Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Parallel with the increase in anthropogenic pressure on the environment,
including the soil, sustainability has gained enormously in popularity. The basic rea-
son for this is that history has proven that successful cultures have eventually been
wiped out by their own success. This phenomenon seems to relate currently to most
developed countries, since human presence, activities and production have already
impacted many natural resources which were in equilibrium for long time frames.
A highly contemporary example is the increase in the immission of substances into
the atmosphere, leading to climate change. It seems that without sensible human
interference the indefinite maintenance of a stable climate suited for human survival
is not guaranteed.
Like the climate, soils are also strongly impacted by human activities. Obviously,
human interaction with soil has a huge economic potential and should not be
avoided. Sustainable soil management, however, implies that human interventions
should adapt to the rhythm of natural soil processes. A healthy soil ecosystem , with
appropriate resilience and recovery abilities, is generally considered to be an indi-
cator of sustainable soil quality. Many processes that lead to soil contamination
typically are not sustainable, since the soil ecosystem is often not able to respond
properly. Without regulations, important soil processes will not continue optimally.
More than that, several human activities might lead to an irreversible elimination
of specific soil organisms and, hence, block ecological processes, more or less the
opposite of sustainability.
An important aspect of sustainable contaminated site management relates to
prevention of soil contamination. Jenck et al. ( 2004 ), for example, claimed that
'industrial sustainable chemistry', with process design and new equipment lead-
ing to minimal immissions, is seen worldwide today. They illustrated this statement
with several current industrial case studies.
1.10 Actors Involved
1.10.1 Decision-Makers and Regulators
Ideally, contaminated site management needs to be regulated in acts or laws.
Therefore, decision-makers must form the basis of any (national or regional) frame-
work for contaminated site management, which is generally based on risk-based
soil quality assessment nowadays. Many European countries, the USA, Australia,
Canada, and some Asian, South American and African countries have enacted legis-
lation on contaminated sites. The structure of involvement and responsibilities of the
government differ among countries, not least of all because the size of the countries
differs. Bigger countries, such as Canada or Spain, for example, have legislation
at the provincial level. There also are countries that have national legislation with
specifications at the provincial level.
A typical task for decision-makers, in close cooperation with scientists, is the
selection of protection targets and the determination of protection levels. Another
important task for decision-makers concerns the indication of the level of desired
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