Patent ID: 7255514

Claim:
A method for removing contaminants from contaminated soil at a site, comprising the steps of: soil diagnostic testing including the steps of: extracting a representative sample of the contaminated soil from the site; segregating the sample into a plurality of size fractions according to particle size without any testing for contaminants being made; segregating each of the size fractions into a plurality of density fractions according to particle density prior to testing for contaminants; testing the plurality of density fractions to identify those containing the presence of unaccepteble levels of contaminants representing at least a portion of the total contaminant amount of the sample; and field system design and implementation based upon said soil diagnostic testing including the steps of: extracting the contaminated soil from the site; isolating soil fractions from the contaminated soil at the site corresponding to the identified contaminated density fractions from the sample; processing the isolated soil fractions to remove the contaminants therefrom; treating the processed soil fractions from the site corresponding to the identified contaminated fractions with at least one stabilization reagent capable of inhibiting the solubility of metal contaminants from the processed soil; and returning the treated soil fractions to the site.