Changes of Soil Properties through the Remediation Processes and Techniques for the Restoration of Remediated Soils

Abstract

There have been raised other environmental issues related to remediated soils piled up in numerous carry-out processing facilities because a considerable quantity of them have been produced every year, but most of them have not been relevantly reused or recycled. Thus, this article reports the trend of researches on the development of techniques to restore the quality of remediated soils to activate their reuse and recycling. Firstly, the tendency of change in soil properties through remediation processes was looked over, and then the degradation of soil quality was characterized according to the type of remediation processes. Besides, the direction of policy to promote the reuse and recycling of remediated soils was introduced, and finally, the future works needed were suggested. This article was prepared based on the results of the survey of domestic and foreign literature. A number of literature were reviewed to scrutinize the change of soil properties due to remediation processes and diverse techniques for the amendment and restoration of remediated soils. Furthermore, the policies related to the reuse and recycling of remediated soils were arranged with the reference of the first and second versions of the Soil Conservation Master Plan of Korea. The literature survey focused on three kinds of remediation technologies, such as land farming, soil washing, and thermal desorption, which were most frequently used so far in Korea. The results indicate that the tendency of change in soil properties was significantly different depending on the type of remediation processes applied, and the degradation characteristics of soil quality were also totally different between them. The soil amendment and restoration can be categorized as three techniques depending on the type of substances used, such as inorganic, organic, and biological ones. Diverse individual materials have been used, and the soil properties improved or enhanced were dependent on the type of specific materials utilized. However, few studies on the restoration of soil qualities degraded during the remediation processes have not been carried out so far. The second Soil Conservation Master Plan states the quality certification and target management system of remediated soils, and it is expected that their reuse and recycling will be facilitated hereafter. With the consideration of the type of remediation processes implemented and public utility, the restoration technologies of remediated soils should be developed for the vitalization of their reuse and recycling. Besides, practical and specific measures should be taken to support the policy specified in the second Soil Conservation Master Plan and to promote reuse/recycling of remediated soils.