Missouri University of Science and Technology

Summary

Contaminated sediments are a substantial threat to human health, tainting the base layers of the food chain. Costs for remediation are expected to reach well into the billions of dollars, yet none of the current remediation strategies truly remediate the sediment. While much research has focused on identification or development of remedial amendments, delivery and placement methods are needed for efficient engineering utilization of these amendments. Waterjet placement methods have been shown to have lower resuspension of contaminants and reduce harmful impacts to the benthic community, Waterjet placement can be applied for a suite of amendments targeting nearly all common sediment contaminants, specifically PCBs, PAHs and redox sensitive metals

Dr. Joel Burken’s research is focused to optimize design and operational parameters for in situ sediment remediation amendments. His work to develop methods, designs and procedures to minimize resuspension will allow for efficient use of newly developed amendments, which are expensive, and likely foster the research into other amendments currently viewed as too expensive or undeliverable. This research will provide direct input for scale-up and transition to field-scale testing and implementation.