A Citizen’s Guide

to Cleanup Methods

? ? EPA uses many methods to clean up pollution at Superfund sites. If you live, work, or go to school near a

Superfund site, you may want to learn more about cleanup methods. The Citizen’s Guide series is a set of

21 fact sheets that describe, in general terms, cleanup methods used at Superfund and other sites. Each fact

sheet is two pages long and answers five questions about the cleanup method: 1) What is it? 2) How does

it work? 3) Is it safe? 4) How long will it take? and 5) Why use it? The guides, which are listed on page 3

of this brochure, are available in both English and Spanish.

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Office of Solid Waste and

Emergency Response

(5102G)

EPA 542-F-01-007

August 2002

www.epa.gov/superfund/sites

www.cluin.org

What ar What are cleanup methods?

Pollution comes from many different sources. Chemical spills, leaking landfills,

and improper disposal of wastes can all leave harmful chemicals in soil, groundwater, lakes, and streams. Left in place, these chemicals may pose a threat to the health

of people, animals, and plants. The chemicals also may spread from polluted areas

to clean areas. Cleanup methods are ways to treat or contain pollution so that it

does not threaten human health or the environment.

How do they work?

Typically, cleanup methods remove the harmful chemicals from polluted soil or

water. Soil excavation is a common method that removes harmful chemicals from

the environment. The harmful chemicals can then be disposed of properly in a

landfill. Other methods that treat pollution, such as bioremediation and permeable

reactive barriers, change the harmful chemicals into less harmful ones. Many

cleanup methods that change or destroy harmful chemicals are considered innovative. Innovative cleanup methods are newer methods that have not been used very

often or under a wide range of conditions.

Several cleanup methods can treat pollution in situ, or in place, without digging up

the soil or pumping groundwater from beneath the ground. In general, these methods can be faster and less costly when treating pollution beneath the ground.

Cleanup methods that contain pollution prevent chemicals from moving from

polluted sites to clean areas. An example of a method that contains the pollution is

capping.
Cleanup methods can take weeks or many years to clean up a

site. The length of time depends on several factors that vary

from site to site:

• size, depth, and conditions of the polluted area

(Is soil or water polluted?)

• type and amounts of harmful chemicals present

• selected cleanup method

EPA considers the length of time a cleanup may take when selecting a

cleanup method. However, the cost and effectiveness of the method also are

important.

Are cleanup methods safe?

Before a cleanup method is used, EPA studies the site and generally tests the method to

confirm it can work. During cleanup, EPA also tests the soil, groundwater, and air to

make sure the method is working. EPA makes sure that people can’t come into contact

with the pollution during cleanup. Testing also ensures that pollution is not spreading,

such as being released to the air.

Why use an innovative cleanup method?

For many years, polluted sites were cleaned up by digging up polluted soil and disposing of it in landfills. Polluted groundwater was pumped to the surface for cleanup in a

method called “pump and treat.” Trucking materials to landfills can be very expensive,

and does not destroy the harmful chemicals. Pump and treat can take decades to complete and is also expensive.

In 1986, changes to EPA’s Superfund law shifted preference from removal methods to

treatment methods for polluted materials. This encouraged the development of innovative cleanup methods. Innovative cleanup methods are often faster and cheaper than

conventional ones. Also, many can work under conditions where conventional methods

fail. By 1994, six out of ten cleanup methods used at Superfund sites were innovative.

NOTE: This fact sheet is intended solely as general guidance and information to the public. It is not intended, nor can it be relied upon,

to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States, or to endorse the use of products or services provided

by specific vendors. The Agency also reserves the right to change this fact sheet at any time without public notice.

2

For more

information

write the Technology

Innovation Office at:

U.S. EPA (5102G)

1200 Pennsylvania

Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20460

or call them at

(703) 603-9910.

Further information also

can be obtained at

www.cluin.org or

www.epa.gov/

superfund/sites.
3

How to Or How to Order the Citizen’s Guides

The following citizen’s guides on cleanup methods are available free-of-charge. To order, mail this

completed form to:

U.S. EPA/National Service Center for Environmental Publications

P.O. Box 42419

Cincinnati, OH 45242

or FAX to (513) 489-8695. Also, telephone orders may be placed at (800) 490-9198 or (513) 489-8190.

Send To:

Name: __________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________ State: __________ Zip Code: ____________

Telephone:__________________________

Detach order form for

mail-in and/or fax orders.

Activated Carbon Treatment (EPA 542-F-01-020); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-020S)

Air Stripping (EPA 542-F-01-016); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-016S)

Bioremediation (EPA 542-F-01-001); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-001S)

Capping (EPA 542-F-01-022); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-022S)

Chemical Dehalogenation (EPA 542-F-01-010); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-010S)

Chemical Oxidation (EPA 542-F-01-013); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-013S)

Fracturing (EPA 542-F-01-015); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-015S)

Incineration (EPA 542-F-01-018); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-018S)

In Situ Flushing (EPA 542-F-01-011); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-011S)

In Situ Thermal Treatment Methods (EPA 542-F-01-012); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-012S)

Monitored Natural Attenuation (EPA 542-F-01-004); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-004S)

Permeable Reactive Barriers (EPA 542-F-01-005); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-005S)

Phytoremediation (EPA 542-F-01-002); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-002S)

Pump and Treat for Groundwater (EPA 542-F-01-025); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-025S)

Soil Excavation (EPA 542-F-01-023); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-023S)

Soil Vapor Extraction and Air Sparging (EPA 542-F-01-006); Spanish (542-F-01-006S)

Soil Washing (EPA 542-F-01-008); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-008S)

Solidification/Stabilization (EPA 542-F-01-024); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-024S)

Solvent Extraction (EPA 542-F-01-009); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-009S)

Thermal Desorption (EPA 542-F-01-003); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-003S)

Vitrification (EPA 542-F-01-017); Spanish (EPA 542-F-01-017S)

English

Spanish
United States

Environmental Protection Agency

National Service Center for

Environmental Publications

P.O. Box 42419

Cincinnati, OH 45242

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED

FIRST CLASS

US POSTAGE PAID

EPA PERMIT NO. G-35

Citizen’s Guide

Series on

Cleanup Methods:

Fact Sheet and Order Form

August 2002

stockpiled soil

Soil Excavation

Permeable Reactive Barriers

clean soil ground surface

clean

groundwater

polluted

groundwater

groundwater

being

treated

groundwater

level

reactive materials