chemistry should not prevent you from taking this course, but please discuss with the instructor.

Course Outline

  1. Terminology and definitions
  2. Regulatory Background
  3. Characteristics of wastes:
    1. Non-radioactive wastes and
    2. Radioactive wastes
  4. Characterization and Identification of contaminated sites
  5. Technologies for remediation
    1. Established technologies: Principles and practices
      1. Solidification/stabilization (the most widely practiced)
      2. On-site incineration
      3. Off-site incineration
    2. Innovative technologies: Principles and practices
      1. Vacuum extraction
      2. Ex-situ bioremediation
      3. In-situ bioremediation
      4. Thermal desorption
      5. Soil washing
      6. In-situ flushing
      7. In-situ vitrification
      8. Solvent extraction
      9. Dechlorination
      10. Chemical treatment
      11. Ex-situ supercritical oxidation
      12. Phytoremediation (Fighting pollution with plants)